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Blind edge test! Ugly razors, fine finishes.

Tanuki

Tanuki

This is the thread for the four ugly razors honed to competing finishes by @SliceOfLife . It follows on to this closed B/S/T post -

www.badgerandblade.com

Four shave ready user-grade straights The ugly, the ugly, the ugly and the ugly

Four straights: honewear, grimy scales, sloppy honing, pitting, and all. But they have edges on them. Four different edges in fact. You get all four for $20 shipped to your door (US only) The catch? 1. You must be comfortable using a straight razor and stropping already. 2. You must use all...
www.badgerandblade.com www.badgerandblade.com

So, alerts to:
@Dilbone
@GreazyThumbs
@Mountain Grown
@mr_houston
@pwheeler
@Sinnbad11
@shelby
@Old Grump

I hope I didn't miss anyone. I will post progress after my first test shave, but my plan at this point is to share my reactions with SliceOfLife only. Whoever else gets a shot at the razors will not be biased by my "authoritative" judgement.
 
Tanuki

Tanuki

Here is the Tanuki test protocol, as I PMed it to SliceOfLife.

"For this test I will only do normal pre-shave stropping on linen and leather. I usually do a few (less than 10) laps on linen or cotton post-shave to make sure the edge is dry and clean. My plan is to match every combination of razors in side-by-side shaves, so either 6 or 12 shaves before I send them back, three or six half-shaves per razor."
 
Tanuki

Tanuki

They arrived yesterday, Slantember the first. I'll get some photos posted. First side-by-side shave tomorrow.
 
Tanuki

Tanuki

Anticipation! Un"box"ing!

It's a boy!
C716ED6D-9101-4941-B64E-78F0FF417600.jpeg

Caesarean delivery.
4CF2AA3A-04C4-425F-985B-CE0201858ABF.jpeg

Quads! Let's name them.
Top to bottom:
GMW
Opie
the Georgia Peach
Raven
EC154726-9635-42D6-B421-243FE24491ED.jpeg

DF35B5F0-46DC-433B-A518-6D7B8A76B7D5.jpeg

They all arrived with 'interesting' hone wear. Only Raven came with a full pedigree.
AF79ECFF-C806-492F-8789-49444476A467.jpegF94BF95B-7E69-44E8-97AD-73F9E9D78323.jpeg
RAVEN 105
SUPLEE-BIDDLE HDWE CO. PHILADELPHIA, PA. U.S.A.

I had never heard of Biddle Hardware, until earlier today when I was doing a little AutoStrop research...
76DF23E4-E3AE-46D9-B382-555647862110.jpeg


So of course, I am already prejudiced in favor of little Raven, in spite of that iddle, biddle spiky point.

That's it. Four ugly razors only a mother could love.
 
SliceOfLife

SliceOfLife

Yes, they are the four ugliest razors I have that weren't trashed or edge pitted with four different edges that are a mystery to all but myself.

They are not stropped however, dried and lightly oiled after finishing. He will need to strop before use.
 
Tanuki

Tanuki

Now that I have seen these razors, there will be a slight delay this morning while I get my affairs in order and make a few minor changes to the instructions for disposition of my shaving effects.

I'll go with GMW and Opie first, I hope to refine my ugly razor technique before I throw myself on those spikes.
 
Tanuki

Tanuki

Shave 1 in the books. No blood!

Protocol: Rinse off oil under very hot water, dry blade avoiding edge, strop 5 laps cotton to clean/dry edge. Strop 10 linen / 30 horse. Shave two passes, R with GMW, L Opie.

Pass 1 (the easy way) - neck S to N ending at beard line (chaotic growth, more xtg than anything else), cheeks N to S (wtg)
Pass 2 (the hard way) - neck N-S beard line down, cheeks atg

Deploy DE for pass 3 neck touch up, multi-directional atg hunt. Today I also did an atg cheek clean up.

Clean and dry razors using shave towel and cotton strop. Store Outside of den in a room with warm dry air.

Next time with these razors I will strop linen 20 / 60 horse. They were plenty sharp, could have been smoother. Part of that is getting accustomed to these SRs. Tomorrow I will repeat today's shave with the square point duo.
 
Tanuki

Tanuki

Shave 2, micro cut on lower neck, pass 2 Raven, shaver inattention

BTW, the Georgia Peach jumped into a phone booth, exited as SuperRazor 'Magneto'. Turns out that the blade of this SR is well magnetized. I could use it to pick up small parts.

24 hour stubble today. Same protocol as yesterday. Magneto on the right, Raven on the left. I was more generous loading the brush today, made an excellent lather, therefore smoother sailing on pass 1. I also got closer today on both sides, but I'm attributing that to lather quality, shorter stubble, and a more relaxed attitude towards the shave.

Each of these razors will go side-by-side with each of the other three, so my edge comparisons will always be made from a single day's shave.

Magneto's party trick, levitation:
1659E09A-5E8E-4225-AC17-A763FEF6A624.jpeg
 
SliceOfLife

SliceOfLife

Lol, yeah. The random magnetism is always a fun surprise. I do a lot of honing on steel plates... so it's a regular thing for me. Sorry, forgot that one of these was magnetized. Would have warned you.
 
Tanuki

Tanuki

3 days, two shaves to report.

GMW v Magneto - Stropped 20 linen, 60 horse, Lea shave stick lather poses problems for both razors to solve. I got a better shave than I deserved with that lather. 4 of 5 overall rating.

Opie v Magneto - Stropped 20/60 again. I can probably drop back to 10/30. Grabbed a good Omega and the good soap.

I will not try any other soaps for the rest of this trial. That Lea stick was a big mistake. Two more shaves and I should have tested every combo once.
 
Tanuki

Tanuki

global_dev said:
i thought lea was a lather easy soap. what happened?
Click to expand...

I produced a good looking lather easily enough, using my hybrid technique. I face applied and lathered, then built a wetter top layer using my face-loaded brush and a copper bowl. It was a well-broken in boar. The lather lacked lubrication and durability. It dissipated quickly on my face and in the bowl.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by Arko and Tabac sticks. I'll give this Lea stick some more chances, but not while I'm edge testing these straights.
 
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