Thread: The Noob Chronicle - My Straight Razor Experience

Hello Jack ,

Glad your enjoying the cutthroat way ! Are you doing x-strokes
when you strop ? I found that when I moved to x-strokes ,
all of my razor's edge was being stropped and consequently ,
stayed much sharper than before .

I have a 6k and Shapton 12k for hones and so far they are
good enough for me to maintain sharp edges !

Cheers ,

Scott

I do a sort of mini x-stroke. With the 3" strops, it just feels strange to do a full X like I did with my smaller one. Maybe I'll get the Poor Man's Strop back out and practice some X strokes on that and see how it feels.

The Straight Road - Part 23: Friday Fun
Well, it was a strange day because nothing new arrived to my office or home mailbox. I had a vague sense of disappointment as I headed home today, as for the first time this week, I didn't have anything new to add to my shave den. Not that this is a bad thing, as SWMBO decided, during the dinner I had prepared for her, that she wanted me to walk her through the finances and show her where everything stands. Bad time for that, considering how much my SGAD has been raging for the past few weeks. Oh well, I managed to deflect that until Sunday, so we'll see where it ends up.

The Anticipation
I had a bit of trouble deciding what gear to use for my shave today. I could give my new T&H soap a go, as I haven't tried it in a shave yet, or I could finish off my T&H sample of Sandalwood cream and ASB. Then there was the option of MWF, which is always a pleasant shave. The final choice came down to a decision between breaking open the T&H Lavender sample, or going for the West Indian Limes, which would give me a new cream, ASB and cologne to try all in one evening. Then there was the brush choice. After using the Frank Shaving brush for a few days, I figured I'd try something new. I've been a bit down on my Vulfix 2234, which has earned the nickname "Old Floppy" based on my experience so far, but I decided that, given it was a cream day, I'd give the brush another go. Finally, I settled on my ERN 5/8" Barber's Notch in ebony, which has given me good experiences in the past.

The Prep
With the decisions out of the way and the razor stropped, I filled my scuttle with near-boiling water from the stove and treated myself to a relatively quick hot shower. I had dinner in the oven, so I had time to ease into the shave and enjoy myself. The shower was nice and hot, despite being a quick one, then I was ready to go. Lime time!

The Lather
Old Floppy did his job. Not pretty, but not so bad, either. The West Indian Limes "cream" looks a bit more like a gel. It seems a bit gooey, though I wonder if that was due to the hot scuttle. It took a while of stirring and whipping to get an adequate lather, but that's all it ever ended up being: adequate. I couldn't get much thickness, though it did end up slick and protective enough. Of course, the thin layer of lather that ended up on my face did cause it to dry some by the time I got to the left side of my face, but it was still lubricated enough to do the job. The T&H creams are pretty nice in terms of scent and, when they lather up, they are comfortable, but I haven't found them to be that cushiony or thick. At least not like I've been able to get from soaps so far. I suspect I might need more practice lathering with creams.

The Shave
The shave was decent. Not as good as yesterday's, but certainly better than the previous one. The smaller, more nimble 5/8" blade maneuvered easily around my face, though I did ding a couple of ingrown bumps, which brought a bit of blood to the show. I also found that I ended up with some burn on the left jawline, as well as the chin area. Though I was concentrating on being careful of my angle and pressure, I still haven't mastered this razor, or really any of my razors, so I expect these speedbumps as I go along.

The Movember Report
The little guy did a good job of moving around the mo'. I had no trouble with getting close, but not running into, the budding 'stache, so I was pleased with that. I am now at four days growth and looking decidedly scruffy in the upper lip area. SWMBO is already at the eye rolling stage, so I can only imagine what will happen when I have a more full mo'.

The Post
I did my alum, then witch hazel, then the T&H West Indian Limes ASB. The scent of the ASB isn't my favourite, as the first thing I thought of was lemon-scented Pledge, the furniture polish. I dabbed on the cologne as well, for good measure, and went out to try my latest attempt at making shepherd's pie.


The Verdict
I suppose the beauty of these sample packs is that I have been able to discern which scents, and which types of scents, are more likely to appeal to me, not to mention SWMBO. So far, the Trafalgar, Spanish Leather and, to a lesser extent, the Sandalwood, are the winners. 1805 and Grafton are in the acceptable range, while the Limes are not a keeper for me. I think I'm going to stick with samples for a while, as I am still a bit stung from my Tabac lesson. I have ordered a second T&H sample pack just to give the earlier scents another go around. The shave today was decent, though I ended up with some burn. I'm not unhappy with the shave, but I'm not thrilled, either. Old Floppy is still on the bottom of my brush list, even below my Omega 10005 Boar, but he still got the job done.

