Heading for the WNY razor meet tomorrow...looking forward to seeing everybody! See you soon!
Nathan
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Heading for the WNY razor meet tomorrow...looking forward to seeing everybody! See you soon!
Nathan
Great Nathan! Lynn and Don arrived last night. We will be on the road this morning and afternoon starting with a visit to Caswell. We should be back by 4, maybe sooner but Carrie will be at home so come on over as soon as you like! We are going to have a fun meet w/ lots of things to learn and share.
Will there be a thread started on the goings on of this meet, so those of us that can only make it tomorrow (yours truly) can catch up on things?
Usually we don't post during the meet but we do take photos and share what happened afterwards. I will see what we can do about posting some stuff later tonight for what's happening
Once again, another Western New York meet hosted by JoeD and CarrieM proved to be a terrific experience. Their hospitality and generosity knows no bounds. It was terrific to meet Lynn and Don, as well as Ed, Frank, Nate, Earl, and Ivan as well as seeing WNY regulars like Dylan, Scott, and Karl. It was great fun to watch Lynn work the Caswell grinder and the buffing wheels as it was to watch him work his magic with the Naniwa and Norton stones.
Good fellowship, good food, good conversation, good cigars, and good razors abounded. Sheesh!! Wotta hoot!
Thanks to all. I can hardly wait for the next gathering.
Nathan
Woohoo, I totally agree with Nathan. As usual, JoeD, CarrieM, and JrJoeD were stellar hosts, and there was great company there to boot. Lynn was a superstar; he gave me a one on one honing lesson Friday night and still answered all my questions as he continued to hone on Saturday. He also walked all of us through the use of JoeD's new Caswell motor with greasless compounds, buffing compounds, and rouge. On Friday night, part of his demo included restoring one of my razors (a 15/16 W&B), and on Saturday, part of his demos included guiding me through the restoration of another of my razors (a now beautiful Joseph Rodgers). And that's not to mention his working on other people's blades and answering everyone's questions. Don, when he got away from his work work, was also a great resource on all things razor.
But the main thing I took away from the meet was the passion that Lynn and Don both share for what they do. It is very clear that these guys want nothing more than to see lots of people happily shaving with straight razors, irregardless of what products people use or where they get those products. These guys are first class all around, and you should take any chance you can to meet them in person and learn what you can from them.
Personally, I can't wait to have another chance to hang around with these guys, and I hope it comes soon.
After thanking the hosts and Lynn and Don, I'd also like to thank everyone who attended. Everyone in attendance brought a little something to the table, and it was a wonderful experience. Ever since the first time I met JoeD and CarrieM, I can truely say I don't think there is anything better than meeting other forum members face to face.
PS: I have seen Gugi, and I know what he looks like. He IS REAL!
Yes I had to trim the horns and take an image of a man for a day and now Dylan has touched my flesh and had seen my razors, he is now a believer.Quote:
Originally Posted by holli4pirating
Other than that it was of course fun, at least for me. Nice fall weather to drive almost to Canada (and back). Then there were a lot of toys to pay with, good food and drinks, lynn and joe spent most of the second half of the day depitting one of my razors....
And then I tested 5 rather nice razors, drank some vodka with lynn, smoked a cigar while humming the internationale.... yes it was definitely a good day.
I think I did alright because I got invited back, or may be everybody was so drunk they had no idea what they're doing :p
Thanks JoeD & CarrieM for the hospitality, Don&Lynn for coming and staying all day, and of course for all the swag :) And everybody else for coming, everybody who didn't come (I'm looking at olga) should hone ten W&B wedges and 15 ontarios as penance and they shall be forgiven.
I'll start on the W&Bs as soon as I see photos
Just wanted to add a post to thank CarrieM, JoeD and JoeDjr for hosting a great Meet. I had a wonderful time. It was a joy to meet everyone.
Being new to straight razors I had many questions and everyone was very gracious with their time and efforts getting me going in the right direction: Personal lessons on honing and stropping, I got to shave with one of Joes Razors freshly honed by Lynn, I had a razor honed for me which took considerable time and effort, (Thanks Carrie and Don :) ) a nice Dubl Duck, which was given to me at the meet, was polished to a mirror finish and I won a beautiful strop that Lynn and Don brought as a door prize from Straight Razor Designs. I'll post a pic of it. Talk about spoiled!
There were razors there of every size and description. Eye candy galore.
I should have taken more pictures.
Anyway, all I can say is if you get a chance to come to a meet, don't miss it.
I took a few pictures but I'll just post one here for now.
THANK YOU CarriM and JoeD !!!! Thanks for opening up your house to us all, making us feel as family and for adding so much to this GREAT forum. I can not wait for the spring thaw and another event up North. You guys are Great Hosts!!
THANK YOU Don and Lynn! For all the great lessons, the patience to show us all your tecquinques. I can not tell you how much I learned. It was a real honor to learn from the best! Thank you also for all the GREAT door prizes! I am going to go shave tonight and give the Baxter after shave a go...
I am now going to have to go out and shop for some restoration tools for my shop. Wow did I ever get a lesson there. There is so much to learn and the best way to do that is in person. I hope Caswell puts together something nice. I will be first to order up. I never realized how hard the wedges were to hone, Lynn made it look so easy I think I will just have to send him all my wedges to do...LOL
It was also GREAT to meet all the guys, I am so bad remembering names please forgive...everyone had so many great razors to show and share. I am still in Razor overload, if there is such a thing...I just wanted them ALL!
:beer1:
One thing I forgot to do was put names to faces... some I know from just reading names related to posts everywhere (or obvious ones) liek Ivan=Gugi, Lynn=Lynn etc, but could we post names to screen names right quick?
Khaos=Karl (chaos with a k, karl with a k)
Edit:
I actually have a lot more to say sorry. First I would like to apologise for only making it for five hours- due to the previous night I overslept, and had work today so I had to run. Second i would like to thank our hosts for their hospitality and some of the best chilli and brownies I've ever eaten. If you are willing to share that recipe PLEASE PM me. If its secret... well I understand. Thanks to everyone for everything, because though it may not seem that way to you as a true newb, you'll understand as you "age" into a not-so-new-but-still-a-newb state like me, that really everyone has something to bring to the table- obscure razors, different ideas, or even just camaraderie.
And on that note- I am truly wowed by the camaraderie. From Lynn and Don's door prizes (and expertise and sharing and and and and and), to the sharing, to people trading and giving things to eachother, to our wonderful hosts, this was truly a testament to the strength of our community. Thanks everyone!
I will second that one Karl (the names to user names)
Crushnbugs = Mike
:rock:
Ok, time for the hosts to chime in. We had a great time with the group that came over. Lynn, Don, Holli4pirating, Scotts, Khaos, miner123. Stimpy52, batmang, natepaint, quicknicker, crushnbugs, and yes, the elusive gugi did show up dehorned and in his human guise, And yes, he is welcome here anytime, we were not that drunk :beer1:
Here are some more pictures of the meet: Enjoy!
Pictures of the gang in the garage and just hanging out
And for those who have been sooooo patiently waiting.. here is the elusive gugi all decked out and put to work on the buffing wheels :)
Lee, you have those W&B's handy, I don't wish those Ontario's on anyone right Don? LOL
That's him! That's even the same respirator mask plaguing my dreams!
It looks like y'all had a great time. Thanks for sharing the photos and the experiences :rock:
Miner123=Earl and by the way Karl, thanks again for that dubl duck that razor is a keepsake.
Hell I wasn't usin' it. I mean, I need to start getting back to my 7 day limit, and I have a couple other ducks so... no worries. It was kinda like, too much hassle for me to clean up but since they had that buffer going and all the hones I figured why not you know? My tiny loss is your big gain.
Originally I gave it to you no strings- and I'm gonna leave it that way. But I would like to ask that it either remains in your lineage (kept by you, given to friends or relatives), or it is given away, but is never sold. I think it is very important that our hobby is spread and the kindness shared.
