TimS' shave journal

Shaving continues to go well, when I have a good edge. The last few days I've been playing with a vintage coticule (glued combo, about 1.5" x 7"). I tried the dulicot method on a beater 1/2 hollow that I previously honed to a great edge on lapping film. First shave after dulicot (full range: dulled on glass to finishing) was worthless--had to stop after a couple of passes. Next day I set the bevel (I figured that's where my issue was) on lapping film, and then did the dulicot thing. This time I was able to shave comfortably, but the end was result was not close at all.

Last night I started the process over somewhat: I took a full-hollow eBay razor that showed up shave-ready (and therefore, bevel already set), and put it through Lynn Abram's dulicot method (circles with pressure after a bevel set on a separate stone). It was a bit tough doing circles on such a narrow hone, but I ended up with a DFS-level shave. Not too shabby, but I need to go sharper/keener. Tonight I'll touch up the same razor with lapping film, and do a comparison shave. And then I think I want to take it down to dull and work through various coticule techniques. I'd really like the razor I sent out via the coticule.be service to come back home (it's been about a month), but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I just want to see what an experienced honer produces on his coticle.

I know I'm taking the difficult road with the coticule. But I have the lapping film to back me up for now, and I like the experimentation. This new hobby is coming along at just the right time for me, and I very much enjoy it.

Try bring your edge up to snuff on lapping film and then just do a touch-up water-only on the coti. That should let you know if you are able to maintain your edge. Once you can maintain it, you're pretty much set. As you get more consistent results, start "going backwards" bit by bit, starting with a very light slurry. As you once again get consistent results, you can regress more with a thicker slurry and eventually develop the consistency of skills to go right from bevel setting up to the super smooth edges you want. No need to do a full honing right from bevel-setting each time.

rockviper said:

Try bring your edge up to snuff on lapping film and then just do a touch-up water-only on the coti. That should let you know if you are able to maintain your edge. Once you can maintain it, you're pretty much set. As you get more consistent results, start "going backwards" bit by bit, starting with a very light slurry. As you once again get consistent results, you can regress more with a thicker slurry and eventually develop the consistency of skills to go right from bevel setting up to the super smooth edges you want. No need to do a full honing right from bevel-setting each time.

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That makes a lot of sense; not sure why I didn't think of it. Thanks!

A periodic update (I envy those guys who can log on each day with a SOTD journal entry--I just can't find the time):
Most recent shaves have been a step backward--I had to resort to the DE to finish them. I suppose I could've left the bathroom to try another razor, but once at a certain level of frustration, I didn't want to keep chasing a decent shave with unlimited passes with other razors. But I have been using a straight every day, so these few bad shaves were outliers--mostly, I've been successful and have enjoyed my shaves.

I know the reasons for the bad shaves: a couple were from still-unsuccessful honing attempts on the coticule, and one I think was a bad edge on an early acquisition that I must've rolled on the strop in the past. On the other hand, I have had some good shaves on my honing practice razor whenever I've used film and finished on my Thuringian stone--just not with any I've finished on the coticule. I can shave with a coticule-honed or finished razor, and it's comfortable, but plenty of stubble gets left behind, even after more passes than normal. I think I'm going to set the coticule aside and concentrate on maintaining my edges either with the Thuringian (sold to me as a 'possible' Escher) or film. And maybe trying to improve the edge on any razors I may have stropped incorrectly. Regardless, the shaving itself is going well, and I'm still trying new techniques to best get at different beard growth directions. Without rushing, I've been able to transition to some morning shaves due to being more efficient that I was early on. I do really enjoy the downtime with a night-time shave. I never did these before being forced to with the straight razor due to time constraints, and it appears I was missing out on something good. At least I'm now at the point where I have a choice, based on what's going on around me any given night or before work in the morning.

My latest shaving issues have to do with brushes and storage. I have a Simpsons Duke 3 that, try as I might, I just can't love (or even like)--although it appears to be a favorite for a lot of guys. Compared to the no-name Vintage Blades house-branded brush that I also have, the Duke is way too scritchy for me--it's obvious I'm one of those guys who likes a pillow-soft feel from a brush. Plus, I can't get it to hold as much lather as a less-dense brush, and getting a good lather just by face lathering doesn't work as well with the Simpsons. Finally, the thing has been shedding way too much since I started using it--I contacted Simpsons and they told me to wait it out a few months. I'm doing that, but I'm really getting tired of picking hairs out of my MdC jar and off my face. This thing might go on the B/S/T soon (with full disclosure, of course). It'll be replaced with another VB brush, I'm sure.

