Update: Dorko 7-Day Set "Blind" Shaving Test

This thread will be for periodic updates on the "blind" shaving test of the Dorko 7-Day set.

The original thread describing the seven different techniques Glen used in honing this set is here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...7-day-set.html

These interim posts will probably only be of interest to Glen, since he's the only one who knows which razor's are which... :)

For those who didn't catch the prior threads, I've determined that every one of these is scary sharp, and any differences in sharpness are so minor as to be unnoticeable by me. However, there is a difference in "smoothness & comfort". Although the differences are small they are noticeable.

Note, though, that I would be happy to have any of these, (and whatever stones and strops Glen used on it), as my only desert-island razor for the rest of my life. They're that good. The difference between the final "winner" of this test and the "worst" is so relatively minor that you'd have to be really anal to pick nits that small.

Which, if you've read this post this far, you probably are. :D



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(Prior scrunch-i-fied pic replaced with larger version thanks to Ben's instructions, below. Thanks Ben.)

Stay tuned,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mbaglio100

Hmm... previewing this post shows my pic got shrunk-i-fied to an almost un-readable size. Did I do something wrong?

Stay tuned,

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Attached images get shrunk down to...umm...700x700 i think.. maybe.

For full size you need to upload somewhere(imgur,imageshack,flickr,photobucket,etc. ..) else and use the "insert image" function.

I for one am interested, any guesses on which stones are which razors yet or are you going to wait till your finished ranking them?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thehekler

I for one am interested, any guesses on which stones are which razors yet or are you going to wait till your finished ranking them?

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I will venture no guesses whatsoever, since Glen "Why make this easy?" Gssixgun honed every one of them with a different stone he knows I don't own. I swear that sounded like a good idea at the time...

My job's just to rank them somehow; then Glen can do the big reveal on what he used on each razor. Then my next job will be to figure out how to become jimmyhad's new BFF so's I can bribe the winning stone off him for a decent price. :D

Our leader, as we approach the first turn, with a 2-0 record: It's... MONDAY!

//
And they're off! ...

The mint-julep crowd goes wild... "C'mon Monday!" the blue-bloods pray in the clubhouse; whispering so softly you can hardly hear them over the rattling of their jewelry as they fan themselves with their 100 dollar "Win" tickets... while down at the fences as the riders streak by- [the Day's numbers in bright silk colors on the backs of their jerseys]- the picnic-crowd presses to the fences and screams their bloody heads off. "C'mon #2! C'mon, 2!!! Move yer AAAaaaasss!!!"

And the 2 horse it is!!! Into the first turn and Monday takes the lead!!!
//

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I think I can make predictions for the remaining races.

... but I peeked at the key - glen did share it somewhere before starting, so that he can't cheat :)

it's fun eh

This is gonna be interesting, I am very curious what the end result will be :)

I'm tuned in. I think this is awesome!

This is great! Thanks for this effort.

Richard

Today's test produced the first 0-2 contestant.

If this trial was limited to ONLY WTG passes, there would have been no way to discern a "winner"; they were that close. But when I did the XTG/ATG pass one eeked out a win by the slightest of margins. Congrats on hanging in there, "Thursday"! :)

Let me beat this horse into the ground one more time: If I was stuck on a desert island and had only the "Wednesday" blade for the rest of my life, I'd be fine with that. These are all really great shavers.

[ In an ironic twist, I need to tell you guys something. When I first bought this set, I honed only one of the seven to "see how they shaved". The rest were completely untouched when Glen got them. The one I honed? Wednesday. Ironic, eh? ;> ]

Tomorrow, we'll go back up to the upper bracket, and test Tuesday/Friday so we can fill out the bottom half of the lower bracket and see who Sunday's next contestant will be.

See you then!



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This is not getting any "easier". But it is tons o' fun.

It's Friday by a < a-hem > whisker. And the barest o' whiskers at that.

We'll go back to the lower bracket tomorrow. Until then...[1]

[1] So... which forum on here has the betting pool? Just like real horse racing, this thread can't be much fun unless you have money on it. :)



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Today's shave test knocked Saturday out of the lower bracket, leaving 5 razors in the running.

Results so far:

Thursday: 2-1
Friday: 2-0
Monday: 2-0
Tuesday: 1-1
Sunday: 0-1

Wednesday: 0-2
Saturday: 0-2

Tomorrow we'll test Sunday-Tuesday and then that winner will face Thursday to even out our brackets.

