Thread: The Noob Chronicle - My Straight Razor Experience

The Straight Road - Interlude: Strop Sanding
While I'm at it, I'll add the photos of my strop sanding experience. It went alright, though I have no idea if my strop came out of it in any sort of decent shape. I guess time will tell. I started with 220 grit and worked my way up through 400, 600, 1000 and 1500. I then finished it off with a glass wine bottle rub, some neatsfoot oil then a treatment of a full bowl of Mitchell's Wool Fat lather, rubbed in by hand. In between sanding, I wiped the strop down with a slightly damp cloth. The photos show my progression as listed here.

The Verdict
The strop is nice and smooth and my test razor (the H&H) glides over it very nicely now that the nicks are reduced. I'm not sure if the draw is alright or not, but it still feels like there's some resistance when I strop. Either way, I'll probably be ordering a new strop in the next little while.

The Straight Road - Part 9: Alien Invasion
I am writing this as a warning to those of you in the world who are not aware. There are aliens on the planet Earth and they are working to take over. How do I know this? I recently fell victim to their technology regression program, also known as "Traditional Shaving". It appears that their leader, who goes by the name of "Lynn", has long fostered this regression in technology, prompting converts to use old-fashioned shaving techniques and 19th century implements in their grooming routines. I believe these aliens are using some sort of brainwashing, as I have found myself compulsively reading about shaving, looking at photographs of shaving equipment and spending more money than I should on said equipment. There may be some form of drugs involved, as I've read discussions of things like lanolin, glycerin and other such exotic-sounding materials. I also feel like shaving way more often than I ever have in my life. Almost obsessively so. This "Lynn" masquerades as an enormously helpful, knowledgeable and available shaving expert. He offers tips and tricks, a large wiki and even a DVD, all obviously designed to get you hooked on straight shaving, thus furthering the plot to revert to a simpler time. I think I am wise to his ways, but for some reason, I just...can't...stop...

Anticipation
I wasn't going to shave. I had no plans to shave. My new DOVO 6/8" with ironwood scales was resting calmly on the razor stand alongside my Vulfix 2234 Super Badger, just sort of gleaming enticingly at me in the rather bright light of the bathroom. I had spent quite a bit of time working on sanding my strop, which was now hanging in its usual spot on the towel rack. Why did I shave? What triggered it? Three days in a row? Am I crazy? Possessed? Brainwashed? I guess so...

The Prep
There wasn't really any prep. After making lather with the MWF for my strop conditioning, I thought that I'd try a face lather before going to bed and use that as my evening face wash. I'm a little hazy on the details, but after lathering up, somehow the razor just leapt into my hands and next thing I knew, I was shaving.

The Lather
Mitchell's Wool Fat shaving soap and my Omega 10005 boar bristle brush did the job, and they did it well. I was practicing face-lathering MWF, adding water slowly and swirling it around my face and neck. After several minutes of this, I had a nice, thick lather formed, so how could I not try it out? The lather did well and didn't dry out too badly on my face. I was happy with the outcome, though for the second pass and touch-ups, I did add a bit more water. I had plenty of lather for two passes and a little cleaning up at the end.

The Shave
Surprisingly decent, given there was neither intention, nor prep beyond lathering up. My skin did protest a bit at being shaved three days in a row, but overall, the new DOVO is an amazing thing, shave-ready as advertised and very comfortable. The thumb notch makes holding it very easy and there is a solid feel to it which my 5/8" ERN just doesn't have. Even without jimps, I never felt like it was going anywhere. I did two passes and touch-ups and didn't get any cuts, while I did manage to get a tiny nick on the side of my chin, though that was gone by this morning. Through two passes, WTG and XTG, I felt quite confident, even though this was a new tool for me. The touch-ups also went quite well. This razor is a pleasure to use, even in inexperienced hands like mine. I can't wait to grow into it!

The Post
After no prep, I took my time and carefully rinsed with lukewarm water, then applied my alum block. This did sting a fair amount, as I think my skin is not used to so much shaving in so little time, especially at the mercy of my noob hands. I followed with cold water and witch hazel, then applied a drop of T&H Trafalgar which I had left. I did find that the soap dried my skin a bit more than the creams do, so I ended up pulling out the RealShaving moisturizing ASB and giving that a good go on my face. I then let that dry while I cleaned up, wiped up the sink and rinsed out the brush. I took the DOVO to my strop and it went quite well, with only a few superficial little dings on the strop and the blade gliding smoothly. After stropping, my face still felt tight, so I applied another dab of the balm.

The Verdict
Not bad. Not bad at all! Three days in a row might be a bit much for my face, as I was definitely feeling a bit of burn, though nothing so bad as to be of great discomfort. My face was still smooth in the morning and the ingrown hairs I often get when I shave too frequently don't seem too bad, so far. All in all, I am happy with my experiment, though I'm not sure if I'll shave again this evening. I guess it depends on what signals the Overmind sends out

The real question is: does The Straight Road lead into outer space?

