Deep Thoughts

[MaineYooper]

SEpGemBoar week continues

Another morning with unanticipated adrenaline rushes, in an emergency sort of way! We were getting up to start the morning when my wife noted her ostomy appliance was springing a leak (thankfully she saw it before much more than a leak occurred) so we did an emergency appliance change. You never really know when something won't adhere right or some other issue arises. We strive to be as consistent as we can with prepping the area and doing the changes. Typically, it can go 5 days or more, but we like to change it on our schedule rather than wait for an issue. So, that started the day with a bang, but we did it with minimal issues and now she is resting more and me, well, let's just say I got a nice Thanks for helping me and not complaining!

Those are half pieces, and yes, I can't believe I ate the whole thing! These are "my halves" from a sampler cake her folks got us from a wonderful bakery in Mississippi, Sugaree's Bakery. It took me a while but had a couple of mugs of some fantastic French press coffee and now I am sitting here in a state of contented bliss! My kind of breakfast!

Now to the shaving!

GEM Junior, ca. 1933 to 1938, nickel plated by BRG
Personna Pfft GEM (5)
Ever Ready boar
House of Mammoth Z
Ethos Lather Enhancer
Thayer's Original WH toner

First, you need to look at that boar knot. Paul (mrdoug) restored this Ever Ready with a Maggards 24mm premium boar. I don't know how you broke it in, Paul, but this knot is as soft as a SynBad or Cashmere! I hadn't used it for a month or more, so I soaked it overnight before yesterday's shave and it was outstanding. The above photo is how that knot looked this morning before soaking while I showered. Glorious goodness! And coupled with the Ethos and the Mammoth soap, I had luxurious, creamy, slick lather that had me wanting to stop and either take pictures or make notes on exactly what I did right! Whatever the case, this shave was the kind that make me worried about tomorrow's follow up shave, as this one set such a high bar!

 

[thombrogan]

Very glad to read appliance disaster averted.

You mentioned soaking your brush overnight and it feeling fully broken in. When I soak my boars for more than an hour, they’re also that soft. Maybe that? Or your friend’s skills or Maggard’s source of piggies has magic?

 

[thombrogan]

Happy 29th, Eric!

 

[MaineYooper]

Happy 29th, Eric!

Doing the math, it is actually my 29th "29th!" 29 squared?!

 

[MaineYooper]

Time for a quick update I see.

This week is going well as my vintage style shave week. Williams Mug soap, Steampunk Slim, the blade I first discovered when I started traditional shaving, the Gillette Silver Blue, and whatever brush seems to suit the mood. I meant to use a vintage-esque brush, but I don't like the knot in that replica handle so it is deknotted while I look for the right knot. Today I used a "manchurian" badger (Manchurian in quotes as what does that really mean?) and it was glorious! I imagine I'll stay with that brush for the remainder of the week.

Also, with the help of another (okay, full disclosure, I am just the money guy and material supplier, he is the true hobbyist!), I am going to have several vintage handles restored. Over the last 2 weeks a bought a selection of old brushes and am choosing which to send on to Freddie for restore magic, then I'll put some knots in them. Vintage brushes run with small knots and I really don't know if I'll like them or not. But that is what the guys of yesteryear seemed to prefer, I guess, as I don't see knots that look as big as our 26mm or larger ones.

Now I have to figure out what to do with the handles that don't "speak" to me: sell, give away, or whatever.

 

[thombrogan]

29 squared? Eeps

 

[MaineYooper]

Woops, looks like I've been absent for a bit!

October saw me entering into a restoration project with a fellow from another neighborhood. He does some great vintage brush handle restorations, and I got very interested. We exchanged some messages and the upshot was me purchasing several lots of vintage brushes from eBay sellers (around $65 for 15 brushes) and some badger knots from Maggards, The Golden Nib, and Shave Forge (spending treble the handle amount on 6 knots!).

The top photo of six brushes were not chosen, although Freddie is keeping #6 as a restore of his own. In the bottom photo, #4 was no good, and I didn't know it was in two pieces when I bought the lot, but I did find another! Number 3 went to Freddie as well, and I am getting another in its place, shown below.

This past Thursday, the first four arrived!

On the right, the chalice shaped handle is a Chalco C-150.

And with their new knots!

L to R: Ever-Ready 200T with TGN high mountain white badger 21mm
Ever-Ready 836A with Shave Forge badger
Erskine 200 with Maggard Razors 22mm G5 synthetic (nylon bristles, remember the bottom?!)
Chalco C-150 with Maggard Razors 20mm super high density 2-band badger fan

 

[thombrogan]

Excellent work, Señor!

 

[MaineYooper]

Excellent work, Señor!

Thanks! Freddie did the real work, I just pushed the button!

