catherix's shave journal

[AjaxLepinski]

While that Torrey still has that special mojo edge, take look at it through a 60x or better magnifier.
You will see what a great edge is all about and it will give you a benchmark to shoot for when you need to do some maintenance.
Seeing Doc's edge up close was invaluable and shortened my honing learning curve.
Doc's edge looks like an event horizon under magnification!!!

 

[catherix]

While that Torrey still has that special mojo edge, take look at it through a 60x or better magnifier.
You will see what a great edge is all about and it will give you a benchmark to shoot for when you need to do some maintenance.
Seeing Doc's edge up close was invaluable and shortened my honing learning curve.
Doc's edge looks like an event horizon under magnification!!!

Man now I really wanna buy a microscope. Great, here comes a new AD.
I need to look into one of those jeweler's loupes. I wonder where I could pick one of those up...? Kinda also wonder what magnification they really go to.

 

[catherix]

SHAVE 8:

DR Harris Arlington
Restored Solid Set with a TGN Finest knot 18/45
Peaso 5/8
Thayer's Superhazel
Spieck Splash Lotion

Tonight I had one main goal: great lather. I've noticed in prior shaves that my lather was falling to its knees during the shave and after some friendly conversation with one fine gent I decided that this is of the upmost priority. Started with my normal prep and stropping 25/50. Lathered up the DR Harris and face lathered the heck out of it. Spent some extra time here and ended up with some beautiful slick lather that would make your grandfather blush. I chose the Solid Set tonight because it has good backbone, soft tips with a bit of scritch, and great flow through. I could tell that my larger brushes were holding onto the lather too much and I wanted to see if better flow through would help with the shave.

I'm going to change the format of these to something less formal and just let my ideas flow a bit.

I started the shave and was a bit worried that the lighter grind and smaller size of the Peaso would have an effect on the shave. Could this little guy really take on my rediculous beard? The first pass was a peice of cake as usual. No major issues. To stay in line with my goal I relathered halfway through the pass adding water as needed and did notice better glide and smoother strokes. The Peaso was holding its own just fine as well. When I went into the next pass I went back to the puck for an additional 20 seconds or so and went back to building lather. This helped to ensure that I had the real deal on my face before moving on. Again no major issues during this pass either. I did zone out for a split second when shaving my upper lip and quickly shook myself out of it to focus again. It was a long day and I had hit that zen moment. Gotta watch out for that when you've got a crazy sharp blade within an inch of your nostril. Reapplied the lather again halfway through the pass and was rewarding again with better glide. Now for the final pass. Can this sucker pull off an ATG pass? Hit the puck again and rebuilt lather before the pass and went for it. She held her own quite nicely, not as good as the Torrey at this point but some of that could be my technique and not the razor itself.

Finished off the shave with some Superhazel to check the burn. It burned. Stropped 20/40 and splashed on some Speick. It burned. A quick inspection of the shave and I have a nice clean DFS with just a bit of irritation and a little redness. Nothing major but it was a bit more than last night. I also noticed that I was just a little less close than with the Torrey as well. Maybe the bigger razor was helping my crappy technique. Hard to say.

I'm not quite ready to make a decision on my preference between the two so I'll hold off on that for now. I will say that this Peaso is truly a thing of beauty. It's got some flaws that give it a crazy amount of character. It was hard to keep my eyes off of her and concentrate on the shave.

 

[Doc226]

 

[catherix]

Thank you sir!
I've that "can't wait to shave" feeling back. It's a good feeling.

 

[catherix]

SHAVE 9:

DR Harris Arlington
Simpson Case
Torrey 6/8
Thayer's Unscented
NB Signature AS Gel

Tonight I went for a leisurely shave. Have to work tomorrow but it was a pretty laid back night. No specific goals this shave, just concentrating on the lather and angles. Stropped 25/50 and chose the case tonight. I figured the small brush last night did well so why not try it again tonight.

The first pass went well and I noticed smoother strokes during the pass. I blame the lather. I relathered twice during each pass tonight to up the ante a bit and I don't know if it mattered much. Maybe once a pass is enough. The XTG pass went better than prior shaves as I'm dialing in the angles and am getting comfortable holding the razor here. Between passes tonight I rinsed the brush a tiny bit and essentially started over with the lather for each pass. Loaded around 30 seconds and rebuilt. The case is perfect for this as it doesn't hold too much lather and I'm not wasting a ton of soap doing this. Really a great brush, I don't know why more people don't use it. The final pass was ATG as usual and went pretty well too. The strokes weren't quite as smooth as the other passes tonight but it still was good. Managed two tiny nicks here but they're long gone now. Cold splash and some Thayer's put them out of their misery.

