My Grande Journey

[thombrogan]

I want savagery imbued throughout every gram of soap. A fearful soap is a terrified whisker.

Is it your triple-mill project has enabled you to condense so much awesome into so few sentences? That rocks so hard I’m fearful it will overdose in its late twenties.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

1. Why? I exclusively face lather these days, so I greatly prefer hard soaps to croaps. Croaps tend to smear, waste product, and make lathering a chore rather than a sublime joy. The primary difference between the croaps and soaps is water content. Those two machines are meant to increase surface area to expedite evaporation. My goal is to turn slimy, squishy croaps into beautiful hard soaps.
2. It sounds very BOSC. It wasn't originally. I think that it started to become BOSC when I developed a homemade tool for measuring soap durometer to measure progress (the dovometer™). Sometimes, I just stand in front of the mirror with Arko in one hand, and my dovometer in the other, and the whiskers just fall off their own accord. It's like they lose their will to fight in the presence of BOSC force or something. It doesn't always work for me, but it's intriguing. This is also how David Goggins shaves I'm told.
3. How are you going to make it into a properly shaped puck? Grate and press? I'm going to squash it and crush it into shave stick tubes with my bare hands. I want savagery imbued throughout every gram of soap. A fearful soap is a terrified whisker.
4. All experiments are encouraged. I'm doing proof of concept experiments before buying the pasta equipment. I just finished my first croap-to-soap experiment. I used a rolling pin to flatten a Stirling sample to 2mm, and then hung the sample on a clothes hanger for 6 weeks. It didn't really work as well as I'd hoped. It only lost 3g of water weight in 6 weeks. I suspect that Stirling and many other croaps are filled with unsaponified oils added in post-processing that can't really be fixed via evaporation. As a result, many croaps will never reach their highest potential. Sad.
5. Why both machines? I watched a number of YouTube vids about the machinery used to make triple milled soaps. The first stage of milling is squashing the soap with enormous pressure between steel rollers, forming it into sheets. The second stage is an extruder that pelletizes the soap. These two machines are the closest I could find at my sub $100 price target. Also, two machines makes it more fun, and therefore more scientific.
6. Why? Because 90% of soaps available are croaps, and I hate them. I hate them so much. Someone had to do something.
7. #s 1 & 6 don't necessarily have to agree, according to Big Nurse. That's tautology, and I don't even know what that word means.

Great post, Nick. Makes perfect sense to me. I hope you update us with the progress you make in your experiments. I have turned one shaving cream (a liquid Proraso) into an actual fairly hard soap entirely by leaving it open to the air for a month or two, and I only buy (now) Vitos Red. Vitos is a croap (they say) but it's like putty and not at all liquid.

I 100% face lather, too. Love it.

Big Nurse never makes any sense to me.

Super BOSC!

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[albsat]

Great post, Nick. Makes perfect sense to me. I hope you update us with the progress you make in your experiments. I have turned one shaving cream (a liquid Proraso) into an actual fairly hard soap entirely by leaving it open to the air for a month or two, and I only buy (now) Vitos Red. Vitos is a croap (they say) but it's like putty and not at all liquid.

I 100% face lather, too. Love it.

Big Nurse never makes any sense to me.

Super BOSC!

Happy shaves,

Jim

Interesting this story of proraso cream transformation. Do you have have any pics of the soap?

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Interesting this story of proraso cream transformation. Do you have have any pics of the soap?

Not any I can find so far.

I have the soap, but it's put away somewhere.

I used Cal's method. Starting with the liquid Proraso soap (the new fancy soap with a nice scent and a upscale name), all I did was partially fill a container and leave the container in the open air on a chest of drawers for a month or two until the water evaporated and the soap became a pretty hard croap. We're not talking here MdC but a pretty hard croap is a lot different from a liquid. It was a very easy experiment.

Wrote this a while back...

Fill a soap container about half full of the Proraso Wood and Spice Cream. Let it sit out somewhere where it will not be exposed to the elements (in your house, garage, office, shed) for a few weeks, open. It will turn into a really nice soap much like Proraso Red in a tub, but also unique in a Proraso Wood and Spice Soap way. Cal nailed this cream to soap conversion.

No photos. Sorry.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Cal]

Do you have have any pics of the soap?

No photos. Sorry.

Going back to January 2018, here's the thread (with pics):
Proraso "Wood and Spice" SOAP experiment.

