Cartridge to R41 to Cut-Throat

[Jakebullet]

Shave 423 and 26 on the Friodur. Lathered with what’s left of my jar of Tabac soap and my 24mm Yaqi Silvertip with Mysterious Space blue handle. I wasn’t sure if I had enough soap left in the jar to make a lather today but it surprised me and made tons. I thought of stopping after 3 passes as I was in a rush but a quick feel of my wet face told me I wouldn’t be happy if I did. That atg touch up pass is all important to getting that perfect shave. I had a cold rinse and a splash of Brut which really lit my cheeks up. Great shave.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 424 I used the 5/8ths Suredge squarepoint, not sure how many times I’ve used it since honing probably 4-6. I used a Speick shave stick and Yaqi Silvertip Badger.
i tried to be quick today but a few minutes in I forgot that and was just enjoying the feeling of that warm crazily sharp piece of steel caressing my cheeks and chin. It’s one of the things that surprised me with straight shaving, just how nice it feels on the face. The whole experience, the lather, the brush yes but most of all the blade.
Really nice shave this morning and the square point helps in the hollows of my neck. Splash of Floid Vigoroso to finish.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 425 and 5 on the ELSINE.
Lathered with TOBS Sandalwood cream and Yaqi Silvertip Badger.
Once you get the hang of the technique of straight shaving it’s easy to go into auto pilot and just get the shave done, but it’s nice sometimes as I did this morning to really try to shave well and to maximise each lick of the razor. To really target and hunt out each bristle with a vengeance. My minds eye and sense of touch combining, magnifying the eyes in my head till I can almost see the stubble as though under a big high definition spyglass. My whole face is too large to see at this scale I just see valleys and hills. Nothing escapes as the huge sweeping blade falls from the sky and cuts every single hair at the root absolutely flush with the skin. Pass after pass, smooth, close, nothing escapes until I reach my final rinse, my minds eye zooms out back to normal clarity, I can see my whole face again. I run my fingers over the soft freshly shaved skin and smile.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 426 and 27 on the Friodur.
Yesterday I was looking for perfection but today I wanted to do the full shave in 20 mins or less. The lather is quite time consuming to my shave, it typically takes 3 mins to make it so today I went less for perfection and more for speed. I used TOBS Jermyn Street and Yaqi Badger. I whisked the big badger in the tub and then made a quick but very nice lather. It took about a minute. For my first pass I wasn’t too careful chasing closeness I just wanted speed. Same on pass 2 xtg. My pass 3 and 4 I took a little more care on as it’s these passes which really do the business. Cold rinse, rub of alum today then a splash of Floid Vigoroso. Just over 20 mins all in. Really good shave, not 100% perfect but still excellent nonetheless.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 428 and 10 on the Bengal near wedge.
I lathered with a Palmolive shave stick and Yaqi Silvertip Badger.
The more I use this heavy little thing the more I like it. I’m not sure about the wooden scales which it came with but the blade is lovely and smooth and I got a great shave with it today.
Having time on my hands today I decided on a little honing and maintenance to kill an hour so I got set up on the kitchen table and put my glasses on.
I decided to use metal polish to try to clean up my Suredge, my ELSINE and my Thomas Turner. The Suredge and ELSINE are both brilliant shavers but came to me a bit rough around the edges so I wanted to clean them up if possible and the Turner had rusted a while back and I’d never got it quite how it used to be.
I also bought a small Welsh slate stone ages ago and tried it but couldn’t really use it back then and dulled my 2 Gold dollars trying to learn to use it so today I thought I’d try to put a decent edge on Gold Dollar B with that. I lapped it on a sandpaper backed tile and gave it a try.

The stone is only about 6 inches x 1 1/2 inches so a bit tricky to use but I definitely felt more comfortable using it today. I wet it and gave it around 50 laps with the last 20 being very light. I’m very interested to see how this shaves tomorrow my hope is that it’ll be smooth like a coticule edge someone once sent me.
Next I gave the ELSINE, Suredge and Turner a light metal polish hoping they’d come up a bit and they did but not by any massive amount.

Next I took them to my acrylic block and lapping films to bring up the edges.
I did 20 laps on each razor using green film at around 1000 grit, brown at around 4k, blue at 6K, pink at 8k, light green at 1u and white at 0.3u. The first 10 laps were with some pressure and the last 10 with hardly any.

