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Cal's "I don't do journals" Journal

It's not entirely settled - which means I've not really decided - but likely a beehive.
I know you like the beehive handle "look."
Shavemac 84:
84.jpg


As you are aware, I love the Shavemac 173 look:
173.jpg


My two main criteria for handle choice (shaving brush, DE razor handle, whatever) are:
  • I must like the look of it
  • I mustn't notice it when it's in use (I only want to notice what's at the business end of it.)
I've probably said that a million times before, so please forgive my repetition. :blushing:
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
I know you like the beehive handle "look."
Shavemac 84:
View attachment 1113642

As you are aware, I love the Shavemac 173 look:
View attachment 1113643

My two main criteria for handle choice (shaving brush, DE razor handle, whatever) are:
  • I must like the look of it
  • I mustn't notice it when it's in use (I only want to notice what's at the business end of it.)
I've probably said that a million times before, so please forgive my repetition. :blushing:

I don't recall you mentioning it recently but it kinda rings a little bell.

My notions are much the same.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
SOTD

SOTD-B_2020-06-18.jpg
:001_wub:

Brush: Shavemac 18/44 Silvertip D01 2-Band
Soap: Vitos Red
Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale
Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (4)
ASL: Proraso Red

An excellent shave.* :cornut:



* Surprise, surprise. :lol1:
 
SOTD

SOTD-K_2020-06-20.jpg
:001_wub:

Brush: Shavemac 18/44 Silvertip D01 2-Band
Soap: Vitos Red
Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale
Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (5)
ASL: Proraso Red

Another great shave with the unbeatable Lo Storto Originale.* :cornut:


* Fatip. The ultimate in open comb design (IMO). :yesnod:
 
I had to laugh when I saw Jim's @Chan Eil Whiskers post in his "Damn Comfortable Shave" thread today. Having stumbled across the "Longevity of 4711?" thread a while back, it reminded me that I had sniffed a few bottles of it in the distant past and quite liked it (although I'd never used it).

So, being the true minimalist that I am, I checked out its price to discover that it's quite inexpensive... and ordered a bottle of the ASL immediately. It arrived today.

With the dreadful memory of Cella (red) ASL still imprinted on my mind... I sniffed the bottle, tipped a tiny bit on my wrist and sniffed that 20 seconds later, then finally took another wrist sniff half an hour later. All was well, so I used it after today's shave. Unthinkingly, I tipped it into my hand just the same as I do with my beloved Proraso Red, not realizing that the 4711 bottle's aperture is A LOT bigger than the Proraso's. Fortunately the scent's quite pleasant (to me), but it took a full two hours for it to disappear (unlike my half to one hour's worth of Proraso Red).

Of course, if you ladle it on by the bucketful what do you expect kid? :001_rolle

I'm definitely not a fan of lingering scents, so there's no way I'll be trying out any EdTs or EdPs.

I aim to stick with it for a week or so to see how I "really" find it. Barring the initial 4711 overdose it seems just fine and my face feels just fine too (several hours later).


SOTD

SOTD-W_2020-06-23.jpg
:001_wub:

Brush: Shavemac 18/44 Silvertip D01 2-Band
Soap: Vitos Red
Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale
Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (6)
ASL: 4711

An excellent shave. :cornut:
 
I had to laugh when I saw Jim's @Chan Eil Whiskers post in his "Damn Comfortable Shave" thread today. Having stumbled across the "Longevity of 4711?" thread a while back, it reminded me that I had sniffed a few bottles of it in the distant past and quite liked it (although I'd never used it).

So, being the true minimalist that I am, I checked out its price to discover that it's quite inexpensive... and ordered a bottle of the ASL immediately. It arrived today.

With the dreadful memory of Cella (red) ASL still imprinted on my mind... I sniffed the bottle, tipped a tiny bit on my wrist and sniffed that 20 seconds later, then finally took another wrist sniff half an hour later. All was well, so I used it after today's shave. Unthinkingly, I tipped it into my hand just the same as I do with my beloved Proraso Red, not realizing that the 4711 bottle's aperture is A LOT bigger than the Proraso's. Fortunately the scent's quite pleasant (to me), but it took a full two hours for it to disappear (unlike my half to one hour's worth of Proraso Red).

Of course, if you ladle it on by the bucketful what do you expect kid? :001_rolle

I'm definitely not a fan of lingering scents, so there's no way I'll be trying out any EdTs or EdPs.

I aim to stick with it for a week or so to see how I "really" find it. Barring the initial 4711 overdose it seems just fine and my face feels just fine too (several hours later).

Wow. I've just had a shave and the hour or so that the mild scent of Palmoilve lingers for is plently enough for me. I reckon I have a sensitive nose. Al said he thought Wickham Irish Fern was subtle and pleasant. I found it to be as strong as a cologne, even though I liked it quite a bit in the end.
 
