Thread: The Noob Chronicle - My Straight Razor Experience

Thanks Joe, that's a good idea, though part of my face lathering is to skip the scuttle and the boiling water and all that. I might look into getting a Moss or a Dirty Bird brush scuttle for those evenings when I feel like face lathering

Originally Posted by jdto

Thanks Joe, that's a good idea, though part of my face lathering is to skip the scuttle and the boiling water and all that. I might look into getting a Moss or a Dirty Bird brush scuttle for those evenings when I feel like face lathering

+1 Joe.

I have taken to a mix of face and bowl lathering.
It very much helps with a large floppy brush. I also
have lather in the bowl for additional passes.

As for keeping the lather warm a scuttle is great
yet I find a pint kitchen storage container works wonders.
It has almost no thermal mass so it does not hold or
steal heat. A couple dribbles of hot tape water
worked into the lather warms it nice enough for me.
It is no hot lather machine but it is sure inexpensive.

I will post a pix some day on another thread....
but it is a round red top, Rubbermaid pint container.
Three for $4 or so.

The Straight Road - Part 41: A Real Shave
Yesterday evening marked the end of Movember, a test shave for my Dovo edge, which was finished on a Norton 8k and a run-out of the Real Shaving lineup of products. A busy evening!

The Anticipation
This week of test-shaving razors has been a lot of fun. I haven't had too many problems with the edges so far, with the possible exception of the W&B Invincible needing some more attention. I have been very pleased with the edge on my Dovo Ironwood 6/8, but alas, it suffered the misfortune of an inopportune meeting with one of my fingernails. As such, it was going to need the small chip honed out at some point, which Maxi was kind enough to do for me during our weekend session of restoration and honing. Of course, I have several razors needing their edges tested, so this one finally had its turn yesterday evening. It was also with great relief that I hailed the end of Movember, as I could finally divest myself of the growth on my upper lip!

The Prep
I was back to the scuttle, so I put a pot of water on to boil and filled it up, dunking my Bryce C 24mm Silvertip Ironwood brush in the reservoir. Then it was a hot shower with Real Shaving Exfoliating Scrub to finish things off. After that, I was ready to go. While I prepped, I massaged some of the Real Shaving Shaving Oil into my whiskers. I'm not 100% convinced on oils, but I have it, so I might as well use it, especially when using their whole "system".

The Lather
This Real Shaving stuff just might be the best bang for buck shaving cream on the market. It smells really nice, it lathers well and it costs under $7. I whipped up a bowl full of lather in no time, the wonderful silvertip knot on my Bryce C brush doing its job with aplomb. The lather was abundant, thick and creamy, made even more enjoyable by the light floral scent. Truly a great product that I can recommend to any noob who doesn't want to break the bank while getting a great-performing cream. I had enough lather for about five or six passes, so I'll probably use a little bit less cream next time. That lather didn't dry out and it was nice and warm from the scuttle. I left the first round on my face while I stropped on the SRD 3" Black Latigo, giving it time to sink in and moisturize the whiskers, then it was onto the first pass.

The Shave
The Dovo was wonderful. I am not sure if I can say this with complete confidence, but I think I can feel the difference between the edges finished on the 8k vs. the one finished on a coticule, as the Dovo had been previously. I know Maxi also finished my Le Canadien Black Horn on his Escher, so I can also compare an 8k finish on my Snakewood Le Canadien to that. There is a smoothness difference, which I think my sensitive skin can detect. Mind you, it's not that the Dovo is uncomfortable, it still shaves very smoothly and provided me no issues through a three-pass shave, but it just felt a touch less benign than the coti edge. Is this a mental thing on my part? Maybe. It's possible that I am just thinking this because this is the way it's supposed to be, as opposed to actually feeling it for myself, but perception and reality are funny things. Anyway, the bottom line is that the 8k edge is still a great edge and I had a nice, comfortable shave with almost no razor burn and no nicks or cuts. The only place that got a touch tender was the left side of my Adam's Apple, which is just like that, and a small area in the moustache zone, which was my technique, not the razor. All in all, a nice smooth shave and another learning experience that should help me with honing in the future.

