Thread: SOTD Sep 24 - Sep 30

Taylor-day again I'm still amazed how that old crummy-looking thing with pitting and plastic scales still gets better shaves than much flashier, fancier, pricier stuff.
The rest of the routine was standard (C&E BB brush, crappy C&E Nomad soap that dries out too quickly, 3 passes). Tomorrow I'm shave-testing the Genco!

Shower
oatmeal face soap (homemade)
B&BWks Bio conditioner
L'Occitane CADE soap
C&E Boar Brush
Omega Silvertip Brush
Wade & Butcher 7/8 wedge honed by me
Puma Special 89 6/8 hollow honed by me
Ice cube
L'Occitane Cade AS balm

For me L'Occitane CADE is "shave rich" day, not that it's so expensive but still and I love it.

C&E Boar brush looks the bomb but is finally demoted after several earnest attempts to make it my favorite. Burma Shave boar looks much worse but still digs the C&E into the ground when it comes to performance. C&E does not hold enough water / foam, and actually takes longer to work up lather than my SIlvertip. It was so bad it almost spoiled my enjoyment of the soap. After the second pass had to resort to the Omega Silvertip. This was nice, nicer than expected as I was thinking it's floppy. It is, but sure holds enough water and worked lather quite easy with this soap, loaded great for several passes...

Another slight disappointment was the W&B. I had honed and stropped it and did some HHT and cheek water shave tests - these were great! Today I was supposed to try the touched-up Puma again but the W&B was so nice in the tests I decided to leave the Puma and go with it. I was expecting the Puma to be a bit of a dog so the decision was easy. So the first pass was god, no nicks, cuts, etc. Plowed through several days' growth. However, when it came down to second / third pass, I found out I am not doing much. WHich led me to the Puma. It was abused by its previous owner, who seemed to have honed it on a belt grinder or something. I had worked on it a couple of days, shaved once, was not that satisfied, honed again... SO now, after the W&B I thought it's hollow, flimsy, not big or heavy, probably not sharp enough, etc. I was thrilled and surprised at how the Puma shaved! Very enjoyable experience! Considering it is my first Puma, and the worst (I hope) - I cannot wait to test the others, especially a 1/2 hollow...

Total damage: 1 small nick, which is a resounding success for me. Nevertheless, decided to skip the alum block and just put AS after an ice cube.

Interesting shave, a couple of slight disappointments but overall nice, especially with the Puma. I might work on the W&B and try again... who knows

Cheers
Ivo

ps Anybody else using a heavy big wedge for 1st pass and a smaller hollow for the finish? While you get to clean 2 razors, I didn;t think it was too bad. Maybe worth it to make it a practice - one big wedge pass, then whip out the hollow?

Hot shower
50/50 boar badger brush by Kent
Mammabear Citrus and Basil soap
6/8 Worldmeister Sheffield steel razor.
TAGMSC aftershave balm

This was possibly my best shave EVER. No nicks, no cuts, a slight scrape on the chin that'll be gone when it's dried up. ULTRASMOOTH face. Didn't miss a spot. Even the throat is completely amazing. I'm very happy with this combo. The Citrus and Basil is the only one that I can use that's made by Mammabear (that I've tried...so one out of 5 really not one out of 50 something) and I love it more every time I use it. I'm going to have to get me some more somethime in the near future.

Ivo, I was thinking about it for a while. However I think the hassle would outweigh the benefits. Try it out anyways, it's all about the discovery process.

Edit: Genco is either getting skipped today or going back to the hone before I shave. Yesterday's results weren't QUITE satisfactory.

Anthony Logistics Pre-shave soap
Hot Towel
QED Lavender Soap
Wade & Butchers 5/8 Celebrated Hollow Groud
Classic Shaving Alum Bloc
Thayers Rose Witch Hazel
C & B Seinna After shave balm

Great Shave. I spent all day Saturday honning this razor. Had to create a new bevel and a new edge. This razor which I purchased from ebay has a really heavy blade which was a challange keeping flat on the hone at times. When I finnally got it to pass the HHT, I started jumping up and down, stopped cursing, and said Thank God all at the same time.

Anyway, I guess it's the weight of the blade but this razor really shaved nice, but was a real job to hone.

Did some more honing and a shave test on the Genco. It performed like it was 2-3 shaves away from needing a touchup, which is precisely what it's going to get tonight and I'll re-test tomorrow. However, the shave was fairly clean and smooth, I just KNOW that this blade can perform a bit better.

Ivo, there is a possibility that you have overhoned the edge a bit. It was good for a pass and then it deteriorated with resistance. Happened to the Taylor after its first honing. Do a 3-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 on the Norton and try again.

I hope I am doing this right, I shaved for the first time with a straight razor yesterday. Wow that was real cool. I used a new old stock Heartring #151. I bought a 4000/8000 norton hone and honed the razor. Man was it sharp.The shave was great for the first time. only shaved in one direction. Well thats about it for now.


Thanks
Eddie

Glad to hear it Eddie. Read up on the help files, follow the discussions and don't hesitate to ask questions. That's what we're here for.

RT