Rotation Neglect

Well, too be honest, I don't really have much of a rotation to neglect, just the three razors right now.

Canton Ohio 6/8 Novelty
Joseph Rodgers 6/8 Sheffield
Boker 5/8 Red Injun (My pride and joy)

My Dovo, that I go from Tony, is on loan to a friend right now.

Anyway, so not not much of a rotation, but still, I have been neglecting the Novelty and the Rodgers in favor of my Boker. I love that razor, and I love using it. It is such a joy to shave with that it is really all I have been using for the last couple of weeks. Well, I decided tonight was the night to break the streak. I broke out the Sheffield, along with my TM #3 honey brown, which I had been neglecting as well in favor of my new red latigo.

I missed using these two pieces, and it was nice to finally come back to them. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the Rodgers. It was a gift from C Utz so that I could practice my honing skills and it really helped. Though it isn't the prettiest razor, it still a great razor and it deserves more from me.

So today's lesson was, that all razors are different and we enjoy them for different reasons. It was nice to bring back an old friend.

I think tomorrow I will use the Novelty so that it gets its turn as well. I am slowly building my collection, so I need to get used to the rotation. Just today I managed to pick up a Craftsmen ERN razor on e-bay. I am looking forward to getting it nice and sharp and then adding it.


Matt

Even if some are not absolute top performers, they can help you appreciate the top ones more. Some may have a sentimental value and some may have been acquired for specific features (grind, point, location, size, etc etc etc). That's why I keep my favourite -- Taylor's Eye Witness 6/8 in the regular rotation, unless I REALLY need a particularly good shave and need to make it a SURE thing, which is fairly rare.

Speaking of rotation neglect, check for my 4 sale/trade stuff to be listed late this evening (Saturday). Several cool vintage pieces and a batch of TIs.

I always use the same 4 razors so time to clean house again.

Tony

I had a couple of nice Sheffields that had been gathering dust, so decided I might as well sell them to someone who'd use them. These two were acquired early in my process of collecting straights - a near mint beauty from Lynn and another that I'd cleaned/polished up and spent a fair amount of time on the hones with.

For yesterday's shave I stropped them up with 60 laps and used each on different sides of my face to make sure they were shave ready. Both of them shaved so well that all I could think of was "why haven't I been using these more often?". Now they've been moved over to a group that gets used more regularly.

Matt, I'm the same way. I've only got three razors in my rotation right now and I find that I'm constantly only using my Clements (I just love the way it shaves). Anyways, I did the same thing...honed up the other two real good and now I can't really remember why I stopped using them so much. Like a kid playing with his new toy I guess. :hmmm:

-Pary

I think that is exactly what it is, a new toy, and I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with enjoying the new toy a little.

As I mentioned before, I managed to pick up a Craftsmen Razor yesterday off ebay. I have wanted one of these ever since I found out that Craftsmen had them made. Though not the top tool brand out there, my Dad has always had them. But who's Dad hasn't?

Actually, one of the big reasons I wanted one of these razors, was because of the shop fire we had when I was in Jr. High. My Dad is a a carpenter, and so has a carpentry shop which he usually keeps pretty stocked. He had just stocked up with a full shipment of oak when my grandfather accidentally lit the shop on fire. It reached temperatures in the range of 2000 degrees fahrenheit, and the whole shop was lost. It warped the planer and table saw it was so hot.

After putting the fire out, salvage started. We found tons of melted saw blades and marveled at the warped planer. We eventually found my Dad's Craftsmen wrenches. Other than the nice new rainbow look to them, there wasn't any viewable damage to them, and my Dad still has them today and uses them. I have since had a respect for the brand, and I look forward to adding this razor to the rotation.

Matt