Damn Comfortable Shave

[TinyT]

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

My ultrasonic cleaner was on my office doorstep this morning. I'll probably use it later today.

The brand is Fosman. Here's the Amazon link.​

The bad news (for me) is the price is 20% lower today than when I ordered, but that's good news if you want one of these bad boys.

I'll report on how well it cleans the inside of my Gillette Slim, as measured by how much the mechanism of the adjustment wheel improves; I want it to feel like and work like the adjustment wheels on my other Gillette adjustables.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Used the ultrasonic cleaner to clean the Gillette Slim. Lubricated moving parts. Link.

It's improved but not perfect*. I'm going to say it's good enough for now.

Pretty cool device, the USC. Also, the GS is way cool. Amazing what they did for under $2. Even then, that wasn't a huge amount. When the razor was made a high schooler could make almost a dollar an hour. A dollar bought either ten or twelve Krystal burgers.

Gillette Slim ⬅ Before Ultrasonic cleaning After Ultrasonic cleaning ➡​

My Gillette Slim is a I-1. That's the 1st quarter of 1963. My 57 year old adjustable looks brand new (to my uninformed eyes). This is a link to adjustable date codes.

I doubt it shaves better, maybe it will.

Lubrication tips and discussion can be found in various places particularly including this thread.

Happy shaves,

Jim

*Within a few minutes the mechanism was further improved. I assume the lubricant traveled to the needed spots. Very cool.

Overall, this cleaning and lubrication experiment is, so far, a great success, but I've not shaved with the cleaned and lubricated razor. I expect giving it time won't hurt a thing. We'll see.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

More ultrasonic cleaning. This time my other Gillette adjustable took a bath.

Before ultrasonic cleaning ➡​
	Fatboy E-2 1959 ⬅ After ultrasonic cleaning, lubrication​
Executive F-2 1960 After ultrasonic cleaning, lubrication ➡​
	Super Adjustable W-3 1976 ⬅ After ultrasonic cleaning, lubrication​

Happy shaves, Jim

 

[Cal]

... If that's the case I may need to buy more blades.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Saturday's shave was experimental.

First Shave With This Razor Gillette Executive, F-2 Adjusted to #5 70/30 Knot, Thater Handle Vitos Red​

Today I was pressed for time. Also I intended to leave the adjustment at the most popular setting, #5, and do a one pass shave. There was time to enjoyably build a proper lather.

Strictly speaking mine was not a one pass shave but it was as one pass as I get. One lathered pass for sure. Not much work beyond the basic N-S.

Good shave.

The gap at #5 is 0.025 (inch I'd think).

This Gillette Executive was given to me. I tried not to accept it, but got the impression either I accepted it or it was going in the trash. I've not done much to it. It has received an ultrasonic cleaning using hot tap water and Dawn. It's been lubricated. There's plating wear inside the head. Overall it looks great to my inexperienced eye. This is a razor I suspect was used a lot by the grandfather of the lady who gave it to me.

As I recall I began shaving around the time this razor was made. I don't know I've ever before seen an Executive. I can't imagine that I didn't shave with a Fatboy or Slim or both, but the Executive is, well, it's gold and obviously intended for me of refinement and taste, and yet seems just great for me, just a little beat up for it's age, but perfectly serviceable.

It's a looker, this Executive. I'm surprised to be saying that. I've never been very drawn to the gold razors, but this one is good looking. In general, I think the Fatboy and Executive razors are very handsome. They look like a razor should look if you are okay with a clunky looking razor which looks like a tank, which I am. These are not Old Type sports cars.

My wife asked her most invasive questions about the gold razor. It was really fun to tell her I spent no money on this acquisition.

I applied some usual post shave products but probably washed them off in the pool.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

The one shave with the Gillette Executive was a killer experience. It's a very nice razor. Surprise!

As a kid learning to shave certainly I used either a Fatboy or a Slim or both, but there were others which weren't adjustable. From photos the only familiar looking razor of that era is the Fatboy.
Still, I'm sure I shaved with several razors in those early years.

If I had a single half decent shave in the 1950s or 1960s I don't remember it.

The view from here has changed.

Shaving with the Slim and even more so with the Executive has been amazing. I had no idea I could get decent shaves with the adjustables. Today's Executive shave was easy and good and comfortable.

One shave is not a review, but the Executive is much more to my liking than the Slim so far. I like the balance of the Executive and its fat handle. I had no trouble shaving under my nose. It's not too heavy. It seemed like a better razor to me in all ways - especially balance and handle - and was worse in no ways.

I was apprehensive about shaving with the Slim and the Fatboy. No longer.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[TinyT]

The one shave with the Gillette Executive was a killer experience.

A FOCS killer?

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

A FOCS killer?

Oh, I wouldn't go that far, but my experiment isn't over.

 

[Rosseforp]

Oh, I wouldn't go that far, but my experiment isn't over.

And mine is just getting started. I too, was very surprised at my recent experience with my Slim. I'm now on the lookout for a nice serviceable Fatboy. An Executive isn't out of the question either..... I might have to get the LOTH something in gold first though.....

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Sunday was another experimental shave.

The experiment this time was to see if yesterday's shave could be replicated.

Bottom line: Yes. The Gillette Executive adjusted to #5 has performed admirably again.

