Thread: Taming the Feather...

Howdy y’all… I posted a thread in here when I first joined raising some concerns about my early experiences as a newbie with the Feather AC. That had been my first foray into straight razor shaving, having recently ‘graduated’ from DEs. Well, I wanted to just post a quick update on my experiences since then.

I purchased a new regular str8 – a 5/8 Dovo round point carbon (from Tony Miller), and my first experiences with it with it were a little dodgy at best… I attributed that to A) the basic (and expected) differences in performance between that edge and the Feather, B) my beard being tougher than I thought, and C) the very real possibility that I totally whiffed on my first stropping attempt and screwed up the edge. I sent the Dovo to Lynn for re-honing, and then decided to try and soldier on with the Feather rather than reverting back to my Merkur DE.

So in the interim, I’m happy to say that I am getting the hang of this beast! I decided to heed Joe Lerch’s sage advice – to respect and enjoy the sharpness of the Feather – and I’m really glad I did (thanks Joe!). My daily shave keeps getting better and better, and my technique is steadily improving. Hell, I’ve even begun shaving with both hands – something I would not have even considered early on. I do now have a nice new little battle scar on my left cheek that is likely to leave a very tiny but permanent mark (probably ¼ inch), but hey – that’s a sign of character, right?!? And, as you would expect, that was totally my fault – I got distracted for a split second and got a little reminder of why it’s so important not to allow that to happen. Lesson learned!

There is no question that this razor gives me an incredibly close shave. Going forward, I plan to definitely keep the Feather in my rotation, and continue to enhance/perfect my technique to the point where I can adapt it to different blades and razor types. Oh – and for any other newbies out there reading this – public service announcement: BUY LYNN’S DVD AT ONCE. Do not hesitate, go do it right now. And then watch it. Repeatedly. I promise you it will be the best $21 you’ve ever spent!

And now… I embark upon my “soap experimentation phase”!

Cheers!
Randy

hello randy,

good to hear that you are getting up to speed with the feather. now, for the journey to find a good shaving soap or two is where the fun really begins. keep in mind that there will be some excellent soaps, there will be some good soaps and, yes, there will be some stinkers (which can then be used as bath soap so it won't be a total loss). you just have to try what sounds/smells interesting and see what works.

thanks,
mike

Originally Posted by entropy

...And now… I embark upon my “soap experimentation phase”!

Cheers!
Randy

Sounds like you are in about the same stage as I, except I think you are about a one step ahead in all the same interests.

I'm also playing around with soaps a bit. So far I've bought some essential oils and looked at a lot of ingredience lists of soaps, shaving soaps, and shaving creams that I like. I've been mixing tiny amounts essential oils in small amouts of unscented shaving soaps or quality liquid shower soaps to get an idea what proportions I should mix scents. I got rosewood, rosemary, peppermint, orange, lavender, and maybe one or two I cant remember right now.

I did a rosemary pepperment shower gel that was a winner then remembered that's roughly the same scents as 'nancy boy' (which I've never tried). Nancy boy also has lavender, but I suspect the smell is better without.

I've recently looked on about.com on how to make solid soaps. I think I'm going to look in to not-solid soaps too cause I don't like holding soap bars, and they get annoying when they get small. Plan to do some solid soaps to learn though.

Do you have any newbie-to-newbie input about soaps for me?

Originally Posted by icecow

Do you have any newbie-to-newbie input about soaps for me?

Ice: They may decide to relocate this thread to the Soaps forum, but that's OK... I haven't started in on any serious "soap alchemy" quite yet (aside from a drop or two of pure glycerin on top of my hard soaps now and again before taking the brush to them…), but I have been sampling several pre-made soaps and creams. Thus far, I have tried:

Creams:
Taylor's Lavender
Taylor's Shaving Shop
Trumpers Sandalwood
Proraso green label (eucalyptus)

Soaps:
Classic Shaving Menthol
" " Lavender
Mama Bears Bay Rum
" " Lavender (yeah, I like lavender...)
Col. Conk Bay Rum

Still want to try:
Tabac
Colleen's Desert Ironwood
Col. Conk Lime
Proraso red label (w/wheat germ oil)