And sometimes, on The Straight Road, getting the job done is good enough.

Well, Friday night and I'm going to drink some Irish whiskey and relax. I don't think I'll do any work on restoration or lapping my Chinese 12k, but I will probably get to it over the weekend.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Jack

The Straight Road - Part 24: Dovo Dream
Well, Saturdays are usually busy days around my household. SWMBO Jr. has three dance classes and two rehearsals on Saturdays, which means it's back and forth to the dance school, early in the morning then late in the afternoon. Today, SWMBO lured me into taking them to a shopping mall in the interim, which usually does not bode well. Not that I don't enjoy the occasional chance to browse some clothing or take a look at some books or something, but usually, when I hit a mall, I have a goal. I don't go to look around, I go because I need something and I am going to buy it. Today, we were getting a pair of jeans for SWMBO Jr. and a book from the series she is currently reading. That's what hooked me into going. I figured that'd be an hour, then we could head home and relax for a while before heading back to dance school. Well...it took over three hours. We left with a book, a sweater, a new coat and, in my case, a headache and a renewed hatred for crowded stores. Needless to say, when I finally got home, I needed to get some time to unwind and relax. I needed to shave.

The Anticipation
Finally, I was going to be able to shower and shave! I had been contemplating this moment for quite some time, trying to figure out what I was going to do for my shave today. I decided to go simple. No scuttle today, no super- or über-lather. Just a boar brush, my bowl of T&H Luxury Shaving Soap and my DOVO 6/8" in Ironwood. I figured it was a good way to give the T&H its first go, as well as giving the boar brush another workout, as I think it still isn't 100% broken in. At least, my nose tells me so when the brush is wet.

The Prep
Like I said, I kept it simple. I dunked the brush in a small bowl of hot water and then dunked myself in a hot shower. I went with the Real Shaving Exfoliating Scrub today, which I find is doing well in a rotation with the creamy face wash. The RazoRock Artisan Coconut soap I have been using really makes for a nice bathing experience, combined with my bristle body brush, I emerged scrubbed and refreshed, ready to put the boar to the soap.

The Lather
I swirled the boar on the soap about ten times, then, forgoing the bowl, I went straight to a face lather. This brush really is getting nice and soft and comfortable, though I am finding it a bit small. When I get my next boar brush, I will probably go for something a bit larger, like the Semogue Owner's Club or the Omega 10049 brush, both of which are in the 24-25mm range, as opposed to the 22mm knot on my 10005. That said, for anyone looking for an entry level, inexpensive brush, the bang for buck quotient on this one is off the charts. You can pick them up at Shopper's Drug Mart in Canada for under $15 and they are worth every penny.

Face-lathering is something I do infrequently, but whenever I do it I always wonder if I shouldn't do it more often. The lather I got today was somewhat foamy, but the soft cushion it formed on my face, along with the glide it gave to the razor, were nothing short of outstanding. I am thinking I might try face-lathering with my Custom Snakewood brush, which is badger, but has a shorter loft and might do well on the face with some soap. I also have my black badger knot, which is supposed to be a bit stiffer and scritchier than silvertip or super, so that might work once I've set it in a handle. All in all, the lather I got was enough for two passes and touch-ups, a bit thin, but lubricating and moisturizing. T&H Soap is officially on the Keepers List.

The Shave
Dreamy. Smooth. Wonderful. This razor is, without a doubt, a gem. I have had some of my best shaves with this one and today was probably my best shave yet with a straight. It glided so smoothly over my face on the first pass that I had to check to make sure it was still sharp and I wasn't running the wrong side over my skin. It was that smooth. Suffice it to say that it was removing stubble with ease. The lather really helped and I wonder if the face-lathering contributed to the overall smoothness by allowing the whiskers to be softened up that much more. Wouldn't it be something if the $15 boar brush was the key to getting a nice shave? I'll have to read my previous entries in this chronicle to check how my other shaves have gone with this razor and the Omega. The second pass was just as smooth as the first, with the glide feeling almost too comfortable. This blade is the same shape as the Dovo Bismarck, which is a razor that has now been added to my shopping list. At this point, if I had to pick just one blade from my collection to use, it would be this one. Chin touch-ups went flawlessly, though I did end up with a touch of burn on the jawline from one too many touch-up passes there. I am also still getting a bit of neck irritation, despite no burn or discomfort there. I think my neck is just extra-sensitive.