Again today I did very little work. The soul patch area on my lower lip required some buffing but this was the smoothest buffing ever.

My beautiful gold 1960 Gillette Executive is a seriously impressive razor!

The rest of today's kit was equally great.

This Pineapple Bay Rum is a nice splash.​

Is the Executive a daily driver I could use forever? Good question. My suspicion is it might be a bit too much for me always set on #5. Some days a lower number might be just the ticket. From my little bit of experience with the Slim I already know I can get a good shave with the Slim set on #1.

According to the chart above and here, the Slim on #1 has the same gap as the Executive on #2. Not that gap is everything, but the point is I could easily adjust the Executive to be a milder shaving razor on days when I might need or want that.

The Executive is a great razor. I'm so happy to have discovered how much I like it. Oh, I polished it up a bit using Flitz and a microfiber cloth. I was careful to under do the polishing, but the little bit I did seemed to help. This particular Executive has a lot less plating loss than I thought at first. It looks better polished. Not saying it's mint or anything, but I've seen far worse examples going for hundreds on eBay.

Pretty cool to have gotten this lovely looking, great shaving, vintage razor as a straight up gift.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Jim, do you think your time spent with straights has made you a better shaver, and it's that self-improvement which you're noticing on your return to DE?

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Jim, do you think your time spent with straights has made you a better shaver, and it's that self-improvement which you're noticing on your return to DE?

That's certainly occurred to me and might be correct.

However, straights are used at very shallow angles. I use safety razors at steep angles.

Also, I don't believe I ever got all that great with the straights. Barely marginally good on my best days I think.

It would be very hard to dispute a fact which seems obvious to most of us: Experience is a great teacher. The caveat to that, in my experience, is the fact that my shaves in the first about eight to ten years of my shaving adventure (ages 13 to about 22) were all bad. As others have said, only perfect practice makes perfect. I doubt I've done anything shaving related perfectly, but one stumbles into improvement given some effort in that direction.

Only after coming here, only after a lot of bad shaves while here, only after a ton of razors, blades, trial and error, etc. did my shaves get enough better to be pleasing to me. As many can testify, I'm not a one trial learner nor an easy pupil.

For the record, I am not getting total face and neck BBS shaves. Probably never, not even on rare occasions. Still, good shaves, close enough, smooth enough, and damn comfortable. I've not given up on perfection, but it's not yet in the cards.

All that said, it would be silly of me to think shaving for more than a year with a straight razor didn't improve my shaving. If you don't understand a straight at least somewhat you're getting a bloody mess.

Al, that's a pretty bad answer to your question but it's the best I can do at the moment.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Al, that's a pretty bad answer to your question but it's the best I can do at the moment.

Not at all. It reads like a well reasoned answer to me.

While straight razors handle differently, I think they have many lessons to teach a DE shaver. Pressure, awareness, patience, and a clearer perspective of what your face needs you to do, and conversely will not abide.

Without wishing to sound smug, I found much of straight shaving quite intuitive, as I was already shaving with the right touch, and had a good understanding of what my face needs. The handling differences in terms of twisting the handle rather than lifting and lowering it to correct angle, and the fact I simply cannot travel in the same directions with an inline handle, as I can with a perpendicular one, was where my learning curve started.

I learned more about lather too, and lather that's good enough to let cap and comb glide freely, isn't necessarily good enough to let an open and uncoated blade glide freely. As such, I never really feel I "know" a soap properly now, unless I can use the Dovo shavette with it (I hardly ever reach for the actual straights now).

 

[Esox]

Now you'll need to find yourself one of these...

 

[TinyT]

While straight razors handle differently, I think they have many lessons to teach a DE shaver. Pressure, awareness, patience, and a clearer perspective of what your face needs you to do, and conversely will not abide.

It all transfers. Tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin used to tell his saxophone students to learn the clarinet first. It's a very different instrument to the saxophone. The fingering is more difficult and it changes when you go up an octave. Tone production, the specifics of embouchure, all different. The saxophone is much easier to learn and get a decent sound out of in comparison but Johnny Griffin was right. Get good at the clarinet and you'll be able to get good at the saxophone. With enough practice, very good.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

It all transfers. Tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin used to tell his saxophone students to learn the clarinet first. It's a very different instrument to the saxophone. The fingering is more difficult and it changes when you go up an octave. Tone production, the specifics of embouchure, all different. The saxophone is much easier to learn and get a decent sound out of in comparison but Johnny Griffin was right. Get good at the clarinet and you'll be able to get good at the saxophone. With enough practice, very good.

As a failed clarinet player, I agree

 

[Rosseforp]

Now you'll need to find yourself one of these...

View attachment 1188479

Ohhhh, a bottom dial...........

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Now you'll need to find yourself one of these...

View attachment 1188479

I'm pretty sure those are commonly found at just about any junk store and yard sale. For 5¢.

They have plenty of gap. Too much for a nickel.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Rosseforp]

It all transfers. Tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin used to tell his saxophone students to learn the clarinet first. It's a very different instrument to the saxophone. The fingering is more difficult and it changes when you go up an octave. Tone production, the specifics of embouchure, all different. The saxophone is much easier to learn and get a decent sound out of in comparison but Johnny Griffin was right. Get good at the clarinet and you'll be able to get good at the saxophone. With enough practice, very good.

Never heard that, my son plays the clarinet, but has no desire to try a sax.