Cartridge to R41 to Cut-Throat

[Jakebullet]

Shave 114 and 15
My suspicions that a touch up was in order were confirmed this morning when I lathered with Proraso Green and got to work.
The blade felt nice and sharp everywhere except on the atg pass where I got lots of weepers, a little dragging and and 2 cuts. I washed up.
I took the acrylic block, laid some notepaper on it which I sprayed with water then laid down a strip of 1 micron lapping film. I just did straight up and down edge leading strokes, 16 complete laps. The first 10 were just what I’d call light pressure then the last 6 with a bit less pressure again. Then I put on the Ivory coloured film which is listed at 0.3 micron and did the same. Then I gave it 50 laps on linen and 80 on leather. I’m interested to see how I did but will have to wait until the mornings shave to find out.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 115 and number one with the Friodur after honing.
I was a bit worried for this shave as every time I’ve honed or refreshed a razor it’s always been rough as toast for the first few shaves and always left my face rashed up. It usually takes 4-5 shaves for it to come back to how my face likes it.
Today however I was optimistic from the first pass as the razor seems to slide quite effortlessly through the Proraso lather with a nice soft hissing sound.
Pass 2 was equally nice and I could tell the blade was having an easier time of it that it did yesterday. Pass three atg the razor felt silky smooth compared to yesterday’s shave as did the quick touch up pass. As I get better at this the touching up becomes less and less. I had a lovely quick cold rinse then splashed on some Tabac aftershave. What a burn but the pain ebbed away to reveal a clean, fresh, unmarked, baby smooth face with no irritation or anything else. Success at last or a fluke? Who can say but it’s encouraging and the first time that I’ve got the razor how I like it right off the film.

 

[Namkcakram]

Shave 115 and number one with the Friodur after honing.
I was a bit worried for this shave as every time I’ve honed or refreshed a razor it’s always been rough as toast for the first few shaves and always left my face rashed up. It usually takes 4-5 shaves for it to come back to how my face likes it.
Today however I was optimistic from the first pass as the razor seems to slide quite effortlessly through the Proraso lather with a nice soft hissing sound.
Pass 2 was equally nice and I could tell the blade was having an easier time of it that it did yesterday. Pass three atg the razor felt silky smooth compared to yesterday’s shave as did the quick touch up pass. As I get better at this the touching up becomes less and less. I had a lovely quick cold rinse then splashed on some Tabac aftershave. What a burn but the pain ebbed away to reveal a clean, fresh, unmarked, baby smooth face with no irritation or anything else. Success at last or a fluke? Who can say but it’s encouraging and the first time that I’ve got the razor how I like it right off the film.

YES!

I would say not a fluke, edge leading strokes while varying the lubricant and pressure are how it’s been done for centuries. Loaded strops, lapping film, and synthetic stones obviously are the new kids on the block but if the quality of the abrasive is good and the particle size distribution and particle shape are solid you really can’t go wrong. The .3 mu film will be finer abrasive than any synthetic stone you can buy currently, so the only way to go up from here predictably is refining your edge leading technique on what you have. Also the clean linen strop is the key to toning down any irritation on a fresh synthetic edge IMO. Any synthetic edge is likely to feel a bit “harsh” although at .3mu it’s probably mostly smoothed out.

The only logical next step once you prove to yourself that it’s not a fluke and you’re actually pretty decent at this is to start dabbling in natural stones to see if you can get a little bit more forgiving edge.

 

[Jakebullet]

YES!

I would say not a fluke, edge leading strokes while varying the lubricant and pressure are how it’s been done for centuries. Loaded strops, lapping film, and synthetic stones obviously are the new kids on the block but if the quality of the abrasive is good and the particle size distribution and particle shape are solid you really can’t go wrong. The .3 mu film will be finer abrasive than any synthetic stone you can buy currently, so the only way to go up from here predictably is refining your edge leading technique on what you have. Also the clean linen strop is the key to toning down any irritation on a fresh synthetic edge IMO. Any synthetic edge is likely to feel a bit “harsh” although at .3mu it’s probably mostly smoothed out.

The only logical next step once you prove to yourself that it’s not a fluke and you’re actually pretty decent at this is to start dabbling in natural stones to see if you can get a little bit more forgiving edge.

