Damn Comfortable Shave

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Yeah, in Middle school, I made regionals in UIL Number Sense. I was real proud of that. Only guy that rode to Odessa, IIRC, with the Girls Track Team, that also made regionals. What I did was of no consequence, riding the bus, and swimming at the motel with the girls was what I was so proud of.

What is that?

I guess it's track?

Swimming with girls? Now that's a sport! Sign me up...

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Clay S]

What is that?

I guess it's track?

Swimming with girls? Now that's a sport! Sign me up...

Happy shaves,

Jim

Nope Math Nerd Competition. Have math problems you have to do in you head. Do as many as you can. Wrong and skipped ones are negative points, correct answers are positive points, only scored to the last question answered. So any questions left at the end have no effect on score. Given like 10 minutes IIRC.

So Math Nerd swimming with Girls Track Team

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Nope Math Nerd Competition. Have math problems you have to do in you head. Do as many as you can. Wrong and skipped ones are negative points, correct answers are positive points, only scored to the last question answered. So any questions left at the end have no effect on score. Given like 10 minutes IIRC.

So Math Nerd swimming with Girls Track Team

Ah, yes. Indeed.

 

[Esox]

Look what I found in my mailbox today...

Thats a nice razor Jim.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Thats a nice razor Jim.

Thanks, Mike. We'll see. Gotta hone it.

 

[Somerled]

Look what I found in my mailbox today...

View attachment 943746

Very heavy straight razor. Not sharp. In considerably better shape I think than I expected.

I've figured out that you have to keep buying straights in order to justify buying all the stones you already bought.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Nice razor Jim.

Is that Japanese?

I know there is a Japanese cutlery maker called Parker that does Straight Razors.

 

[Esox]

Nice razor Jim.

Is that Japanese?

I know there is a Japanese cutlery maker called Parker that does Straight Razors.

Information on Jim Parker and his Parker Cutlery Company is pretty scattered and hard to find quickly, but theres a bit of info here.

Bear & Son Cutlery

 

[Esox]

Information on Jim Parker and his Parker Cutlery Company is pretty scattered and hard to find quickly, but theres a bit of info here.

Bear & Son Cutlery

I forgot to attach a picture I found of a Parker....razor.

 

[Esox]

Heres another.

Picked up a sweet old pocket knife for a plug and rope cutter. It's a Parker-Edwards straight razor shape blade in Damascus steel, with bone scales. Quite nice and relatively inexpensive.

 

[Seveneighth]

I'm confused. Is the razor Japanese or US made?

Just found this video of a Parker Eagle Brand knife which the title says is made in Japan:

Either way, the razor looks beautiful. Could be tricky to hone? Is it a near wedge?

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Nice razor Jim. Is that Japanese? I know there is a Japanese cutlery maker called Parker that does Straight Razors.

The box says Japan.

I've read in a number of sources that the razor was made in Japan, perhaps in the 1980s. They sell for various prices, but every price I've seen has been more than I paid, oftentimes a whole lot more. I paid (auction) a bit under $35 including shipping. The razor looks (without me cleaning it at all) mint or near mint, or close. I think there's evidence it has been honed.

I liked that it was Japanese + I like the unusual scales.

Whether I'll like it as a razor for shaving remains to be determined. It is not sharp! That's okay with me. I didn't expect it to be shave ready.

That's the tang information.

Information on Jim Parker and his Parker Cutlery Company is pretty scattered and hard to find quickly, but theres a bit of info here.

Bear & Son Cutlery

That's a different company, Mike.

Either way, the razor looks beautiful. Could be tricky to hone? Is it a near wedge?

Thanks. Yes, I think it's a near wedge...

This's the best photo I can get from the end of the razor (and it's a bad photo).

The camera won't focus on it right (in my hands).

My eyes focus fine + I put a straight edge to it. It is definitely not a True Wedge, but I think it is probably a Wedge. That's going by the illustration above (and others).

At first I thought it to be a quarter hollow, but I believe it's a wedge. I could be totally wrong.

