Great news! Where do we stand on the list? 1, 2, 3? Just curious.
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Great news! Where do we stand on the list? 1, 2, 3? Just curious.
Gentlemen,
I welcomed the Admiral to my home yesterday. It came from Texas where it was posted on 07.18.2013, straight to New Jersey. Not too shabby for the USPS.
Admiral Yamamoto and I will become better acquainted tonight after a long cool shower that I like to indulge in after riding on hot days, and will report back with my first impressions.
Snake welcomed the Admiral into his home over the weekend and hasn't been heard from since. Not implying anything here, but........... a casualty perhaps?? :)
Just a busy week... besides, suspense makes things interesting and yearning is a good thing!
So, I did as planned for the most part. Cold shave, which I've been doing quite a bit lately (no joke, you guys have got to try it if you haven't) after a cold shower. Lathered up with my favorite cheap brush, on account of not having any expensive ones, stropped on a Heritage, with some difficulty but no incident and got down to it. Smooth WTG pass, more fluffy stuff on the face, smooth XTG pass, fluffy stuff, ATG was less smooth but highly acceptable. Missed a little spot on the upper lip, right by that cut on the nose (I swear they are totally unrelated) that I harvested without lather.
Usual finish with the block and Thyers lemon witch hazel. And a touch of styptic. I lied about that little cut on my septum, it was totally related to those three little hairs that I missed.
I expect the next shave to be as nice, and also to be more comfortable with the blade in my hand since I've not held a kamisori since The Big Spendur's last bout of generosity, and it was a bit awkward, you know, to think you know what you are doing and not really.
On the unexpected and unimportant things department, the handle wrapping is really nice to hold and I find this nicer to hold than the General.
I may report back after my next shave (yah, I shave twice a week) or I may keep you guessing. In all I expect to shave five times all together and I totally expect not to hone it at all. (I know someone is smiling)
Don't forget this is really not a kamisori. So, that makes it much easier to use since you can shave with both sides with ease. Also remember this razor started out life as a typical kamisori and some dude in japan made the conversion.
Yes, I try to keep that in mind, even when I think it is a kamisori while I'm looking in the mirror. I did use both sides of the kamisori on the last one just because I couldn't figure out how to shave some spots... I do know it's my lack of acumen and knowledge, but although two weeks is a long time, it still is not. :)
Another thing that dawned on me last Friday was that I'm using much longer strokes with this razor than with the General. Though I started with easy short strokes it quickly developed into longer strokes that came more natural to me. The second time around I also had to fight a tendency to hold it like a western blade, with a modicum of success.
I will shave again tonight, which due to my skipping my Thursday shave and doing it on Friday it's... uh... an easy shave (?)
Just curious - why was the razor converted from a kamisori? What was the motivation?
Look in the OP! A strange phenomena !!!!!! :dropjaw:
yes, and I'm told if the razor isn't treated right it starts to bleed.
Of course! My mistake. :) I will be certain to treat it with utmost respect!
Lt. Kawasaki is on the move.
Apologies for the delay.
Hold yer horses there.
It still has to mosey around the East, then the Mid West, then to Canada and THEN to the West Coast.
I think it pretty much goes with the "Divine Wind" ! :p
I have the Admiral in hand- it just arrived to Long Island. I will use it this week and next, then sterilize it and send it on. I will let you all know how the first shave goes in the next few hours!
Okay so upon further inspection of the Admiral I found a slight chip in the toe. No worries though I used it anyway and it served me faithfully. I did not receive any cuts or weepers but I did feel a little bit of pulling- TBS, was this honed with tape as I would like to touch it up for the next guy? Great little razor btw, perfect size!
Guys, I have to say, this is one thoroughly nice read! Quite exciting to hear who'll be the next victim. I really like the story behind it, and the father must have had really abrasive ribs if he managed to change the grind.
No, the razor was not honed with tape.
Lt. Toshiro Kawasaki has been welcomed into my home. We will come to know each other over the next couple of weeks.
I certainly hope you did not welcome Lt Kawasaki into your home cause if you did you be in a world of hurt.
Hopefully you welcomed Admiral Yamamoto.
It was the Admiral, not Kawasaki, you are correct. :) Checked back with him. Asked him to forgive me. We'll see how it goes tomorrow!
am thinking this program may get lost in the mail system:(
Slept in another room, and with one eye open!
