Thread: Fiddling With Our Equipment

Originally Posted by adjustme69

I need more beard............I hone so many razors that my beard is always left behind.......hahhahahaha.

Lynn

Hey Lynn why not try shaving those legs It will keep you cool in the ending part of the summer.

Originally Posted by adjustme69

I need more beard............I hone so many razors that my beard is always left behind.......hahhahahaha.

Lynn

Lynn, can't even imagine......ouch!!

I've been wondering about this now that I'm starting to dabble in honing. How many of the 5-6 shaves I have in a given week will be "sacrificed" to test shaving (assuming many of the test shaves will be crummy)? How do you guys deal with this? I've been thinking of designating 1-2 days a week just for testing and going for the best shave possible on the other days. Thanks

Jordan

I am just begining. I only have one razor, one brush, one soap, one strop. Everything is from Ebay except the soap. Money is tight at the moment so I am trying to limp by until Christmas. My plan is to build myself a 7 day set consisting several razors from Bill Ellis, John Crowley, at least one TI, and one razor that I restore myslef. I want to get a hanging strop from Toney, probably a pasted paddle, and a 4/8K Norton stone. I would then like a custom made box. I am not sure weather I am going to try and hit up Vlad to make a box, or do it myself. My father-in-law has a awesome set of tools. Eww and a moss scuttle. Then I will be done. Well that is the plan anyway.

Originally Posted by 1adam12

...My father-in-law has a awesome set of tools. .....

Is he a TV repairman?

sorry...back to the subject at hand


Jordan

Originally Posted by jnich67

I've been wondering about this now that I'm starting to dabble in honing. How many of the 5-6 shaves I have in a given week will be "sacrificed" to test shaving (assuming many of the test shaves will be crummy)? How do you guys deal with this? I've been thinking of designating 1-2 days a week just for testing and going for the best shave possible on the other days. Thanks

A razor doesn't get a whole test shave, just a stroke or two. I generally hone in the evenings. To give the hairs have a chance to soften I'll lather up a portion of one cheek once I move to the shapton or 1 micron paddle. One stroke against the grain will tell you pretty quickly how things are going; if it has to go back down then I'll lather up another patch. I generally use straight cremo-cream for this since it's quicker and introduces less error into the test than soap and brush would.

I look at shaving and razor collecting and fiddling as two different hobbies.

My purchase of razors is now down to a dribble. I'll get one from John Crowley now and then, and I'll get an Ebay razor if it's something unusual or a bargain or a challenge. I have about 125 razors now and all but about 10 are shave ready. I use each one (some very occasionally), but I use a group of aabout 25 the most.

The 10 razors I have around are ones I'm working on and that I experiment with. 3 or 4 are razors I've had trouble with, and I keep coming back to them when I have an idea. Ones I've given up on I've thrown away. THe remaining ones are in various states of restoration. I don't have alot of time, so it's slow going. Razors leave this group, either because I give up on them or I finish them. But the group remains a pretty constant size.

Originally Posted by mparker762

A razor doesn't get a whole test shave, just a stroke or two. I generally hone in the evenings. To give the hairs have a chance to soften I'll lather up a portion of one cheek once I move to the shapton or 1 micron paddle. One stroke against the grain will tell you pretty quickly how things are going; if it has to go back down then I'll lather up another patch. I generally use straight cremo-cream for this since it's quicker and introduces less error into the test than soap and brush would.

I've thought of trying this, but after having shaved in the morning I'm afraid I'll have little left in the evening to test on. That's why I'm thinking of making Saturday night "test night" - no shave on Sat. morning. I'm sure this is another one of those "find what works best for you" issues. But thanks for tip. They all help.

Jordan

Originally Posted by jnich67

Lynn, can't even imagine......ouch!!

I've been wondering about this now that I'm starting to dabble in honing. How many of the 5-6 shaves I have in a given week will be "sacrificed" to test shaving (assuming many of the test shaves will be crummy)? How do you guys deal with this? I've been thinking of designating 1-2 days a week just for testing and going for the best shave possible on the other days. Thanks

Jordan

I'll put it to you this way...I haven't shaved with one of my own razors, or one not going into the store, in almost 2 months. I'll usually test 4 at a time, which gives me a good rotation to see if there are any trouble spots. 2 on one side of my face, 2 on the other, with and against the grain.

Originally Posted by jnich67

I've thought of trying this, but after having shaved in the morning I'm afraid I'll have little left in the evening to test on.

I usually do this pretty late at night, so I only have a little stubble. I just go against the grain, no need for a reduction pass since it's so short.

Well, I still have RAD and HAD pretty bad but it is slowing down! My weak area is shaving technique and probably always will be. I really like the hones and restoration tools but what really trips my trigger is the "Hunt". The hunt for a really good deal on either razors or hones. I certainly do not need any more of either one, I already have over 28 large cigar boxes full of razors and piles of hones. I guess my strop count is now about 8-10 not including the paddle strops. Believe it or not I actually sold a razor and a strop a few weeks ago!

Where am I at? Hopelessly mired in RAD, HAD and the "Hunt"!