Cartridge to R41 to Cut-Throat

[Jakebullet]

Shave 317 and 1 on the Turner & Co since I honed it on film.
I lathered with a Yaqi badger brush and Tabac Soap.
That big old Yaqi gives my face a lovely soft massage every morning and quickly makes a ton of great lather.
I gave the Turner 50 laps on linen then 50 on leather and got started.
I love the feel of a freshly honed razor it’s one of the nicest feelings in the world and today the blade just sizzled down my cheek and neck and I knew I’d honed it well. The shave played out great all passes were on point and a nice cold splash of water then Proraso Red finished it off. With regards to my attempt at repairing my Bengal I’d decided to try to use it with the tiny remaining chip but I’ve since had second thoughts. I’m going to take it back to the coarse film and get rid of that chip before I put it near my face.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 318 and 57 on the Friodur since last honing on films.
I lathered with TOBS Eton College and the Yaqi badger.
The bigger badger brush really seems to make the lather go a long way, I made far too much today (though I’m not complaining) it was flying everywhere.
I managed to get it under control then went to work with the big Friodur.
The test of sharpness for me is atg on my top lip and the Friodur after 57 complete shaves through my tough beard, each shave consisting of 4 passes equals 228 passes and yet still it went through the top lip hair as though it was freshly honed this morning.

 

[Jakebullet]

I went back to try to fix the Bengal near wedge which I’d dropped and chipped. I began This second repair session with by cutting new pieces of film. I started with green 12 micron (approx) film but it wasn’t cutgg th ing quickly enough to make a dent in what was left of the chip in the toe of the blade so I wet the 320 grit sandpaper which I have glued to a tile for lapping my Naniwa 12k and tried it on that. Every 6 laps or do I checked to see where I was and it was cutting fast. After about 50-60 the chip was gone.
Next I gave it about 100 gradually reducing laps on green, brown, pink, yellow, and finally the white 0.3 micron film which I backed with wet paper. I checked under the loup as I went and was pleased to see the edge brighten and brighten as I worked until it came to a mirror polish.
I think the job is done all that remains now is the shave test.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 319 and 1 on the Bengal since repairing and honing on films.
I gave the Bengal 50 laps apiece on linen then leather then lathered up the Yaqi 2 band badger with Tabac. I’ve used the Tabac a lot in the last week as it suits the brush well and as always makes a great lather.
I was hopeful that I’d done a good job on the Bengal as I’d mirrored the edge like never before and I wasn’t disappointed.
It’s always had a different feel to my other more hollow ground razors, it’s never felt very sharp on its early passes, but has always got better with every pass and has always felt extremely smooth to use. Today was a similar story but with much better sharpness. It just sang down my cheek feeling super smooth. Xtg it felt much smoother and sharper and atg sharper still. I once used a Coticule edge that someone once sent me and an Arkansas edge that I was sent too and this razor always feel like those razors did. Its a strange feeling, super sharp but kind, a buttery smoothness that absolutely murders every single whisker on my face Leaving me a brilliant smooth and silky shave. A lovely cold rinse and some Proraso Green and I was done. Brilliant shave.
I was really happy with how this went as this is the first time I’ve had to repair a chipped and damaged razor and bring it back to shave ready and it’s nice to know I can do it. My honing skills seem to be improving the more I do it as I got a killer edge on the Bengal for today.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 320 and 2 on the Bengal.
Lathered with a Palmolive shave stick and Yaqi Badger.
Great smooth shave. During my cartridge days I could never get all that close on my top lip, it wasn’t bad but it was never great there and it often left the skin quite rough. With my DE I leaned to get it so much better but still not perfect and it was easy to scrape a bit of skin off there too. It’s taken a long to get to grips with the area using the straight razor but now that I have I’ve finally found perfection there. I can now daily make the area as smooth as I can make my cheek.
A nice cold rinse today then a splash of the great fast fading Proraso Green then a quick spray of Penhaligon’s English Fern to finish off.