See you then,

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This thread is awesome!

Today's shave promoted Sunday to our last quarter-finalist position with four- (maybe five?)-contests remaining. I continue to be very impressed by just how close these razors are to each other in comfort. But, minor as they are, the differences are there. So;

The stats!

Thursday: 2 - 1

Friday: 2 - 0

Monday: 2 - 0

Sunday: 1 - 1

----------------------

Tuesday: 1 - 2

Saturday: 0 - 2

Wednesday: 0 - 2

I think tomorrow we'll stay in the lower bracket for one more contest to see who will take on the loser of the final upper bracket race.

See you all tomorrow.

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This is definitely a fun thread to follow :)
Are you taking notes on what do you feel the differences are?

Yesterday's leg of the Tour de Myface ended with Sunday and Thursday being so close that the only way to determine the winner was to re-run the leg. This is the first test where I had to shave with them both two days in a row to determine a "winner". And in order to do so I had to do something else I never do: I had to shave with them both going ATG up my upper lip.

The hairs in my moustache area are coarsest on my face, and I never shave ATG there. But for the sake of this test, I did. And it was only there, on the second day that I could eek out a "winner".

By the narrowest of margins after two grueling days, it's THURSDAY!

The further this testing goes, the closer in comfort levels these remaining blades become. And... it's awesome. :)

Here are the stats:

W - L

Thursday: 3 - 1
Friday: 2 - 0
Monday: 2 - 0

Sunday: 1 - 2
Tuesday: 1 - 2
Saturday: 0 - 2
Wednesday: 0 - 2

Thursday, with 4 contests under his belt, gets a day off. Tomorrow we'll pit the current leaders in the Upper Bracket against each other. Should be another close one, we'll see you then.



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Quote:

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Originally Posted by gugi

This is definitely a fun thread to follow :)
Are you taking notes on what do you feel the differences are?

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I took copious notes the first week when I was shaving with one each day. At the end of the week, honestly, the notes looked like: "These are all crazy sharp and really comfortable".

True, but hardly useful.

When I started pitting them against each other the differences between them became more apparent, but the differences were entirely in "comfort" level. The sharpness of them all are close enough to equal that I sure couldn't tell any differences. (Which is what you'd expect, right? Sharpness, "ease of cutting", is a mechanical function. Comfort is a result of how that sharp edge is finished; which is what I was looking for when I signed on for this project.)

This process is the most objective way I could test an entirely subjective experience.

I know that ultimately this is all "YMMV" and going to be of limited value to anyone but me, but I'm fine with that. :) If it encourages others, (once Glen matches each razor to the process he used), to try something they hadn't thought of trying before then that's a bonus for everyone.

Best,

Looks like you can use some statistical analysis there.:)

//
To all who gave your service and your lives for my freedom, I remember. Thank you.
//

A great shave today, with Friday as our winner. Tomorrow; the lower bracket finals. See you then.

The stats:

Friday: 3 - 0
Thursday: 3 - 1
Monday: 2 - 1

Sunday: 1 - 2
Tuesday: 1 - 2
Saturday: 0 - 2
Wednesday: 0 - 2


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Now that it's over, do you want to make a guess on which is which before finding out the answer?
:)

*calls my bookie* What's the point spread on Friday?

Monday took the lower bracket championship, and will have to take tomorrow's re-match against Friday to force a third showdown for the championship. Friday, undefeated at 3-0, can take it all tomorrow with a win.

See you then!

As always, the stats:

Friday: 3 - 0
Monday: 3 - 1

Thursday: 3 - 2
Sunday: 1 - 2
Tuesday: 1 - 2
Saturday: 0 - 2
Wednesday: 0 - 2

And the play-by-play:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5026/...0863e6b8_b.jpg

Best,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Logistics

*calls my bookie* What's the point spread on Friday?

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The spread is 15000 garnets!

Friday, undefeated at 4-0, is the winner of this "competition". Monday was a very close second, but in the end there is no doubt in my mind that:

for this set of blades, on my face, shaving the way I shave, Friday had every great quality of the other six, plus some indefinable magic that made it the undisputed sharpest, smoothest, most comfortable blade of the entire set.

