Damn Comfortable Shave

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

My shave today was close.

This is my vendor honed Kikuboshi. It's my sharpest razor I think although not necessarily a better edge than the ones I think of as a tad less sharp but still gloriously sharp.

The soap is from Italy.

I don't know anywhere to buy the actual soap as opposed to the cream except from the barber shop in Milan which I suppose makes it and definitely sells it. Here's a link. They don't give it away nor is the shipping to the US inexpensive. Think of it as the Italian MdC.

I have a sample which I acquired from Shave Dash. I have in transit a puck. I tried to convince myself over a year or two that this soap is just the same as the other and much more inexpensive Italian soaps which seem similar. They are similar, and you would probably be satisfied with ABM (AB Mondial) or one of the three or four similar Italian soaps soap by Connaught, but I decided to buy a puck. It is similar to MdC but certainly not entirely.

Anyway...I just can't resist sometimes.

Dragonsbeard Skin Food Splash followed hyaluronic acid post shave.

Happy shaves to you,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Did a bit of honing this afternoon...

So, what did I do with these and why? Top to bottom.

Kinfolks #2 & Bismarck

• Not many laps on the hard side of the DCA because the edges are already great.
• Just maxing them out.

Kinfolks #1

• Some work on the convex coticule with water.
• Lots of laps on the hard side of the DCA with Ballistol and water.
• Edge was decent but not entirely to my satisfaction.

Robeson (bamboo looking scales)

• Soft side of the DCA with Ballistol and water. Until it seemed right. Fair amount of work.
• Convex coticule, lots of work. Using slurry from a slurry stone and my coticule bout, slurry which was transferred to the convex coticule (not my idea, but a good one).
• Finished on the hard side of the DCA, but the finishing process involved water on the convex coticule and the DCA, going back and forth.
• It wasn't easy to get an edge I liked enough to stop the process, but it finally happened.
• I had not shave tested the razor after my Sunday honing, but didn't like the finger-pad test much.

Boker, Tanifuji, and Torrey 136

• Not many laps on the hard side of the DCA.
• The Torrey edge is already very good. I'm not entirely sure the other two aren't also, but can't hurt to max 'em out.

How much time and work did all this take?

Good question. Not counting the stropping everything I did took about an hour and fifteen minutes. So not a whole lot of work today in the Honing Department.

It remains to be see whether I did any good, ruined edges, or accomplished nothing.

Going by the feeling and sounds on the strop and the finger-pad test I believe there was definite progress, but I've been fooled before.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[David157]

Just shaving with my throwaday Shick. Not much to it actually. Throw in the shaving cream, few swipes and done with it.

 

[atbat82]

My shave today was close.

View attachment 1055191

This is my vendor honed Kikuboshi. It's my sharpest razor I think although not necessarily a better edge than the ones I think of as a tad less sharp but still gloriously sharp.

The soap is from Italy.

View attachment 1055195

I don't know anywhere to buy the actual soap as opposed to the cream except from the barber shop in Milan which I suppose makes it and definitely sells it. Here's a link. They don't give it away nor is the shipping to the US inexpensive. Think of it as the Italian MdC.

I have a sample which I acquired from Shave Dash. I have in transit a puck. I tried to convince myself over a year or two that this soap is just the same as the other and much more inexpensive Italian soaps which seem similar. They are similar, and you would probably be satisfied with ABM (AB Mondial) or one of the three or four similar Italian soaps soap by Connaught, but I decided to buy a puck. It is similar to MdC but certainly not entirely.

Anyway...I just can't resist sometimes.

Dragonsbeard Skin Food Splash followed hyaluronic acid post shave.

Happy shaves to you,

Jim

Hi Jim, when you say the ABC is kind of like MdC, could you explain a bit? I like everything about MdC except that I find it too drying (especially in the cold New England winters). Is this soap drying? Does it have the same lather qualities? (I think Will from Barrister and Mann calls MdC a “high structure” lather... not really sure I fully comprehend the science behind that, but I like the lather!)

Thanks! -Tom

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Hi Jim, when you say the ABC is kind of like MdC, could you explain a bit? I like everything about MdC except that I find it too drying (especially in the cold New England winters). Is this soap drying? Does it have the same lather qualities? (I think Will from Barrister and Mann calls MdC a “high structure” lather... not really sure I fully comprehend the science behind that, but I like the lather!)