The Movember Report
Not much to say here. The round point wasn't tough to maneuver around the 'stache. I'm getting much better at avoiding the growing hairs there, so at least I can say that my 5-day growth is starting to look more moustache-like.
Here's a photo of the current progress:


The Post
It's an easy cleanup with no scuttle or bowl to worry about. Just rinse your brush, put your soap away and you're done. The alum did its thing on my face, showing a bit of sting under the jawline where I'd overdone it. Then some Life Brand witch hazel came in to soothe things and was followed by some T&H Sandalwood ASB, whose scent is growing on me. After that, I applied some T&H Spanish Leather, which I really like, even though it doesn't necessarily make a good complement to the Sandalwood. The Dovo went for 25/50 on the SRD Premium IV and was laid to rest in a position of honour, ready for the next time it is called on.

The Verdict
As you can see from the pic of my ugly mug, the shave was smooth, despite the random red bumps on my neck. I really like the way this razor shaves so far. Out of the few that I've tried, this is by far the smoothest. I really do enjoy shaving with this razor. Not enough to buy more of them just yet, because I still want to try my vintage Sheffields, especially the W&Bs. Overall, this was just a great end to a long day. A pleasurable shave.

Nothing beats a pleasurable shave on The Straight Road.

I am going to try something a bit different this week. I have been rotating everything, from products to lathering technique to strop to razor and brush. While fun, this might be hampering my improvement as far as technique goes, as I attempt to master four different straight razors at once, plus a DE. I am going to shave with the Dovo for the next little while and see how the different products go with the same razor. I want to face lather and scuttle lather with each brush, as well as trying each product a few times. I suppose it won't be as interesting in terms of variety of products, but as far as determining what gives me a good, comfortable shave, I think this will work. Of course, once I hone my new TI, that one will likely get its own run of featured days, as well.

On the subject of honing, I have yet to find the time to lap my 12k, nor have I had much chance to work on my restorations. That said, I'm not in a hurry. I am on a road of discovery and I've already sprinted down the SGAD portion of that path. I'm going to try to take things slower from here forward, stop and smell the aftershaves, so to speak.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Jack

On the topic of brushes, I like my Omega Boar and Synthetic much more when I'm using soaps and my AOS Badger when using creams

I have heard that before. I find that I don't have much trouble with soaps with either type of hair, but that might be because every soap I've used so far has been either soft (Proraso) or grated into a different container. I have yet to use a hard puck as is. That will change when my MWF order finally arrives from England.

There is a break in period with the Boar brushes, after 10-15 uses they seem softer and pickup and hold lather better. Badgers don't seem to really need much break in time. The Omega synthetic is really a fine brush, for me it works better than Boar or Badger on hard soaps, it has the backbone of Boar and the lather holding of Badger.

The Straight Road - Interlude: Touching Up
Yesterday evening, while cleaning up from my shave, I dinged the edge of my Dovo 6/8 Ironwood on my fingernail. I couldn't see anything, but later on when I was putting the razor back in its protective sheath, I happened to catch the light and noticed the ding. I looked at it with my x15 loupe and, sure enough, it had a little nick in the middle of the blade, right at the apex of the edge. Not really easy to see with the naked eye, but it was there.

I posted a thread about it in the honing section of the forum and the ever-helpful Maxi suggested I give the razor ten passes on my Norton 8k stone. Of course, the first time I could find a few minutes to even do that was this evening at 10 pm, so here I am.

I went for 10 passes, doing my best to maintain full edge contact with the hone. I know I'm going to need practice, but I was at least pleased the my razor was sort of pushing the water over the surface of the hone. After my 10 passes were up, I checked the blade and the little burrs of the nick were polished out, but there was the tiniest of chips in the edge, so small you can't see it unless you use the loupe. I've asked for more advice and hopefully will be able to shave with this razor, as it was my intention to use it for several days.

But despite the challenges of the edge...I HONED! I mean, I know it wasn't a full bevel-setting, dull to sharp honing job, but it was still my first time putting a razor on a stone, so I am pretty excited about the experience. I can't wait to try some more of this.

Oh yes, there are stones on The Straight Road!

Cheers,

Jack

Hi jack, how did it feel honing? i was quite worried with what i had to do to my first razor, but i used it this morning and had quite a nice shave with it. and that was a full bread-knife, bevel re-set the works. quite a job for a newbie like me, but i suppose the practice with all the knives that i have might have helped as its not the first time i've done something like that, just not with something quite so delicate!
on a different note, have you tried getting a sample pack from trumpers? i have one and its quite good, it has little platsic screw top pots of shave cream and a couple of little plastic bottles of skin food.

as ever i anjoyed reading your endevours
steve

Thanks Steve. I actually have a Trumper's sample pack on the way, thanks for the tip.

I found the honing fun, but it's a challenge keeping the blade straight and flat on the hone while not applying pressure. I need to work on that. I am planning on honing my TI Le Canadien in Snakewood from bevel to shave-ready, so that will be an interesting challenge.