Thread: @cudarunner honing.

Conditioner good. Don't rinse it off, leave it on your face. Try, before lathering, rubbing a small amount of Cremo or Kiss My Face into your beard for a little extra pre-conditioning and softening of your beard. And then there is the area I always, and am getting known for, harp on. What is the right temperature of your lather/shave that benefits your face the most. I am no longer harping on a pure cold water shave, but one where the temp gives the most for your dollar. Requires cooling your water by 10 - 15 degrees, seeing the result and then, if necessary, lower it another 10 - 15 degrees till you find your sweet spot. My brain is working on why the edge isn't lasting as long as I (and others, I'm sure) think it should before touch-up or full honing.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Conditioner good. Don't rinse it off, leave it on your face. Try, before lathering, rubbing a small amount of Cremo or Kiss My Face into your beard for a little extra pre-conditioning and softening of your beard. And then there is the area I always, and am getting known for, harp on. What is the right temperature of your lather/shave that benefits your face the most. I am no longer harping on a pure cold water shave, but one where the temp gives the most for your dollar. Requires cooling your water by 10 - 15 degrees, seeing the result and then, if necessary, lower it another 10 - 15 degrees till you find your sweet spot. My brain is working on why the edge isn't lasting as long as I (and others, I'm sure) think it should before touch-up or full honing.

So after your earlier message you got me back into my "experimental mode". Just went up and shaved, but this time I did 60 vs 50 passes on the strop. I think I will be doing that from now on! Another great lesson I've learned - who cares if you have to do 4 passes? I was obsessed early on with getting BBS within 2 passes. Now (especially with a scuttle bowl), my first pass is just a prelim. The second and third are where I get a good shave and then a quick additional under my neck. As you get faster, better to do more passes with lighter touch because you (or me I should say) always want to use too much pressure if you're going for BBS in 2 passes.

Ah! That magic word, pressure. Sometimes I think we are all born with a heavy hand and have to learn the hard way to lighten up. Especially in wet shaving, pressure is key to everything. Hence, that statement, by who I can't remember, shave the lather, not the beard. That solved so many problems for me.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Ah! That magic word, pressure. Sometimes I think we are all born with a heavy hand and have to learn the hard way to lighten up. Especially in wet shaving, pressure is key to everything. Hence, that statement, by who I can't remember, shave the lather, not the beard. That solved so many problems for me.

ha... that's a great quote!!! Picturing what I'm doing now, that's exactly right!

I think Cuda is trying to kill me at this point. Been shaving for almost 7 months with straights, and every time I get one from @cudarunner I almost cut myself to death. Cuda... you're TOO good!!! Damn, man... I thought my shavettes were sharp! That new Friodur you sent me is amazing. And I'm saying that being on my 7-8th straight... truly amazing. I can't believe you grabbed that for the price you did, and thanks again for the hook up.

Originally Posted by MajorEthanolic

I think Cuda is trying to kill me at this point. Been shaving for almost 7 months with straights, and every time I get one from @cudarunner I almost cut myself to death. Cuda... you're TOO good!!! Damn, man... I thought my shavettes were sharp! That new Friodur you sent me is amazing. And I'm saying that being on my 7-8th straight... truly amazing. I can't believe you grabbed that for the price you did, and thanks again for the hook up.

Sorry Major, just had to chuckle, While I'm please that you like the edges, I have to give a lot of credit to those who made the steel : As far as any cuts, remember that you had been using a 7/8 for a couple of months or so and then went to a 6/8 and drew blood but once you made the angle adjustments and the lighter weight then you were fine, now that you've been using the 6/8 and gave this new 7/8 ago, you may have forgotten to make the angle adjustments etc. I think that you will be fine.

While I'm very proud of the edges, I think I'm almost more proud of being able to rebuild that 6/8 and make the pinning look nice. The 6/8 Friodur also didn't have any friction washers so I installed them after I'd cleaned and polished the scales and the pivot area.

And yes you got some nice prices on all three of your Friodurs and nice shaves from all of them and your Ralf Aust 6/8 is a nice shaver also. I can't wait to see how your R/A 5/8 comes out.

Originally Posted by MajorEthanolic

I think Cuda is trying to kill me at this point. Been shaving for almost 7 months with straights, and every time I get one from @cudarunner I almost cut myself to death. Cuda... you're TOO good!!! Damn, man... I thought my shavettes were sharp! That new Friodur you sent me is amazing. And I'm saying that being on my 7-8th straight... truly amazing. I can't believe you grabbed that for the price you did, and thanks again for the hook up.

Does this mean I am going to be bleeding soon?

Originally Posted by KingHooper

Does this mean I am going to be bleeding soon?

Hoop, depends on your definition of 'soon'. It also depends on your skills with using a straight razor. Besides what's a little blood letting these days? Sorry Major I'm and

I have a couple of spikes that I could loan you to cure that "heavy hand."

Originally Posted by Splashone

I have a couple of spikes that I could loan you to cure that "heavy hand."

What's a "spike"?