Hi Randy, Thanks for passing the photos and videos along! Will pass some on to my students!
~Richard
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Hi Randy, Thanks for passing the photos and videos along! Will pass some on to my students!
~Richard
Tiki shave soaps. Use coupon scshavers and get free shipping and a free soap with a special scent made only for meet up attendees.
Greenshave.com 20% off with code asheville
Saint Charles shave 20% off if you mention me. Limited to the number of attendees at the meet.
Strop Shoppe has 15% off. Mention the meet. They may have a code I can't recall. I wll need to dig it out.
Awesome meetup in more ways than I can type up on an iphone in my motel room! More later from a real computer.
Having a blast so far guys, learning and sharing a ton of information looking forward too round two today!
I was only able to make it for Saturday, but a great time was had by all, especially me. I am a straight shaver novice, so I have a lot to learn. Thanks to everyone (Lynn, Kevin, Pat, Joe, Charlie, Mr. Moo, Randy, Rick, Dr. Mike, and many others) who helped me out. I'm looking forward to the pictures!Quote:
Originally Posted by pfries
Attachment 164223. Honing touch up lessons
Wow!I think I learned more about how to manage razors in one day then I have in the previous year. Thanks very much to all the presenters and especially hidestoart.
I had a great time in Asheville Saturday, but had to swing dance in Greensboro that night. Beautiful weather. Great guys. Learned a lot. Lots of free stuff. Thanks to SRD, I won a strop. Will use it today.
Joe Chandler, razor maker from Louisiana and a Scottish member were there sporting kilts. They brought one for Lynn Abrams.
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I just got home from this awesome meetup, and I didn't really take many pictures, as I was too busy playing with hones, strops, razors, and other toys! It was my 1st big meetup (meaning not in someone's dining room), one of the most fun days I can remember, and I think I learned more yesterday than in my previous 4 years or so in the hobby. A few highlights:
-Seeing bbdad aka Kevin again, not mention having a great outdoor lunch with him, my wife, and CJ Bianco
-meeting boostdemon aka Dana-awesome beard, guy!
-picking up more stropping tips from pfries aka Pat-what a guy!
-meeting and talking to/learning from Stropper aka Richard
-watching Brian aka shavingsnob win the Ralf Aust razor and beautiful SRD strop. I hate that kid-no, but seriously, the enthusiasm of him and some of the other new guys for stropping, honing, and razors in general was inspiring
-meeting and talking to Simon, as well as Joe Chandler and Spazola aka Charlie (who drove the backroads up from Texas!), and admiring their stunning custom razors!
-watching Mephisto aka James show how my hones are REALLY used!
-sniffing all of Moosiker's (aka Michael Cobb) aftershaves. I swear I had on 2 dozen different aftershaves before I left yesterday.
-meeting lots of other new guys from both SRP and B&B-Dr. Awkward aka Ed Sharp, greatbolo aka Baxter, Greg the Army Captain (forgot his screen name), Java aka Tom, MisterMoo, Patrick, and others whose names escape me at the moment.
And again, most of all, thanks to the fine team of men who put this together from the bottom of my heart:
*CJ Bianco aka Christopher Bianco for his fine company on the drive up, his educational demonstrations on barber hones and coticules (and the Dalwhinnie 15, which I hope he didn't consume too much of after we left!).
*Warpiper aka Chris Benoit (or is it ben-wa, I'm still confused?) for dealing with all the frustrating roster issues, the harrowing ride down the mountain, and the excellent homemade cheesecake!
*Rick Boone for the truckload of incredible goodies he brought from so many vendors. We were like kids at Christmas, and all got to take home a bag of goodies. He is truly a master at working with vendors, and I will have to do business with some of them soon!
*Utopian aka Ron, for his mesmerizing stories, for patiently walking me through a honing issue on a troublesome Wade and Butcher, and for so generously letting me play with his stones, and finishing off my previously Nani 12k edges out on his Gokumyo 20 k. To quote him, "That stone is *$@*kin' awesome!" I concur.
