Be Careful, This Is A Long One!
Last night, I had a long honing session, involving several razors. As has been said, though; the only way to really know is to shave with them. I'll start off with a list and description of the razors, because all these are real beauties. Please forgive my long-winded exuberance.:p
The test razors:
1. 6/8 near-mint Bengall round point. I don't know if garythepenman (that's who I got it from) restored this one or not...if he did, he did a helluva job. It looks like new. I've been working on honing this one for quite a while. It's HARD. I think I finally got it right.
2. 5/8 Bengall spike point. I would call this one near-mint as well, except for one small stain at the front of the blade. I made new, custom scales for it out of leopardwood.
3. 6/8 Challenge spike. Did a lot of resto work on it, but it turned out really nice. Nearly zero hone wear, just had to remove a bit of pitting. Really looked unused when I got it.
4. 11/16 "Puritan", square point with a slight smile. Blue tang, spine, and stabilizers. I had to touch up the bluing on the spine and stabilizers, and I made new cocobolo 3-pin scales for this one. Turned out stunning. Light hone wear on it.
5. 5/8 Lakeside square point. Absolutely pristine condition. Original everything, and looked like it had never touched a hone before. Didn't even have an edge bevel on it!
6. Last, but certainly not least, a mint condition F.W. Engels. 1 1/16" monster. :eek: .262" thick at the spine (that's more than a quarter inch):p May have been sharpened once before, by someone who knew how.
The Prep:
50 passes each on a strop. The first 3 razors were done on my latigo strop, the second 3 were done on my cordovan strop.
Hot shower
Proraso cream
C&E Best Badger Edwin Jagger Brush
Hot towels x 2
More Proraso
(This is my standardized test setup, btw. I use it everytime I test a razor(s), so I can compare results with previous shaves)
Every single one of these shaved very close and smooth. The Puritan pulled a very slight amount, but 5 passes on the coticule smoothed it right up. It took 5 passes on the 8k Norton and 10 on the coticule for the Challenge. The Bengalls glided, as did the Lakeside and the Engels. The Engels is phenomenal, if you can maneuver that 17/16 blade around your face. :D I had let my beard grow for a couple days, so I'd have a good, tough test bed for this bunch of razors. I didn't actually not shave for that reason, but it worked out anyway.
Followed it up with a scalding hot rinse of the blades, followed by a soft towel drying, followed by air drying.
Finished up the face with a warm/cold water rinse, and some Thayer's "Extra Cool" Witch Hazel (with aloe) AS. This is the one with a bit of grain alcohol in it (for the burn). Best stuff I've found. Haven't used anything else since I got it last week.
RE: SOTD May 31st - June 4th
Hot Shower
SCS Unscented Shaving Oil
Shavemac Finest Badger Hand Tied
SCS New Spice Shaving Soap
6/8 GebrGeldmacher "Frameback"
SCS Bay Rum Aftershave Balm
SCS Bay Rum Spray Cologne
"Almost Heaven..."
Jim:cool:
