Georgetown Pottery G5

I read through a lot of posts this week. I didn't see any that were specifically about the newest G5 scuttle.

I don't own any other so I am not going to make any comparisons.

I did measure the capacity of it this morning and it seems to have much more room than reported in previous models.

The outer water jacket holds 235 mils (7.9oz). The bowl holds 300 mils (10.1oz).

Bald Frog works very well in it and I have no problems whipping up MWF. I mention it because I've seen other people complain about MWF. I do run both soaps through a cheese grater and start out with chips in the bowl rather than trying to load the brush.

It's a beauty and I flat don't have room on my sink for a larger one. I fill both chambers with hot tap water while I shower and the lather stays very warm throughout the shave. The bowl is deep so a longer handled brush is next on my list.

They ran out of stock during the Christmas rush but I went ahead and ordered one. It arrived exactly when they said it would.

I have the G-5. It's sure a looker however it doesn't keep the lather hot very long. It contains too little water and the walls are too thick. By comparison my Oskar holds about 3 times the water and has thinner walls and works great.

Have you measured the capacity?

Why does wall thickness have a big impact? When I heat mine up in the sink I put hot water outside and inside, so then entire scuttle is hot.

I own 2 G-5's and I use near boiling water to keep the fires stoked. I agree it takes a lot of heat to radiate thru that thick side wall. I also place a little aluminum foil lid on top as well.

Do you put water inside the bowl to preheat it, or just in the jacket?

I fire up the kettle and get it to a near boil, I fill the jacket insert stopper and yes I do place water in the bowl for as long as it takes to walk from the kitchen to the bathroom and get set up to shave. By then there's enough heat radiating to well last my entire shave. I like the Georgetowns because they look beautiful. With all that color swirl.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I have the G-5. It's sure a looker however it doesn't keep the lather hot very long. It contains too little water and the walls are too thick. By comparison my Oskar holds about 3 times the water and has thinner walls and works great.

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Big +1 here. I have the GTP G5, and it does not hold the heat. It does look nice, and the rubber cork is a nice touch, but lacks functionallity.
YMMV.

Should this thread be moved to Misc Shaving Eqpmt thread??

I have a G5 and love it. I use hot water inside and in the bowl and let it set for 10 minutes. Then I dump out the water and refill the inside. I never use the rubber stopper. I keeps my lather warm for three passes - everytime.

How well a scuttle works is a function of how much water it holds and the thickness of the walls. If the walls are very thick it requires that much more water to heat and keep it hot and if you combine that with a small quantity of water you are in trouble. My son uses my G-5 and preheating it with hot tap water (and I have very hot tap water) and then filling it again and using a DE for shaving he has enough to complete the shave and he's about out of heat. When I used it for a straight shave it simply didn't last even using boiling water in it. By comparison my Oskar scuttle holds around 20 oz of water and has thinner walls. When I preheat with tap water and then refill my lather stays well hot through an entire straight shave and when I spill out the water at the end it's still very hot. By comparison the G-5 water is ice cold when I spill it out at the end of the shave.

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Originally Posted by jerrybyers

I have a G5 and love it. I use hot water inside and in the bowl and let it set for 10 minutes. Then I dump out the water and refill the inside. I never use the rubber stopper. I keeps my lather warm for three passes - everytime.

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That's my experience also. I let the hot water sit for about 10 minutes before using it and I never run out of heat, or even cool off very much.

I wanted to say something positive about what I consider to be a very good product. It's a shame some people are completely negative toward it.

I have also pre-heated my G5, empty the water, and add new hot water. I haven't really had trouble with it being warm. Lately, I stopped doing that. I find that 1 pass with warm lather, and then a "cold pass" works best for me, and soothes my skin as well.

"Back in the day" they didn't have these contraptions we have today...and I haven't noticed a difference for my shaving, so I for one don't care if the lather cools down. :D

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Originally Posted by Crotalus

That's my experience also. I let the hot water sit for about 10 minutes before using it and I never run out of heat, or even cool off very much.

I wanted to say something positive about what I consider to be a very good product. It's a shame some people are completely negative toward it.

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I don't think people are being completely negative about it at all. I originally had the G-2 and then I got the G-5 and it's the best looking scuttle out there and the fit and finish is top tier and I don't think anyone has ever knocked those aspects. What folks are negative about is it's ability to keep lather warm. I know some guys say it works fine and I wish I knew their secret because I filled mine with boiling water 2x and it still didn't keep the lather warm the entire shave (15 minutes or less). By comparison my Oskar scuttle while not looking as spiffy keeps the lather piping hot forever.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

What folks are negative about is it's ability to keep lather warm. I know some guys say it works fine and I wish I knew their secret because I filled mine with boiling water 2x and it still didn't keep the lather warm the entire shave (15 minutes or less).