*Walleyeman aka Ray for the slivovitz (I think), for letting me admire his stunning brushes all day, and especially for letting me take home the pick of the litter. (I'll post pics and a review later).
*Lynn Abrams of SRP for his great honing demo, all the SRD goodies he brought, his unflagging efforts to help newbies all day long, and for the fine dinner company along with his beautiful wife
*Randydance aka Randy Tuttle for his expertise, all the great pictures and videos, and for just being such a long-time ambassador for wet-shaving.
*Nipper aka Joe Neer for handling the sign-ins (turns out he was a neighbor years ago-small world!).
And lastly, guys, if you didn't know it, hidestoart aka Kevin Adams (our forum's strop artisan) put weeks of work and countless hours into running down all the logistics of the event; he even came through with gorgeous, sunny Asheville weather. He and his lovely wife Joyce (not to mention Willie and the hummingbirds) opened up their stunning mountain home to an unforgettable evening of fun, food, and fellowship. He is a man I am proud and honored to call a friend. I love you man (but not in a prison shower kind of way (you had to be there)).
These guys are some of the nicest, most helpful, interesting, and generous people I have ever had the privilege to meet and get to know.
I never did see that chopper, though?!
Later-SHD aka Aaron
Moosiker/Dr Mike's Photos from the Asheville Meetup!
Many thanks to everyone who joined the fun of this weekend. I learned a huge amount, enjoy meeting some new shave folks, and had a grand time taking photos.
Thanks to all the instructors, honers, stroppers, and talented individuals who helped make this event awesome.
Rick - well done in organizing the "prize vault"
Kevin - thanks for having an incredible venue for this event (and never ending coffee)
Hope to see everyone again soon!
Attachment 164304 Sniffing the "Electric Sheep"
Attachment 164305
Some incredible prizes and great gifts!
Hey Guys - Finally back home and taking a minute to upload up a couple of photos from Saturday. Sorry for the poor quality as these were just some quick cell phone pics. What a great time!
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I wanted to take a moment to try to acknowledge most everyone I met and to thank everyone I had the wonderful opportunity to learn from over the weekend. This post won't come close to replicating the detailed 'account and thanks' offered by Aaron, but I feel compelled to give it a go nonetheless.
As articulated above by Aaron, this took planning. One could see such from simply looking around - not to mention all the stuff from the donating vendors, the location, and the magnitude of tools, hones, and razors - all of it was truly awe-inspiring.
I must offer a special thanks to the following folks who poured themselves into this effort. They donated much more than their time to forward what some of us refer to as a hobby, but others have recognized as a true passion.
• Kevin (hidestoart)
• Rick (rickboone)
• Randy (Randydance)
• Chris (Warpiper)
• Ron (Utopian)
• Lynn (lynn Abrams)
• Aaron (ScoutHikerDad)
Gentlemen, thank you for taking the time to share so much of what you do and who you are with folks you've only met in an online forum. Such certainly speaks loudly of your good character.
Randy - So many thanks for taking the time to show me the proper rolling-x stroke and for demonstrating what heavy pressure, light pressure, and "butterfly kisses" really mean. You are a scholar and I sincerely hope I have an opportunity to work with you again in the future.
Rick - You certainly poured yourself into this effort and it really showed. You reminded me of a Conductor of an orchestra; so much going on all at once while you were orchestrating and coordinating. I can't believe some of the stuff you came up with as door prizes and the free give-aways - absolutely amazing!
Chris - The organizer. With Joe's and Richard's help, you three seemed to have a handle on the head count and paperwork, which is sometimes an unrecognized necessity. I'm glad I got a chance to meet you guys.
Ron - I just thought I had too many hones, now really understand what HAD is. You are a wealth of knowledge, and you have some really, really, cool toys . . . er, um, I mean tools, yeah really cool tools. I hope to make a future meet where I can continue to pick your brain.
