McVeyMac Straight Journal

[McVeyMac]

Straight shave 580

Sunday I did a repeat of the Saturday shave except I went with the Arko. The Arko clearly gives me a superior lather than what I was able to extract from the Williams puck on Saturday, and the resulting shave was also superior. Complete BBS.

Monday is typically a full day, and it is always an early start due to a standing conference call each Monday. In anticipation of the Asylum RX arriving in Atlanta for Chris H (@cmh737) to try, I decided to give my RX a go for Monday morning. Did a 3 pass shave, and I got an initial BBS result. Within a couple of hours I noted some evidence of whisker poking through. I can unequivocally say that I have given myself the best shaves with the SE2 of the two AC type of SE razors I own. I am able to get a very good result with the RX, but not as good as I am able to get with the SE2, as of yet. I also went with the Arko on Monday as I did not want worry about time required to build an acceptable lather from the Williams.

 

[McVeyMac]

Yeah it took me about 8 or 9 lathers to get the Williams dialed in. Now if I could just have the same results with the Cowboy Willy! Good read! Regarding sticks, have you used Palmolive or Derby? They are in the same price range. I like the scent of the Palmolive the best, followed by the Derby. All 3 performed good for me, with a slight edge to the Arko for slickness.

The only sticks I have tried are the Arko sticks Craig. The Arko sticks and tub are the same soap, and the sticks are cheaper. I have a tubular deodorant dispenser I put the stick in for travel.

...shaved back to puberty, that's a good one.
I am sure you will get Williams dialed in, it's not that difficult in the grand scheme of things. I think the answer lies in getting the puck itself hydrated in such a way it gives off a nice load of soap for each use. This could mean blooming briefly before you load or it could mean soaking for days. In my case I know the soap performs best the second or third day on (even if I grind it and add glycerin).

You might very well be correct regarding the hydration of the puck. Since I am not using this soap daily, it might be desicating in between use.

Nice Read Walt

Great read Walt. Williams really seems to be finicky for a lot of people, myself included. I may try it for a week just to see if I can get consistent with it, but that might be too much for me lol.

I am wonder how badly I want it it as well.

I bet you get the Williams dialed in one day.

I'm sure I will Chris, that is if I decide I want to figure it out. My result so far has been from acceptable to disappointing. I'll keep with it on days I have time.

 

[McVeyMac]

Straight Shave 581

I went back to the Williams again today, and I got a much better result than the last time out. Except this time I think I have too much water. I had plenty of lather though. I do not measure the water I bloom the puck with except that it is a shake, or two, of a saturated brush. Then I pour all of the bloom water in with the buck into my scuttle to lather. I load on a dry brush that was shaken dry, not squeezed. This AM I did two shakes and I believe that it is too much water. I think one good shake might end up being just right.

Today was a 7/8" BRW shave. Not my best 2 pass effort, and I would rank it a DFS. Not sure what is going on here. Of the tree straights sitting on my vanity, the #13 Fili is clearly the top of the heap. I cannot imagine it is the Williams causing sub par shaves, but I should probably test that hypothesis. When it was drying out the other day, yes I think that influenced the shave. But, today the lather felt good, albeit a little thin and less slick due to too much water.

 

[cvargo]

Nice couple of reads Walt. All this talk about the Asylum has me so tempted. But I love my Colonial General.

 

[McVeyMac]

That razor is very well thought of over in the SE subforum. You should be wanting for nothing from everything I have read about it.

 

[Smattayu]

Good shaves Walt, and those BRW's are pretty fantastic. It might be worth checking it out with a different soap to determine whether it's the razor or not.

 

[sskim3]

Walt - I blame Williams LOL

Just use one of your go to soaps and I am sure you will get different results.

 

[McVeyMac]

Good shaves Walt, and those BRW's are pretty fantastic. It might be worth checking it out with a different soap to determine whether it's the razor or not.

Last time this razor worked very well. I hate to blame soap for a less than stellar shave. But I am now curious.