The Movember Report
It's gone! The Dovo mowed down the mo' with no issues whatsoever, other than an overzealous stroke of mine that left a touch of irritation.
Here are the before and after shots:

You can see the slight irritation of a couple of stubborn hairs on the left side of my throat, but I tend to get ingrowns on my neck no matter what, as the whiskers grow sideways, so I am used to dealing with that.

The Post
First I rinsed the brush and scuttle, stowing them on their respective shelves, then I was on to the cold water rinse on my face. I followed that with a splash of witch hazel, then the Real Shaving Moisturizing ASB. It's another great little bargain product which soothes and has a pleasant scent. SWMBO likes it better than most of my other scents, as she told me "why don't you just use that instead of all those fancy soaps and creams from London?". She just doesn't get it, but then again, I can't complain, because the scent of Real Shaving gets me in the good books!

The Verdict
The fact that these 8k edges are feeling so nice is a positive, as it means that when I get my new hones, I'll be able to do some experimenting with finishers, of which I'll have three, or even four, if you count my mystery black slate, which I still haven't identified 100%. Of course, that will mean I'll need a lot of razors to hone in order to play around and test edges. Life is hard!

Great times, great shaves and great fun. The Straight Road delivers!

Phew, I'm glad I finally had some time to sit and type for a while. I am almost ready for today's shave and yesterday's was still not written up. Still, it was a worthy day and this weekend, if I have the time, I might take one of my 8k edges to the Chinese 12k I have sitting here, just to see how it feels. As always, I'll be sure to let you guys know how it goes.

Until then, thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Jack

I have to say that I wish I could chronicle my progression with such eloquence. A very informative and entertaining post!! I have experienced many of the same pitfalls, being a newb myself, but not having the same array of equipment I have less options to explore.

Thank you for the detail and time you have put into each post and I look forward to reading more in the future.

Originally Posted by jdto

Thanks Joe, that's a good idea, though part of my face lathering is to skip the scuttle and the boiling water and all that. I might look into getting a Moss or a Dirty Bird brush scuttle for those evenings when I feel like face lathering

Hey Jack ! Gotta tell you I just got a Dirty bird Scuttle and it puts all others to shame! It holds the heat unusually well and keeps my lather nice and warm all the way through my shave.
It has quickly become indispensable. They take a while to get as there made to order but worth the wait. If you want one before christmas I would order it now.

Good Shaving, Ben

Yeah, my Robert Becker scuttle does a great job of it when I bowl lather, but the Dirty Bird Brush Scuttle might be an option for face lathering days.

The Straight Road - Part 42: Life, The Universe, Everything and a Shave
Yesterday evening when I arrived home, I was a bit burnt out. The apartment was empty, as SWMBO had taken SWMBO Jr. to her dance rehearsals. That left me with some housework, a bit of cooking and then pretty much nothing to do. I was considering working on my bocote wood scales, which need some time put into them in order to finish up, but I wasn't feeling inspired. I admit I was feeling generally listless and uninspired, up to and including skipping my shave for the evening and just vegging out in front of the TV or the computer. But I knew that wouldn't get me anywhere, so I decided the only solution to my malaise was action.

The Anticipation
Thiers-Issard 6/8" Le Canadien Inclined Nose in Snakewood scales. That is the razor that has given me fits coming off the hones. It's a bit daunting to put a razor that expensive on a stone for your very first honing exercise, but that's what I did. My first attempt with it wasn't very successful, requiring me to return to the bevel-setting stage. The second go was better, producing an edge that, while not very comfortable, at least removed hair from my face. This was my third crack at this blade, so I was hoping the result would be better. I love the blade, with it's beautiful polished steel and almost delicate hollow grind combining with the intricate pattern of the snakewood to make for a spectacular-looking razor. Now the shave needed to live up to the looks. I still have a rather large stock of samples kicking around, so I decided to use my half-finished T&H West Indian Limes cream and ASB sampler for this shave. The brush was, of course, my PC Woodcraft 24mm Super Silvertip Snakewood.