Thanks a lot, and thanks for all your suggestions and ideas you’ve really been a big help. Today a cheap 100x illuminated hand held scope arrived which I bought so I could see what effect, if any, my honing efforts were having. It was hard to get used to at first though it became handier later. When I viewed my Gold Dollars I was pretty shocked at their condition. Deep scratches and uneven bevels, it wasn’t pretty. My Thomas Turner & co and Henckels were a lot prettier but still far from flat and smooth, although they both shave well.
Being able to see stuff in such detail is a relatively new thing, history wise, and I wonder how ready we are for it. So we take it from there I suppose, the close up images made me wince but they’re usful I in that retire feedback .

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 117 and 3 since honing.
I woke up late today so only had time for a quick 2 pass shave. But I chose to go xtg then atg instaed of down and up. I lathered with a Palmolive shave stick and did a quick shave.
To look at it you couldn’t tell the difference from the norm but the fingertips told a different story. Still not a terrible shave and I splashed on the last of my Proraso Green aftershave. There’s a traditional barbers 40 minutes from me which sells all sorts of shaving products and paraphenalia. There’s antique shops and cafes and a park nearby so I visit every now and then and I take my girl and our 3 year old daughter for lunch and shopping there. Yesterday was such a day. They have a counter at the shop with about 40 bottles of traditional aftershaves to try so I spray one on each time I visit. Last time was Geo F Trumper Sandalwood Cologne which I really liked so I bought it. I love how these type of aftershaves will never be found in department stores, they’re rare and interesting and far from mainstream. They have a class and dignity about them. Yesterday the guy introduced me to Penhaligon’s English Fern. What a fresh pleasant scent it was and it stayed on me through a very windy day for hours. I really like it. It was £100 for the bottle and I always have guilt when buying for myself so I put it back on the shelf thinking ‘how much aftershave do you need?’ But when I got home I regretted it. I hardly ever spend money on myself so I think I may treat myself to it when I’m there next.
In the antique shop down the road I came across a 7 day razor set I can’t now remember the makers name. It was in a locked display case on sale for about £500 but the one razor which was open for display was pitted on the edge and needed to be restored by someone more skilled than me. So a nice day browsing and eating but no purchases for me. My girl and daughter fared better

 

[Namkcakram]

Thanks a lot, and thanks for all your suggestions and ideas you’ve really been a big help. Today a cheap 100x illuminated hand held scope arrived which I bought so I could see what effect, if any, my honing efforts were having. It was hard to get used to at first though it became handier later. When I viewed my Gold Dollars I was pretty shocked at their condition. Deep scratches and uneven bevels, it wasn’t pretty. My Thomas Turner & co and Henckels were a lot prettier but still far from flat and smooth, although they both shave well.
Being able to see stuff in such detail is a relatively new thing, history wise, and I wonder how ready we are for it. So we take it from there I suppose, the close up images made me wince but they’re usful I in that retire feedback .

By the time you’re at a comfortably shaving edge you’ve reached a point where the grain structure of the steel matters almost as much as the abrasive used to hone. A gold dollar edge will likely never look as good under high magnification as something made from very clean high carbon steel fro Swedish ores. The finest grain steels I’ve found in current production are the hitachi metal company “white paper” varieties, but there are others from European firms that are supposed to be on par. With straight razors old Sheffield steel is pretty good but the two pinnacles for fine grain I’ve found are some nicer Japanese blades and hillbilly American blades from New York. The big difference there is Japanese blades generally are tempered VERY hard (put Solingen blades into distant second place or even third place behind Swedish blades), while the American ones like Little Valley and Genco are on the softer side making them easier to hone and shorter lived edges. Also price difference (in America) is about 4 times as much $$$ for a decent Tanifuji.

I like honing and money so my rotation (buying and selling) usually has about 4:1 ratio of American:Japanese/Swedish. Currently 1 Tanifuji and zero Swedes.