Walt - I blame Williams LOL

Just use one of your go to soaps and I am sure you will get different results.

Works for me. must be the Willy.

 

[Guestabc]

Catching up, nice reads Walt

 

[clyde72]

Hmmm soap or shaver? Well since your new to Williams, it could be the lather, definitely not the soap! When dialed in properly it's lather is right up there with the best. IMHO.

 

[McVeyMac]

Hmmm soap or shaver? Well since your new to Williams, it could be the lather, definitely not the soap! When dialed in properly it's lather is right up there with the best. IMHO.

That very well may be Craig. I am clearly taking a mortar or an artillery approach to getting this soap right with respect to product/water ratio. I have realized not enough water, and I have realized too much water. If this soap has a very narrow ratio where the lather works well, then I do think that some of the fault resides with the soap. I will give this soap another few tries to dial it in and get to know it well, but it is hard to justify taking too much time with it when I have a very cheap and very forgiving soap in the Arko that performs very well under any circumstance I have used it.

 

[McVeyMac]

Straight Shave 582

Today I did a repeat of yesterday's shave. This time I had a better amount of water added to the scuttle, and the resulting lather was better than yesterday, but still not stellar. The first pass was pretty good, but the lather broke down a bit on the face, but really broke down in the scuttle. It whipped right back into shape, but the second pass tended to dry a bit when I got to the second side. I added a slight dip of water on the brush when I whipped it up for the 3rd pass, and it behaved much like the first pass. I have been switching between this and the Arco for about a full week or more, and I am not confident that I ever got the puck hydrated. I also feel at a disadvantage as the Willy is in coffee mug, and I don't feel like I can attack the brush loading as I should. I removed the Arko from my Ansgar soap lid, and I placed the Williams puck in the soap lid. I then placed water in it to let it incubate for about 24 hours. I'll see what happens tomorrow.

I also gave the BRW a good stropping as I skipped the pre shave strop yesterday. The resulting shave today was better than yesterday, but certainly not grail worthy. I'd give it a BBS-. However, I am pretty convinced that yesterday's poor showing is likely more edge related than it is soap related. Might need to touch it up, but I don't have that many shaves on this edge.

 

[Guestabc]

Very nice read Walt

 

[cvargo]

Nice read. Hope you get the Williams figured out

 

[clyde72]

Nice read! Stick with the Williams, you'll get it! Then the next time you'll go well what was all the fuss about? There is nothing to lathering Williams.

 

[cmh737]

The Williams drama continues.....

 

[McVeyMac]

Very nice read Walt

Nice read. Hope you get the Williams figured out

Nice read! Stick with the Williams, you'll get it! Then the next time you'll go well what was all the fuss about? There is nothing to lathering Williams.

The Williams drama continues.....

Thanks guys, I want to like this soap, I just have not found a reason yet.

 

[RedsFan75]

I like Williams quite a lot. This modified Williams, in my case the Blue Willie, is much harder to get dialed in, but with regular Williams when it's dialed in, it provides a nice slick cushion for your shave.

 

[McVeyMac]

I like Williams quite a lot. This modified Williams, in my case the Blue Willie, is much harder to get dialed in, but with regular Williams when it's dialed in, it provides a nice slick cushion for your shave.

I don't doubt that it works for you Harold, I just have not unlocked the secret to it given my water and environment. I never found water to be problematic for any other soap I have tried, but it might be a factor here. Today should be a significant test as I can really load the brush with the Willy in the soap lid. So we will see.

 

[cvargo]

I don't doubt that it works for you Harold, I just have not unlocked the secret to it given my water and environment. I never found water to be problematic for any other soap I have tried, but it might be a factor here. Today should be a significant test as I can really load the brush with the Willy in the soap lid. So we will see.

Grab a bottle of Distilled water the next time you are at the grocery store. That might determine if it is a water issue. But honestly as you already know. There are too many good soaps out there if one just won't cut it in your environment you are no worse for wear.