I’d have to say that so far my favorite by a nose has been the Col. Conk Bay Rum, followed by a tie for 2nd place between Mama Bears Lavender and the Classic Menthol. I really like the bay rum scent from Col. Conk, and the lather for me anyway is consistently excellent. I’ve been using the Proraso green (eucalyptus) for travel (it comes in a tube, so I find it easier to pack), and while I like it (the scent is very refreshing), the lather it produces I find does not lubricate quite as well as my favorite soaps. I’ve ordered a tube of the Proraso wheat germ oil cream – I’m anxious to see if that gives me a better lubrication action and closer shave with the Feather.

The only one that I was little disappointed with was the Mama Bears Bay Rum. Great scent – really liked it a lot – but it irritated my skin a bit. No knock on MB’s in general – I’m using the Lavender and loving it. I plan to try some other Mama Bears scents as well.

So my experimentation to date has been mostly around ‘packaged’ products, although I’d like to do some mad scientist stuff eventually… Oh, one last thing I’ll mention. I read Chris Moss’ great straight razor shaving primer (http://www.shavemyface.com/downloads...zor-Shave.pdf), and he sings the virtues of Trumper Skin Food as a great post-shave treatment. I highly concur on that one – that stuff (I’m using the Coral, which has a mild rose scent) is tremendous!

Yeah… nothing like a bunch of manly men hooking up on the internet to discuss rose- and lavender-scented grooming products, huh? My wife has already begun to bust my chops about how all my elixirs and concoctions and brushes and mugs and hardware are starting to encroach into her space in the medicine cabinet!

Nice going Randy (Entropy)! I have one of those gashes as well on my cheek (and a slight scar), which I got the same way.

My mistake was trying to shave when I didn't have enough time. I was on vacation and only had a very thin styptic with me, which couldn't stop the bleeding. So, a table full of friends ended up waiting for me in a restaurant while I administered first aid. It finally stopped, but only after the blood had coagulated, which just made it stand out. You can imagine everyone's reaction when I walked in with that big red mark.

In any case, I think this is a great razor to have in your arsenal, if only because of how simple it is to continue shaving, even when you're traveling. The only way you'll be able to take your str8s when you fly is in checked luggage. Since you can't lock it, you're just setting yourself up to have your favorite razors disappear. You can carry the Feather in your carry-on luggage and only the blades in your checked luggage.

I'm an ardent (some would say crazy) traditional str8 shaver, even though I have the Feather. The traditional razors offer a lot that you can't get any other way. The Feather will teach you the technique, and moving to traditional str8s will not be difficult. It should be a much shallower learning curve than you would otherwise have.

I just had my first shave with a Feather, and I must say that it was quite enjoyable. What amazes me is the way the blade glides through my beard as though I were sliding it on a pane of glass. I have never had anything so sharp near my face before. Luckily, I drew no blood today. Thanks to Mparker for the loan.

BTW - How do I get the blade out of this thing wihtout injecting a new one?

hold it upside down, pinch it and shake it, it should fall out. Failing that, pinch it and pull the blade out with a pair of tweezers.

Originally Posted by Korndog

I just had my first shave with a Feather, and I must say that it was quite enjoyable. What amazes me is the way the blade glides through my beard as though I were sliding it on a pane of glass. I have never had anything so sharp near my face before. Luckily, I drew no blood today. Thanks to Mparker for the loan.

Glad to hear that! I've gotta tell ya, since I took the time to work through my initial trepidation about the extreme sharpness and "unforgiving" nature of the Feather (not to mention my minor bloodletting), I must admit that I've actually become a bit spoiled by the shave I get from it. I have traditional str8s honed by Lynn, Bill Ellis and John Crowley - all masters of the honing craft without question - and I have to say the Feather is markedly sharper than all of them. Now I realize that represents an apples and oranges comparison - the Feather blades are machine-edged by a precision laser. But I definitely now include the Feather in my regular rotation. It's also great for mornings when I've accumulated more than a single day's growth of beard. Nothing sheers through the tough stuff like a Feather!