I'm having a bit of fun, but I really do appreciate all the help, advice and the wealth of knowledge I've found in this community!

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Jack

The Straight Road - Part 10: Mitchell's to the Rescue
I made it to ten! It's been interesting so far and I'm starting to feel a bit better about my technique. In my initial flurry of activity as I get into the hobby side of traditional shaving, I've probably acquired more gear than is good for me, as well as spending more money than was necessary, but overall I am happy and I have sort of reached a point where I feel like I don't *need* to get anything else. Except maybe a new strop. Oh, and a 7/8" blade. And maybe a Wade & Butcher vintage. Possibly an ebony handled brush. Also a little windowed cabinet for the wall in my bathroom. And a new towel rack for my shaving towels. Does this ever stop?

The Prep
I started my prep on the strop. My DOVO 6/8" with the desert ironwood scales has the best edge of my current crop of shavers, so I decided to ride it until I can get the other ones honed up to standard. The sanding I did the other night is paying off, as I have a pretty large, nick-free surface to strop upon. I went for about 30 passes, which did the job, I think. The strop is working nicely and I can feel it working in compared to when I first got it. This done, I laid aside the steel and entered the shower, allowing the hot water to do its work on my face. Hopping out, I dried off all over, with the exception of my face, and applied the eShave orange sandalwood oil. Next up...

The Lather
I went with my T&H 1805 sample. Though there wasn’t much left, I figured I had enough there to get a decent lather. I started with the Vulfix 2234 Super Badger, giving the cream time to build up into a nice lather, swirling it around until I was satisfied with the results. It may have been a bit thin, but it was acceptable for the first pass. Unfortunately, that was it. I got one pass out of it and then I decided to bring in the cavalry: Mitchell’s Wool Fat soap. I pulled it out and in a few minutes I’d whipped up a new batch of creamy lather. Not quite a superlather, but maybe sort of a semi-heroic lather. I mean, we can’t all have an S on our chests, can we? Anyway, this lather came through and my affinity for MWF is growing daily.

The Shave
As you read in the lather portion of my tale, things went a bit strangely on this shave, yet at the end of it I was pretty happy with how it went down. Taking up my DOVO 6/8” Ironwood, I proceeded with the right sideburn, a light, firm, smooth stroke down to the jaw. I’ve been concentrating on stretching, so instead of trying to go around the edge of the jawline, I really stretched the skin upwards, which exposed more whiskers for shaving and ultimately helped me eliminate the little rough patch I usually have at the corner of the jaw. I proceeded with my WTG pass, taking special care to do a complete job but with a light touch.

When I returned to the lather for my second pass, I found almost nothing left in the bowl, which prompted me to pull out the MWF. What a great move! I got myself a bunch of nice, creamy lather for my second pass, which I did after splashing water on my face and lathering up with the MWF/1805 combo. This one was ATG and again, I paid special attention to the jawline area and the sides of the chin, as well as trying a bit of a different ATG--from the cheek toward the lips, as opposed to from the middle of the mouth sideways—which ultimately gave me a better moustache shave than in the past. I’ve been battling the chin area and this time I made sure to give it extra attention, touching up quite a bit and even switching my grip on the razor and doing some underhanded passes upward under the chin. This resulted in my best shave yet in that area. All in all, the MWF saved the shave and the outcome was very favourable. I only found out later that my “soul patch” area could have used a bit more attention, but hey, live and learn, right?

The Post
I went with a warm water rinse, then the alum, then cold, then the witch hazel splash. After that, I dried my razor thoroughly and stropped it for 30 passes, then laid it aside and returned to my face, applying some 1805 ASB. It was quite soothing and the burn was minimal, though I did have a bit of burn on the jawline and neck sides later on. I finished up by grabbing a book and heading to bed, as SWMBO was beginning to bug me about how much time I was taking, as she had an early morning ahead.

The Verdict
Number ten was very nice. I was quite pleased at getting pretty close to BBS on the chin and not cutting or irritating that area. There is still long road ahead of me on the overall technique and I am looking forward to learning as I go, but I am definitely gaining confidence in my strokes and in what the razor can and can’t do. I was quite happy that I was able to save the lather disaster by whipping up a quick bowl of MWF, though I am still not too pleased with my Vulfix 2234 brush. I have a couple of different, larger badger brushes inbound, so when I get them I look forward to trying them out and comparing.
Nothing like a bit of experimenting on The Straight Road!

My Robert Becker scuttle just arrived, a nice all black with a brush-soaking reservoir. I am looking forward to giving it a try, though it may have to wait until tomorrow as the closeness of shave #10 may make a shave this evening out of the question. We’ll see, I guess.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Jack

PS: Here are a couple of my unboxing shots of my new scuttle:

That scuttle looks like a Robert Becker....!! Can't go wrong for the money, thats for sure.

I'm also enjoying the use of acronyms in your prose, specifically, SWMBO.

Nice posts Jack.

Originally Posted by Maxi

That scuttle looks like a Robert Becker....!! Can't go wrong for the money, thats for sure.