Lynn - I'm truly glad I got to meet you. As I said to you on Saturday, it's funny when you see someone on a video that you’ve watched so many times because you feel like you know them when you really don't (and they obviously don't know you either). However, simply stated, you are genuine. You have a passion for this stuff, and I saw example after example of that fact as you didn't mind sharing that passion and your personal time with everyone, beginner to novice, over and over again. I can only offer so many thanks for sparking something that has opened a world to so many of us that we would have never known otherwise.
Aaron - The humble Teacher. I saw where so many others were bragging on your stropping ability in the thread prior to the meet-up and once I got a chance to witness it I understood why. You have 'glide,' and like the others above, you didn't mind taking the time to work with so many folks. You were quick to thank others in your above post, but you also had a hand in this effort. My thanks to you.
Kevin - The man behind the curtain. Yes, whether you realize it or not, many of us realized just how much you put into all this. I could tell by the number of items we loaded into your truck when the meet was over, and by how much stuff needed to be put back where it came from, much of the logistics behind this Meet-Up was your doing. Kudos! You successfully pulled off a well coordinated and well planned effort - I would expect no less from an experienced Project Manager. You more than delivered - thank you.
Now, here's where I'm going to fail. There's no way I can begin to name everyone that made such a positive impression on me. But, here are a few:
Joe (Nipper)
Ray (Walleyeman)
Richard (Stropper)
Charlie (Spazola)
Pat (pfries)
Tom (Java)
Michael (Moosiker)
I'm sorry, but there are so many more of you, and shamefully I'm forgetting your names at the moment. I hope I get the opportunity to hang out with all of you again. Thanks for the great conversations and the sharing of ideas.
BR//Brian
Just got home and my head is still spinning with all that I learned over the past 2 days. I want to say a big thank you to all of those who put on the meet up and to all those who came out. We folks come in from WI, KS, MO, TN, KY, NC, SC, GA. The wealth of knowledge, the amount stones and equipment, and the overwhelming desire to help anyone who asked was amazing. There was a true fellowship. To say I learned more in those 2 days than I would have in 2+ years is truly an understatement.
Wish I had java teach me to tie a bowtie.
Some photos taken Saturday at the meet up. The first is the giant razor that let us know we had found the right location.
Attachment 164322
A damaged edge being worked on by Lynn, as seen on scope and screen.
Attachment 164323
Serious-looking gadgetry.
Attachment 164324
Joe (nipper) and James (mephisto) from our Triangle area group in North Carolina
Attachment 164325
Lynn during his honing talk
Attachment 164326
Straight Razor collection a member brought along.
Attachment 164327
Two tables of giveaways
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Attachment 164329
Honing set ups
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Attachment 164333
Woodturner's beautiful brush handles and other brushes
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Attachment 164336
The woodturner
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Rick Boone honing
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Mentoring
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Lynn getting serious with the hones
Attachment 164340
They came from Texas too.
And two from Minnesota!!!
And a thank you too both of you for making the effort.Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
TX and MN. I knew I was forgetting a few. Thought I saw a FL tag too but not sure. Either way, there were a lot of great people there.
Could the winners of Tiki Bar Soap and the strop shop soaps sound off?
Here are some clips from the Ashevill meet up. There is nothing in particular, I just tried to get a little of everything.
Charlie
http://youtu.be/_Wj8T_M8Mkc
Nice compilation Charlie
The Asheville Meet up was AWESOME!!!!!
Great group of guys.
Thanks to everyone who donated products, time and expertise.
I enjoyed it thoroughly!
Now that I'm awake enough I want to thank all the folks who made this happen. Without their hard work and long hours of planning and executing, this meet up would never have happened. Thank you to:
Kevin (hidestoart) for planning, organizing, and setting up the gathering. He also provided strops, material, and equipment for others to use/keep.
Rick (rickboone) for doing a great job coordinating with vendors and gathering door prizes and give a ways.
Randy (Randydance) for helping with advertizing and for teaching honing and for taking time to talk and give one on one sessions. Randy was also the photographer/videographer of the group.