 

[Namkcakram]

I went back to try to fix the Bengal near wedge which I’d dropped and chipped. I began This second repair session with by cutting new pieces of film. I started with green 12 micron (approx) film but it wasn’t cutgg th ing quickly enough to make a dent in what was left of the chip in the toe of the blade so I wet the 320 grit sandpaper which I have glued to a tile for lapping my Naniwa 12k and tried it on that. Every 6 laps or do I checked to see where I was and it was cutting fast. After about 50-60 the chip was gone.
Next I gave it about 100 gradually reducing laps on green, brown, pink, yellow, and finally the white 0.3 micron film which I backed with wet paper. I checked under the loup as I went and was pleased to see the edge brighten and brighten as I worked until it came to a mirror polish.
I think the job is done all that remains now is the shave test.

It happens. I got overly excited the other day and tried to open a package walking from the post office to my truck and the razor just flopped out unexpectedly onto the sidewalk... now it’s a slightly awkward home-brew round nose:


Just don’t drop a shoulderless razor or full hollow grind, that’s almost always a total loss!

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 322 and 58 on the Friodur.
Lathered with Proraso Red Soap and a Yaqi Badger brush. Great lather great scent.
After the last 3 days on the Bengal near wedge I thought I’d try a nice hollow grind so brought out the big shiny Friodur.
There a marked difference between these two razors. The Bengal is silent on the early passes whereas the Friodur has a ring to it. The Bengal feels extremely smooth to the point of not feeling sharp but it is very sharp indeed. The Friodur Feels immediately sharper and also very smooth but in a different way. On the xtg pass they become closer to each other. The Bengal starts to rasp as it cuts and the Friodur still sings but less noisily. Then atg they all but even up. Both are lethal atg. The near wedge seems to go through the tough stuff easier and retains it smoothness but the Friodur is no slouch either and is lighter and more responsive to the hand and to the ear. Both give an absolutely brilliant smooth shave. I can’t get my DE to shave like this it’s just a completely different league. I was going to visit my parents today so I had a splash of Brut in honour of my dad.

 

[Jakebullet]

It happens. I got overly excited the other day and tried to open a package walking from the post office to my truck and the razor just flopped out unexpectedly onto the sidewalk... now it’s a slightly awkward home-brew round nose:
View attachment 1041838

Just don’t drop a shoulderless razor or full hollow grind, that’s almost always a total loss!

It’s a horrible feeling isn’t it as although the things are so lethal they’re so delicate and the ‘ding’ is sickening. I was lucky as the chip in mine wasn’t massive so I didn’t lose too much steel. It was actually just about the right size for a novice razor user to have a go at fixing.

 

[Seveneighth]

It’s a horrible feeling isn’t it as although the things are so lethal they’re so delicate and the ‘ding’ is sickening. I was lucky as the chip in mine wasn’t massive so I didn’t lose too much steel. It was actually just about the right size for a novice razor user to have a go at fixing.

All is not lost. I dropped one of my razors, and bought two with significant edge chips, bread-knifed all three and re-honed. Strangely all three are great shavers now, possibly better than they were before.

 

[Jakebullet]

All is not lost. I dropped one of my razors, and bought two with significant edge chips, bread-knifed all three and re-honed. Strangely all three are great shavers now, possibly better than they were before.

Great to hear, we take such good care of them and use everything we have to try to put a next level edge on them then bang! We drop them on the floor. So preoccupied with the damage to our edge that we don’t give a thought to how lucky we were that the deadly thing missed our foot. I doubt it’d take too long to bleed out if that thing hit a vein or two. That Bengal I fixed might be close to a century old I’m glad that I managed to save this small chunk of steel from the scrap heap because we all understand that it’s more than just a piece of old steel, it’s special, it’s what this steel was made for, it’s a straight razor, the oldest and most efficient yet deadly thing a human can shave its face with.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 323 and 8 on the Gold Dollar (A).
Used Maca Root cream and a Yaqi Badger.
The Yaqi and Maca Root combination made an absolute ton of very thick creamy lather I had to stop adding water to it in the end as the brush and my face were overloaded.
Gold dollar A is still smooth and sharp and has a nice size and weight to it. It’s amazing that so cheap a piece of steel can be brought to such an edge and hold it for (so far) 8 x 4 pass shaves. I had a nice splash of Floid Vigoroso to finish. What a lovely palmful of stuff this is, bright orange, great old style scent and a real soothing cooling feel on the face.