The Prep
Foregoing the boiling water, I filled my scuttle with very hot tap water and then zapped it for a minute in the microwave and took it into the bathroom. My brush went into the soaking reservoir and I went into the shower, where a quick scrub and a face wash with my regular soap made quick work of that. Then it was on to the lather after a quick towelling off.

The Lather
Truefitt & Hill makes very nice shaving creams and West Indian Limes is definitely one of them in terms of performance. The lather came up thick and abundant, with more than enough for my three passes and touch-ups. The scent, however, wasn't my favourite. I lathered up first, then did a 30/60 on the SRD Black Latigo strop, allowing the lather to prep my whiskers a bit more. I found this lather a bit uncomfortable on the face, as it almost, but not quite, felt like it was burning. I hadn't had this sensation before, so I wonder if it's something in the specific sample I had, or this particular scent. Either way, it's not going on "the list".

The Shave
Redemption and glory. The blade sang a wonderful song as it swiped the whiskers away smoothly, with neither discomfort nor nicks and even avoiding irritation on my sensitive lower neck area. I think it's safe to say that my persistence with honing this razor has paid off. I went for three passes and got one of my best and smoothest straight razor shaves to date. I don't know if it was the extra hollow grind or just my improving technique, but it seems like this one is a winner in the close shaves department. It has risen several spots on the favourites list, for sure. Even the touch-ups around the chin seemed to go quite smooth and I ended up with a very nice shave.

The Post
The brush and scuttle came first, getting that task out of the way so I could enjoy my post-shave routine. I applied the alum bar first, which only stung a little bit, then followed it with witch hazel, which soothed my skin and left it feeling invigorated. Strangely enough, the West Indian Limes ASB did sting a fair amount, yet another strike against that scent. I hadn't experienced much burn from the T&H ASB before, so I've got to put it down to the limes in particular. I guess it just doesn't agree with my face. Once that was done, I dabbed on some West Indian Limes Cologne, to complete my transformation into a walking citrus fruit, and took the razor for another 30 passes on the leather.

The Verdict
I may not have found the meaning to Life, The Universe and Everything, but I do think I found something close: a great shave! This is what it's all about and the satisfaction of getting a smooth and comfortable shave out of an edge I did myself is a great one.

I look forward to many more great shaves on The Straight Road!

There is a danger to getting a successful honing job done and dusted, which is the desire to hone everything. I took my kitchen knives to the Nortons the other night and now I'm eyeing my restore jobs speculatively. This is fun.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Jack

Originally Posted by jdto

The Straight Road - Part 42: Life, The Universe, Everything and a Shave
[...]
I may not have found the meaning to Life, The Universe and Everything, but I do think I found something close: a great shave!

It's only when reading the second hint that I understood ...

The Straight Road - Part 43: An Unplanned Shave & Some Restoration
This morning I was planning to have my usual shower and shave routine, but I was undecided as to which soap to use. I have a sample of Irisch Moos that I haven't tried yet, so that was one option, while the other choice was my T&H Luxury Shaving Soap, which I haven't used in a while and has been calling to me. I decided to give the Moos a test lather to see how it was, check out the scent and texture and ease of lathering. I must say, my Omega Pro 49 is barging its way to the top of my "Favourite Brush" ranking in a hurry. All these fancy badger brushes and the cheap boar is the charmer. Backbone, soft tips and ploughs through soaps like nobody's business. Given that I'm partial to soaps, I suppose that's a good place to start. Anyway, the Moos lathered up nicely and smells good, too, so I was definitely going to use it. But then I figured, since I was doing practice lathers, why not give the T&H a whirl? Well, one thing led to another and, before I knew it, I was shaving. Without prep and without having showered...