 

[MaineYooper]

And with their new knots!
View attachment 1559927

L to R: Ever-Ready 200T with TGN high mountain white badger 21mm
Ever-Ready 836A with Shave Forge badger
Erskine 200 with Maggard Razors 22mm G5 synthetic (nylon bristles, remember the bottom?!)
Chalco C-150 with Maggard Razors 20mm super high density 2-band badger fan

I realized I left out the knot on the 2nd from the left, the Ever-Ready. It is a Shave Forge 22mm High Mountain White knot.

 

[Rosseforp]

Woops, looks like I've been absent for a bit!

October saw me entering into a restoration project with a fellow from another neighborhood. He does some great vintage brush handle restorations, and I got very interested. We exchanged some messages and the upshot was me purchasing several lots of vintage brushes from eBay sellers (around $65 for 15 brushes) and some badger knots from Maggards, The Golden Nib, and Shave Forge (spending treble the handle amount on 6 knots!).

View attachment 1559918
View attachment 1559919

The top photo of six brushes were not chosen, although Freddie is keeping #6 as a restore of his own. In the bottom photo, #4 was no good, and I didn't know it was in two pieces when I bought the lot, but I did find another! Number 3 went to Freddie as well, and I am getting another in its place, shown below.
View attachment 1559922

This past Thursday, the first four arrived!
View attachment 1559923
View attachment 1559924
View attachment 1559925
On the right, the chalice shaped handle is a Chalco C-150.

And with their new knots!
View attachment 1559927

L to R: Ever-Ready 200T with TGN high mountain white badger 21mm
Ever-Ready 836A with Shave Forge badger
Erskine 200 with Maggard Razors 22mm G5 synthetic (nylon bristles, remember the bottom?!)
Chalco C-150 with Maggard Razors 20mm super high density 2-band badger fan

They look awesome!

~doug~

 

[MaineYooper]

I discovered that just over a week ago, I passed an anniversary with no comment or even acknowledgement, as I totally forgot about it. But on Friday the 13th of November, 2015, I had my first DE shave ever.

Over the previous two days, packages from Amazon arrived containing tubs of 2 creams (Trufitt and Hill Unscented and TOBS Natural), a Merker 34C, some Gillette Silver Blue blades, an Ambroley best badger brush, and a very small metal bowl.

That first shave was WTG and ATG, and left two nicks and lots of tingle! I know I used too much pressure and too many strokes, as I wanted a result phenomenally better than any cartridge shave. That was the only use of a Merkur blade! And the last ATG pass for several years!

The next day, I used the TOBS and the Silver Blue, and settled on WTG and 1 XTG pass and had an acceptable result with no blood.

So, now I am a week into year 8! I lost the brush to a very strongly scented soap in January of 2016 and went totally synthetic until 2021, when some boars entered the brush pack. By my second week shaving, Mystic Water Soap Sensitive Skin appeared in the mailbox and has always been in my soap drawer since then. Blades, well, you know. Many lifetimes of blades stored, even after giving way copious numbers! The Merkur 34C was sold after I became hooked on a Maggard razor and discovered vintage Gillettes. Some days I wish I'd kept it, but that is just for nostalgia. And I stopped using the creams as I found them tacky compared to most soaps. And that little odd bowl? Still in storage, not really sure what it would be good for, but Amazon called it a shaving bowl and I bought it!

 

[never-stop-learning]

I discovered that just over a week ago, I passed an anniversary with no comment or even acknowledgement, as I totally forgot about it. But on Friday the 13th of November, 2015, I had my first DE shave ever.

Over the previous two days, packages from Amazon arrived containing tubs of 2 creams (Trufitt and Hill Unscented and TOBS Natural), a Merker 34C, some Gillette Silver Blue blades, an Ambroley best badger brush, and a very small metal bowl.

That first shave was WTG and ATG, and left two nicks and lots of tingle! I know I used too much pressure and too many strokes, as I wanted a result phenomenally better than any cartridge shave. That was the only use of a Merkur blade! And the last ATG pass for several years!

The next day, I used the TOBS and the Silver Blue, and settled on WTG and 1 XTG pass and had an acceptable result with no blood.

So, now I am a week into year 8! I lost the brush to a very strongly scented soap in January of 2016 and went totally synthetic until 2021, when some boars entered the brush pack. By my second week shaving, Mystic Water Soap Sensitive Skin appeared in the mailbox and has always been in my soap drawer since then. Blades, well, you know. Many lifetimes of blades stored, even after giving way copious numbers! The Merkur 34C was sold after I became hooked on a Maggard razor and discovered vintage Gillettes. Some days I wish I'd kept it, but that is just for nostalgia. And I stopped using the creams as I found them tacky compared to most soaps. And that little odd bowl? Still in storage, not really sure what it would be good for, but Amazon called it a shaving bowl and I bought it!

Congratulations on the 7th Anniversary of your 1st DE Shave!