 

[TinyT]

Just seen this at Connaught.

 

[Esox]

Just seen this at Connaught.

View attachment 1188779

Shame I dont like the one I have lol.

 

[Raven Koenes]

 

[Esox]

I dont know what to say to that lol.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Ordered the gold (never thought I would but the Gillette Executive changed my mind about gold razors.

Hey, Rave @Raven Koenes, it looks KBG to me for sure.

Mike @Esox used to want one.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[thombrogan]

Raven, has a shave binky turned you into a duck?

 

[albsat]

Going back to January 2018, here's the thread (with pics):
Proraso "Wood and Spice" SOAP experiment.

I am trying this method with a speick cream. Let's see what happens.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I am trying this method with a speick cream. Let's see what happens.

 

[albsat]

I am trying this method with a speick cream. Let's see what happens.

I put a Speick cream on an empty Proraso container. I let it dry for about 10 days. Well, I can say it works. It has turned into a soft soap (like a Proraso soap) and it made lather. Simple.

 

[JoWolf]

Shave #7

Go big or go home, as the saying goes...

50 hours since last shave


View attachment 826844

Knowing what I do of Feather blades, I wanted to make sure I had the most slickness available and this Captain's Choice North has never failed in that area, or any other for that matter.

As I said earlier, I have hopes of achieving a "One Pass Wonder Shave" and I thought this blade might be up to it.

Lather up and start directly ATG, paying attention to a shallower angle to try and avoid the harshness I usually find with these blades. Slight tugging but really not bad considering what it had to deal with. Long smooth strokes ATG/XTG all across my face with some light buffing along my jawline ATG/XTG.

Finish that pass and felt I did well but my technique for this type of shave will need some refining and a wipe with a wet hand confirmed it.

I had a very good DFS, and a quick one too. I only had one tiny drop of blood on the right point of my chin.

Lather again and buffed over my entire face. Buffing with this razor really is nice and easy. Partly to the teeth aiding in dragging the lather back and I believe the smooth slick plating. The cap and teeth are so smooth that its really like oiled glass. This razor does not drag over my skin, it skims like an air hockey puck.

Wipe and check when finished, BBS everywhere but my jawline and the base of my neck.

To get a BBS everywhere shave I actually needed two more buffing passes, but I was shaving stubble so short I couldnt feel it with my fingers through the lather and only on checking with a wet hand, but the blade was telling me it was cutting. I stopped when the blade could find nothing else too cut, anywhere.

This shave is very close.

As usual for me with Feather blades, they're a bit harsh. I finished with slight irritation on my neck, more on the right side than the left and these creams leave my skin feeling....I still dont know how to describe it. Fresh, clean, smooth and refreshed would be a good start to describing the feeling it leaves me with.

These blades are sharp, but arent all razor blades. I've never found them to be the ultimate in sharpness and certainly not smoothness. Speaking only for myself, there are sharper and smoother blades. Gillette Yellow leaps to my mind and I'm honestly thinking Derby Extra is right up there! I'll need to try a shave starting ATG with one so I can say with any certainty.

Now that I've actually used a Feather blade in this razor, my only realistic hurdle with blade choice is a Gillette Yellow. I found that blade too sharp in my NEW SC, but that razor has gap and this one doesnt. I think that may make the difference.

I don’t know the razor making process. I have thought the different manufacturers might vary in their actual blade angles. Are all blades ground to exactly the same angle? I don’t think they are. All razors do not have the same angles either. So you take those two combinations and strap on your technique.

If you are rotating a lot of razors you have a broad technique to cover all. The favoured razors in the grouping are then touted as being this or that.(the ones matching your technique best) They are just fixed angles that your technique operates on and with.

The Fixed Four is then an option to continually pound on a given set-up to refine it to a higher efficiency. In most cases you could bring the worst combo up to or best your top performer. All angles remained the same. In the set-up. We adjusted are technique.

The slower your stroke speed the more time you muscle memory and feedback mechanisms have to make the micro adjustments which are necessary and critical in blade campaigning. The faster the stroke the less time available for adjustments. Technique not only has to be correct but very exact. Or refined to the angles you are using.