 

[Jakebullet]

Thanks a lot for the reply this is so interesting! You’ve got so much knowledge on the subject it’s a pleasure to read through it all. And thanks for putting things into perspective re-magnified edges as I was a bit taken aback when I saw how rough they looked. The Henckels looks the smoothest with the Turner & Co a very close second although the Turner seems to like my face more, always has. I’m going to try refreshing the Turner tomorrow using the same method I used for the Henckels and see how it goes.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 119 and 5 on the Henckels Friodur.
I’ve had to do some fast shaves this week for one reason or another so it was reallly nice today to be able to take my time and aim for bbs.
I went for a Proraso Green day so I started with a big scoop of the great smelling preshave. Next I made a really nice voluminous face lather with my boar brush. I soak the boar, give it two flicks in the sink then scrub the puck for 30 seconds or so. I then start scrubbing my cheek then my chin then the other cheek covering my face and neck till stage 1 is done. For stage 2 I dip the brush into the hot water and paint the water onto the lather on my cheeks then I repeat on the other cheek, sometimes I even go again. Then I go scrubbing with the brush again mixing the lather and water on my face neck and chin until I have a great wet but still dense globby lather. I thin it out by brushing downward with the stiff boar and I’m ready for to go. This stuff always performs for me. I did a nice slow 3 pass shave really enjoying the meditative calmness it brings me and doing my best still to remember to breathe. Then I took my time and did a good touch up. Thankfully I found enough liquid in the bottom of the Proraso Green aftershave bottle to do another shave or two. I treated my face to a lick of the Alum today which burned like fire everywhere it touched. Then I splashed on the Proraso and washed up. I was feeling my face when I noticed blood on my fingers from a couple of small cuts either side of my mouth but otherwise a brilliant Saturday shave.

 

[Namkcakram]

Thanks a lot for the reply this is so interesting! You’ve got so much knowledge on the subject it’s a pleasure to read through it all. And thanks for putting things into perspective re-magnified edges as I was a bit taken aback when I saw how rough they looked. The Henckels looks the smoothest with the Turner & Co a very close second although the Turner seems to like my face more, always has. I’m going to try refreshing the Turner tomorrow using the same method I used for the Henckels and see how it goes.

I’m not anything special, I’d say pretty average for an experienced hand tool woodworker. That hobby I think forces you to learn sharpening faster than any other, and eventually everyone becomes an amateur metallurgist chasing the perfect balance of edge quality/edge retention/ease of sharpening. When you’re re honing every 30 mins and re-setting a bevel once or twice per day all the subtle differences in steel types jump out at you.

I’m just glad you’re taking risks and trying to hone all your own stuff. A lot of people give up and send them out to a pro, or they have this weird aversion to hone wear and start taping and trying to substitute strops for hones and all types of nonsense. It cracks me up whenever someone says they got a great edge off of stone X, but then when they detail the actual procedure they went to pasted strops for quite a while after the stone... nothing wrong with pasted strops but you can’t really say it’s an edge from that stone anymore.

I think you might find the Thomas Turner takes the best edge of what you own, by nature of probably being the purest high carbon steel. I’ve never owned a Friodur, but my understanding is they’re “inox” steel alloy which puts them probably at a single digit chromium content (modern stainless is usually somewhere near 11%). I believe the Friodur name refers to their once patented rapid quench and tempering process at as low of temperatures as possible. It doesn’t seem to me that the low temperatures were to achieve harder steel, because they are still well below many other makers. I would assume the process was to minimize the growth of oversized chromium carbides at the cutting edge. Tungsten and chromium can increase wear resistance, but they also cause the formation of oversized crystals in the steel and those formations are also the hardest crystals present in the steel. In the woodworking world the joke about wear resistant alloys like A2 or D2 is they “take a crappy edge and hold it all day long”. The Friodur process and steel were revolutionary because they made “inox” steel shave on par with high carbon steel, and at a high hardness and increased edge durability.

All that said even the best alloyed steel has a coarser crystalline structure than a pure high carbon steel, so I’d put my money on the Thomas Turner always being your favorite edge and the gold dollar never quite being perfect. In my woodworking I always reach for my pure high carbon steel tools, even knowing I may be sharpening twice as often.

 

[Namkcakram]

Also most modern synthetic abrasives will leave a microscopically rough surface because they are engineered to be extremely hard and to remove steel extremely quickly. You can get amazing consistency in synthetics, but they’ll always cut microscopic grooves right through the steel because that’s what they’re designed for.

When you get into industrial polishing abrasives you can choose different hardnesses and shapes Taylor’s to specific applications, but that’s way beyond anything we all get into as hobbyists.

Instead most people go for natural hones because the natural variation in shapes and sizes of particles as well as the chemical makeup of the particles allows for the breakdown of abrasives, burnishing, and polishing on the edge. The Rockwell hardness of natural stones is a lot closer to the hardness of steel, to the point where most natural stones can’t really hone hard high speed steels.

