This thread encompasses a lot of different aspects of the "Sport", so I figured the General Forum would be the best place for it.

So, yesterday I had a great day. Actually this whole week has been a great one. But yesterday was a great cap off.

I had an appointment in the morning with a client to finish up their site. I just had to run through the CMS with them. Showing them how the whole system worked and how to use it. If you are wondering what a CMS is, it stands for Content Management System. Anyway, I digress. It was a long and drawn out job that I was happy to finally finish. So I was feeling great about that.

So, feeling great already. I come home to find that all three of the packages I was expecting had come in. My custom British Leather aftershave from Sue was in the mail box, and my Moss Scuttle and Pasted Paddle from Tony were inside the house. I was ecstatic, and promptly decided to devote the rest of the day to all things straight razor related. It was great way to end the week, I have to say.

I had gotten my Norton 4/8k in the mail the day before, and so I decided to lap it. I broke out the sandpaper and the glass, set it up at the sink, got the water going, and proceeded to mark out my grid. Thins started out well. After a few applications I had the grid wearing off evenly and quickly, just like JoshEarl had told me. I then moved to the 600 and then to what I thought was wet/dry 800. It was labeled as such, but it definitely wasn't. The paper grit virtually disintegrated under the water. It stained the 4k side pretty badly. I thought for sure I had ruined it. I scrubbed with a scotch pad as best I could, and then went back to my 400 to re lap, hoping it would fix it. It did. I was able to get all the grit and staining off. I was very relieved, as I had thought for sure I had ruined my hone. I got it lapped nicely. Just like Big Spender said, the 8k side reflects like a mirror when held at the right angle. And just like Chris (C utz) said, the 4k feels like velvet. I may need to go back with the 8k side though. It feels as smooth as marble, but there are two places where the razor seems to catch something when honing.

Anyway, I took my pasted paddle out of the packaging. It truly is a thing of beauty. For some reason when I ordered it I was concerned about how the sides would be labeled. "How will I know which side is which?", I would ask my self. Maybe a sticker of sorts so you know which is which when you get it. Well, I was surprised by the tooling that Tony did on each side. Very nice and easy to read, but subtle. I love it.

I decided to take a few passes on the chromium side to practice technique a bit in prep for taking it to the hone. I laid it down like a bench hone on the table, and the proceeded to strop. Even though the spine was leading, I was still able get a feel for how to hold the razor to keep it flat on the strop. I then went to my hone and did the pyramid, and then back to the paddle for polishing. I ended up going back to remove a wired edge. Satisfied with the HTT and Thumb pad after stropping, I put the razor away and began to prep for my shave.

I opened the Moss Scuttle. It is truly a work of fine craftsmanship. I love hand throw pottery. It goes nicely with my mug. I set some water on the stove to start boiling, and jumped in for a quick shower. I used the banana mango soap from Sue, it was great. Got out just in time as the water on the stove was starting to boil. I filled the scuttle and let my brush set in it to get warm while I stropped up. I stropped and then emptied the top chamber of the scuttle. I lathered up with some of Colleen's Leatherneck, and then transfered it to the scuttle. I let it set a bit while enjoy a nice hot towel with Proraso pre-shave cream, I cant get enough of it. In hind site, boiling water is much to hot for the soap. The lather didn't like that much heat, I was able to rebuild up on my face though, so it worked out.

I lathered up my face, and then went to town. The razor was definitely sharper, but I think it could be better. I think its about a 7 or 8 on the scale that Alan posted here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=10664
I may take it back to the paddle to put a finer edge on it. All in all the shave went well, though the lather did irritate my face a little bit, damn sensitive skin. I also noticed a bit of razor burn. Not horrible, but it had been a while sense I had gotten any burn from shaving. I don't know if this was due to the soap irritation, or the if my razor was improperly honed. It is definitely sharper then before. I think maybe my angle was too aggressive for how sharp the razor was. Any thoughts.

Anyway I finished off with another towel, and then my new aftershave from Sue. I love the smell of the British Leather. After finishing, I got dressed and went out with some friends. They instantly smelled the aftershave, and I got many compliments for it. Thanks Sue.

It was just a great day, and an awesome way to transition into the weekend. I loved it. This is why we do what we do. This is why we go through all the extra steps to hone and prep. It is just such a great experience. Can't get enough of it. A great day it was.

Matt

P.S. Sorry for the super long post, but I was happy about it all.

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