Thread: Western NY Meet (Photos coming)

As our meeting wound down, I volunteered to do a little write up about our get together. But before I get into today's events, I'd like to mention what happened yesterday. You'll just get the highlighs of yesterday, but I'll do a play by play of today. If you want the short story, we met, shared gear, ate, shared more gear, had some shaves, did some honing, did some resto work, got gifts, and headed home. The long story can be found below.

Yesterday, I headed over to Joe and Karen's home. I was there to help narrow down Joe's selection of razors to be shown at the meet, and Joe offered to give me a demo on using MAAS and to help me rescale a razor. So we all worked and chatted, and next thing I knew I'd been show how to use MASS, polished up a razor, descaled a razor, fed dinner, given a razor roll and Proraso (a day early; the others got theirs at the meet) and coated scales that Joe helped me make (I think it's fair to say I helped a little).

This morning, I headed back out to Joe's for the meet. I was the first to arrive, so I got a chance to look at the finished scales and show a few of my hones and my scuttle.

The first two to arrive were mademperor and his non-straight-shaving buddy (I'll refrain from using names, since I haven't asked). We all chatted in the kitchen for a bit, and shared in some of the wonderful finger foods that our wonderful hosts had set out. After a bit of small talk and getting to know you type things, we headed into the diningroom and started to look at each other's gear.

We had already seen the two razors that mademperor had, so I was the first to pull out my gear. I passed around what I'd brought, namely the 14 straighs I'd brought with me. I also showed my Sypderco pocket hones and the Swaty I had along. After my modest collection, Joe brought out some of his and Karen's razors to share. Joe has a much larger and more diverse collection, so we only looked at a sampling of his razors. Partway into Joe's "show and tell," his son arrived. While Joe and Karen continued to show their razors to mademperor and his buddy, I showed mine to Joe's son.

Shortly thereafter, it was time for lunch. And just as we were sitting down with our lunch (a wonderful chili that Karen made), we were joined by ScottS. What a timely arrival! After we'd finished eating, we all had a look at ScottS gear, which included a pair of straights, a Feather AC, and a beautiful, massive brush (please do post what it is, because I forgot already).

Our post lunch activities included four demo shaves. I'd forgotten to bring a strop, but Joe offered me the use of one of his. Together, we all headed for Joe's office, where the strops live, and had a little discussion/demo on storpping. I was first up to shave. As I went, I commented on how I use my scuttle, build lather, and showed my shaving technique (I think it's a bit like BladeWeilder's videos). After me, Scott had his second shave of the day. He showed us his face-lathering technique, as well as his own shaving style, which includes longer strokes, while commenting on how smooth Karen's razor (which he borrowed) shaved.

Next, we got into a bit of honing; we started off by looking at one of Scott's razors which was not shaving quite right. Joe started off with the MMT (Magic Marker Test) and his Norton 4K. Using circular strokes and then an X pattern, the bevel was set, and after going through the TNT (Thumb Nail Test), started a 4k/8k pyramid. Once the razor was popping arm hairs to Scott's satisfaction. the blade was passed to me for polishing on Joe's coticule. It was my first time using a coticule, but Joe thought that my "light touch" would work well, so I set to work. Passing the razor to me also allowed me to show my one handed technique (compared to Joe's two handed technique), and I talked a little bit about the rolling X as well. I must say, using the stone was a pleasure, and by the time I was done and the blade was stropped, the razor was passing the HHT (Hanging Hair Test) quite easily. Success!

At some point during the honing, mademperor headed into the bathroom for a test shave with Scott's Feather. I didn't get to see the shave, but I did pop in to partake in a chat about building lather and the use of glycerin. I do remember at one point, mademperor came out to ask about his technique since he'd gotten a bit of irritation from the razor. Joe and Scott talked with him a bit about pressure and angles and the differences in the way a feather handles as compared to a straight.

For the last shave of the day, we watched as Karen gave Joe a shave there in the kitchen. I don't remember who it was, but someone commented that Joe was truely being pampered since he could have a shave and a smoke at the same time. Personally, I was quite interested in seeing someone being shaved by someone else, since I would like to try giving someone a shave at some point. A discussion of lathering and comparisons of soaps vs. various creams continued, and Karen also explained a bit about her choices of grips and the differences between shaving oneself and shaving someone else.

As the shave went on, Joe's son taught me how to create domed washers and supervised me as I created a set of four in order to rescale my razor. Unfortunately, we were running a bit short on time (a few of is needed to leave before long), so Joe cut his shave short in order to do a demo on repinning as he assembled my razor. With lather still on his face, Joe set to work, describing what he was doing as he went. I was quite impressed with Joe's methods, and his son commented that the rescale looked good and was completed quite quickly. Don't think for a second that it's because I'd helped the previous day; Joe is getting better and faster at the work, and I can't thank him enough for his help.

As Joe rescaled, Karen set to work on honing out a little nick mademperor had put into his straight. She demonstrated techniques similar to those Joe had used, and also did some backhoning to avoid creating a wire edge. I was then called in for a second round on the coticule, but we didn't have time to strop and perform the hanging hair test. So, mademperor, you'll have to let us know how you like your shaves.

Finally, it was time for the goodies. Each member in attendance had already recieved a seven razor roll that Karen made, and everyone was also given a tube of Proraso (C.O. Bigelow style) as well. The door prizes were a set of 220/1K and 4k/8k Nortons that Syslight donated (via mail since he couldn't attend; what a gent) as first prize, a puck of Provence Sante shaving soap in a redware bowl that I donated, and a four sided paddle strop that Joe donated (I believe there is a guide to create one somewhere on the site). The hones went to mademperor, the soap to Joe's son, and I walked away with the paddle strop. Somehow, Joe managed to call the second and third winners, even though he had no part in the "drawing" (Karen rolled a die). But regardless of prizes, we all walked away with new knowledge and a wonderful experience. And, indeed, it was time to head out.

Joe and Karen invited everyone back to their home for future demos and to use some of their equipment. I would like to extend a public "Thank you both oh so much" to our wonderful hosts for opening their home to us, sharing their extensive collection and knowledge with us, and for the wonderful meal they provided. Another big thanks to Joe, Karen, and Syslight for the "goodie bags" and the door prize donations. I'd also like to thank everyone who joined us. Hopefully, we will see those who could not attend at future meetings, formal or informal.

If I've left anything out or mixed up any of the details, please do correct my by posting. I'd also love to hear from Scott and mademperor about how their freshly honed razors shave, and I'm sure Joe and Karen would as well.

I did not take pictures, but the others did, so pictures should be coming right up.