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My "Ah-Ha!" Moments

Rosseforp

I think this fits, Gents
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~doug~
 
Well, it appears I'm becoming a face latherer.

When I started TWS, I gravitated towards bowl lathering, and eventually bought a Captain's Choice bowl. It is a lovely bowl, very well made, and works great but since I have begun face lathering, I find that I have almost no desire to use the bowl. Much like @Phoenixkh I may relegate it to storing car keys and pocket change. 😄

And brushes. I started with an inexpensive badger, bought a few synthetics, and thought I needed a top tier badger. Well, I grabbed a lightly-used Paladin from the BST, and didn't care for it at all, which leads me to my brush AH! moment:

I've become boar-ish.

Don't get me wrong, I still have a few badgers, including a nice Rudy Vey, some vintage handles re-knotted with badger, an SOC Mistura, and I love using my Razorock synthetics for a quick shave (no soaking required), but I have been reaching for my cheap Omega boars most often. They just work, especially for face lathering.

Of course the others also work, the boars just seem to be my preference. Besides being good scrubbers, they seem to be better at releasing the lather (flow through?) which was my gripe with the Paladin.

If I were designing a brush, aesthetically it would be a Paladin. To me, they are impeccably designed, just perfect - the handle shapes, resin colors, the brush shape - all perfect to gaze upon...but...

I couldn't get my example to release the lather. I tried more soap, more water, asked for help, and nothing worked. The knot was incredibly dense, which I believe contributed to my "problem". Of course this is not unique to Paladin, and is a subjective dislike on my part, which brings me back to:

I love my inexpensive boar brushes. They work, especially when face lathering. Ah Ha!
I agree about the boars. I think I use more soap with the synthetic and it takes longer to load.
 
So admittedly, I really have no idea what I'm doing...yet.

On this one (New Long Comb), I focused on the cap. Sanded it to try and remove all the nicks, gouges, divots, and deep scratches. 400, 600, 2000, 2500 grit and then metal polish - by hand. Shot the cap with brake cleaner and plated.

The handle was a PITA, and it shows in the result.

I sanded and polished the end and the ferrule but wasn't sure how to prep the knurling. I did my best with polish and brake cleaner, but the initial nickel plating didn't seem to take. The ends plated, but the knurled portion was spotty with the base material showing through. Maybe the nickel was not plating/adhering to the left over plating in the knurling? Not sure.

Anyway, I decided to do a quick copper plate and buff, then plate over the copper with nickel. That worked better, but my handle plating is still a work in progress.

I was going for a two-tone look, and left the base plate polished brass.

The cap came out beautifully, which proves that prep is king. The unveiling:

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That turned out pretty darned nice!
 
So, I completed my trifecta of the early 1900's Gillette 3-piece razors - the three versions that I own. Old Type, New long comb, and today, the New short comb. It came out OK, you can see the difference in the befor and after pics.

Again, I left the base plate polished brass because I like the look.

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I think I see a tiny hint of brass still showing through the nickel on the handle, but over all, I'm OK with the end result.
 
I decided to up my plating game, or at least try to...

Sidebar: I've been hanging out at the Brown Leaf forum for a bit. As a former cigarette smoker, I've decided that smoking a pipe (and not inhaling) is much less detrimental to my lungs than a pack-a-day cigarette habit. Anyway, not going to debate that, right or wrong. Point is, I have a collection of pipes that require maintenance, which includes an occasional coat of carnauba wax and a buff on a bench buffer.

So, now that I have TWO reasons/uses to rationalize a buffer (my pipes and prepping and polishing razors) I ordered one, along with a set of spanner screwdrivers (to disassemble my older Speedmasters), and some polishing compound cleaner to use in my wife's ultrasonic jewelry cleaner (shhhh!) to remove all traces of polishing compound from the razor parts prior to the actual plating.

All of this after watching a Back Roads Gold video.

Look out, here comes Backwoods Gold!
 
I decided to up my plating game, or at least try to...

Sidebar: I've been hanging out at the Brown Leaf forum for a bit. As a former cigarette smoker, I've decided that smoking a pipe (and not inhaling) is much less detrimental to my lungs than a pack-a-day cigarette habit. Anyway, not going to debate that, right or wrong. Point is, I have a collection of pipes that require maintenance, which includes an occasional coat of carnauba wax and a buff on a bench buffer.

So, now that I have TWO reasons/uses to rationalize a buffer (my pipes and prepping and polishing razors) I ordered one, along with a set of spanner screwdrivers (to disassemble my older Speedmasters), and some polishing compound cleaner to use in my wife's ultrasonic jewelry cleaner (shhhh!) to remove all traces of polishing compound from the razor parts prior to the actual plating.

All of this after watching a Back Roads Gold video.

Look out, here comes Backwoods Gold!

I hate spell check. I typed "Superspeed" and it dutifully changed it to "Speedmaster". Ugh.
 