I then stropped all 4 razors 40x on linen then around 100 each on leather.
The whole job took me a pleasant hour and I’ve now got 4 freshly honed razors to try out this week but the one I’m looking forward to using most is the Welsh slate edge as I want to see if my honing skills have improved enough to be able to use that and im interested to see how my face likes a natural stone edge.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 429 and first on the Gold Dollar B after honing on the Welsh Slate.
Lathered with Norse Sandalwood soap and Yaqi Silvertip Badger.
I chose to try this Welsh Slate to see how far, if at all, my honing skills had progressed since I last blunted my razors on it and to hopefully enjoy a natural stone edge.
I know what I was expecting but I was pleasantly surprised.
Pass one wtg I’d expected some tugging but there was none whatsoever it went through it really nicely with that great freshly honed blade feeling. I was just taking my time adding no pressure and not expecting too much. Xtg was just as nice though it struggled ever so slightly upwards under my neck. Atg with most of the hair removed from the previous passes, it was really close and smooth and easy to shave with I was really happy. Next a touch up pass and a cold rinse and splash of Tabac. I’m really happy to report that I got an absolutely brilliant shave and a most enjoyable one. My face is extremely soft and the shave was one of the closest I’ve ever done and I wasn’t even really trying.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 430 and first on the Thomas Turner since honing on film progression 30u through to 0.3 micron.
Lathered with Norse Sandalwood soap and Yaqi Silvertip.

I’ve been unable for some reason to get this razor shaving like it used to since it rusted a while back. I’ve reset the bevel then honed it a couple of times and honed it again a couple of days ago. I was optimistic when I started today’s shave but nonetheless it still seemed less sharp and smooth than it was and not quite as sharp as the Gold Dollar with a Welsh slate edge I used yesterday. That is until the last pass. I’m thinking the puzzle over as I shave and then I think ‘maybe the reason I’m not getting great shaves with this is that maybe this razors edge has a different angle to all my others?’ So I hold the thing pretty much parallel to my face and cut atg and lo and behold it starts to cut smoothly.
Now this happened on my last pass so I don’t yet know if I solved the puzzle or if this was only true of my last pass when everything was removed. I need to try this blade again tomorrow at the much closer angle I just used and hopefully that will do it.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 431 and 2 on the Thomas Turner. Lathered with TOBS Jermyn St and Yaqi Silvertip. Yesterday on my last pass I altered the shaving angle on this razor holding it almost parallel to my face and I felt like it helped so today that’s how I started my shave and it was smooth and sharp again just like it used to be. Xtg and atg were tricky to keep this very steep angle but I did it and got a great shave from this razor today for the first time in ages. The razor is at least 50 years old, it was my first razor and the guy I bought it from said he’d used 3 pieces of tape when honing it. It seemed a lot and I wondered why he’d used so much, and as I didn’t want to use all that tape when touching it up I sent it off to have the bevel reset so I could learn to touch it up with no tape later myself. It came back nice and smooth but a few months ago it picked up a little light rusting On the blade face and on the bevel. With a little honing practice behind me I reset the bevel and it’s been tricky to shave with since. I now wonder if the guy who sold it to me had restored it and took quite a bit of metal from the spine leaving a very steep shaving angle and so had honed it using a lot of tape to correct for this. Since I reset the bevel it has now returned to a very steep angle like before and that’s why it’s been tricky to shave with I think. Anyway I’m pleased it’s shaving well again as it’s been a puzzle for me.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 432 and 1 on the ELSINE after honing on films.
Lathered with Wilkinson Sword blue tub £2.50 from the supermarket and a Yaqi Silvertip.
The Wilkinson Sword soap made a good lather and when I put the ELSINE to my cheek I was happy.
Lovely and smooth and sharp and very comfortable. After 2 passes the lather was getting a bit thin so I squeezed the brush and got a ton of good lather out which I rubbed on my face for pass 3. Great pass but I left out my 4th pass rather than make more lather as it was close enough and I was in a rush. I need my 4th pass for smooth faced perfection but very good 3 pass shave today. Splash of Brut today which always burns real nice.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 433 and 1 on the Suredge since honing on films.
Lathered with TOBS Sandalwood Cream and Yaqi Silvertip.
After using the budget but decent enough Wilkinson Sword soap yesterday I got a better appreciation of the TOBS today. I made a very thick luxurious lather and tons of it.
I always look forward to the first touch of a freshly honed razor a) to see what kind of an edge I’ve made on it and b) because a brand new straight razor edge is smooth and sharp and comfortable like nothing else is. Well today the little 5/8ths Suredge was in absolutely brilliant form. I don’t know when it was forged but it looks quite old but the edge today is as good as I’ve ever got it. Its very hollow and I smiled as it went ringing and pinging down my face.
I’ve enjoyed having 4 new edges to try this week and they’ve all been great especially the Gold Dollar B which I did on a Welsh Slate which was a big and pleasant surprise.
The Suredge gave a brilliant all over BBS today and was a real joy to use being so sharp. I had a splash of the right orange, sharp smelling Floid Vigoroso which burned like hell. Happy days.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 434 and 2 on the Gold Dollar B with a Welsh Slate edge.
Lathered with Proraso Red and Yaqi Silvertip.