The Anticipation
I had been looking forward to my Saturday shave, given I had skipped Friday and because I knew I'd have the time to enjoy it. I had earmarked my W&B Bow Razor, which did such a wonderful job in its maiden voyage, for this shaving adventure. The brush to accompany it was, of course, the aforementioned Omega Pro 49. I'm going to try not to ramble on about how great this brush is, I promise! Anyway, I was quite looking forward to shaving with this pair, along with trying a new soap, but I suppose the new soap part of things would have to wait.

The Prep
There wasn't really any prep. I test-lathered the Irisch Moos and applied it to my face, checking the consistency and the feel on my skin. Then I washed the wonderful lather down the drain and would have gone on with my household duties before returning for a shower and shave routine, but something caused me to pick up the T&H soap. After building a second wonderful lather in the space of ten minutes, an overwhelming compulsion took hold of me and, almost without conscious thought, the W&B Bow Razor appeared in my hand, poised for its graceful descent down my right cheek.

The Lather
I've pretty much covered this, but I can elaborate on the wonderful T&H soap. It has a very nice scent, though I'd be hard-pressed to describe it exactly. There is some lemony citrus there, but nothing like the overpowering West Indian Limes from yesterday. Other scents balance it out and, combined with the wonderful lather it produces, make it a keeper on my soap list. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how my Omega Pro 49 performed, but suffice it to say that it was a pleasurable and enchanting lathering experience. What a brush! I still can't get over how amazingly it is breaking in and the ease with which it produces and distributes wonderful lather. Truly a magnificent and worthy addition to any shave den and, at $10, how can you not have one?

The Shave
Although it's a touch on the small side for my taste, the fact that it is about a 1/4 or 1/2 hollow makes up for the relatively smaller profile of this blade. As I head in the direction of 6/8" and up, this one comes in at about 11/16ths, but those are 11/16ths of amazing shaver. The edge just sort of glides over your face, but the whiskers come off. There is some feedback, though it doesn't sing to me like my TI razors. That said, it tells me a wonderful story and keeps me company during the shave, all three passes of it. Today's shave was a bit of a breakthrough for me, as I decided to try a new technique for the third pass on my neck. Usually, I go WTG on my face, which is North-South, then I do the same on my neck, which sort of makes that an XTG. My second pass is nose/chin out toward the ears, while the third pass reverses this, coming in from the ears and ending at the chin. On my neck this doesn't work, as the hair grows from my left to my right. So usually my second pass is a diagonal XTG/ATG combo and my third has been, up until today, another of the same. But today I tried a South to North, thus reversing the XTG and, I can tell you, it took a steady hand to shave in that upward stroke! But in the end, it gave me the smoothest shave I've had on my neck and with the added bonus of cleaning the under-the-chin area with the finishing touches of that area. All in all, smooth and easy. My only difficulties today were a small nick on the front of my chin during an XTG stroke gone wrong and a slight slice under my left nostril, which I attribute to my month hiatus from shaving that area of my face. I've found the 'stache are is going to take some time to get back up to speed.

The Post
First I closed the two nicks, which had begun to bleed, with the styptic pen, then I moved on to alum and witch hazel, with a cold water rinse in between. After that I applied some T&H Sandalwood ASB which was left from one of my samples. I must admit, the scent has grown on me to the point where I might consider adding the AS and cologne to my lineup, but not ahead of the Spanish Leather. The Sandalwood might work better in the summer, too. Anyway, no burn, no irritation, just the two small nicks and a smooth face, so my post cleanup was easy! I rinsed the brush and scuttle, stashing them on the lower shelf of my ever-growing shave den, and that was that.

The Verdict
For a shave that started out as a test-lather, this one turned into one of my best shaves yet, nicks and all. The W&B is a beautiful razor and I am tempted to polish it up a bit, though I am somewhat hesitant to mess with the scales, which are in great shape. I might just keep it in its current state, showing its age but carrying it well. The etching is deep and clear and would surely survive a polishing, but if I ruined the scales I would be disappointed. Either way, the Bow razor has won a permanent spot in my rotation. For now.