Ron (Utopian) for teaching honing and sharing his wealth of knowledge. Ron was also teaching how to fix or adjust flaws in razors to where they can be honed properly. If you could have seen his table, he must have had 30 stones of all times out there and that was just a hand full of what he brought to the meeting. He even brought in a monitor and hooked it up to his microscope so everyone could see what he was looking at and talking about.
Joe (Nipper) for managing the attendee roster, sign in, name tags and for sharing his knowledge with folks.
Aaron (ScoutHikerDad) for teaching and giving one one one lessons on stropping.
Christopher (C.J.bianco) for teaching about barber hones, how to use them and how to pick them.
Richard (Stropper) for teaching and demonstrating how to repair/re pinning razors and for working on and fixing other peoples razors for them.
Lynn for teaching honing styles and for helping and giving one on one training on honing. Oh and giving shaving lessons too!
Other folks who jumped in and helped and shared information include:
Ray (Walleyeman) for helping with setting up and take down. AND for giving away some of his drop dead beautiful brushes.
Charlie (Spazola) for jumping in and helping with basic and advanced razor making.
Pat (pfries) for jumping in and helping us newbies.
Simon (coully) for jumping in and helping with honing and shaving skills. I guess men do go to the bathroom in pairs!
James (Mephisto) for helping people to use hones.
And Brian (ShavingSnop). Brian came out from TN to learn and at the end of the meet up on Sunday, jumped in and helped take down the set up and finished out sweeping and mopping the floor before we all left. Thank you for doing that and helping out. It was really appreciated.
I hope I haven't left anyone out. There were so many people showing and sharing it was hard to keep up. If I left you out, I am truly sorry.
Oh, and the learning didn't stop when everyone left for the day either. Many folks met up afterwards at restaurants or hotel rooms to talk more about shaving and to get more practice time on hones as well. I'm already looking forward to the next meet up.
That's true I have some guys over my hotel till late in the night Saturday night just sharing and learning of one another was a great time learning everything about you know stones and stripes and restoring and pens and notebooks just amazing. Maybe we convert a few people over to fountain pen users by the way if you want a fountain pen and you have no clue how to use it just contact me and I'll walk you through it it's a very simple process and you're gonna love I'm sure Java will be glad to help you out with that as well he's another fountain pen user. There were a couple of people that won a bottle of aftershave balm from straight razor designs to the little small white bottle with a pump on it. That stuff is freakin awesome. I've got to get the name of it if anyone knows post the name of it and go to SRD and buy you some you won't regret it that stuff is killer.
I also want to give a special thanks to Ray (Walleyeman) for giving me one of his beautiful brushes. I was totally caught off guard when he gave it to me. Ray, you are a beautiful and generous person. Thank you.
Attachment 164355
Gang war by for that is freaking cool wee bit jealous of that score. You truly deserve it sir enjoy it brings you a lot of joy that that's really great ray that was awesome of you to do that ofor a a great person there your craftsmanship is truly incredible very very good stuff appreciate you talking to me about it and bring it there let's all take a gander at it in a couple of us taking a few home and uh me and giving away one in Reno was in the giveaway there and never went home with that is truly enjoying it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Warpiper
Oh and Randy the brush that your guide donated to the Meetup the guy came up with Greg one that and he is falling in love with that Bryce it is truly amazing so give your body a huge thank you and props and if you can post his contact information here for others to know I don't know if you have any more pictures of his work that would be great too and I'll make sure and post his contact on the website as well but he had some really nice brushes that you are getting some great reviews.