I don’t know what percentage of shavers are True BBS. I mean every shave is a BBS. I include myself in True BBS. My thought before a shave is not wether it is a BBS, because it will be. What comfort level am I going to achieve? Mike we have both shaved 6hr BBS and 18+hr BBS. The difference from 6 -18 doesn’t really matter at that closeness. It is all about the upper limit of Comfort. The more you feel shaved the less comfort. I have had a few of these shaves with no face or head skin having felt shaved. They are repeatable.
All processes are as strong as their weakest component. The last half dozen months All the products adjustments, changes and establishment of my Fixed Four is to go after and support my shaves at that comfort level. A BBS is a requirement not a target. My skin is a lot more sensitive than I was aware of. Both my pre and post shave routines are critical in my shave. Mike I don’t even consider it a shave as much as a weekly spa event. And a hobby more than a shave.

Mike I enjoyed your other response and will get back to that post over the weekend. Thank you.

Next up, Gillette Yellow or I might test a new blade in my NEW SC. I have a tuck of Sharp Star from md1234 that I'm curious about.

 

[Esox]

All razors are individuals, even some of the same razors. The Gillette NEW LC as an example. @rabidus measured several samples of LC razors and found the blade gaps varied by .017" and even more. Thats a considerable difference. This was the problem I had with using several different razors in a rotation. I became proficient with them all but didnt really master any because I didnt take the time to master them. This is where the Fixed Four comes in. I would pick 4 things, razor, blade, soap and brush and use them constantly until I learned the weaknesses of any one or more of them. Then I would think on how to improve on and remove those weaknesses. That, is the road to success.

The speed of my shave improved over time just through familiarity but in this journal I was also testing blades and soaps. Once I had settled on a blade and soaps, my technique improved again and the speed of my shave naturally became faster, through familiarity again.

Find what works, use it, learn it, identify any weaknesses. Improve them by removing those weaknesses. Once they all fall into line, technique is the only thing left to improve upon.

 

[JoWolf]

All razors are individuals, even some of the same razors. The Gillette NEW LC as an example. @rabidus measured several samples of LC razors and found the blade gaps varied by .017" and even more. Thats a considerable difference. This was the problem I had with using several different razors in a rotation. I became proficient with them all but didnt really master any because I didnt take the time to master them. This is where the Fixed Four comes in. I would pick 4 things, razor, blade, soap and brush and use them constantly until I learned the weaknesses of any one or more of them. Then I would think on how to improve on and remove those weaknesses. That, is the road to success.

The speed of my shave improved over time just through familiarity but in this journal I was also testing blades and soaps. Once I had settled on a blade and soaps, my technique improved again and the speed of my shave naturally became faster, through familiarity again.

Find what works, use it, learn it, identify any weaknesses. Improve them by removing those weaknesses. Once they all fall into line, technique is the only thing left to improve upon.

Coming from carts you basically are a Minimalist. I signed onto B&B dragging in a sparse Kit, single cart razor a few soaps and a silvertip. Decades of minimalism in shaving got put on its ear. I kept getting and looking for more of everything that might be better. A quarter of a shelf expanded quickly into a cupboard.

The Salmon fry heads out to sea seeking knowledge and experience. It takes him four years to get back to his cosy little creek. The Wolf took three and dragged back a new kit. Minimalism never looked better.

 

[thombrogan]

I'd still post to it, and even might in fact. Assuming anyone cares just how long you can use a disposable Mach 3, in complete comfort and with a very nearly BBS finish too... Maybe when that razor is finally finished, I'll post a pic of it and we can all guess how long its been used hahaha.

We could get more shave deetz?

Deetz, @rockviper , deetz!

Muahahahahaha

 

[Esox]

Well, nothing wrong with a few teasers right?

When I hurt my arm I started using them and during that time I learned a lot about them. My shave hasnt changed from my normal three passes. N>S, S>N and ATG with some buffing over my swirls. Its a very easy and very comfortable shave, not as close as my Grande or MMOC naturally, or even as close as many other razors. At best I get a patchy 6 hour BBS finish, mostly because the head is so floppy I cant control it well enough.

Longevity of a single Mach 3 disposable? I will say that if people are tossing them when the blue band is fading, or even still there, its a major waste.

I will also say that of all the disposable razors I've tried and thats been a few in the last 6 months or so, the Gillette is, by far, the smoothest and most comfortable. No Bics will ever touch my face again, the blade angle is far too steep.

 

[thombrogan]

Betting there’s a lot of Mach 3 and Fusion Excalibur going on offline. I know I used to get a few months off of a Fusion or Dorco 6 cartridge.

Have you recovered from the arm badness?