Cleaned up and rubbed on some NB gel. Stropped 20/40 and evaluated the shave. A nice almost DFS, if not DFS, with very little irritation. I didn't push it tonight and stopped with 3 regular passes. Tomorrow is Saturday and I'm not too concerned with having a perfect shave at work on Saturdays. Overall an enjoyable and relaxing shave. Really a great way to wrap up a great Friday.

I'm trying not to pass judgement on my new razors yet but I really like the Torrey. That's all I'll say on the subject tonight. Man, why didn't I start with a straight sooner? Makes me wanna sell all the rest of my gear and buy more.

 

[catherix]

Side note, I'll likely take tomorrow off and enjoy a post shower shave on Sunday morning. Unless I sleep in and then it'll be Sunday afternoon.

 

[AjaxLepinski]

Man now I really wanna buy a microscope. Great, here comes a new AD.
I need to look into one of those jeweler's loupes. I wonder where I could pick one of those up...? Kinda also wonder what magnification they really go to.

Luckily, a 60x loupe isn't all that expensive. No need for an electron beam microscope but, anything under 60x isn't going to help with checing an edge.
Check this out: http://www.amazon.com/30X-AND-60X-L...qid=1362257607&sr=8-14&keywords=60x+magnifier

 

[rockviper]

That's the loupe I have. Works well enough.

 

[catherix]

Luckily, a 60x loupe isn't all that expensive. No need for an electron beam microscope but, anything under 60x isn't going to help with checing an edge.
Check this out: http://www.amazon.com/30X-AND-60X-L...qid=1362257607&sr=8-14&keywords=60x+magnifier

That's the loupe I have. Works well enough.

Nice! Really cheap too. I'll have to pick one of these up. Thanks for the link Ajax! Very much appreciated.

 

[AjaxLepinski]

Nice! Really cheap too. I'll have to pick one of these up. Thanks for the link Ajax! Very much appreciated.

Cheers! A loupe will let you know when to stop honing and move on to the next grit level or, move on to stropping.
Over honing is very common and you can wind up with a wire edge, foil edge or a false edge. Some guys can hone by feel but, my skill ain't that mad... yet!
You can also look at a new DE blade as a benchmark.

 

[catherix]

Cheers! A loupe will let you know when to stop honing and move on to the next grit level or, move on to stropping.
Over honing is very common and you can wind up with a wire edge, foil edge or a false edge. Some guys can hone by feel but, my skill ain't that mad... yet!
You can also look at a new DE blade as a benchmark.

At this moment I have no idea what you mean by the terms above. I'm essentially clueless when it comes to honing. But I hope to get into honing some day anyways so for that price I gotta buy it. Not sure if it will tell me if I'm stropping correctly but it will be fun to play around with.

 

[noahpictures]

I recommend getting into honing ASAP since you like shaving with a straight razor. I began honing on lapping film. Total cost about $30. You can move to purchasing rocks later if you choose to. Visit the honing section here and get started.

Congrats on your progress and the great journal.

 

[oakeshott]

I recommend getting into honing ASAP since you like shaving with a straight razor. I began honing on lapping film. Total cost about $30. You can move to purchasing rocks later if you choose to. Visit the honing section here and get started.

Congrats on your progress and the great journal.

Here's your badge:

View attachment 314721

 

[AjaxLepinski]

+1 to what Noahpictures said... film is inexpensive, has a shorter learning curve than rocks and you will be able to maintain your own razor more easily.
Learning how to hone on rocks isn't difficult, it only takes more practice.
Read this thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it
... and print this for reference: http://strazors.com/uploads/images/articles/Honing_Razors_and_Nihonkamisori.pdf

 

[noahpictures]

Here's your badge:

View attachment 314721

Thank you sir.

 

[catherix]

I have a feeling honing will be something that happens sooner rather than later. My only problem is that film doesn't interest me at all. For no specific reason I'd rather just go straight to rocks and learn from there even if its a terrible learning curve. Until I do get into it I think I'll happily pay for someone else to hone for me so I don't have to worry about it. That's part of the reason I bought a couple razors. So I can send one out and still have something shave with.

Only problem with all that is I have no idea how long the edge should be lasting. At the moment everything seems good but I'm sure at some point I'm going to need my razors honed.

Side note: I want that badge.

 

[Doc226]

My only problem is that film doesn't interest me at all. For no specific reason I'd rather just go straight to rocks and learn from there

 

[catherix]

Haha!! I figured you would show up soon enough!

Really though guys, aren't some Japanese stones way cooler than some film? Figure I might as well skip the film all together and take on stones straight away. That's where I wanna end up anyways.

 

[AjaxLepinski]

Really though guys, aren't some Japanese stones way cooler than some film?

Absolutely 100% correct!!! Waayyyy cooler!

Unfortunately, I can set bevels on stone but, learning to finishing on stone is taking me longer than I had hoped.
It's tough finding the time so, I've been finishing on 3um and 1um film. It keeps me shaving without having to send my razors out for honing.

Nevertheless, you are off to a grand start!!!

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