Thanks! -Tom

Sure, Tom.

Not to say they're twins or even very close cousins.

• Both are expensive and European.
• Both load and lather easily. MdC tops the other in that regard but not by much.
• Both are without much if anything in post shave properties.
• Both seem luxurious to me.
• Both give me a very good shave, and are slick, and have excellent ghost lather.
• Both would be perhaps drying without good post shave skin care, but neither are like some soaps which are, to me, exceedingly drying (I'll never use MWF again for that reason).
• Both have a rich creamy lather I like a lot.

The scent of ABC is minimal (to me mostly smells like soap, but quite pleasant; small hint of almond maybe).

I've used so far only the sample of ABC. My puck has not yet arrived.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Thursday's shave was good.

The edge is what I'd call marginally shave ready. It's not in the league with the edges I've used the past two days in the sharpness department, but it delivered a good three pass shave and was smooth feeling.

I will try to max it out.

My software included my usual DBSFS and HA.

This brush is my least favorite Stirling badger. It's not as dense as the other two. Still, it's a decent to good brush and has grown on me over time.

Happy shaves to you,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Friday's shave was marginal.

This edge is probably not as good as yesterday's edge, but they're not much different. Neither are there yet. Both are marginally shave ready. Both need more work. I'm not very pleased at all with either.

I'm far from mastery of the honing process.

I cut the corner of my nose and had to use the styptic pencil. Not my best shave. Not terrible. Not close to terrible.

Other than the edge this was very nice kit.

Happy shaves to you,

Jim

 

[Raven Koenes]

Friday's shave was marginal.

View attachment 1055721

This edge is probably not as good as yesterday's edge, but they're not much different. Neither are there yet. Both are marginally shave ready. Both need more work. I'm not very pleased at all with either.

View attachment 1055722

I'm far from mastery of the honing process.

View attachment 1055723

I cut the corner of my nose and had to use the styptic pencil. Not my best shave. Not terrible. Not close to terrible.

Other than the edge this was very nice kit.

Happy shaves to you,

Jim

Ouch, that sucks. I have to admit you made me chuckle with your statement: "I cut the corner of my nose and had to use the styptic pencil. Not my best shave. Not terrible. Not close to terrible". Just remember I'm laughing with you lol. Ouch!

 

[Esox]

My eyes are watering just reading it happened lol.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Cutting my nose didn't hurt much but the blood was a tad hard to stop. I don't mean anything remotely serious. Just inconvenient.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Seveneighth]

Did a bit of honing this afternoon...

View attachment 1055200

So, what did I do with these and why? Top to bottom.

Kinfolks #2 & Bismarck

• Not many laps on the hard side of the DCA because the edges are already great.
• Just maxing them out.

Kinfolks #1

• Some work on the convex coticule with water.
• Lots of laps on the hard side of the DCA with Ballistol and water.
• Edge was decent but not entirely to my satisfaction.

Robeson (bamboo looking scales)

• Soft side of the DCA with Ballistol and water. Until it seemed right. Fair amount of work.
• Convex coticule, lots of work. Using slurry from a slurry stone and my coticule bout, slurry which was transferred to the convex coticule (not my idea, but a good one).
• Finished on the hard side of the DCA, but the finishing process involved water on the convex coticule and the DCA, going back and forth.
• It wasn't easy to get an edge I liked enough to stop the process, but it finally happened.
• I had not shave tested the razor after my Sunday honing, but didn't like the finger-pad test much.

Boker, Tanifuji, and Torrey 136

• Not many laps on the hard side of the DCA.
• The Torrey edge is already very good. I'm not entirely sure the other two aren't also, but can't hurt to max 'em out.

View attachment 1055206

How much time and work did all this take?

Good question. Not counting the stropping everything I did took about an hour and fifteen minutes. So not a whole lot of work today in the Honing Department.

It remains to be see whether I did any good, ruined edges, or accomplished nothing.

Going by the feeling and sounds on the strop and the finger-pad test I believe there was definite progress, but I've been fooled before.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Why don't you raise a slurry directly on the convex coticule?