I hate spell check. I typed "Superspeed" and it dutifully changed it to "Speedmaster". Ugh.
I don't know if you can, but I have mine set for "suggest" so it doesn't put it in for me. It's only a couple extra clicks to accept it, but a lot more later to fix it!
 
I don't know if you can, but I have mine set for "suggest" so it doesn't put it in for me. It's only a couple extra clicks to accept it, but a lot more later to fix it!

I just checked, and it says "Underline misspelled words in red and suggest corrections" but it still auto corrects (no red underline) as soon as I hit the spacebar.
 
I just checked, and it says "Underline misspelled words in red and suggest corrections" but it still auto corrects (no red underline) as soon as I hit the spacebar.
Oh I remember that, you just need to hit arrow right I think to override the auto correct. It's something that deselects the suggestion because space accepts it. Hmm...
 
So, Amazon delivered today:

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My new buffing wheel. It should reduce my prep time and help me polish my parts more efficiently after plating.

So, I bought the cheapest Old Type (without a cracked handle) that I could find on Ebay. This one has a TINY crack near the ferrule at the top, but my other is cracked from end to end, so this one is an improvement. Before pics, taken by the seller:

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First thing I did was polish all three parts, to see what I had. The handle and base plate looked good, but as normal the top cap had some deep scratches and dings.

I sanded the top cap (300, 400, 600, 2000, 2500 grit) and polished again. Not perfect but I don't want to remove too much material from the cap, so I polished it again and it looked pretty good. Nice and shiny.

In today's Amazon shipment was also a bottle of "buffing compound remover". It's an 8 to 1 concentrate, and I have no idea what is in it, but it is an odorless, amber/red liquid. Seems harmless, almost like a watery liquid soap.

I mixed 2oz with 14oz of distilled water and used the solution to scrub the parts with a toothbrush. Honestly, I was surprised by the blackish gunk that it removed.

Next, I shot the parts with brake cleaner (acetone? sure smells like it), dried, and plated. On the previous three piece Gillette razors I left the base plates brass, this one I plated.

After plating, I went for another spin on the buffing wheel and cleaned everything up.

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Very pleased, especially the handle. On my previous attempts, the handle plated but I think I still see the base metal showing faintly through, in the crevices of the knurling. My guess is that the was some residual polishing compound in the that a toothbrush and Dawn didn't completely remove. I think the "magic" buffing compound cleaner may have actually helped clean the handle more thoroughly, resulting in a more complete plate. That is what I'm telling myself to justify having bought it. If it's good enough for Back Roads Gold, it's good enough for "Backwoods Gold".

Anyway, that's today's project. I hope you were slightly more entertained than our cat, who preferred a warm nap over my antics.

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So, I need to get this off my chest, and since it is probably NOT a popular opinion, I'm gonna put it here. If you are reading this, it is because YOU CAME HERE.

I'm seeing a lot of threads turning into "modern vs, vintage" discussion, with guys saying that vintage Gillette razors are inferior to modern razors in both the manufacturing quality and shave quality.

Regarding the manufacturing and materials: yes, modern razors are made of bomb-proof materials using modern machining equipment. Is a stainless steel CNC-machined razor more robust, and manufactured to tighter tolerances than a 1940s Gillette stamped from brass and plated in gold or nickel? Sure, but those mass-produced Techs sold (by the millions?) for a whopping 49 cents. Even in today's dollars, a steal. Certainly a razor that ANY man could afford.

But here's the thing: I don't believe that the modern razors shave any different, or any better. There might be minor differences in aggression between a Wolfman and a vintage Gillette Tech, but there ARE more efficient vintage Gillette razors, especially the 100 year-old open comb versions that are efficient but very well behaved.

Finally, and possibly my most controversial point (again, reserved for this space, so as not to offend), I see guys saying that they cannot get a good shave (or as good as their $600 modern razor) from an vintage razor.

My response?

Learn how to shave.

There. I said it.

Someone I respect here once posted that anyone can get a great shave from any razor (that is not defective in some way, or just flat-out designed wrong), IF THEIR TECHNIQUE IS SOLID.

I believe that is true. As stated, I'm not so obstinate that I refuse to admit that razors (old and new) differ in quality and may differ slightly in perfromance, but if you cannot get a great shave from any DE razor, you are doing something wrong.

Might you have to modify your technique between razors? Probably, but stop blaming the razor and really look in the mirror.

I'm not going to argue this, and will never post this in any of the "modern vs vintage" discussions as it wouldn't likely end well...

...but it is exactly how I feel.
 

Rosseforp

I think this fits, Gents
Someone I respect here once posted that anyone can get a great shave from any razor (that is not defective in some way, or just flat-out designed wrong), IF THEIR TECHNIQUE IS SOLID.
Therein lies the caveat, YMMV. Who's to say a certain razor was designed incorrectly?

When all else fails, however, Technique will win out over the greatest designed razor.

~doug~
 
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