Every one of these blades was equally sharp, they were all "smooth, and comfortable". But [please forgive the hyperbole] Friday seemed to do its job while doffing its top hat and murmuring a hushed "excuse me" as it did so. I really don't know how else to describe it. It was just that much better that there really is no doubt.

I even took out the other five and gave them a quick stroke ATG on my second pass, just to compare each one to Friday, and I'm entirely satisfied with the conclusion. This has been a real treat for me, and I'm looking forward to Glen's Big Reveal. :)

Our final stats and the final chart:

Friday: 4 - 0

Monday: 3 - 2
Thursday: 3 - 2
Sunday: 1 - 2
Tuesday: 1 - 2
Saturday: 0 - 2
Wednesday: 0 - 2

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Alright Glen, you're on! Would you please list what procedure you used on each of the seven? (I'll also be curious if there is anything you did that made the Sunday/Thursday contest so close. Those two were closer to each other than any other two razors in the set!)

Best,

If Friday is the Midori, or the Shapton 30k, than I am doomed :gaah:

I ain't telling before I've cornered the market on those before Glen reveals it. I'll only charge a modest 100% premium for the magic :)

Exact progressions for the Honing junkies

7 Razors:
Bevel set on a Chosera 1k basically 20 circles each side then 20 laps so that they were popping arm hair easily..

5 Razors:
Honed on the 1-3-8 Henckels Hones (Naniwa SS by another name) then finished on the 5 different naturals listed above using mostly a light slurry and pig tail strokes then dilute to clear water, except the Nakayama which I take to an almost dry state...

1 Razor:
Naniwa SS 1-3-5-8-10-12 using the technique of 10 laps on light slurry and 10 laps to clear water as described in the Naniwa honing thread..

1 Razor:
Shapton GS 1-2-4-6-8-16-30 using the same style technique as the Naniwas and the 3-2-1 finish on the 30k


7 Razors:
Stropped 8 laps on a 24 in Leather bench strop, coated with 99% pure CeOx powder mixed with Fromm strop conditioner...

7 Razors:
Stropped 50/100 Illinois #827, test shaved... re-stropped 25/50 SRD Premium #1,




The key:

Mon= Nakayama
Tues = Coticule
Wed = Naniwa SS
Thurs = Thuringen
Fri = Escher
Sat =Charnley Forest
Sun = Shapton GS


Escher: 4 - 0
Nakayama: 3 - 2
Thuringen: 3 - 2
Shapton GS: 1 - 2
Coticule: 1 - 2
Charnely: 0 - 2
Naniwa SS: 0 - 2

Now having done these a few times now with different people,,, Producing a different "winner" each time :)

Here is my conclusion since I get to see all sides of all of these,,, IMHO Honestly, there is no best stone, just like I have always said, so far the person shaving has consistently picked the Stone/Hone that is closest to their normal routine :)

I screwed up this time, and pulled the PHIG out, I should have left it in to see if Michael went to it over all the others, I pretty much had figured after past tests that it should have been either the Escher, Thuringen or the CF and was rather surprised that the CF didn't score higher...

But it was fun to watch,, Thanks again Michael I personally had a blast :tu I hope you did too...

A great experiment and a bunch of fun to watch unfold.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

Now having done these a few times now with different people,,, Producing a different "winner" each time :)

But it was fun to watch,, Thanks again Michael I personally had a blast :tu I hope you did too...

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Indeed I did. Escher, eh? Well, nice to know my face has good taste. But I think I hear my wallet starting to get a resentment... :)

I know that finishers are personal preference, even so I would be much happier if the Friday razor would have been honed on the nani or the coti :)

Not entirely surprising results. I, too, am surprised the CF didn't score higher. Excellent experiment. Unfortunately, I don't see the prices of the Eschers coming down any time soon.

Awesome job guys. Thanks!

Thanks for this thread guys! Seeing the Nakayama among the the finalists is good to see. I don't have an Escher but do have a very nice Nakayama and it gives me edges that nothing short of superb. I would like to put steel down on an Escher one of these days to see what the feel is like.


Thanks,
Richard

No single best hone eh? Is that really the case or have you just not found it yet? Your search must continue-har har.

Awesome thread!!!

I was bored and looking into various natural stones pretending I may want to buy one soon. I stumbled on this and thought someone may be interested in it and not looking at post back in 2011. Basically, a blind taste test of seven different finishers.