 

[Jakebullet]

Today is my 324th cutthroat shave and exactly a year to the day since my first straight razor shave.
A year of straight razor shaving has taught me a lot. I came to it completely green with zero knowledge or experience. There was a ton of stuff to learn, so many variables interweaving that it was so difficult to separate them. Not just the actual learning to shave with the thing; every area of my face needs a slightly different approach, the curves the tough parts, the dangerous parts (top lip , chin) the stretching, the beard mapping, using my left hand as well as my right (scary! I wouldn’t even use a DE left handed yet here I am) all changing for each directional pass, but also the big area of maintenance, when and how to sharpen it, what to use, choosing honing materials, developing a honing technique and muscle memory, how the medium your using affects the steel you’re using, how that affects the shave, how to test it, strop, how to set a bevel etc etc, each razor is different and has to be learned alone. The shaving and the honing bleed into each other and it’s so hard to tell where the effects on one start and the other ends.
Gradually one by one the myriad variables somehow resolve and some clarity emerges. The genuine fear diminishes, cuts gradually become less frequent, the lathering becomes consistent, daily , brilliantly smooth shaves start to appear then become the norm, now your honing efforts can be more fairly assessed, you begin notice when a razor would benefit from a refresh and you know just how to do it. Your face tells you how well youre doing.
After a year of sticking with it I’ve really had a lot of fun and if you like problem solving and puzzles then pick up a straight razor, it’s a lot more full-on than a crossword, and as we all know when it comes to shaving, these things are the Rolls Royces of the shaving kit, able to deliver unparalleled shaves every morning, nothing else comes close.

 

[Jakebullet]

I was late this morning so had to do a quick DE shave. I’ve found my DE shaves to be a bit harsh and thought it might be my R41 so I asked my girl if I could use her Parker DE today.
Definitely a quick shave but again quite rough with several weepers, a neck cut and a stingy feel to the face. I’d hoped a milder razor would be less harsh but no. Also the Parker didn’t actually feel that much different to the R 41. Maybe my skin has changed, maybe it’s my shaving technique or muscle memory but since I got the hang of straight razor shaving I can no longer get a great shave with a DE. I can clear the face mostly but I always seem to get cut or burned a touch stingy.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 325 and 59 on the Friodur.
For the next couple of weeks I have to take my little one to school as my girl is just about to have our 2nd. This means my usual hour of free shaving time is now cut to just 15 mins. After shaving with a DE yesterday I thought I’ve got to learn to use this straight quicker as I’m not enjoying the feel of the DE.
I looked at my watch 08.01. So I did a very quick lather with the Palmolive shave stick and I got straight into pass one, cutting quickly and not going crazy in terms of one pass closeness. 3 minutes later 8.04 it was done. Fast re lather, xtg pass, big broad strokes no dilly dally, pass completed 8.08. Re lathered and went quickly and smartly atg. Pass done 8.12. A quick touch up complete 8.15, 3.5 pass shave done 14mins. My quickest by miles.
How’s the shave? Surprisingly good, not perfect, three or four areas of slight roughness to the fingertips but mostly as smooth as usual and I’m sure I’ll get better. Splash of Proraso green and out we went into the December air. This stuff is cold on the face just after using when the cold air hits it. But otherwise I’m really happy as it seems I can now do a full straight shave in DE time.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 326 and 60 on the Friodur.
Used a Speick shave stick and Yaqi Badger.
Another 15 min shave this morning but I moved a bit too quick on my chin xtg and got a little cut. I just had 3 passes and no time for any touching up. Again the shave was fine but not perfect. Tomorrow is Saturday so I’m going to enjoy a nice slow shave.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 327 and 61 on the Friodur since honing.
I used Norse Sandalwood shaving soap and the Yaqi Badger.
Saturday morning no rush today.
I made a nice full lather on my face. The animal scent is all but gone from the badger now after using it these last few weeks and I’m used to handling it now, the size of it, how much water and lather it holds etc.
It was nice to have time on my hands today after the speedy shaves of last week. I did 4 smooth passes and got a beautiful shave this morning finished off with a glug of Proraso Green. Having that extra time to do the extra touching up pass makes all the difference to getting that silky smooth feeling to the skin.

