Thread: The Noob Chronicle - My Straight Razor Experience

The Straight Road - Part 49: Return of The Beast

As you may remember, back in The Straight Road - Part 35: I'm Back, Baby!, I shaved for the first time with my Henckels Friodur 8/8 Spanish Point razor, which had recently arrived from The Shaving Shop. The razor shaved superbly, but the scales were a cheap plastic set, barely able to contain this magnificent piece of steel. So, back a few weeks ago (The Straight Road - Part 37 - Friday Evening Shave & Saturday Workshop Visit), I took the razor to Maxi's place, where we began work on some new scales made out of black horn. I roughed out the design, under careful guidance from him, then cut the rough shape and ground the scales down a bit. After that, I left them with him so he could work on them a bit. Then, last week, he called me to let me know he needed the blade, as the scales were ready to go. I can safely say he's outdone himself with this one!

Here is a shot of the razor "before"


The scales when I left them with Maxi


And finally:


To see some more shots of the razor, check out the thread he posted here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...8-friodur.html

The Anticipation
After shaving regularly for many weeks, taking several days off sure felt strange. I hadn't shaved since Saturday and I was starting to feel slightly more than scruffy. A shave was in order and the Friodur was just the tool for removing that many days of growth. I usually shave in the evening, but being off work with an empty apartment, I decided to go for a mid-morning shave, at my leisure. To accompany the triumphant return of this monster of a razor, I opted for my Truefitt & Hill Trafalgar products, cream, ASB and cologne, as well as my Robert Becker #9 scuttle and my Frank Shaving 28mm Richmond Silvertip brush.

The Prep
I took my morning shower slow and leisurely, allowing the hot water to wake me up and soften my beard. Real Shaving Creamy Face Wash did the honours on my face, while I continue to enjoy RazoRock Artisan Sandalwood Bar Soap in the shower. After that, I was on to the next step, my 'roo strop from episaacs. I've written my thoughts about the strop in my previous entry, so I won't get into it too deeply here, but suffice it to say that I highly recommend a kangaroo leather strop to anyone, based on my experience. Perfect draw, great feedback, supple and tough. What more could you want from a strop? With that done, I pulled my brush out of the scuttle's soaking reservoir and deposited a daub of Trafalgar in the bowl, ready for some suds.

The Lather
This brush is great with creams. It performs quite well with soaps, too, as it's pretty dense despite losing quite a few hairs during its first month of existence. Now that it's settled down, it has turned into a lather monster. Building up great amounts of wonderfully fragrant Trafalgar lather, the brush swirled and whipped its way to a huge bowl of frothy white, which it promptly applied to my face with all the roughness of a soft pillow. It was wonderful. I am a big fan of my boar brushes for their backbone with soft tips, but this brush is a completely different sensation. It's like a pillow running over your face. A lathery pillow of goodness. I had enough for three full passes of comfortable shaving, plus some touch-ups and the brush probably still had enough for another round. Too much product? Likely, but I'd prefer and abundant lather to running out.

The Shave
It was a dream. Maxi touched up the edge on the Friodur after he gave it its new suit, which resulted in a sublime edge that mowed down five days of whiskers like they weren't even there. The hollow ground razor whispered to me as is worked, telling me all about what it was doing and where it was going. With each stroke, I was reminded why I love this hobby and why this razor knocked my socks off the first time I used it. Three full passes went by almost too quickly, as I went WTG, XTG and XTG/ATG with ease. On the touch-ups, all was fine until the very last stroke, when I got a bit greedy and left myself with a final ding on the chin area. It didn't bleed much and the styptic got the best of it, so all was right with my shave.

The Post
Copious amounts of cold water removed the lather from my face, leaving me refreshed, alert and feeling alive. I applied the alum and followed that with more cold water, leaving me blowing like a buffalo as I came up for air. That done, I applied the witch hazel and, while I let it settle for a minute or two, I rinsed my brush and scuttle and returned them to their resting places. Then it was time for the Trafalgar ASB, which soothed, moisturized and left my face feeling wonderful. It had been a while since I'd used Trafalgar, so this reminded me why this scent stuck out for me amongst the T&H lineup. I was left clean, smooth and smelling good, so I can't complain about that!

The Verdict
This is a dream razor for me. I love the big blade and the length, along with the Spanish point which allows me to do the fine work around the nostrils without much trouble. It is smooth and easy, well-balanced with the new scales and overall I just plain love it! I am quite pleased with today's shave, especially because it's been a while since I had one this good. Despite going that one step too far and dinging my chin trying to be too perfect, overall, things felt good. Ace just recently posted a very wise piece of advice: you don't need a perfect shave, you just need a good one. There's no such thing as perfect, but today's shave was damn good!

I think it's safe to say that nobody's perfect, but we all have a good time on The Straight Road!

Well, that time of year is upon us and I'll be embroiled in family visits, dinners and quality time over the next few days. Then next week we have another shop day scheduled at Maxi's, so hopefully we'll be able to produce some Razor porn for you. For all of you who celebrate, I wish you a wonderful Christmas with your families. For those who celebrate different holidays, I wish you all the best of the season. Enjoy yourselves and your family time, as it is all too little and precious.

I'll be back soon with more of my fumbles and foibles on The Straight Road!

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Jack