 

[Jakebullet]

I’m not anything special, I’d say pretty average for an experienced hand tool woodworker. That hobby I think forces you to learn sharpening faster than any other, and eventually everyone becomes an amateur metallurgist chasing the perfect balance of edge quality/edge retention/ease of sharpening. When you’re re honing every 30 mins and re-setting a bevel once or twice per day all the subtle differences in steel types jump out at you.

I’m just glad you’re taking risks and trying to hone all your own stuff. A lot of people give up and send them out to a pro, or they have this weird aversion to hone wear and start taping and trying to substitute strops for hones and all types of nonsense. It cracks me up whenever someone says they got a great edge off of stone X, but then when they detail the actual procedure they went to pasted strops for quite a while after the stone... nothing wrong with pasted strops but you can’t really say it’s an edge from that stone anymore.

I think you might find the Thomas Turner takes the best edge of what you own, by nature of probably being the purest high carbon steel. I’ve never owned a Friodur, but my understanding is they’re “inox” steel alloy which puts them probably at a single digit chromium content (modern stainless is usually somewhere near 11%). I believe the Friodur name refers to their once patented rapid quench and tempering process at as low of temperatures as possible. It doesn’t seem to me that the low temperatures were to achieve harder steel, because they are still well below many other makers. I would assume the process was to minimize the growth of oversized chromium carbides at the cutting edge. Tungsten and chromium can increase wear resistance, but they also cause the formation of oversized crystals in the steel and those formations are also the hardest crystals present in the steel. In the woodworking world the joke about wear resistant alloys like A2 or D2 is they “take a crappy edge and hold it all day long”. The Friodur process and steel were revolutionary because they made “inox” steel shave on par with high carbon steel, and at a high hardness and increased edge durability.

All that said even the best alloyed steel has a coarser crystalline structure than a pure high carbon steel, so I’d put my money on the Thomas Turner always being your favorite edge and the gold dollar never quite being perfect. In my woodworking I always reach for my pure high carbon steel tools, even knowing I may be sharpening twice as often.

Very interesting reading, I wondered why the Thomas Turner always felt smoother and more comfortable that my others.
My daily driver has been the Henckels as it’s big and heavy and I like it but after reading your input I decided to use the Turner & Co this morning. As usual it gave me a great shave but I wanted to try honing it using the same method as I did on the Friodur to see how it turns out.

So again 16 laps on the 1 micron film, 10 with light pressure and 6 with extremely light pressure, then the same with the 0.3 micron. Then 40 laps on the linen and 75 on the leather

I wiped my hands on the leather strop which gave it a lot more ‘draw’, and kept the strokes light but steady and deliberate.
I have to wait now until tomorrow morning to find out how I did.
After trying and liking the Penhaligons English Fern Cologne at a barbershop last week, my girl, my daughter and I were out of town shopping when by chance we found ourselves outside a Penhaligons perfumery. So we went inside and were given a history of the place and a talk through the various scents by the lovely manageress. She was glad I think that we appreciated the tradition and quality of her products and that we’d heard of them before and that we liked the fact that her products were known not by the mainstream masses but to a few people who liked old school, good quality English products. She sprayed us with a few samples to try which were all stunners. Then I bought a little sample set to try.

I’ll keep these nice little glass bottles once I’ve used them to go in my shaving travel box.
She then gave my little daughter a silk handkerchief as a gift as we left.
A lovely chance visit.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 122 and 1 on the Turner & Co after honing.
Lathered up with a Palmolive shave stick and got to work. I was pleased to find the razor nice and sharp and nice and smooth. All 3 passes and my touch up were very nice and I got a great close smooth shave.
Yesterday after honing I looked at the edge through this cheap hand held LED lit magnifier I’d got. It’s very difficult to use as even breathing makes me move out of focus and I have to hold it no more than about a millimetre above the edge. But on looking with brief shaky glimpses at the edge of the Turner & Co I thought I could see that on some parts of the bevel the scratches were stopping short of the edge. I don’t know if this has always been the case (since it came supposedly shave ready, but after a week of use I sent it to be re honed and the bevel re-set) or if it’s been done by me during my honing attempts since. I’m inclined to think it’s not me as the scratches are at a 45 degree angle whereas I hone straight up and down. When I’m honing I have the block on the kitchen counter and with fingers of both hands resting lightly on the razor near the edge I push straight up then down always leading with the edge. I haven’t been using x strokes as the block is as wide as the blade.
When I strop I do it with one hand and give the razor a light bit of torque to keep the edge on the leather. I wonder if I should be doing that on the hone and maybe this will make sure the whole of the bevel is in contact with the film. It shaves fine but I’m wondering if I should try resetting the bevel to correct it or maybe just try more laps on the 1micron film?