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Here's what I do exactly. I turn on the hot water in the sink and let it run full until the water is hot, then I turn it down to a medium trickle letting it run into the bowl and jacket while I do my first "S" (about 10 min). Then I turn on the shower and dump all the water out of the scuttle, refill the bowl and jacket with hot water and just let it sit while I shower (about 5 min). I then empty the bowl, run hot water over the brush, shake it out and make my lather. The lather actually steams and stays hot for 3 passes. It doesn't seem to cool off at all.

I'm a noob at shaving, so I don't fly through the shave. If I do, I bleed. :)

my g5 scuttle out performs my moss by far....when I got the g5 I was very happy...I am waiting for my robert becker scuttle now and am very interested to see how it performs :)

Perception of heat and how hot you like your lather really makes for the different opinions on the G-5. The others are right about it not keeping "hot" lather for a relaxed three pass shave. However, it will keep lather "warm" for three passes. Having that said, I own the Georgetown Pottery G-5 and their brush scuttle and they are the only two scuttles I own. I have owned a Moss, Dirty Bird and Robert Becker and they all ended up in new homes. That should tell you how much I love my Georgetown Pottery scuttles, and enjoy their functionality and asthetics more so than the other major scuttle makers. Congrats on your new scuttle Crotalus, it is a fantastic scuttle!

I have heard about people actually microwaving the G-5 to get it really hot and that does do the trick but I know Georgetown recommends against doing that.

All I can tell you is I have the G-5 and the Oskar and performance wise comparing the two is like comparing Williams soap to Castle Forbes.

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Originally Posted by jerrybyers

I have a G5 and love it. I use hot water inside and in the bowl and let it set for 10 minutes. Then I dump out the water and refill the inside. I never use the rubber stopper. I keeps my lather warm for three passes - everytime.

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yep, mine too....g5 forever! it blows my moss scuttle out of the water...I will be selling my moss scuttle in royal blue soon if anyone is wanting one

It would seem that the general consensus here is that the G5 isnt functional. Can someone recommend one that is?

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Originally Posted by Kenetix2007

It would seem that the general consensus here is that the G5 isnt functional. Can someone recommend one that is?

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This thread is more than 2 to 1 in favor of the G5.

I wouldn't have room on my sink for a larger one in any case.

I received my G5 earlier this week; absolutely gorgeous piece that, in my opinion, is the best looking and most masculine on the market. It's nice having a piece of art that goes well with the other straight razor components on the shaving shelf if I'm going to have a scuttle to begin with.:p

I used it a couple days filling the void and the bowl with hot tap water (my tap water is very hot in the morning), letting it warm while I strop and get organized, and then dumping it to refill the void with fresh hot tap water. It kept the lather nice and warm for a short time, but it would cool before I was finished. Granted, it still takes me a while to shave, so I'm sure that won't be a problem as I gain experience. Today I filled the void and bowl with hot tap water, let it heat, and then dumped and replaced with boiling water in the void. That kept the lather nice and warm the entire time, although it was too hot and dried out the lather toward the end. Tomorrow I'll use almost boiling water, and that should do the trick.

I've thought about this thread discussion and the thinking that the G5 wall thickness and small water volume makes the bowl cool quicker than other scuttles, but I don't know if I buy that reasoning. A thicker wall on the outside will better insulate the hot water from the cold ambient temperature whereas a thinner wall will allow in the cold; the same applies for the bowl side. A thicker wall might be harder to heat from the start before the ceramic is heated, but it will also radiate heat for a longer time than a thinner wall, and it will make it harder for the ambient temp to penetrate the bowl to the hot water. From what I know about pottery, one of the beauties of ceramics is the ability to insulate and radiate heat, so it seems to me like thicker walls might be a benefit. Think about a coffee cup: if you take 30 minutes to drink your coffee/tea and you like it hot the entire time, would you rather use a thick-walled mug or a china teacup (hypothetically of the same volume)? I do agree that more void volume in the G5 can only help the process, but I wonder if other heating scuttles need to be so astronomically large (and in my opinion cumbersome) and have so much void volume because they lose a lot of heat through the thinner wall thickness and must compensate with water? Just my insight into the discussion.

I just ordered the G20 in ivory. Ive been able to restrain myself every time I saw a G5...but my feeble powers were no match for the G20's charms. Should be arriving in 3-5 days...

I'm jealous. I have only has my G5 for 3 months, so it's much too early to upgrade. SAD is one disease I have yet to catch.

I've had a robert becker for about a year now, so i got this, will give the becker to a friend of mine here who i got into wet shaving and then that will be it for scuttles for me.