I don't know much about wedges. Not about shaving with them. Not about honing them.

It is a very pretty razor with very unusual and heavy scales.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Esox]

That's a different company, Mike.

Yes, but they mention Jim Parker and his cutlery company.

"The firm that became Bear & Son Cutlery started in 1991, but there is a relevant backstory. This involved Parker Cutlery Co., founded by James F. Parker in the late 1960s as a cutlery marketing firm.


Over the next two decades, Jim Parker engaged in several enterprises in the knife business. Of most relevance to the present story, in 1976, Parker hired Ken Griffey to work for Parker Cutlery and in the mid-1980s the firm began making parts for Parker Edwards brand knives in a factory in Jacksonville, Alabama.


Parker Cutlery was liquidated circa 1990. One of its prime assets was the Jacksonville factory, which Ken Griffey and two partners purchased.


In 1991, they started their new knife business under the name Bear MGC. There soon followed what the Bear & Son website characterizes as, "a series of twists and turns, including a time when the firm actually was owned by Swiss Army Brands." The firm emerged from this period renamed Bear & Son Cutlery, with Ken Griffey still in charge."

There is some info scattered around a few different knife forums, but as I said you need to do some digging for the history. I did read that the Case brand knives made by Parker were the best Case knives that ever came to market. Thats a statement.

 

[Somerled]

Tape on the spine for wedges from what little I know of them.

Watched one of Keiths videos the other day about using tape and wedges were one of the good reasons for using it on the spine.

Worth a look, he explains why and how to use tape for honing a wedge.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

My razor was made in Japan, Mike. This is a US company you're talking about. What am I missing?

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Wednesday's shave was good enough (or better).

Good kit. Not an aggressive shave.



Last evening I stropped my razor on Red & Black and then on leather. My edge was sharper today. I have no idea how often you're "supposed" to use this stuff or really how to use it. I'm just feeling my way along. Good product. I'm very glad I decided to bite on it.



As much as I like my other brushes, if all I had were these two I'd be in hog heaven. Today I like the copper handled brush's knot better.

Vespers is a really nice truly excellent shaving soap. Somebody told me they think the scent is somewhat like juniper. I agree, but it's not a simple single scent. It's pleasant to my nose, and reminds me of a fern scent a bit, too. However, the soap's performance is always really the thing for me as long as the scent isn't bad. This scent surely isn't bad to my nose (quite the contrary) and the performance is already excellent even though I don't have the soap fully dialed in.

If you told me you think this soap is right up there with Grooming Department's Chypre Vert and GD's other Lusso based soaps I would not argue with you. It is simply stellar.

Following my shave I applied more lather and left it on while cleaning the den. Then I wiped it off with a clean dry white cotton towel. My face feels great. I wasn't trying very hard at all but still I got a good shave including my chin and lips.

My countdown from a hundred shaves continues. My shaves are way improved over a month ago.

Don't let anyone tell you it is all about technique! A great soap is hugely important. Learning to lather properly with enough hydration is hugely important. A very sharp but also comfortable edge on the straight razor is also vital. Lacking any of these you'll get a bad shave with good technique.

No, I'm not saying good technique is unimportant, but it is not all about technique.

Did I mention how great B&M Vespers is?

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Esox]

My razor was made in Japan, Mike. This is a US company you're talking about. What am I missing?

From what I gather, Parker Cutlery Co. made knives and apparently razors, for different companies, Case being one for a time. I assume that work was contracted out to different companies, and countries at different times, while Parker Cutlery Co. was an American owned business.

Trying to find the timeline for what was made where and when is the hard part. I havent been able to find a consensus on it, but I havent looked very hard.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Tape on the spine for wedges from what little I know of them.

Watched one of Keiths videos the other day about using tape and wedges were one of the good reasons for using it on the spine.

Worth a look, he explains why and how to use tape for honing a wedge.

Good video, Doug. I've watched it before, and just watched it again. I will use tape on the Parker/Eagle when I hone it. Mostly I'm not a tape guy.

