Den Completion

[Tomo]

After 1.5 years, I’ve finally put the finishing touches on my shave den. The rabbit hole was deeper than I imagined but I can now see the light on the other side. The line between collector and user has becoming slightly blurred but I still consider myself a user.

After a phase of trying anything and everything, I’ve settled on my favorites. I’ll now post a series of posts taking you through the items that made the final cut into the den. I’ve tried to restrict the size of my collection to my allocated medicine cabinet. As you can see the cabinet is pretty much at capacity and I’m now calling time on new acquisitions.

 

[Tomo]

Brushes are what first got me interested in wet shaving. After trying all the options, I settled on badger bristle. All together there are ten brushes in the den and I use one per week. I couldn’t decide between three-band and two-band so in true B&B style I got both in each model! I’m a bit of a Simpson fan.

1. Simpson Classic 1 Best
2. Simpson Classic 1 SiLVERTiP
3. Simpson Duke 3 Best
4. Simpson Duke 3 SiLVERTiP
5. Simpson Chubby 2 Super
6. Simpson Chubby 2 Manchurian
7. Shavemac 24mm Silvertip Bulb
8. Shavemac 24mm Two Band Bulb
9. Plisson #12 High Mountain White, Horn
10. Plisson #12 European White, Ebony

 

[SharpieB]

I’d like to get there one day. Excellent setup and really all you would ever need.

Amazing selection of brushes BTW.

 

[Tomo]

I started my wet shaving adventure with DE razors and experimented with a few different brands. Shortly after buying the Timeless all of my other DE’s got sold. It’s that good.

The steady stream of wonderful ‘shave of the day’ pics soon sparked my interest in straight razors. Before joining B&B, I had never considered this as an option. With the help of the members and a few Melbourne lockdowns to practice, I soon picked it up. My home shaves are all SR shaves now but I still enjoy the DE for travel. The SE doesn’t get much love but it’s such an amazing shaver and cool design that I like to keep it around. I should use it more often. All up there are seven daily drivers. Again I like to use one for a week at a time.

1. Heljestrand BK42 in Tortoise Shell
2. Heljestrand MK31 in Ivory
3. Ralf Aust in African Blackwood
4. Thiers Issard in Black Horn
5. Filarmonica Doble Temple 13
6. Blackland Vector SB
7. Timeless 0.68 OC in Stainless Steel

 

[kingfisher]

The Heljestrand razors are simply awesome. Fantastic steel.

 

[Tomo]

There seems to be an endless variety of soaps and creams available today and I was determined to try them all. I didn’t quite achieve that but, with the help of an online samples site, I gave it a fair shot and covered all of the of the classics and most of the artisans.

After starting out only interested in hard soaps, I’ve come around to the convenience of creams. As a dedicated bowl latherer the ‘scoop and go’ approach works the best for me. Of the seven soaps that I settled on, five are creams and two are triple milled. Those two hard soaps were just too good to cull. I use them on weekends when I have more time.

1. Santa Maria Novella
2. Aqua di Parma
3. Tabac
4. Saponificio Varesino Cubebe 4.3
5. Speick Original Cream
6. Baume BE
7. Castle Forbes 1445

 

[Tomo]

You soon discover that straight razors are only as good as their edges and this leads you into the wonderful works of honing.

I cut my teeth on The Method following the advise of @Slash McCoy using lapping film, diamond paste and balsa. I’m glad I did because I was getting sharp edges quick and this was fundamental in learning to straight razor shave properly.

Soon the lure of the natural finishes got the better of me and I started collecting rocks.

I now have five different finishers, one dedicated to each of my straight razors. All fit into a single drawer. Spoiler alert: They all work just fine. Each producing a unique, slightly different, feeling edge.