There’s not a hell of a lot left in the tub of Proraso but still plenty of shaves and it initially made a really nice lather. My slate honed edge felt really good again today on its 2nd use and I was really impressed with how smooth it was in every direction especially atg.
After my xtg pass my lather went a bit thin and see through I’m not sure why as Proraso is generally great soap and it’s never happened before. IVe had it a year, haven’t used it for several weeks and there’s not a ton left so maybe it’s time to throw it in the bin. My jar of Tabac is all but empty too. This leaves me with a tub of Sterling, TOBS Sandalwood, TOBS Jermyn St, Norse Samdalwood, 1/2 tub of Maca Root, and Speick and Palmolive shave sticks so I don’t need more soap though I may buy some because variety is nice.
As for the Shave it went really well through I’ve got some good ideas on how and where to improve my stretching for tomorrow, just hoping I don’t slice up my fingers doing it.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 435 and 2 on the ELSINE. Lathered with Sterling Margaritas and Yaqi Silvertip.
Got a great lather today, had to work a little for it but it was brilliant. The badger I use holds a lot of water so it’s a balancing act to try to maximise each soap I use. The lather can be brilliant for the first pass but then gets too thin or too thick on later passes depending on what water I leave in the brush or on my face between rinses and each soap’s characteristics.
I find if I spend a while getting a good mix at the beginning Things go well but it takes a while to thoroughly mix the water and lather to the max. Anyway the ELSINE was very much on point today and was a joy to use. During the last few days I’ve been doing some beard mapping and had some new stretching ideas which I put into practice today. I got a brilliant shave today especially on my neck which is very difficult to get bbs on. After the shave however my face felt a little stingy although this cleared up after an hour outside leaving a super smooth face.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 436 and 28 on the Friodur.
Lathered with TOBS Jermyn St and Yaqi Silvertip brush.
After 28 shaves on this it’s still brilliant, lovely and sharp and showing no signs of slowing down. Using the cheap Wilkinson Sword blue tub the other day has given me a good appreciation for my soaps and creams. It wasn’t that the WS was too bad but it wasn’t as good as the other stuff I’ve got on my shelf. Fine shave.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 437 and 2 on my 5/8ths Suredge lathered with Palmolive stick and Yaqi Silvertip.
This razor has really come up well in its last honing, it’s edge is as sharp as any I’ve ever done and has given me a brilliant shave today. I’ve improved my Mapping and stretching and it’s helped a lot. Nice splash of Tabac to finish a great shave.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 438 and 29 on the Friodur.
Lathered with Palmolive stick and Yaqi Badger.
I was in a rush today so debated having a DE shave but I can no longer stand the blade feel on my face so decided to try a 2 pass shave. 1 down 1 up. Wtg I took care but if felt great and my lather was a little more wet than usual but this was nice. In the past leaving out a xtg pass had mas the atg pass pully but today I was pleasantly surprised to feel the big Friodur sail upwards atg with no problem whatsoever. I could’ve stopped there but as I was a head time wise I did my usual touch up pass too. The whole thing took me 19 mins and the result is great no noticeable difference from my usual shave. I think I may save the xtg pass for weekends or even not at all.

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 440 and 3rd on the Good Dollar B honed on the Welsh Slate stone. Lathered with TOBS Jermyn st cream and Yaqi Silvertip Badger. This has become my favourite edge to shave with. The last 2 days I’ve just done 3 pass shaves but with time on my hands today I did a great luxurious 4 pass shave with the best edge I’ve got and what a brilliant shave this is today. I don’t know what grit rating this little stone is but at a rough guess on feel I’d say around 15k and it’s so smooth. It’s the first natural stone I’ve used myself and I’m sold.

 

[Dan279]

@Jakebullet Welsh slate go's from 8k to 15k depending on the stone, put up a picture and I might be able to tell you, I have the three stone 8k, 10k and 15k.

 

[Jakebullet]

Hey Thanks is this is it what dyou think?

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[Dan279]

@Jakebullet , so here are the three Welsh slate from left to right 8k, 12k and 15k. The 15k is always thicker than the 8 and 12k. It's also a really dark stone hence it's name Dark Grey or Green. The 12k is purple and finally the 8k is a light gray.

Their names are respectfully Dragon Tongue (8k), Purple LLYN Melynllyn (12k), and Dark Green/Gray (15k).

Honestly Jake I believe your working with a 12k but I can't be 100% sure. If you could put up a picture of it wet it should be easier!

 

[Jakebullet]

Shave 441. Before the shave this morning I thought I’d try my Welsh slate stone on my Bengal near wedge to see if I could get the sharp comfortable edge which I got on Gold Dollar B. I had a cup of tea, put my glasses on and holding the stone in hand gave the Bengal around 40-50 laps, then about another 20 with absolutely no pressure. I asked my girlfriend for a hair from her head which is very fine and doesn’t normally work for the HHT but today it actually sliced through it quite a few times along the edge so hopeful I gave it 40 laps on linen 70 on leather and put it on the sink ready.
I lathered up with Sterling Margaritas in the Arctic soap and my Yaqi Silvertip and got going.

Lovely smooth passes all round especially atg and a brilliant post shave feel. I splashed on a glug of Fine Snakebite which coupled with sterling margaritas is a chilling combination.