 

[MO1]

I was late this morning so had to do a quick DE shave. I’ve found my DE shaves to be a bit harsh and thought it might be my R41 so I asked my girl if I could use her Parker DE today.
Definitely a quick shave but again quite rough with several weepers, a neck cut and a stingy feel to the face. I’d hoped a milder razor would be less harsh but no. Also the Parker didn’t actually feel that much different to the R 41. Maybe my skin has changed, maybe it’s my shaving technique or muscle memory but since I got the hang of straight razor shaving I can no longer get a great shave with a DE. I can clear the face mostly but I always seem to get cut or burned a touch stingy.

Must say I have the same problem. I used my DE a few times when i was still learning to hone my straights. But now, every single time the DE just feels plain harsh, prone to cut skin and i do not like the blade feel at all, I have a Gillette slim and I put it on the mildest setting to avoid the blade on my skin as much as I can. And all the blades i put in to it seems to feel and behave the same.
It doesn't make sense because I got really good shaves before with a DE, or maybe they weren't so good as I remember them? Just much better than the edges I could produce at the time or maybe a clash of techniques? As in do a fool's pass with ease but with a DE it's more about gradual reduction of beard?
I dont see any point in trying another DE razor when I just dont like the feel of the blades i put into it, or is that just the mind of a person who mainly uses straight razors?

 

[Jakebullet]

Must say I have the same problem. I used my DE a few times when i was still learning to hone my straights. But now, every single time the DE just feels plain harsh, prone to cut skin and i do not like the blade feel at all, I have a Gillette slim and I put it on the mildest setting to avoid the blade on my skin as much as I can. And all the blades i put in to it seems to feel and behave the same.
It doesn't make sense because I got really good shaves before with a DE, or maybe they weren't so good as I remember them? Just much better than the edges I could produce at the time or maybe a clash of techniques? As in do a fool's pass with ease but with a DE it's more about gradual reduction of beard?
I dont see any point in trying another DE razor when I just dont like the feel of the blades i put into it, or is that just the mind of a person who mainly uses straight razors?

Glad it’s not just me. Maybe as you said, a clash of techniques as I definitely use more pressure with my straight than a DE. Or maybe the DE feel was miles better than a cartridge but now that we’ve been spoilt with great daily shaves with decent quality steels and a hand honed edge the DE blades just don’t feel as good by comparison. Either way it was a surprising side effect of straight razor shaving.

 

[Namkcakram]

Glad it’s not just me. Maybe as you said, a clash of techniques as I definitely use more pressure with my straight than a DE. Or maybe the DE feel was miles better than a cartridge but now that we’ve been spoilt with great daily shaves with decent quality steels and a hand honed edge the DE blades just don’t feel as good by comparison. Either way it was a surprising side effect of straight razor shaving.

I’m there with you guys for sure. If you look back at the forums here every once in a while somebody starts a thread debating if it’ll ever be possible to hone a straight razor to true Feather DE sharpness, and all the long time straight users just roll their eyes.

If you’ve experienced a great hand shaped edge in quality steel, you’d know the debate should be the other way around! If you’ve never figured out honing and a feather blade is the sharpest thing you’ve ever seen, you’d find it hard to believe anything else could be better!

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 329 and 7 on the Suredge. Lathered with Palmolive shave stick and a Yaqi Badger.
Another quick 15 minute shave was needed today. My Suredge and Turner & Co had become a little pitted somehow a while ago. I’d cleaned up the bevels on both on the films but the pitting was still there on the blade faces.
Last week I bought some ‘Brasso’ from the supermarket which is metal polish in wadding and gave both razors a rub not really expecting much.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the Tuner which was worst affected by the pitting clean almost right up, and it made the Suredge look like a different razor. I used the Suredge today for the first time in a while. It’s a lovely light little razor very manoeuvrable and still has a great edge. But as speed was the order of the day I had little time to enjoy it. I made a lather and did 3 quick passes and got the job done in 15 though I did have to leave the touch up pass which puts the icing on the cake. So these 15 min shaves are absolutely fine for a mornings shave but lack the absolute silky smoothness I get when I take my time.