Wade and Butcher and the EP...the journey continues.
I just acquired a Wade and Butcher wedge razor and man alive is it a nice shaver.
The W/B in horn trim on top of some VDH lather
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h...906_202033.jpg
The shave rotation is growing.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...906_201810.jpg
I put the W/B on the EP for a touch up before I shaved with it. The progression was:
2k
3k
6k
0.5 Balsa with Chro-ox
0.3 micron tape
0.25 Bark leather with diamond spray
Final strop with my homemade EP strop.
The really cool thing about doing the touch up is that when I set the table to 20 degrees and the touch up went nice and smooth. There was no fuss and no concern on whether or not I would be touching up a proper bevel. Just as a side note, this razor was honed on an Edge Pro before at 20 degrees (arm on table). Reproducing the angle was easy with the use of my angle cube.
The shave was fantastic. I went WTG, XTG, ATG with no razor burn, irritation, or nicks/cuts. It was an excellent shave indeed. I used some preshave oil and C.O. Bigelow for my test.
It was quite entertaining not hearing the W/B sing at all. It just cut without any noise. I did a quick shave this morning (didn't really need to) to hear the difference between the W/B and my other razor. There wasn't much to shave this morning but I was able to get just a bit of "velcro" sound when using my Bingham BBB razor.
m-
Homemade balsa strop for the EP
*UPDATE*!
In my ever continuing quest for straight razor nirvana, I have a low-cost strop alternative that I would like to share with everyone here.
Low-cost you say? How low can you go?
I present to you the Home Depot paint stick EP balsa strop.
Here are some of the intricate build photos that were taken while I was in the garage.
Paint stir sticks:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-U...804_173538.jpg
Looks like it is ready for glue and grip.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-h...804_173554.jpg
Under pressure:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-H...804_174111.jpg
For comparison. From left to right:
Homemade Leather EP strop, EP 1k stone, Home Depot EP balsa strop.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...922_164532.jpg
HDEP Balsa strop selfie. This strop was sanded down with 1k sandpaper, checked for flatness with the angle cube, and sprayed with some 0.125 diamond spray:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...922_164607.jpg
Here are some action shots on the EP:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-t...922_175309.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...922_175320.jpg
So how does it perform? I would have to describe the last touch up I did on a Wade & Butcher razor I have:
Chrom-ox loaded balsa strop (strop was from CKTG) - 10 passes
Right side - 1 pass equals 10 strokes H-T and 10 strokes T-H
Heel to toe - 10 strokes
Toe to heel - 10 strokes
Left side - 1 pass equals 10 strokes H-T and 10 strokes T-H
Heel to toe - 10 strokes
Toe to heel - 10 strokes
0.3 Micron tape - 10 passes
0.125 loaded strop (Home Depot sticks) - 10 passes
Leather strop (Homemade EP) - 15 passes
Shave setup:
Shave secret pre-shave oil
C.O. Bigelow
AOS badger brush
W/B SR
The shave WTG was flawless. The shave ATG was very nice. I did 2 ATG passes on my neck. The 2nd pass was butter smooth. The XTG pass was also very nice.
I think I am leaning towards loaded balsa vs. loaded leather. The draw from the balsa strops are very nice. The loaded Bark leather strop I have feels like it has a sticky draw. It is very hard to get an even pull with the Bark leather. I have not made another homemade EP strop so I do not have another leather strop to load up. I eventually will make another leather strop and load it with the 0.125 spray and see how that works out.
m-