:letterk1: You stopped using the best DE Razor on the planet?

:hand: Only for an experiment. You know experiments come first!

:letterk1: OK, tell me more.

:biggrin: Right. Read on below the SOTD pic.


SOTD

SOTD-R_2020-06-25.jpg
:001_wub:

Brush: Shavemac 18/44 Silvertip D01 2-Band
Soap: Vitos Red
Razor: (new Chinese) Gillette Tech with custom resin handle
Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (7)
ASL: 4711

Today my new Chinese "Gillette Tech" from AliExpress "PG Certified Authorized Store" turned up (53 days after ordering). So I had to try it out. Its description says "stainless steel and plastic" (the original handle is mainly plastic).

Looking at it, it's possible that the baseplate is stamped out of SS sheet. I'm not so sure about the cap though. I've messaged the store asking them if both the baseplate and cap are "really" stainless steel (they're on holiday till Monday).

I checked for blade exposure:
G5_2020-06-25.jpg

and sure, it actually has some. :001_smile

I thought about my last shave with a Tech (years ago now) and how unsuccessful that had been. Then I remembered my RazoRock GC84, with similar results, till I decided it was operator problem... not hardware. So the current experiment is to continue learning my new Tech, at least till I can get a "great shave" with it.

For a first shave it was quite nice, and I at least managed a DFS. :cornut:

Today was my second shot of the 4711 ASL. A single quick shake still gave me more product than I really wanted, so I'll attempt to reduce it further next time. It's quite nice, but already I'm pining for my beloved Proraso Red ASL.

Wishing you happy, and interesting, shaves guys. :w00t:
 
SOTD

SOTD-Y_2020-06-26.jpg
:001_wub:

Brush: Shavemac 18/44 Silvertip D01 2-Band
Soap: Vitos Red
Razor: (new) Gillette Tech with Yaqi brass shorty handle
Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (8)
ASL: 4711

Back to BBS today. :cornut:

I'm getting to know my new Tech a little better, but it's so different from the razors I'm used to that I guess it'll take a while yet.

It's funny how you can be pleased with a shave but know that you could have done lots better. Of course feeling like that has to be helpful (on the never-ending learning curve).

Now that I've used the Tech a couple of times with an "old favorite" blade, I'm going to move on to the blade that came with it next shave.

Gillette-Super-Stainless_2020-06-26.jpg
 
SOTD

SOTD-G_2020-06-27.jpg
:001_wub:

Brush: Shavemac Olive Wood 20/44 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: Vitos Red
Razor: Gillette Tech with custom olive wood handle
Blade: Gillette Super Stainless (1)
ASL: 4711

This is my third shave with the new Gillette Tech. I'm enjoying the shaves but I reckon I haven't even moved off the floor of the learning curve yet.

I tend to prefer head heavy (or more accurately "handle light") DE Razors. I changed to my latest love, the olive wood handle today. (It's great; I intend to stick with it for the foreseeable future.) The whole razor (loaded) weighs 24g. Loaded head 11g and handle 13g, so I'll just have to get used to that.

I vividly remember going into training with the PBOCS which weighs a massive 16g all in. On returning to other razors after about a month with the PBOCS, I noticed that my technique had skyrocketed. Naturally I was highly pleased. So obviously I'm hoping that my current training with this lightweight Tech will do similar things for me.

ASL
At last I got the amount of 4711 just right today. It's OK stuff, but for me it will become just an occasional "when I feel like it" ASL. Even though I'd promised to use it for a week... next shave I'm definitely going back to my all time love – Proraso Red ASL. :blushing: :laugh:
 
SOTD

SOTD-B_2020-06-28.jpg
:001_wub:

Brush: Shavemac Olive Wood 20/44 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: Vitos Red
Razor: Gillette Tech with custom olive wood handle
Blade: Gillette Super Stainless (2)
ASL: Proraso Red

Shave #4 on the new Gillette Tech training regime. Three steps forward and one step back. :001_rolle :laugh:

The Proraso Red ASL was WONDERFUL (like coming home). :001_wub:
 
SOTD

SOTD-K_2020-06-30.jpg
:001_wub:

Brush: Shavemac Olive Wood 20/44 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: Vitos Red
Razor: Gillette Tech with custom olive wood handle
Blade: Gillette Super Stainless (3)
ASL: Proraso Red

New Gillette Tech training shave #5. I think I've discovered what was slowing my progress down:
X_2020-06-30.jpg

(Excuse the blurry pic.) The blade doesn't follow the curve of the cap (which is pretty shallow anyway). It sticks out at nearly 90° to the handle!