 

[Phoenixkh]

I discovered that just over a week ago, I passed an anniversary with no comment or even acknowledgement, as I totally forgot about it. But on Friday the 13th of November, 2015, I had my first DE shave ever.

Over the previous two days, packages from Amazon arrived containing tubs of 2 creams (Trufitt and Hill Unscented and TOBS Natural), a Merker 34C, some Gillette Silver Blue blades, an Ambroley best badger brush, and a very small metal bowl.

That first shave was WTG and ATG, and left two nicks and lots of tingle! I know I used too much pressure and too many strokes, as I wanted a result phenomenally better than any cartridge shave. That was the only use of a Merkur blade! And the last ATG pass for several years!

The next day, I used the TOBS and the Silver Blue, and settled on WTG and 1 XTG pass and had an acceptable result with no blood.

So, now I am a week into year 8! I lost the brush to a very strongly scented soap in January of 2016 and went totally synthetic until 2021, when some boars entered the brush pack. By my second week shaving, Mystic Water Soap Sensitive Skin appeared in the mailbox and has always been in my soap drawer since then. Blades, well, you know. Many lifetimes of blades stored, even after giving way copious numbers! The Merkur 34C was sold after I became hooked on a Maggard razor and discovered vintage Gillettes. Some days I wish I'd kept it, but that is just for nostalgia. And I stopped using the creams as I found them tacky compared to most soaps. And that little odd bowl? Still in storage, not really sure what it would be good for, but Amazon called it a shaving bowl and I bought it!

Congrats on your 7th year anniversary.

 

[thombrogan]

Way to gratz!

 

[Rosseforp]

But on Friday the 13th of November, 2015, I had my first DE shave ever.

Congrats on your 7th anniversary of wet shaving!!!!!!!

~doug~

 

[MaineYooper]

Power Tool Adventures in Shaving

That made your eyebrows raise, didn't it?!

The final handle had arrived and I finally had a chance to try setting a knot in it. The handle is that dirty Klenzo B1126 shown near the top of this page. It has a 20mm socket. The knot chosen was a TGN silver tip badger, fairly dense compared to the Shave Forge 20mm silver tip. But alas, the TGN would seat all the way down. It has a waist, or love handle!

The plug bases align perfectly, but I think you can see that the TGN has a bump above the top of the plug. What to do? Well, with true B&B logic (BOSC!!) I bought another knot and a rotary tool!

Using a sanding drum-like attachment, I carefully went to work on the handle. Mind you, this is only my second power tool. My frist was a corded Skil hand drill I bought in the mid-90s. I have next to no mechanical abilities, other than knowing how to use a broom! The handle's socket had a lip that curled inward, and I carefully removed some of it. Nope, the knot still wouldn't fit. Yesterday, the SHD Maggard Razors 20mm badger bulb knot arrived. It dropped right it and had a pretty decent fit. The Shave Forge fit from the start, and after removing that inner lip, it had more than enough room. But the SHD knot is more like the TGN in density. I wanted to try it.

I never would have believed that I could be happy with 20mm knots. Before last week, 24mm was the smallest knot I had. And all my knots are synthetics or boars, with one badger, a 26mm Manchurian badger fan knot from Trotter Handcrafts.

Here is the Klenzo with the MR 20mm SHD badger bulb. This is after being set for several hours.

Here it is after about a 10-minute soak.

My oh my, I love this knot! It performed amazingly for me this morning. That 26mm Manchurian now feels like lathering with a loofah!

 

[MaineYooper]

Oi! It has been almost a year since I journaled anything. And so many are journaling with many great posts.

Playing off my last post, here's my setup for the next week.

Yes, that is the same brush. The Maggard SHD badger is still there and the brush is a favorite.

At the risk of repeating myself for some readers, but wanting to inform others as well as noting it in this Journal, I will explain what I have been up to with my soaps. Some months ago I realized that not only do I have too many soaps (18! Gasp!), 6 were bought in 2021. I decided this Summer that I would use these soaps exclusively until I had reduced the soap drawer denizens. How's it working out? I have finished 2, of which one was mostly finished before I started! I am starting the third now and this photo is the record of what the tub looks like.

Some of you that know me also know I use unscented soaps exclusively. Now remember that number mentioned earlier? Eighteen! How many varieties of unscented soaps do I need?! Well, this cool jacket will give you an idea!

 

[thombrogan]

Love the look of that badger’s loft.

 

[MaineYooper]

I have been a face latherer for some years now. But a good friend (@OhioBob) recently got a wonderful shave bowl and I, on purpose, went to the Etsy site to look at them. It is a resin bowl, so I think I cannot break or chip it if I drop it, nor crush my toe!

This is Dark Nebula by the CaYuen Workshop.

First use this morning

The lather was perfect for me and I allowed myself a luxurious 4-pass shave!