Our third interviewee of the Year is Mainaman, AKA Stefan. When I got the itch for Honing on Japanese Natural Waterstones, Stefan's YouTube videos were helpful in getting me to finally venture into them. He also is an active poster in the Honing sub-forum, often giving advice to other members on Jnats and their use.
If you have any comments or other questions please post them in this thread. These interviews will be entered into the Interview Wiki for future reference
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Who are you? / Where are you located?
My name is Stefan, and I live in Virginia
What beverage do you start your day with?
Coffee, I like to experiment with all kinds of creamers (Irish cream, chocolate almond etc etc)
What happened that made you start Wet Shaving?, or if the chicken came before the egg, how did you find B&B?
I used to shave with a cartridge, but I found myself shaving like once a week, I was not a fan of the shaves. I looked up straight razor forums and became a member on all that I found.
What was it that held your interest?
Firs the shave results, light years from what a cartridge can provide. Second I love to hone/sharpen things, and razors turned out to be so diverse that I am constantly learning.
How did you get started with Straight Razors? What did you start with?
I had heard of straight razors before but it took me some time to get myself to check them out. Once I started to use a SR it all snowballed from there, you know the ADs .My first razor was Dovo Spike with Ebony scales, I cant remember the model.
Shave Cream & Soaps? What did you find that worked well from those initial trials?
I must say I like simple creams such as TOBS.
Soaps: I enjoy a variety of RazoRock soaps, I also have Cella, Dovo, and Tabak.
Determination is key when shaving, how did you push through the Month + of sub par shaves? Did you know there was a light at the end of the tunnel?
I never had subpar shaves; at least not as others describe them. My first one was supposed to be only the sideburns as recommended on the forums, but I did full 2 pass and it fell pretty good.
For me the learning curve was more about the direction of my beard than angles.
How did your first Honing attempt go? Was it successful?
My first attempt was on my new LeGrelot, I put it to my 10k SS and was fairly satisfied with the edge.
Could you describe you "go to" honing progression?
I have two progressions right now.
Synthetic : 400 Sigma Power(when needed), 1k Sigma Power (Hard) (when needed), 1k Chosera, 2k Shapton Pro, 5k Shapton Pro, 8k shapton Pro, 12k Shapton Pro, Ozuko asagi.
My natural progression is red Aoto, Hakka, Yaginoshima, Shobudani with naguras, Ozuko with tomonagura. I also have two very fast stones one is unknown from a barber lot, the other is nakayama nashiji (very rare) they are substitutes for the yaginoshima.
Do you tape your spines? Why?
For most of the time yes, especially on restored blades and fancy spines. I prefer for consistency to tape all spines, but there are exceptions when I hone with no tape. Ultimately there is no difference for me.
Now my favorite question... if you were stranded on a desert island and could only choose:
1 razor: Either of my #13 Filarmonica razors.
1 strop: Kanayama 30000
1 brush: I have very few brushes, most used one is a simple custom with 24mm silvertip
1 soap:RazorRock
1 cream: any TOBS
What is your blade preference? Hollows, Half Hollows, Kamisori, Disposables?
I like hollow ground razors best.
Are you currently reading a book? or perhaps even better; what book will you be reading next?
No time for books right now, but the one I read recently was the whole series of the The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
Favorite Movie or two?
I have to say Star Wars saga.
With what fictional/historical character do you most identify?
None, I am myself.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone new at this, what would it be?
Think for yourself, SR shaving is a simple art do not make it a rocket science. [/QUOTE]
If you have any comments or other questions please post them in this thread. These interviews will be entered into the Interview Wiki for future reference
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who are you? / Where are you located?
My name is Stefan, and I live in Virginia
What beverage do you start your day with?
Coffee, I like to experiment with all kinds of creamers (Irish cream, chocolate almond etc etc)
What happened that made you start Wet Shaving?, or if the chicken came before the egg, how did you find B&B?
I used to shave with a cartridge, but I found myself shaving like once a week, I was not a fan of the shaves. I looked up straight razor forums and became a member on all that I found.
What was it that held your interest?
Firs the shave results, light years from what a cartridge can provide. Second I love to hone/sharpen things, and razors turned out to be so diverse that I am constantly learning.
How did you get started with Straight Razors? What did you start with?
I had heard of straight razors before but it took me some time to get myself to check them out. Once I started to use a SR it all snowballed from there, you know the ADs .My first razor was Dovo Spike with Ebony scales, I cant remember the model.
Shave Cream & Soaps? What did you find that worked well from those initial trials?
I must say I like simple creams such as TOBS.
Soaps: I enjoy a variety of RazoRock soaps, I also have Cella, Dovo, and Tabak.
Determination is key when shaving, how did you push through the Month + of sub par shaves? Did you know there was a light at the end of the tunnel?
I never had subpar shaves; at least not as others describe them. My first one was supposed to be only the sideburns as recommended on the forums, but I did full 2 pass and it fell pretty good.
For me the learning curve was more about the direction of my beard than angles.
How did your first Honing attempt go? Was it successful?
My first attempt was on my new LeGrelot, I put it to my 10k SS and was fairly satisfied with the edge.
Could you describe you "go to" honing progression?
I have two progressions right now.
Synthetic : 400 Sigma Power(when needed), 1k Sigma Power (Hard) (when needed), 1k Chosera, 2k Shapton Pro, 5k Shapton Pro, 8k shapton Pro, 12k Shapton Pro, Ozuko asagi.
My natural progression is red Aoto, Hakka, Yaginoshima, Shobudani with naguras, Ozuko with tomonagura. I also have two very fast stones one is unknown from a barber lot, the other is nakayama nashiji (very rare) they are substitutes for the yaginoshima.
Do you tape your spines? Why?
For most of the time yes, especially on restored blades and fancy spines. I prefer for consistency to tape all spines, but there are exceptions when I hone with no tape. Ultimately there is no difference for me.
Now my favorite question... if you were stranded on a desert island and could only choose:
1 razor: Either of my #13 Filarmonica razors.
1 strop: Kanayama 30000
1 brush: I have very few brushes, most used one is a simple custom with 24mm silvertip
1 soap:RazorRock
1 cream: any TOBS
What is your blade preference? Hollows, Half Hollows, Kamisori, Disposables?
I like hollow ground razors best.
Are you currently reading a book? or perhaps even better; what book will you be reading next?
No time for books right now, but the one I read recently was the whole series of the The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
Favorite Movie or two?
I have to say Star Wars saga.
With what fictional/historical character do you most identify?
None, I am myself.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone new at this, what would it be?
Think for yourself, SR shaving is a simple art do not make it a rocket science. [/QUOTE]
)