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 123 and 2
Lathered with TOBS Eton College cream which smells great and is very slick stuff.
The blade on pass one felt really sharp today, pass 2 xtg it just rasped through the hair, less smooth than I remember it but very sharp. Then atg again a real feeling of sharpness. Strange that it felt sharper on day 2 after honing than it did after day one but that’s how it felt. A splash of Speick felt like I’d lit my face on fire! I was sitting there having a cup of tea before work when I touched my cheeks and thought ‘wow this is smooth’, then my girl came in and asked ‘whose corned beefed your face?’ I had a look in the mirror and saw it was a bit red all over though it calmed down over the morning. I think with hindsight that I got a bit carried away on the first two passes. It felt so sharp! I enjoyed it and went with it but I should’ve eased off a little. I’ll do this tomorrow.
Just watched a YouTube vid where a guy showed the edge following a shave. There were tiny spots all over the edge which he said were bits of hair, skin, blood and soap. Far too small to see with the naked eye. They’d dried holding moisture between them and the steel which would cause pitting eapecially the ones right on the edge. He said that all of this would be transferred to the linen strop which would eventually gunk up the linen. His solution was to strop on his palm straight after shaving to remove this gunk and leave it on the palm. He stropped the blade on his palm then put it back under the scope and indeed most of the spots had come off. Then he stropped on the linen then back to the scope and the edge was clean. Quite a powerful demonstration. It’s convinced me to do a little hand strop straight after shaving before using the linen.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 126 and 5 on the Thomas Turner since I honed it.
Lathered with Proraso Red. Proraso, Palmolive shave stick, Speick shave sticks, these are the soaps my face likes. Anything else I shave with leaves a rash. Not from the soap, but from the razor not gliding how I like it on the soap. Could well be me, but much as I love my other soaps and creams, these soaps are what work.
My razor is now really sharp and nice to use.
Today I was doing a nice safe wtg downward pass when I felt that hard to describe sensation that we all know all to well, that of the toe of a steel knife dipping half a millimetre into ones favourite face. I was in a good mood so no swearing on this occasion, then a couple of strokes later, Ouch! There it was again. Haven’t cut myself for ages but funny how they still seem to come in two’s. But again, the birds were singing outside and the sun was shining so I didn’t swear.
Re lathered then went xtg and slid the razor into the slice I’d made on the previous pass catching the skin. I swore this time, loudly and profusely. I was on form and I’m sure I invented many fine new swear words. I calmed down and finished the pass. Very close after just two passes and I could’ve easily stopped there but I did my 3rd pass atg which came and went smoothly without further incident. I burned my face off the bone with a handful of Speick splash and apart from the cuts I’d done a fine shave. It was just a nip or two from the razor to remind me that complacency is the friend of a stitched up face, and that this 70 year old shining, deadly mirror edged, glinting thing that’s probably killed about 5 people already in its long life needs to be given the utmost respect.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 127 and 6 on the Turner.
I Lathered with a Palmolive shave stick which I just heard has sadly been discontinued. I’ve got about 6 of them in my kit I’ll be sad when they’re gone.
My Thomas Turner & Co may be old but she doesn’t look it. She looks as good today as she did the day she left the factory, she’s in her prime.
I timed my efforts today. I was mindful of the areas I’d cut yesterday so didn’t go flat out for speed, I just ran the stopwatch and made a mental note. I reach the sink from the shower and start the timer:
I run the tap until it gets hot then wet my face a couple of times. Then I fill a mug with the hot water and dunk the boar into it. I reach for the shave stick, dunk the end then scrub it into my beard for a while. I take the brush from the cup, give it a shake then scrub up a lather on my face. I add water a couple of times and keep scrubbing until I’m happy. All of this today took me just on 5 mins.
I clean the soap from my lips and ears and begin pass 1 wtg.
I shave the right side first with my right hand, then the left with my left. This took me 4 mins today.
I re-lather, it takes 1 minute.
I start pass two xtg left side with right hand, right side with left hand ears to nose and upwards on my throat. Today this took 5mins 30.
1min to re-lather.
Pass 3 atg. Left side with right hand, right side with left. Curves of the chin, the top lip, from the floor to the roof, always dicing with death. I go into a zone, confident, concentrating, quick and sure. Then I come to, and I wonder how I Keep getting through it without sinking the thing into my face. Today this pass took 6mins 30s, with the greater part of the time spent on the intricacies of my chin and lip.
I rinse, then I squeeze the lather from the brush and rub it on my face feeling for uncut bristle.
It takes 1 minute. Then I start my touch up pass switching hands and directions to match whatever growth is left.
Today this took 4 mins 30.
I rinse, long and cold, I love that part, then I leave the cold water on my face as I quickly brush my teeth, then rinse again and pad my face and hair dry with a towel. I take a palm of aftershave and splash it on. It always burns like hell. I rinse the brush, give it a shake over the bath and put it back on it’s stand. I take the razor, run it under the tap and wipe the flat of the blade between my pinched fingers. Then I do the same to it using the towel. The blade is now dry so I fold a piece of tissue and dry between the scales. I do 7 laps on a palm strop to clean the edge then strop 7-8 times on linen. I put it back in its box. Rinse and dry the sink and mug, Spray a little deodorant and leave the bathroom. All of this took me 8 mins today.
37 mins and 30 seconds today for my whole routine from start to finish. This was me not rushing but not idling, just going as I normally would. I can do it in about 30 mins if I go quickly and maybe 25 if I leave the touch up pass out. I’d like to get the whole thing down to about 20 mins but the eye opener today was the 8 mins to rinse, brush teeth and clean up, plus the 5 mins it takes to make the initial lather. I need to speed up in these areas