What I wanted to say is that if you have a chance to attend a meet --GO!
Put some faces to screen names, enjoy some new friends, have a good time.
Special thanks to Carrie, Joe and son Joseph for opening their home to all of us and making us feel comfortable. (Honest to God, Joseph never rolled his eyes once that I saw, not even with a house full of razorgeeks)
Lynn and Don were just super. They shared techniques, experience, and equipment freely, gave stuff away, polished, honed and generally worked their butts off to please.
And Carrie... oh Carrie.... Joe, you'd better be careful with this one, I don't think there's that many who would do what she does. Thanks so much to Carrie for sharing her home, her cooking, and her tolerance of the razorine obsession disorder. Officially, I'm stalking her.
"Razorine", yes, I just made that up.
Lynn at the buffing wheel
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_e96GWMBYR-E/Sw...0/DSC00821.jpg
Hands of the master
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_e96GWMBYR-E/Sw...0/DSC00828.jpg
Mmmmm, so tasty, razors, stones, strops EVERYWHERE! Yes, you could touch them!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_e96GWMBYR-E/Sw...0/DSC00836.jpg
At this point, Lynn had actually persuaded this razor to speak and beg to honed. Miner123 (Earl) and Crushngbugs (Mike) were suitably amazed. OK, so Lynn waterboarded that razor, but he got results.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_e96GWMBYR-E/Sw...0/DSC00843.jpg
Later, Lynn got his hand stuck in a jar of pickled eggs... no, this is Lynn and Don giving stuff away...Door prizes!! It was great!
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_e96GWMBYR-E/Sw...0/DSC00850.jpg
Door prizes!!!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_e96GWMBYR-E/Sw...0/DSC00845.jpg
Another craftsman, Joe, a great host.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_e96GWMBYR-E/Sw...0/DSC00823.jpg
Go to a meet!! By now, your family will understand. Your family, that is, not mine... mine still has that damn restraining order in force...
I would like to thank all of you for your kind words. This was a GREAT meet. We started the meet with a few friends and a lot of internet acquaintances and ended the meet all great friends!
Don and Lynn are very special people. There are few people in the world with their open, friendly, helpful and generosity. It was a special treat to meet with them and I am looking forward to our next chance to meet with them.
It's too early in the morning to mention everything that I enjoyed in the meet but I can say that it exceeded my wildest dreams. Everyone that attended brought something special to the meet including their friendship, which I value the most. We thank everyone for the food, cigars gifts and and beverages they brought along with their own unique razor collection and gear. The best thing brought to the meet was the people them selves! I was very sad when the meet ended and am eagerly awaiting the next meet.
Thank you all for a wonderful time and the distance you traveled to join us!
Joe
Taking a well deserved break after all the honing, stropping grinding and buffing. Cheers!
Quote:
Originally Posted by crushnbugs
quicknicker = Ed
I just wished to add to the pile of gratitude for our hosts, and to the founders of SRP!
A great time was had by all, as previous posts state, and a desire to do it again! There was made mention of possibly a spring, or summer meet.
I had a great time with fellow razor addicts, and enjoyed the collective experience of them all. It was a great environment for low pressure learning. After all, who doesn't learn better than a person with a full belly, a pipe, or fine cigar burning, surrounded by
good people?
So glad I made the trek out there. Thanks to all.
Ed
quicknicker
Thanks Ed. The 'Thank you' button isn't working for me at this moment but I'll keep trying.
We actually have had several meets a year and I don;t see any reason to change that unless we add some. We will probably have a meet some time after the holidays but due to the snow we are famous for, it is usually just the locals. There will be a spring, end of summer and fall meet if I have any say in the matter and I am sure Carrie will be all for it also. Hell, as all of you were driving away I told Carrie we should do it again next weekend... then I ran for cover! LOL :)
Hope we can see everyone again as soon as possible and maybe some new faces!
edit: The 'Thank You' button worked after I made this post.