After all, the only thing permanent on The Straight Road is the road itself, while our journeys and those of our implements are finite.

After a great start to the day, I decided it would be lax of me not to ride the wave and work on some of my restorations. I pulled out my rotary tool and hooked up the sanding head, which I used to bevel the edges of the bocote wood scales I am making for my Manhattan Cutlery razor. That done, I laid them aside for a while, switched to a pointy-ended grinder and took the pins out of two old W&B razors which I will restore. One of them will need new scales, but the other one will keep its current ones. They both need to be cleaned up and have some rust and pitting removed, while one of them also needs a frown corrected on the blade. The barber's notch also has a chip which will need to be honed out eventually. They will make quite a pair when they are cleaned up and ready to go! I couldn't bring myself to take the Dremel to the Bow Razor, so I decided to hold off.

Here are some photos of today's efforts.

I also managed to snag a kamisori last night from Jim R and won another one on Ebay with one of those bids where you don't think you'll win but you do anyway. I woke up this morning to the notification thinking
"oh crap, I won". That said, I am looking forward to trying a completely different style of straight razor.

One last interesting thing that I found on this wonderful Saturday afternoon came in the Workshop area of SRP. The other day, while in a bit of a daydreaming mood, I drew a sketch of what would be pretty close to my dream razor. This is what it looks like:

Well our fellow member Yazjack rendered it for me and all I can say is WOW!

I'll leave it at that. Some days, all you can say about this hobby and this community is "wow".

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Jack

The Straight Road – Part 44: Samples Everywhere!
Before yesterday evening, my last straight razor shave came on Saturday, so it had been a while. Sunday there was no time for a straight shave before brunch with grandma and so the DE came out for a quick two-pass, smooth shave with my Proraso lineup. Then on Monday the world went insane with rain and grocery shopping and cooking, so before I knew it I was staggering to bed unshaven. That meant that more than hours had gone by before I finally found myself back in front of a mirror with 3” of sharp steel in my hand and foamy lather on my face.

The Anticipation
SWMBO Jr. has ballet on Tuesday evenings, so my mad dash from the office to the school, then on to the dance studio, was a frantic hour of rushing after work. When they say “rush hour”, I often think this is what they mean, though I’m still trying to figure out who “they” are. Nonetheless, things went smoothly and I arrived with enough time to make a sad attempt at a ballet bun in her hair and send her off to class. Then I was able to enjoy a leisurely pint at a nearby pub while I waited, pick her up and head home, where I turned her over to SWMBO for dinner and bath, then headed into the bathroom myself. The shaving lineup for the day was my lovely TI Le Canadien in black horn scales, a 6/8” blade and an inclined nose. The accompanying brush was the Frank Shaving Richmond 28mm Silvertip and the shaving cream was T&H Lavender, as I am trying to work my way through the samples I have.

The Prep
I filled my scuttle with very hot water and dunked my brush before heading into the bathroom. A hot shower was most welcome after a hectic day, accompanied by some Real Shaving Exfoliating Scrub and RazoRock Sandalwood Artisan Bar Soap, I soon felt the Tuesday tensions melting away. I gave my blade 30 passes on the web fabric and a further 50 on the leather of my SRD 3” Black Latigo strop, which is starting to soften up a bit, though it still isn’t anywhere near as broken in as the Premium IV I got from Maxi. Taking the little sample pack of cream, I tore off the top and squeezed a nickel-sized amount into the bottom of the bowl. Time to make some suds!