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 129 and 8
Yesterday I felt like a change so I switched back to the Henckels Friodur. The shave was good but I switched back to the Thomas Turner today.
I’ve been a bit rushed the last two mornings and have tried to cut out the touch up pass to speed things along. This hasn’t worked well for me though. I really do need that touch up pass to finish the job otherwise there are odd rough patches here and there which annoy me. They represent inadequacy and sloppiness and they bother me.
I’ve been thinking. I honed my razors on 1 micron and then 0.3 micron lapping film. I gave them 16 laps using less and less pressure as I went on. But I doubt that anything as fine as those was widely available for most of the history of straight razor shaving. The reason I’m thinking of it is that the edge on my Turner is nice and sharp but it’s just that I seem to remember it feeling smoother before I honed it. Or maybe it was just sharper, or maybe both. I wonder what sort of grits were available to the laymen throughout history and what is the minimum fineness to make a good smooth shave possible? I know this would vary for everyone. I want to find the right blend of smoothness and sharpness for my face and beard. With DE shaving life was a lot simpler, I just tried different blades until I found which ones liked my face but my blade is now my blade and I have to make the edge how I like it all on my own. It’s going to be a challenge but a fun one I’m sure.

A while ago, on the advice of the gent who honed my razor and helped me get my journey underway, I bought a small welsh slate stone as he said a natural edge is often more forgiving and smoother. I tried it on my Gold Dollar but it was my first real attempt and I went in blind and blunted it and made it rough. But I hadn’t even lapped it, plus it’s quite small and my x strokes were’nt the best. My next step I think should be either a return to the lapping film 1u and .3u for a few more laps and to refine my technique, or to revisit this stone. I’m thinking maybe use the films again first with a few more laps and compare. If the edge is still less smooth I’ll change tact and go to the natural stone. In fact I think I’ll try the film on my Turner and use the stones for one of my Gold Dollars after I try resetting the bevel on it.
First I need to lap the stone. Is 150 grit sandpaper adequate? Or should I use a coarse lapping film? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 130 and 9 on the Thomas Turner.
Lathered with Proraso Red but didn’t get a brilliant shave today. I was in a rush again which didn’t help. But while the blade isn’t pulling it seems to leave a little more behind each of the last few days, though I have been pushed for time all week.
I decided to refresh it so it got 20 laps on the 1u film and 20 on the 0.3u. I tried torquing the blade a little but found it awkward as I’m used to using 2 hands on the blade going straight up and down on a 3 inch wide block. But I did a few laps like that which is a start. I really took extra care today to make sure the whole edge was in contact with the films the whole time. The last 5 laps I just used the weight of the razor and lightly brushed the film.
I checked with a 12x loupe rather than the fiddly 100x magnifier, the fine scratches looked much neater and went right to the edge of the edge and almost all of the diagonal scratches from the previous honer were gone so I’m hopeful that I’ve done a good job but will have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 130 and 1 on the Thomas Turner & Co after honing.
I was very interested to see how I did after yesterday’s attempt at honing.
I used some very refreshing and cooling Proraso Green Preshave then lathered up with Proraso Green soap. As soon as the razor touched my face I started to smile. The edge just cleared pretty much everything off my cheeks on the down pass, and more than that the razor felt smooth again. Really smooth. And I’m getting the blade a little sharper and smoother each time I do it.
The real test for sharpness and smoothness for me is atg on my chin and upper lip and it sailed through those areas.
