Thread: February 4, 2007 - February 10, 2007

Sunday:

Rooney small style 1 brush
Williams Mug Soap
Hand American strop
6/8 Robeson Shuredge
Pinaud Clubman A/S

This razor is an apparently NOS or extremely lightly used razor that I snagged off of ebay a few weeks ago. This razor is a particularly attractive specimen, it has hammer marks on the shank and faux tortoise scales with silver end caps, and the motto "The Razor That Fits Your Face" engraved on the blade. It still has the sticker on the scales touting its suitability for tough beards, faces exposed to harsh weather, and that it never needs stropping.

I honed it up on the 4k side of the Norton and the 8k and 15k Shaptons last night while watching some anime. I've recently become concerned that I've been letting my honing skills degrade under the siren song of trichromium dioxide, so I've decided to get the best edge I can on the hones and hopefully this will encourage further improvement in my honing skills. The shave was a great success, the whiskers just melted away, and the edge was still quite soft on the face, not as velvety as the trichromium dioxide gets it but very nice.

I just honed several razors today one of which is a "Klas Tornblom, Eskilstuna". It looks like a single piece frameback style with barber's notch and is about 5/8 tapering to about 9/16 toward the heel. The shave was quite good; the three days growth just zipped right off with the first pass requiring only five to six minutes with the total shave taking twenty minutes. BBS with virtually no irritation. The two small nicks I attribute to my unfamiliarity with the frameback design so this one will likely be added to the rotation. Unfortunately one of the scales is broken at the wedge pin so they'll need to be replaced but the razor should be usable in the interim. Now, please excuse me as I feel the urge to resume my compulsive faceturbation.

• Henckel 50 1/2 round point
• Whitfield Saddlery #1 strop
• Miss Jenny Oatmeal hand soap/ Palmolive cream
• Cold water rinse/ witch hazel splash
• Dominica Bay rum splash

I was reluctant to try the hand soap but it worked beautifully, though the Palmolive overpowered the scent. Oh well... that's what experimentation is for; finding out what works and what does not.

Mon:

Rooney small style 1 brush
Gold Dachs Spezial soap
Hand American strop
6/8 Friodur
Pinaud Clubman

Good shave from a current-production Friodur.

Hot shower
3 days growth

15/16 Dorko
proraso pre shave
oak & moss shaving cream
silvertip badger brush

C&E Nomad after shave balm



Great shave great scent

Mon

Thomas Anthony BB
TM strop
L'occitane Cade soap
F. Fenney 7/8 wedge
AOS Sandalwood Balm
LeLabo Patchouli 24



Jordan

7/8 Bartman
Simpson Rover pure badger
Honeybee amber
Alum
Swiss Pitralon A/S splash
C&E Sienna ASB

Not a bad shave from the Bartman - the one thing I notice is that the feel of this razor is somewhere between my other carbon razors and my SS razors - is this because the Bartman is somewhat harder than average?

3 days no shave

hot shower
Dorko 15+ /16 (marked 7/8)
TM Strop
B&B 2006 Finest Silvertip Ebony
Trumper's Violet soap
Trumper's alum
Coral Skin Food

First time for the NOS Dorko. Started out 9+ / 10 smooth and sharp but feel deteriorated to 9 / 10 halfway through the first pass. Stropped, felt smooth again for a while. Not good enough for ATG pass. No wire edge under magnification, but bevel scratches / marks were a bit different. Deeper and wider.

Decent shave, but nowhere near BBS.

GFT Violet does, as someone on B&B noted, smell like what one may expect to feel opening a whore's handbag. Maybe it will grow on me. No soap irritation on skin, though - this is very important to me. I guess I have to try the Rose now.

Cheers
Ivo