I'm not quite ready to hone the Parker/Eagle razor because I'm not quite sure I know what to do with the smile. It's not a big smile, but I will learn a bit more about smiling razor honing before I take a chance and mess it up.

I have a Boker with a small smile, too, and want to put both smiley razors in my SR rotation.

Not that I'm without anything to shave with or in any hurry to get the smiling razors sharp.

Thanks and happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Seveneighth]

Wednesday's shave was good enough (or better).

View attachment 944323

Good kit. Not an aggressive shave.

View attachment 944325

Last evening I stropped my razor on Red & Black and then on leather. My edge was sharper today. I have no idea how often you're "supposed" to use this stuff or really how to use it. I'm just feeling my way along. Good product. I'm very glad I decided to bite on it.

View attachment 944326

As much as I like my other brushes, if all I had were these two I'd be in hog heaven. Today I like the copper handled brush's knot better.

Vespers is a really nice truly excellent shaving soap. Somebody told me they think the scent is somewhat like juniper. I agree, but it's not a simple single scent. It's pleasant to my nose, and reminds me of a fern scent a bit, too. However, the soap's performance is always really the thing for me as long as the scent isn't bad. This scent surely isn't bad to my nose (quite the contrary) and the performance is already excellent even though I don't have the soap fully dialed in.

View attachment 944328

If you told me you think this soap is right up there with Grooming Department's Chypre Vert and GD's other Lusso based soaps I would not argue with you. It is simply stellar.

Following my shave I applied more lather and left it on while cleaning the den. Then I wiped it off with a clean dry white cotton towel. My face feels great. I wasn't trying very hard at all but still I got a good shave including my chin and lips.

View attachment 944324

My countdown from a hundred shaves continues. My shaves are way improved over a month ago.

Don't let anyone tell you it is all about technique! A great soap is hugely important. Learning to lather properly with enough hydration is hugely important. A very sharp but also comfortable edge on the straight razor is also vital. Lacking any of these you'll get a bad shave with good technique.

No, I'm not saying good technique is unimportant, but it is not all about technique.

Did I mention how great B&M Vespers is?

Happy shaves,

Jim

I finish stropping on a heavily dressed leather paddle strop. I may have even sanded it with 2000 grit at some point. Anyway it has some tooth and a lot of draw. If the razor skips on that it generally needs some of the black crayon. If it still skips after that I'll go CrOx -> Red -> black -> leather.

Now someone might tell me I'm doing that wrong, but it works for me.

And then again you may have noticed in anything but systematic with my shaving... So sometimes I'll just strop on the pastes if I feel like it.

Please keep us posted what turns out to be best for you. I am always interested in trying new methods.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I finish stropping on a heavily dressed leather paddle strop. I may have even sanded it with 2000 grit at some point. Anyway it has some tooth and a lot of draw. If the razor skips on that it generally needs some of the black crayon. If it still skips after that I'll go CrOx -> Red -> black -> leather.

Now someone might tell me I'm doing that wrong, but it works for me.

And then again you may have noticed in anything but systematic with my shaving... So sometimes I'll just strop on the pastes if I feel like it.

Please keep us posted what turns out to be best for you. I am always interested in trying new methods.

Thanks. That about tripled what I knew about using Red&Black.

I've considered R&B as compared to how guys use the pasted balsa. I wouldn't want to use CrOx too often as it's fairly aggressive. Even the Red removes some metal and is a sharpening paste (they say). However, the Black is a polishing paste (they say), so it could be used a lot more frequently, perhaps as often as every day like guys use the pasted balsa strops.

Obviously I don't know the micron sizes for any of the strop based maintenance compounds. Obvious too is I'm not remotely pretending to know anything here, but am just pondering how things might be useful. As they say, I've not made any pudding yet.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Somerled]

Here is a picture of the two tins of strop paste I have.

The highest grit diamond paste I use on my balsa strop is 0.25 micron.

So, I may be wrong here, I don't think CrOx is really all that aggressive.