Thread: The Noob Chronicle - My Straight Razor Experience

for me the total re-sharpening of the razor was quite nervewracking, in a similar way to the first shave before i notice the nick. i knew people can do it, but can i is the question, the answer would appear to be yes, perhaps!
i must get round to posting a pic of my attempts at a 'stache for movember

steve

The Straight Road - Part 25: Experimentation
As I mentioned in my last entry, I was looking to experiment a bit by seeing which variables affected how well my shaves were turning out. With that in mind, I had made an attempt to fix the ding in my Dovo 6/8 Ironwood, which had delivered such a smooth shave the last time. The little tiny chip is still there, but I wanted to test it and see if it would affect my shave. The variables I introduced today were two: I switched to a badger brush and I lathered in the scuttle, instead of on my face. I stuck with the same soap and razor, so I would expect the shave would be similar to the last one. Well, it was, but it wasn't.

The Anticipation
I'm not really a morning person and Monday is sort of like the morning of the whole week. Today was most certainly not one of my best days, but I managed to drag my butt through and headed home, ready for my little slice of "me time" in my shave den. SWMBO was picking up SWMBO Jr. today, so I actually had the place to myself when I got home. What better way to take advantage of that time than to have a leisurely shave?

The Prep
I put the kettle on to boil and gave my Dovo twenty five laps on the Premium IV. It didn't really need them, as it had already been put through 50/100 last night after my little honing attempt, but I decided to follow through with my stropping ritual, nonetheless. The water was soon steaming and my scuttle was soon full. I deposited my Snakewood Custom 24mm Super Silvertip in the soaking reservoir and hopped in for a quick shower, the main focus of which was a scrub with the Real Shaving Exfoliating face wash and getting my beard area nice and soft for the shave. Following my plan, I stuck with T&H Luxury Shaving Soap for today, just to see how it would do with a different brush and whether it was the determining factor in the great shave of two nights ago.

The Lather
Not too great this evening. I had found this soap to be somewhat foamy the other night, with lots of bigger bubbles than usual. This problem was even worse tonight in the scuttle with the badger hair brush. I wonder if it was too much water, too fast, but I'm going to need some practice sessions with this soap to see where to head with it. The first batch of lather was abundant, but so thin and sudsy that I had to ditch it and start again. This time I added water very slowly and was rewarded with a passable batch of lather, though nothing like what I have been getting from some of my other products. I really like the scent of the T&H soap and I did get a smooth shave out of the rather thin lather last time, so I'm not ready to give up on it, that's for sure.

The Shave
The shave was a bit uninspired this evening. I think the Monday blahs, combined with the lather blues, ended up carrying over. I just didn't feel "on" and my shave sort of was just there. I did enjoy it, but not as much as the previous. I suppose that is bound to happen, once every twenty-five shaves or so. Anyway, it was still nice, but just not as nice as the past few. I found that the glide and the smoothness were still pretty good, so perhaps with a bit more lathering practice on the T&H, I'll end up with a great combo here, but overall I might relegate that soap to boar and face-lathering duty. The first pass was smooth and easy, the second had a bit of a speed bump when I dinged my Adam's apple area, though there wasn't much bleeding. The touch-ups were alright, but I was ready to finish and out of lather by that point, so they weren't as diligent as in the past. I was left with some patchiness under the chin.

The Movember Report
Well, the 'stache area was easy today and I'm starting to get the hang of how to shave around it. Being that it's Day 7 of the mo', I must say it's still looking pretty sparse. Then again, I've never had the most prolific facial hair, so that's no surprise. Anyway, onward and upward, with 23 days to go!

The Post
After having a bit of a dud of a shave, despite a few positives, I decided to go for some comforting Proraso in the post session. Once the alum sting subsided, I rubbed on some of the Proraso splash, then cleaned up the scuttle, brush and counter while waiting for that to settle down. It's a very nice-feeling splash that refreshes and has a bit of moisturizing to it, as well. It would probably do well on its own in the summer, but in the dry fall and winter, I will be following it up with the Proraso balm, which I did today. It was my first time using the balm and I was quite pleased with the effects, which calmed the slight burn under my chin and along the jawline.