Regarding storage, I'm now up to a little more than a dozen razors (half of them usable--professionally honed--at this point; the rest are future restoration/honing projects). I managed to turn a cheap wooden jewelry box into pretty decent storage by gluing dividers made from wooden paint stirrers cut to size and then covering with felt. I tried to cram too many partitions in though, so it's tough getting my razors out. Yesterday I had the brainstorm to stop by a local cigar shop to see if they give away/sell leftover cigar boxes. I ended up scoring a very nice wooden box for $2 that will probably hold all my razors, once I figure out the best way to divide up the available internal area. I'll post on a separate thread a request for some ideas of sourcing high-density foam--I don't want to glue in wood slats again, based on my previous experience.

And that's it for now.

I've also had some issues with some of the razors I've honed. What I do is I keep one which I know for sure is shave-ready nearby, then test shave on a cheek with the new razor, if its bad, I leave it on the side and finish with the other one.

I also go with a DE shave from time to time for the fun of it

Today was a great shave; my son had bought me a Torrey from eBay for Father's day sold as 'shave-ready'; after the first couple of strokes, it was clear that it wasn't. I sent it out for a couticle finish via couticle.be, and got it back yesterday from Paul. Wow! is all I can say--a very, very smooth finish. Compared to my recent lapping-film honing attempts, this was much more of a buttery-smooth shave than what I've been producing.

I'm visiting the in-laws at the moment, and brought a beater razor and my couticle to play with while here (plenty of free time when at the in-laws!). We'll see how it goes.

The trip to the in-laws is over (yesss!). I messed around with the coticule a couple of times while there, using the dulicot method, and didn't have any success--I'm just not there yet. I understand I need to 'learn' my stone, but without any reference or instruction other than YouTube, I can see it's going to be a long climb. I'm ok with that though; I'm looking forward to eventually learning a new skill. After poking around on the web a bit, I think I'll try the unicot method next. I really didn't want to get into using tape in my honing, but I need to show myself that I can get a good edge off this coticule eventually. If I have success with the unicot, I'll go back to dulicot (or ellipticot or whatever other methods are out there) and keep trying until I get it right. I have a King 1k on order, which I'll use for bevel-setting--hopefully that will help things quite a bit.

After the long drive today, it was nice to relax with a good shave at home. I used a Stenton with a stub-tail I recently picked up; it's likely the oldest razor I own. It was a very, very nice shave. Hats off to the guy who sold it to me--a tremendous restoration job and a great edge. I still think the coolest thing about straight razor shaving is using vintage steel, and this razor just reinforces it for me.

GL on picking up on the honing.

The old razors are my preference as well, for the same reasons. I have a good 4 or 5 that date back to 1870-1890, and one that I think goes back further to the 1830-1850 range.

Last night I took my practice razor to the coticule using the unicot method; I've seen it hyped on other boards as a "can't fail" way to hone off a coticule, so I had to see for myself.

Shaved this morning, and it was a qualified success! I ended up with a definite DFS; certainly not BBS, but a very passable and comfortable shave. I was feeling some stubble by mid-day, which I wouldn't normally have with a standard BBS shave. But I'm happy that I finally coaxed a shavable edge from the razor. Now I'll wait for my King 1K to arrive at the end of the week, reset the bevel, and try dilucot/ellipticot; i.e. see if I can do it without tape.

Other good news: the Duke 3 looks like it may have finally stopped shedding. Didn't lose one hair during this morning's shave--first time in a while that this has happened. We'll see if this holds through the next few shaves. If it does, it's going on the B/S/T and getting replaced--it's just too scritchy for me.

A couple of steps backward:
-got my King 1K, lapped it tonight, set the bevel on my practice razor, and then did the full dulicot progression. Lousy shave. Not tugging, but not cutting well either. Unicot definitely worked better for me. I'll just keep plugging away to try and 'learn' my stone.
-I spoke too soon on the Duke 3; it's still shedding plenty (6-10 hairs per shave). My experience a few days ago was a fluke; every shave following that one resulted in shedding. I shampooed/combed the brush AGAIN (as Simpsons recommends), and some loose hairs came out. But they did in every subsequent shave as well. Oh well, we'll see if this ends soon. I'm not optimistic.

Good news is I just scored another stub-tail; looking forward to its delivery in a few days.

I've heard plenty of others report Simpsons brushes turning into bad shedders.

For the heck of it, I took the razor from the bad shave of the other day (coticule dilucot) and did a 100 laps on a no-name Thuringian. After stropping, the shave was 10x better than it was before. Not BBS, but comfortable and much closer.