I'm also enjoying the use of acronyms in your prose, specifically, SWMBO.

Nice posts Jack.

Thanks. I think, with her personality, there are definitely times where she MBO, it's just easier. The scuttle a Robert Becker and it is great and I did shave tonight. I'll post my thoughts tomorrow

The Straight Road - Part 11: The Scuttle Adventure
With my new Robert Becker #9 Scuttle safely nestled in my backpack, I bustled off to my dad's to help him set up his new computer. He is somewhat technologically challenged, so I figured I'd lend a hand and help him get up and running. His gratitude included dinner and a couple of wobbly pops. Then I headed home to the apartment, toying with the idea of a shave.

The Anticipation
Being three beers in, I was somewhat trepidatious about taking hyper-sharp steel to my face, especially just a day after having such a nice shave. But hey, there would be no story today if I hadn’t shaved, so you know I ended up going for it! The new scuttle was excuse enough and I also wanted to see how my face would hold up after getting such a close shave just 24 hours prior.

The Prep
A kettle on the stove, I headed to the bathroom to knock out with 30 passes of the DOVO 6/8” Ironwood on the Poor Man’s, then laid aside my steel and headed back to put the not-quite-boiling water into the scuttle. I left my brush to soak in the brush reservoir and hopped in the shower. I find this really helps get things softened up, I used my RealShaving Exfoliating Face Scrub to really get in and soften up the short whiskers on my face, plus to help tease out any ingrown hairs that might be kicking around the neck area. As soon as I was out of the shower, I massaged a few drops of eShave orange sandalwood into my face and neck, towelled off and got ready for a whole new experience – scuttle lathering!

The Lather
Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! Did I say wow? I meant, WOW! I love my new scuttle a lot. Like, really a lot. It was a bit awkward at first, as the bowl is a bit narrower and deeper than what I’ve been using, but the Vulfix 2234 about which I’ve been less than thrilled for the past few shaves certainly did a wonderful job in this vessel. I chose my T&H Grafton sample for this shave, which smells really nice. I still haven’t found a T&H whose smell I don’t like, though SWMBO likes 1805 the best, so far. Anyway, I don’t know if it was the new cream, the new scuttle shape, the beers or the warmth of the vessel, but I got such an amazing lather that I was in shock. Creamy, thick, protective and slick (that rhymes!). It was a dream to apply warm lather for three passes and touch-ups. I love my new scuttle. A lot.

The Shave
With such amazing lather, how could I not enjoy my shave? I took my time and enjoyed myself, letting the warm, pleasant-smelling lather absorb into my whiskers and simply gliding the razor over my skin. My improved proficiency at stretching has really started to pay off, as I got my closest shave yet and very little irritation, despite shaving so soon after shave number 10. The first pass was nice and easy, WTG and smooth. The second was XTG and was a bit trickier, though I managed the moustache and jawline areas alright. I still had my challenges in the chin zone. The third was another XTG, opposite of pass two, and it was pretty decent. I managed to get quite smooth on the chin, with no patchiness on the jawline and the troublesome soul patch was smoother than ever. Overall I managed what I would consider a PDS (pretty decent shave – is that even an “official” acronym? ). The chin touch-ups were better than ever, really close and only a slight bit of patchiness around the scar, with no cuts or nicks.

The Post
A lukewarm water rinse was first, then the alum application. I dried off my blade and laid it aside, then did a cold rinse and slapped on some witch hazel. While I let that sit for a bit, I went for 30 passes on the strop, then dried between the ironwood scales with toilet paper and made sure the blade was dry and clean before laying it aside. Then I went for more cold water, cleaned up my countertop and rinsed out my scuttle and brush, which were still slightly warm! After that, I applied the T&H Galfton aftershave balm, finished tidying the bathroom, touched up with some Galfton cologne from the sampler and went out to check what was happening in the bedroom...

The Verdict
Smooth, fun and a big yes to the Robert Becker scuttle. This was, by far, my most enjoyable and smooth shave yet with a straight. Things are starting to get better. The warm lather is so awesome that I almost don’t know how you can go without it! I had a very little bit of burn after the shave, a bit on the sides of my neck and along the jawline, but I got extra smooth on the chin, the soul patch and the moustache area, which is a new thing for me. Maybe I was more relaxed and more fearless because of the beers, but all in all, this shave gets a big two thumbs up.

I think I’m beginning to enjoy my ride on The Straight Road.

Another day, another new shaving toy for me. My Frank Shaving faux ebony silvertip just arrived while I was writing this. I took a cellphone shot which I’ve uploaded here. I went for the big, 28mm knot and I can already say it’s a denser knot than my Vulfix. I also really like the heft of the brush, which feels very heavy and solid in my hands. I can’t wait to get home and try it out, though I’m not sure I’ll shave this evening. Wait, haven’t I said that before?

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Jack

Here's a shot of shave #11's gear. I've just finished #12, so I'll write it up soon and get the pics up.