I would like to extend a huge THANKYOU to Joe and Carrie!!!!! Their hospitality and generosity could never be appreciated more. I felt so at home with you guys. It truly was like being with family not to mention the first home cooked meals for me in months......:). Don't know how I could ever repay the kindness, but my door is always open to you.
What a great weekend. Ahhhh......the smokes, the drinks, the Caswell visit, the buffing, the honing, the razor porn (That includes your DE collection Joseph), the hone porn and the opportunity to meet a bunch of our great members. One of the real treats of the get togethers is to be able to shake hands with the people we see here in the forums and get to realize what phenomenal people they are. I always learn more from others than I could ever teach others. To every one of you, thank you for the opportunity to get to meet you and I hope we will see you again soon.
Did I mention the bath soaps, Lilac Shaving Cream and unbelievable Black Raspberry Vanilla Shaving Cream I got from Carrie........
This was just a killer weekend, right down to getting to share a Vodka with gugi.
You folks are truly awesome,
Lynn
But is it porn if its real? Isn't it more burlesque? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn
Thanks for the kind words Lynn. :) As far as we are concerned you and everyone else that attended are family for us. We enjoyed having everyone over. The only regret we have is that the house was not big enough to have everyone who was from out of town stay with us. I was great meeting new faces and sharing gear and experiences. Most of all learning from each other. We will try to get out to Ohio for a long weekend after the new year :)
Thank you, Carrie and Joe, for opening up your home to (an almost) complete stranger, it was truly unexpected. Your family is was very warm and welcoming, I give you my many gratitudes, and hope to return the favor some day.
A special thanks to Colby, for ensuring I was awake at a decent hour. Carrie or Joe, please give him a treat, for me.
It was a great weekend and well worth the 6hr. drive and would do it again in a heart beat. A thank you to everyone for imparting there vast knowledge of straight razor restoration and honing, I hope I can retain it all for when I start start my own projects.
Thanks to Lynn and Don for the great door prizes.
nate
Quote:
Originally Posted by natepaint
LOL. Colby is very predictable so I'm guessing he gave yo a cold wet nose in the face. LOL You should see how he wakes us up! ROFLMAO.
I had another Lab that liked to roll in stinky stuff. A couple of times, early in the morning there was a skunk in the yard very early in the morning. The oder would kill my scenes of smell, so I let the dog in. Don't ya know it made a bee line to the bed where my ex was sleeping! What a scream! It was priceless! Wish that dog was around today and I could get it to do that every morning! :)
Amazing hospitality, wonderful community, and a really nice brush!!!
Anyone else seen Hostel??Quote:
Originally Posted by CarrieM
Thanks for the compliment Lynn! The meet was really fun and its neat seeing so many razors and so many people interested in them and eager to share and learn! Thanks to everyone who came it was a blast.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn
I'm not sure everyone at the meet kows but Lynn left me a Craftsman razor he restored the blade on and asked that I rescale it and draw a name form those that attended. I was making the scales and came down with an ear infection. I hope to have them finished by the end of the weekend and will announce the winner when they are complete. Good luck to all!
We'd better have another meet so we can all celebrate with the winner.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joed
Quote:
Originally Posted by holli4pirating
I'm in!! Just say the word!
You volunteering to host Holli? LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by holli4pirating
Sure, if people don't mind sitting on the floor... Still need to find myself a new table.Quote:
Originally Posted by CarrieM
Well finally. We finished the razor giveaway from our last meet. Sorry for the delay. The razor was donated and brought back to life on the buffers by Lynn. I made the scales, pinned the blade and honed this baby up. What a nice shaver!
We picked a name out of a jar and Crushnbugs is the winner! Congrats Mike!
We are looking forward to seeing all of you again at the next meet, weather permitting. In fact CarrieM and I were discussing it as the last person drove away :)
WOW WOW WOW !
What a beauty!
THANK YOU
Joe, Carrie, and of course Lynn! :beer1:
I cant wait to put it to use.
:rofl2:
Congrats Mike!!
Nice Job Joe, Carrie and Joseph!!
Thanks,
Lynn