I really want to get this coticule figured out, and without tape. I'll keep plugging at it. Maybe introduce the BBW side at some point.

On a separate note, Simpsons is going to take a look at my brush for me. We've been communicating for the last couple of months, and now I'm at the point I'd like them to tell me what they think. Very good customer service!

TimS said:

For the heck of it, I took the razor from the bad shave of the other day (coticule dilucot) and did a 100 laps on a no-name Thuringian. After stropping, the shave was 10x better than it was before. Not BBS, but comfortable and much closer.

I really want to get this coticule figured out, and without tape. I'll keep plugging at it. Maybe introduce the BBW side at some point.

On a separate note, Simpsons is going to take a look at my brush for me. We've been communicating for the last couple of months, and now I'm at the point I'd like them to tell me what they think. Very good customer service!

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Oh, awesome... GL on the brush then. I've heard quiet grumblings saying they aren't always so top notch on the customer service when it came to shedding brushes. It's good to hear you aren't having a bad experience with them.

Sounds like they are giving you some good customer service.

Just checking in on my own thread. The shaving is going very, very well. I pretty much have the hang of it, with some limitations. I don't do ATG on the mustache area, and I haven't figured out the best way to get ATG on the neck with my sideways growth. But the shaves are very, very close and feel great. I think I've only had one cut so far (which now that I said that, I should get another soon).

I'm all over the place with honing. I haven't got the 'perfect' edge off my coticule yet--I'm not really putting in the time, since I'm trying other methods. Film definitely works for me, but I do notice the 'harshness'. But I also notice the keenness, which feels better than my coticule edges. I did try taming the film edges first with a Thuringian, and only notice a marginal improvement (again, likely due to me not knowing what I'm doing with the Thuringian). I also ran the final film edge over a very light slurry on my coticule, and it did get rid of the weepers I was getting with straight film (I never get weepers any other time).

Waiting to hear from Simpsons; I sent the brush in almost a couple of weeks ago, so I imagine they should be getting it soon.

My latest frustration has been a recent snipe on eBay. I found 3 razors I really wanted, all finishing within a few minutes of each other (2 from the same seller). I set myself a budget, dropped one of the razors from consideration, and set my snipe software. Got sniped on both razors by $1 I really should have picked just one, and upped what I was willing to pay. Got greedy and tried to get both. Oh well, lesson learned. I did talk to to the seller, and I will likely have him refurb a blade for me in the future--he does some really nice scale work.

So that's my check-in for now. The straight shaving world continues to fascinate me.

Oh, one more thing: does anyone else think the orange, cedarwood, and black pepper soap from Mike's smell like an orange candy? I'm not really enjoying it. On the flipside, the fougere from QCS I got recently is awesome!

Simpsons really came through--I got a new replacement Duke 3 in the mail today, as well as a tin of their shave cream--outstanding service!! I'm really not sure if I'll keep the brush though; I've become accustomed to the 'gel' tips of my VB-branded brushes--the Simpsons is just a bit too scritchy for me. But the bottom line is that Simpsons stood behind their product unconditionally for me, and for that I am grateful.

I'm about to embark on my first shave with a Kamisori; it'll be interesting to see how that thing maneuvers around the face, and the angles needed for the different sides of the blades. Should be a fun challenge.

TimS said:

Simpsons really came through--I got a new replacement Duke 3 in the mail today, as well as a tin of their shave cream--outstanding service!! I'm really not sure if I'll keep the brush though; I've become accustomed to the 'gel' tips of my VB-branded brushes--the Simpsons is just a bit too scritchy for me. But the bottom line is that Simpsons stood behind their product unconditionally for me, and for that I am grateful.

I'm about to embark on my first shave with a Kamisori; it'll be interesting to see how that thing maneuvers around the face, and the angles needed for the different sides of the blades. Should be a fun challenge.

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Looking forward to hearing about the kamisori. I'm sort of curious to try one out eventually.

The glass on the nivea bottles are pretty heavy duty. Pack it in the middle of the clothes suitcase, with a towel or something wrapped around it, and it should survive the trip just fine. I've used that on shotglasses and other glass items when coming home from vacations, never had one break yet.

Shaves on my trip got much better after switching out the soap and ASB. I did go 4 days without a shave before getting home yesterday (the crappy hotel room and sulfurous water I had in NC wasn't conducive to shaving). Grabbed my recently re-scaled Greaves honed by Doc226, and had a phenomenal shave when I got home last night. Man, that felt good! Still DFS this afternoon.

I just set up a trade of the Palmolive for a stick of Arko. I need to see what all the fuss is with Arko.