The Verdict
Well, they can't all be wonderful, but they can still be pretty good. I think the edge on my Dovo is still ok for shaving, though I will probably hone out the tiny chip eventually, as that sort of thing bugs me. The T&H soap did a pretty decent job, considering the poor quality of the lather, so I expect big things when I finally get a good batch whipped up. All in all, I am pleased with the outcome, although the process wasn't the greatest today.

Sometimes it's a journey, sometimes it's a destination, but there's always something good happening on The Straight Road.

I made it to the quarter-century mark! Twenty-five straight shaves under my belt and I feel like I'm just getting started. I can certainly see the progress from the first time I tentatively shaved with my H&H back on the 5th of October, but I still have a long way to go until I feel like I will be getting a clean, comfortable and easy shave out of a straight. Especially with all these products to try! I have the den, but not the experience to master it. Oh well, I've got time

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Jack

The Straight Road - Part 26: Testing, testing
I got another package today! It had been a couple of days since my last one and my AD was starting to twitch, as was my itchy Ebay trigger finger. I did manage to hold off on pulling the trigger on any Ebay razors or other shaving-related items today, which is a good thing. A package arrived from Fendrihan with some nice-smelling liquid in little bottles. I opened it up to unveil a bottle of Geo F Trumper's Spanish Leather aftershave and unscented moisturizing lotion as well as a bottle of Dominica Bay Rum. Of course I had to test them both, so I dabbed a bit on each wrist. The Bay Rum is certainly a distinctive scent, which I think will grow on me. The Trumper's Spanish Leather is a nice, clean-smelling scent for after I shave, but I think I might like the T&H a bit better. Still, both are nice and variety isn't a bad thing.

Today was also a solid day at work and I had to take SWMBO Jr. to ballet, so I ended up getting home later than usual. Of course, I wanted and needed a shave.

The Anticipation
I wanted to continue my experiment, so a big part of my anticipation was about choosing which variables to insert into the equation. After getting a decent shave yesterday, despite weak lather, I figured I'd change the soap and go for good old MWF. I also continued my face/scuttle/face lathering rotation by deciding to take the Snakewood Super Silvertip 24mm custom brush to my face this time.

The Prep
Hot shower was the order of the evening, and a welcome shower it was! I scrubbed away the day's grime with my bristle bathing brush and prepped my beard with some Real Shaving Creamy Face wash. The stropping had been taken care of before hopping in the shower, so once the showering was done, all that was pending before the shave was to lather up.

The Lather
Bleh. I need to work with this brush. I am not getting good lathers with it so far, even though I did get some a while back when I superlathered. I have noticed the tips of the hairs clumping up when it dries, even though I rinse it out very thoroughly and use a towel to fluff the tips. I also noticed two knots of some strange hard substance gumming together the hairs and had to pull them out, as water didn't work. I find the brush tends to clump together when lathering, rather than fluffing out, and gets a hole in the middle when the hairs spread. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong and would love to hear from more experienced users. The knot is very nice and I suspect it's either my technique, or that the brush needs a bit more breaking in. Anyway, whatever the reason, my face lathering was a bit of a disaster. The MWF lathered up nicely and I had a good first pass, but the second and touch-ups required me to go back to the soap for more. Even then, it was thin and dry and not very lubricating. After my lather successes of the past while, it was quite disenheartening.

The Shave
The Dovo was, once again, very smooth. The first pass was everything I could hope for and I was quite pleased, until I picked up the brush for pass number two. I am even getting better at navigating the neck down around the Adam's Apple area and my jawline passes are improving. I find I am not nearly so tentative with the razor as I used to be, which is probably due to me learning a little bit more about what I can and can't do with three inches of the sharpest steel around up against my face. The second pass, once I'd lathered a bit, wasn't too bad, though it could have been a bit smoother. Overall, I got the whiskers off, then chin and jawline touch-ups went well and I didn't end up with much burn, so I suppose I can take away those positives.

The Movember Report
While trying to shave around the 'stache, I took off a couple of precious whiskers which might change its shape a bit. I suppose, given the temporary nature of this endeavour, that this isn't the worst thing. If it comes down to it, a thinner moustache will still look alright.

