Second visit with The General. Still a blodless relationship.
Apologies for the delay. As it turns out I'm not a very good planner, and didn't make it when I said I would.
Eventually I got my second shave last night at around 2AM. I was extremely careful with the pressure, and it paid off handsomely. My new scuttle came in handy; I made a thick hot lather and got down to it. I find the main advantage of the scuttle is that I can dip my finger in and spot lather for touch ups - and I needed a few.
I found out that the hold is the key to the angle with this blade. At times I held it as a fork and other times like a scalpel, and everything in between. I took a page out of Old GI's book and rubbed my fingers on the alum block, and that gave me a little edge (no pun intended) in the holding and stretching.
As I mentioned I paid lots of attention to the pressure, or lack of, throughout the shave, and this made a big difference. While I didn't get as close a shave as I do with my regular razors, it was a very good shave in every sense. The only thing I didn't get to do was the fool's pass on my upper lip, so I settled for a XTG pass with good results. The chin came out smooth and in the end I only had one dubious patch in my neck where my genetic pool decided to get funky and gave me a twirly of whiskers.
Overall it was an excellent shave. I didn't get any razor burn, no heat at all. A vast improvement over the first one and, I hope, a step to a better one next time.
Third shave. The General draws blood.
Third shave and I was getting a little c0cky and paid of myself, and I probably got careless. It's not a big thing; I suspect the toe bit me, although I did not notice it at the time. Just an inconsequential nick, but there it is. First blood.
The shave itself was good; as I get more used to the blade I'm getting better results, especially on the upper lip.
Besides the cut I got a bit of burn on the neck. In retrospective I realize I put pressure trying to deal with that rebellious patch and I shouldn't have.
Still, this was my best experience with The General, as I got good results and felt comfortable with it. If I just manage to get out of my own way I can do a little better than this.
The journey of The General continues.
Arsenal,
General Tojo has left headed in your direction, and it shouldn't be long before it arrives at your doorstep.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Best of luck!