Had the showdown with him this morning. He must not have held any bad feelings over it all. Good shave. Interesting razor. Look forward to some more time spent with the Admiral!
Yea, Lt Kawasaki seems to always be behind the location of the razor by a week or more. Probably the reason we haven't heard from the former users is because he got em.
Things are going well with the Admiral. He continues to treat me well, with nice, enjoyable shaves.
However.... I have reason to believe he is operating covertly. I have been shaving with straights for 6+ years, honing for the same amount of time. No major cuts to report, fortunately. This past weekend, I experienced a cut to my right pinky finger while placing several razors down on a table. Still have no idea what happened exactly, but one razor flipped open and gave me a nice clean cut. Nothing severe, but definitely bled. The connection is that this razor has been sitting within a foot of the Admiral since I welcomed him last week.
My only conclusion is that after the insult I gave him last week, he has turned this razor against me. He himself is treating me fine, but has others doing his dirty work.
Paul
Of course.He is the Admiral. Many died during the war following his orders. I imagine he is treating your razors the same way.
How long until it hits the west coast?
The Admiral is growing extremely restless.... mumbling something about moving northwest....
been saving my dollars to be able to ship to Canada......
Getting prayed up as well. Good thing I am already ugly, just in case the Admiral wants to give me a scar.
Looks like it'll hit seattle soon!
The trick with the Admiral is to teach him who is boss from the first encounter. if you don't he'll just have his way with you.
And just like that, the Admiral has mysteriously disappeared...... onward on his travels!
Oh NO!
Attachment 140066
Well Admiral Yamamoto arrived yesterday evening. Luckily the Mrs. was there to sign for it, so I didn't need to run to the post office. Earlier in the thread I mentioned I was not too worried about the demonic powers of the blade: I am a saved, sanctified servant of Christ and our home has been dedicated to Him. As such either there was a jostling ride during shipment :rant: . Or, could it be divine intervention :angel: ? Or could it be both :shrug: ? Upon un-sheathing the Admiral, I noticed that the nasty spike on the toe had been rendered ineffective - it was chipped :cry: Well, maybe this is my guardian angel protecting me from the cursed point.
Checking with my loop, I see a couple of minor micro chips in the edge. Not to be deterred, I readied myself for the shave:
I read my scripture:
As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come. (Proverbs 26:2 KJV)
also,
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21 KJV)
So I was nice to the Admiral and asked forgiveness for our countries iniquities and blessed him. On to the shave:
I was expecting the Admiral on Thursday and shaved quite aggressively on Tuesday night. Normally, I would wait 36-48 hours before shaving again giving my face time to heal. I shaved anyway knowing there would be some weepers and irritation.
The shave went decent. The Admiral passed my personal sharpness test (before the shave test), but just barely. I really wanted to get the feeling for a non-folding razor and one with such a small cutting edge. I was hoping it would do a better job in the hollows in my neck (near the jugular!!)
I was a little nervous stropping. The handle was a bit short and didn't feel as secure in my hand. The Big Daddy 3" was overkill for the small edge but it is all I have. It looked so cute against a massive strop. I did four passes. The WTG went very well. 2 XTG were ok. ATG was good in some places not so good in others.
I noticed that when I used the side with the writing facing away from my flesh, it worked better. When the lettering was against my face, more pulling. I use the heel quite a bit to shave around the goatee and handlebars. The small edge was great at getting into hard to reach areas. The gradual heel made it a bit difficult to tell where the cutting edge was. With a small blade one must rinse it off more.
Overall, the shave was smooth but not as close as normal. There was some pulling especially when the "wrong" side was used. (I know it is a western grind, but I am discussing minutiae here) I will give it a longer stubble test on Saturday and see how the Admiral does.
Shave two last night....
Very similar to the other shave. WTG had no problems. XTG and ATG gave me fits at times. There was tugging when the writing side was against my flesh - badly. When the writing side was away from my flesh, it was smooth enough on my cheeks, but below the chin had some tugging. If it was one of my blades, I would set it aside for a re-hone - or at least a touch up. I will give the Admiral one more go sometime Saturday to see how he handles longer stubble. I will let the next victim, I mean person decide if they want me to send it back to TBS or if they want to try it or hone it.....