The Post
Trumpers today. First I did my lukewarm rinse with alum followed by a cold water rinse. In between those, I cleaned the brush and made sure to be very thorough before laying it aside. Hopefully I can figure out these little issues with build-up of crud on the tips of the bristles, which doesn't happen with any of my other brushes. After that, I applied the Spanish Leather. Mmmm..it's nice. While I like the slightly more peppery and spicy notes of the T&H rendition, the Trumpers is a close second and has earned a place in the rotation, for sure. The moisturizing lotion from Trumpers works well as an ASB and, being unscented, should do for combining with other aftershaves whose scent I would like to preserve.

The Verdict
I'm pleased, despite the disappointment with the lather. I'm narrowing in on the conclusion that the smoothness of the shaves is definitely most affected by the Dovo so far, as the different soaps and lathering methods have resulted in similar smoothness when the razor is on my skin. I'm going to try MWF in the scuttle tomorrow, maybe with a drop of glycerin, to see how it does. I will continue with the snakewood brush, hoping to break it in, especially since I have a couple more brushes that still haven't arrived from my flurry of AD, including another custom badger and a couple of boars. Hopefully I'll find a good rotation of products and lathering technique for each brush, so I can enjoy them all in their own way.

As I travel along The Straight Road, I've learned that enjoying the journey of discovery is very important.

Well, new stuff is always fun, but so is getting to know your razor more intimately. I have some restoration and honing work to do, if only life would permit me the time. Perhaps tomorrow, since there is no major family event happening, I will be able to move forward on one or both of my projects. Until then, have fun!

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Jack

I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you, that you might find time to sit and enjoy your hones. It sounds like you need a bit of zen.

I did manage to get some time with the sandpaper last night, so I hit the Manhattan Cutlery I'm working on with the 320 and the 400. I used WD-40 as lubricant and it seemed to work well. I'm going to be taking the grits up to 2500 and see how it does. I've heard of guys going beyond that, but I guess you have to buy a special buffing paper. Would that be in automotive? What about buffing compounds? Also in automotive?

try doing a search for lapping film, not that i want to be seen or thought to be advertising but i use 3m and that seems ok for me, i have up to (or down i suppose) 1micron, but i know that they do finer grades,

the other stuff to look for is micromesh
although i don't know how well that would do with a razor

steve

Thanks for that. I have read that I need to sand off all the scratches of the previous grit, which I think I am accomplishing, though admittedly the lighting in my apartment at night isn't the greatest. Well, for a first run, this is more about learning than about doing a perfect job. I can always revisit this razor again later

The Straight Road - Interlude: Show and Tell
Today was a good day for my den, so I figured I'd share, despite not shaving. I am seeing the fruits of my SGAD as the shipments continue to trickle in at the office. Today I had three separate ones arrive, with a package from the Italian Barber, an Ebay purchase and from Feathergills in the UK all arriving throughout the course of the day. Naturally, I had to take some shots when I got home.

Unpacking the goods.


The W&B (another one that needs new scales)


My Current Brush Lineup (with at least two more on the way!)


The Knots


The Den, now looking a bit more filled out




As you can see, SGAD has me firmly in its clutches. I also had a lathering party with my new brushes to get them broken in a bit, which was certainly educational. Both of the SOC and the Omega Pro 49 beat the crap out of MWF and T&H soap, while the Snakewood Badger has trouble with those soaps. I think I might use it more for creams. That said, the Frank Shaving does fine with soaps, though it's a bigger knot, too. It may just be that I need a bit more practice with the Snakewood to get it down. That said, the Semogue is already shaping up to be an allstar. The creamy, abundant lather it whipped up with MWF in no time was astonishing to me. The Pro 49 also stinks to high heaven, so that's going to take some working in.

All in all, a pretty good den-building day on The Straight Road.

I might have some time for some more sanding on my Manhattan Cutlery this evening, depending on how things go. Or maybe, just maybe, I'll take a crack at honing my TI Le Canadien Snakewood.

Just like in my den, there are lots of options!

Cheers,

Jack

Dude, this is getting crazy out of hand....


ahhhh.....I love it.....love it!

I honed. I also just got some good advice in a PM. I'll report back later today or tomorrow.

Woohoo!