So lifting the handle lots more than I'm used to (but still keeping the blade steep) made a big improvement. Hopefully this will speed my progress up (I wanna get back to Lo Storto).

Apart from all that it was quite an enjoyable shave, with a DFS+ result. :001_smile
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
New Gillette Tech training shave #5. I think I've discovered what was slowing my progress down:
View attachment 1119933
(Excuse the blurry pic.) The blade doesn't follow the curve of the cap (which is pretty shallow anyway). It sticks out at nearly 90° to the handle!

I can't make it out in that pic, Cal (though it could just be my vision), but it didn't look particularly wrong in terms of the neutral angle in your blade exposure pic (reply #1287). A little steeper than some, perhaps, but still a cutting angle not a scraping one.
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
This is my 1958 Tech.

postwar_D2_Tech.JPG


Just from looking at it, it makes me wonder why its as inefficient as it is for me. It doesnt look like it should be and looks much the same as my NEW SC, with slightly less blade exposure and a steeper neutral angle.

NEWSC.JPG


Yet the SC is 2-3 times as efficient and smoother for some reason.
 
This is my 1958 Tech.

View attachment 1120162

Just from looking at it, it makes me wonder why its as inefficient as it is for me. It doesnt look like it should be and looks much the same as my NEW SC, with slightly less blade exposure and a steeper neutral angle.

View attachment 1120164

Yet the SC is 2-3 times as efficient and smoother for some reason.

If you look at the the two shapes formed by the red line and the blade, the triangle above and the diamond below, there is a big difference between the two razors. Maybe that affects the type of shave delivered?
 
This is my 1958 Tech.

View attachment 1120162

Just from looking at it, it makes me wonder why its as inefficient as it is for me. It doesnt look like it should be and looks much the same as my NEW SC, with slightly less blade exposure and a steeper neutral angle.

View attachment 1120164

Yet the SC is 2-3 times as efficient and smoother for some reason.
Fractions of a millimeter make a big difference when it comes to exposure. Gillette defined optimum exposure in the 30s as positive .004" ( .102mm), with .008" being characterized as potentially dangerous. That's not a big difference and judging from photos is tough. It certainly feels to me that the 50s Gillettes have less exposure, enough to make a real difference.

Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
If you look at the the two shapes formed by the red line and the blade, the triangle above and the diamond below, there is a big difference between the two razors. Maybe that affects the type of shave delivered?

The Tech has a steeper neutral angle. Because of that, assuming pressure applied as a constant between both razors, there would be more skin passing through that gap and at a steeper angle. All the more reason, I would think, it should be more effective than it is. It also explains why that, by the time I have whittled my way to a BBS shave, its not as comfortable a shave as my SC but the SC is also more efficient which translates into less time and hence, less irritation.


Fractions of a millimeter make a big difference when it comes to exposure. Gillette defined optimum exposure in the 30s as positive .004" ( .102mm), with .008" being characterized as potentially dangerous. That's not a big difference and judging from photos is tough. It certainly feels to me that the 50s Gillettes have less exposure, enough to make a real difference.

I agree. When it comes to blade exposure a .004" difference is massive. Add that .004" to an unsupported blade and they can be dangerous. Enter the R41 and, to a slightly lesser degree, my 1940's Regent.

I find the generational differences of Gillette TTO's quite interesting. The 1930's and early 1940's TTO razors are not the easiest tools to shave with. The late 1940's and early 1950's models have a different geometry and somewhat different design which I believe to be the optimum combination of smoothness and efficiency. Also evidenced by them being the favorites of @rabidus for quite a while.

I dont have a picture of one from that generation, but it might be pretty easy to tell where they fall between my 1940's Regent and my 1958 SS.

Regent.
Regent.jpg


SS.
D2SS.jpg


Two very different razors.

My Regent has all the blade exposure I would ever need. In feeling, its more than my R41 and considerably more than my Grade but the blade is lacking support as is. When I added the tape strips to the blade tray it instantly became very quiet and very smooth, turning it into, I think, a late 1940's, early 1950's model. Because of such generous blade exposure it is extremely close shaving but because it lacks blade support, as is for me, its a very fine line and I really need to concentrate or I'll be bleeding.

My 1958 SS on the other hand is very much like using a Tech and if I couldnt feel the difference between them in my hand I may be able to tell them apart. The SS may be slightly more efficient.

My 1970's Lady Gillette is even milder than any of the three post war Tech's I've used.

If one was to add tape strips to the blade tray of a mid to late 1930's OC Gillette Sheraton or similar, it could become one of the smoothest and most efficient DE razors.

I really like my Regent and plan on using it often once my Perma-Sharps arrive. I'm curious how I'll get along with it ~2 years later.
 
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