Hey guys a little bit more about the beard shave soap. Bill the creator of that product was there at the meet he had flown in from New York or driven down I can't remember which but he came down because he wanted to meet people that would be using his product here originally had anticipated only selling to barbers. I introduced him to the idea of selling to the actual consumer and getting some real life feedback on his product. With that said if you want some of his soap no there were three different flavors one was a grey box 10 in 1 and yellow there was one person that won all three of them if the contact information is not on that box let me know and I will get it for you but please contact Bill tell him thanks for spending his time and money to come down bring all that stuff but seriously give him some feedback on his product that is what he was seeking and that is why he invested what he did to come down so we can give him right and you late I'll give him that honest feedback that he's truly after that would be amazing. Thank you
Those of you that got the private reserve tank packages has a small sample bio that thing is pretty cool and the 2 cartridges in it for those that don't know the little paper with the astronaut on it it was called blotter paper its for absorbing the eat before you close a bug if you're riding in it to keep it from smearing you press the blotter paper on there and it absorbs the excess ink.
You guys were awesome fun and I learned a ton too. The amount of cool loot i came home with was astounding. I made so many new connections and friends it was really such a great group of guys. Special thanks to Warpiper/Chris and Hidestoart/Kevin for really doing so much to make this happen. When we do this again I would be more than happy to help in anyway possible.
Some favorite parts from this weekend:
- Lynn's presentation and Q&A was so helpful. (I will have to take you up on that offer to help perfect my "circle method"). Next time i'll bring some cigars
- Randy's demonstration on the 'rolling x-stroke' and also the reconditioning of the edge shape on the one you made too on sunday. Very cool stuff
- Rick Boone's PIF and demo with lapping films - I'm going to try them out tonight actually! I can't say enough positive things about this guy, thank you for all your help
- Stropper/Richard for repairing the heel on my project razor and explaining the cause and effect of the hone wear on the shoulder. Also that blade holder is brilliant! Lets build some this summer!
- Scouthikerdad/Aaron for letting everyone practice and learn on your stones. I put on a great edge and shaved with it last night - so awesome and thanks so much for your help
- Moosiker/Mike for getting me hooked on about 10 new soaps and creams - shaved with the "Strop shoppe - barber shop" last night and you're right - its so good, total faseterbation.
- The girl (forgot her name) who came by Sunday to represent Shapton and graciously let us play with the pile of plates she brought... and then Simon shaving her boyfriend.
I just wanted to say, I had a blast and can't wait till the next one!
Yeah that stropshoppe is pretty sweet.
Don't forget Zulu greys at 25 percent off with a free slurry stone. That's on your total order so if you order for the smallest bone or five of the biggest owns you going to get that 25 percent off. Those of you that visit other forums and visit Facebook please feel free to post this information about that I'm putting up with that all these vendors in any information that you may know about the vendors spread the word the greatest thanks we can give for them helping us out is by giving them business.
Wow, I don't even know where to start. First; The Stuff. I rode up from Georgia on a motorcycle, and there were so many door prizes, samples, and just plain nice folks giving away stuff, I thought I'd have to go back and get the car, just to get it all home. Getting to try a couple dozen soaps, and sniff maybe 50 of them is going to save me a fortune in soaps and postage, buying stuff I don't like. Second: The Knowledge. I learned more in two days than I would have in years relying on YouTube. I'm only a year into this, and had only ever used a paddle strop. Getting to do my first strokes on a hanging strop (and honing stones!) under the watchful eye of people that know what they are doing, was priceless. That fortune I'm going to save on soaps and postage? I'm going to spend it anyway, on stones. Lynn, Ron, Kevin, Rick, Pat, etc. patiently doing one on one instruction was again, priceless. Which brings me to the last thing; The People. Aside from milking every last bit of knowledge I could from Christopher about barber hones, he's just a great guy to stand around drinking coffee and talking to. Watching Lynn hone, or talk a young man through a straight razor shave was amazing, but I could just sit around and talk bikes with him all day. Or listen to Ron tell stories, or watch Simon giving someone a shave. Seriously, Kevin, Randy, Rick, all of you guys that put so much work into making this come off as well as it did, I hope y'all realize how much it means to newer guys, that live in small towns, that have never even seen most of this gear in person, let alone tried to use it. Thanks, guys. Sorry to get all mushy on you, but it just needed to be said......
Java I hope you learned a little something to take home when you try honing on your own.