So it looks like I’m approaching learning what works for me up to now. 20 laps on 1u and 20 on the .3u every 10 shaves or so. I use damp notepaper under the film and reduce the pressure as I go through the laps. I finish with 50 on linen then the same on leather. Without wanting to speak too soon, I’m glad that it seems I’ve learned how to maintain my own edge and get it how I like it. At least with this razor.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 131 and 2.
Lathered with Tabac and frustratingly rashed my face up.
It was a Saturday shave so I was in no rush. I made a good creamy lather with the Tabac I hadn’t used it for a few weeks and forgot how good it is.
I made 3 passes and a touch up pass but the touch up became more like a full pass. Even after that and after the rinse I was touching up areas I’d missed trying for perfection.
I walked into the living room and my girl said ‘whose been chopping wood on your face?’
I looked in the mirror and could see her point. Quite a lot of redness and rashing although it did die down as the morning went on. The frustration comes from the irritation due to my fiddling but also to the need to fiddle in the first place. I feel like I was shaving better 50 shaves ago. I must be rushing my passes so I think I need to take my time a little more.

 

[Jakebullet]

I watched a honing video yesterday where the guy did a hanging hair test at the end. Every time I’ve tried a hanging hair test it didn’t work, or it pinged them once or twice but never more than that, even when I had received honed razors. This guy on the video had the razor so sharp that the hairs weren’t even pinging, they were just slicing in two each time. My razors shave well enough but even my latest honing which has been my best, fails the hanging hair test. Either my girlfriend has super fine hair, or there’s plenty more sharpness still for me to unlock. I’m happy with my current razor, it shaves smooth and close but I wonder if I should take it back to the hone until it can slice hair or whether it’s irrelevant.
I haven’t used the R41 at all since my first straight razor shave nearly 6 months ago but today I wanted to feel what a real sharp blade feels like.
I lathered with Proraso Green soap, loaded a Gillette 7 o’clock Yellow into the heart of the beast and cautiously lined it up.
Even though I’ve done 130 straight razor shaves this thing still demands my full respect and attention.
I was concerned that I’d lose the muscle memory I had with it but as soon as I picked it up and unscrewed it it felt really comfortable with it.
I adjusted the angle a couple of times as I started cutting and it gripped and stripped the hair straight away.
I was careful, took my time. Pass one done wtg. I rinsed, a very close first pass indeed. Pass 2 xtg. Where the R41 excels over the straight is that it’s so much smaller so I can do my neck properly everywhere especially sideways where it counts. My stretching is better now than when I last used it and I now know my beards direction changes much better too. Shaving with the straight really teaches you that. What I found odd was I’m used to switching hands with the straight which allows me to stretch the face well for the passes. But I shave right handed only with the R41 so I found today that I couldn’t stretch my face in the normal way. Not that the R41 cares much, it’s just so sharp.
Pass 3 atg. Again I was very careful and used hardly any pressure. The R41 is brilliant against the grain. The tough stuff on my chin was just stripped bare with ease. Here it really did feel a lot sharper than the straight. I did a touch up pass then a cold rinse and a splash of Speick. Ouch! A great shave, close and bbs everywhere except right under my nose where only a straight can fit. Sharp and delightful as the R41 is, it’s not as smooth on the face as a straight though it does give a great smooth shave. Sharper and heavier and more aggressive, yes it’s great but the straight is just so smooth in comparison.
The straight feels luxurious, like it likes my face, it feels somehow organic compared to the Muhle R41’s machine like precision and efficiency.
Back to the straight in the morning I think but really lovely to visit my old friend the R41 today.