 

[Seveneighth]

Cutting my nose didn't hurt much but the blood was a tad hard to stop. I don't mean anything remotely serious. Just inconvenient.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Don't cut your nose off to spite your face....

I hope it heals quickly.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Don't cut your nose off to spite your face....

You seem to be going full steam with the honing, Jim. Are you focussing purely on the underperformers to try to bring them up to scratch?

 

[Esox]

Cutting my nose didn't hurt much but the blood was a tad hard to stop. I don't mean anything remotely serious. Just inconvenient.

Good thing you're not taking Plavix or Heparin. You'd need to go in for stitches!

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Why don't you raise a slurry directly on the convex coticule?

Someone somewhere suggested using a bout to save on wear (on the convex stone). I saw no downside to this. You see one?

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

You seem to be going full steam with the honing, Jim. Are you focussing purely on the under-performers to try to bring them up to scratch?

Yes, I suppose that's what I'm doing.

I'm really focusing on sets of razors. In particular I'm focusing right now only on one set of seven razors. I want all seven to be really good edges. I want all to be maxed out.

If one or more of the seven turns out to be too much of a Problem Child (just won't get sharp enough or smooth enough or won't hold an edge or something like that), I'll simply replace it with another razor.

I'm patient and persistent, but not endlessly so.

I have a lot of straight razors as you might already know, but I'm organizing them or most of them into sets of seven.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Good thing you're not taking Plavix or Heparin. You'd need to go in for stitches!

The cut really was small, but it bled. Even aspirin can send you for stitches (don't ask how I know this, but it was not razor related; knife related).

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

My computer returned from being fixed a couple of days ago. Turned out the geniuses at the Apple Store fixed the keyboard issue in house. They replaced, I think, the top of the box, that is, the top being the section which includes the keyboard. So, an entirely new, and somewhat updated keyboard. Not a scissors mechanism, but just the most recent butterfly mechanism which they tell me is both better and "guaranteed" whatever that actually means. I assume it means it remains under warranty even after my warranty and AppleCare have expired? Really I don't know for sure, but it's not like I have choices or decisions to make.



The butterfly keyboard has to be the biggie.

Mine's fine right now, but it should be, right?

When the genius from the store called me to tell me about what they'd done, he also told me they'd discovered another problem. I think it was something related to the touch ID, but whatever it was it meant the logic board needed replacing. That meant a trip to "the factory" or somewhere like that, and another week. Well, they said another week, but I actually received it in the mail, from the factory with a new logic board, in two business days. Lightning couldn't be faster.

This is my second new logic board in a Macbook Pro I bought new in 2016!

Imagine how he must feel about this.

Anyway, a new logic board meant a new operating system and setup. Unfortunately I was in a hurry and skipped Setup Assistant (didn't have my external hard drive bootable backup at the office), and I didn't want to use Migration Assistant. Going back to SA is possible but a big deal for non computer nerds like me. Not to worry though as there's always another way. This other way worked out perfectly for me, because I didn't want to use the operating system the factory had installed.

Therefore I erased the hard drive and installed Catalina 10.15.2.

In the process I took the opportunity to migrate, using Setup Assistant, all my stuff (files, computer setup stuff, applications, etc.) from the bootable backup I'd made on the external hard drive prior to turning my computer over to the Apple Store.



I'm expecting some issues and will have to fix 'em, but things are okay so far. No major issues.

Which is very good.

However, I just finished the switch in operating systems and just finished moving stuff. I've not encountered problems, but I've not done anything yet other than sign in here and write this post. In other words, wish me luck.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Seveneighth]

Someone somewhere suggested using a bout to save on wear (on the convex stone). I saw no downside to this. You see one?

Happy shaves,

Jim

I use standard slurry stones with my convex coticules. It's part of how I maintain them. I start round the out side and work my way to the centre, decreasing pressure and number of strokes as I go. The slurry provides a wide range of honing use as you dilute it.

 

[Esox]

The cut really was small, but it bled. Even aspirin can send you for stitches (don't ask how I know this, but it was not razor related; knife related).

Scars from straight razors. Stitches from knives. Are you sure you've been authorized for the use of these implements Jim? lol