The Lather
Truefitt & Hill makes very nice products. I have already selected a few from the samples I’ve tried that will likely be regulars in my shaving rotation for a long time. The Trafalgar line is particularly enjoyable, though the scent doesn’t have a lot of staying power, while the soap is likely to be a permanent fixture. But as I move through their cream lineup, I’m not 100% convinced. The lavender cream is very nice, with a nice scent, but I just don’t find it lathers as well for me as soaps have been doing. Generally, I tend to prefer the lather I get from soaps to those I get from creams so far, though Trafalgar has a good enough scent to overcome this barrier. That said, the lavender offering from T&H has a lovely scent and it made a pretty decent lather for me, so I can’t say that it’s bad, either. Just not on par with the soap, not with my MWF and DR Harris soaps. All that aside, I had enough lather for three passes and the lather got the job done, so I don’t have any complaints other than it not being quite as nice as the previously mentioned products. Overall, I was satisfied, but not completely happy. I am glad I have been trying all these samples, even though it can be a bit of a dizzying array of creams and soaps, not to mention aftershaves, balms and colognes. The end result is that, when I get more of a concrete rotation down, I will know what I like. Until I change my mind, of course!

The Shave
The edge on this TI Le Canadien is as beautiful as the razor itself, smooth and easy, not to mention sharp! I went through three passes easily, without nicks or irritation, ending up very smooth and very clean. The shave was easy as my technique is beginning to improve, especially on the neck area. I am still experimenting a bit on the chin, but so far it’s working well and the ‘stache area is still a bit tough, given this was only the second time I had a straight razor there in over a month! All in all, three passes, a small touch-up on the chin and I was done. After the shave, I noticed the back side of the tang, opposite the maker’s mark, is a bit oxidized. Not rust, but it has some very light black marks on it. I have heard that TI steel tends to be extra susceptible to corrosion, so I will have to be extra careful with this one. I also managed to cut my finger during this inspection process, so I ended the shave with a nick, albeit not on my face. I also noted, during my close examination, what could almost be construed as a very slight frown in the edge. I will try to post some photos when I can, but I will also consult with Maxi the next time I see him and get his opinion.

The Post
After getting a bandaid for my finger, I continued with my post-shave routine. First up was a quick rinse of the brush, shaking it out and putting it away. The Frank Shaving brush is like a big pillow on my face and it does its job well, though I almost like the firmer bristles on the boar brushes a little better. After that came cold water, lots of it, splashed all over my face, cooling and soothing. Then alum and another splash of cold were followed by witch hazel. While I let the astringent do its work, I rinsed and stored my scuttle, giving my face a minute or two to dry a bit, then applied my DR Harris Aftershave Milk. It’s a very nice product, though the floral scent is a bit much. I can’t deny that it is soothing and leaves my face extra soft, but boy is it strong! SWMBO gave it a so-so review, so I suppose I might keep it, especially considering I got the full-sized container, but we’ll see. I can’t argue with the performance, only the scent isn’t my favourite. If they made one in Marlborough, it would be tough to use something else. I finished up by thoroughly drying and stropping the Le Canadien and storing it in its pouch on my den shelf. I may have to start oiling it, or find a more protective storage container. This could hold true for all my razors, as they are in need of a wrap of some sort to keep them organized.

The Verdict
The shave was really smooth. Probably one of the smoothest yet, thanks in large part to my new south to north stroke on the neck area. It will take a while for me to get comfortable with that stroke, especially with the spike point extra hollow TI Le Canadien, but I do think it makes a big difference. Overall, I was quite happy with another floral shave and getting further into my samples is a good thing, as eventually I know I’ll work my way through them and settle into a more permanent rotation. Until then, experimentation, learning and discovery are the mandates.

The Straight Road is a great place for i!

I am going to try to work through my samples over the coming weeks, while still working in my mainstays a couple of times here and there. It would be a shame to skip MWF every few days, but if I don’t use these samples up, they will bug me forever! I have a new hone, which arrived yesterday, that is a fine Thuringian finisher obtained from a fellow SRP member. I will try it out eventually, when I get more of a feel for my Norton 8k edges. Hopefully I’ll be able to feel some sort of difference, but we’ll see.

Until next time, thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Jack