Finishers
1. The Method setup in a Tupperware container
2. Japanese Natural Hard Ozuku Asagi
3. La Nouvelle Vein Coticule
4. Arkansas Black Novaculite
5. Barber Sized Banded Thüringian

On top of the finishers, there are various support staff.
1. Shapton Glass Set 1k, 3k, 8k
2. Atoma Diamond Plate 4k / 12k combo
3. Granite Surface Plate which I had cut to the size of a WD sandpaper sheet.
4. Singer Sewing Machine oil
5. Spray bottle
6. Dish soap

 

[Korn8]

Great choices. I am close to this point also. Have my soaps and brushes narrowed down. And razors are very close. Might change one.

Unpopular opinion but I think keeping a collection relatively small (i.e. 5-10 of each item: brushes, razors, soaps, aftershaves) allows you to enjoy everything in your collection and to display it in a way that looks interesting and somewhat classy.

Your collection/items utilized regularly is a good example.

YMMV

 

[Tomo]

After a year of using my first strop without incident, I was advised by @rbscebu that newbies almost always nick their first strop. I promptly bought a spare to be on the safe side. I now have two strops. Still no nicks. Touch wood...

Both strops are 3” but if one ever needs replacement, I will probably try a 2.5” strop next time. I’m not game to cut them down but 3” is starting to feel a bit wide these days.

1. Heirloom Old No. 2 Horsehide with Linnen by @Tony Miller
2. Westholme Shell Cordovan with Linen

 

[Tomo]

Blades?

Feather obviously

 

[Tomo]

And now for the finale. The crown jewel of the den. The one item that gets used more than any other. The lather bowl.

After trying probably 20 different bowls and using them on and off there’s only one that I keep reaching for. The rest are all back on kitchen duty. I had a brief flirtation with scuttles but found I get the same result from resting the bowl in the sink with an inch of water. What makes this bowl so special is not its material but its size and shape. For me it’s ideal. When you find the one you just know.

Vintage Sterling Silver lather bowl

 

[Tomo]

That’s it! That’s my den and I’m sticking to it.

 

[kingfisher]

Beautiful den. Thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

 

[MilkCrate]

Very nice!

 

[dmshaver]

Congratulations sir, you have a wonderful den! Thank you for your posts & taking us through your thought process. Very enjoyable read!

 

[KeenDogg]

Love it!

 

[BigJ]

I started my wet shaving adventure with DE razors and experimented with a few different brands. Shortly after buying the Timeless all of my other DE’s got sold. It’s that good.

The steady stream of wonderful ‘shave of the day’ pics soon sparked my interest in straight razors. Before joining B&B, I had never considered this as an option. With the help of the members and a few Melbourne lockdowns to practice, I soon picked it up. My home shaves are all SR shaves now but I still enjoy the DE for travel. The SE doesn’t get much love but it’s such an amazing shaver and cool design that I like to keep it around. I should use it more often. All up there are seven daily drivers. Again I like to use one for a week at a time.

View attachment 1222080

1. Heljestrand BK42 in Tortoise Shell
2. Heljestrand MK31 in Ivory
3. Ralf Aust in African Blackwood
4. Thiers Issard in Black Horn
5. Filarmonica Doble Temple 13
6. Blackland Vector SB
7. Timeless 0.68 OC in Stainless Steel

LOVELY!! (Now you can start on your back-ups! Plus you do ‘need’ a fan or three)!!

 

[Chaucer]

Nice selections!

Question from a Plisson brush user (mine are #8 HMW and #10 Pur Black): In addition to their appearance, how do you describe the difference between the HMW and EW knots?

 

[cryhavoc]

Looks great!

 

[Tomo]

Nice selections!

Question from a Plisson brush user (mine are #8 HMW and #10 Pur Black): In addition to their appearance, how do you describe the difference between the HMW and EW knots?

For me the difference is typical 3-band vs 2-band. The 2-band European White is springier with a touch more backbone. The 3-band has a fuller face feel with a little more bloom. Both brushes are free of scritch and quite soft. The High Mountain White has developed curled tips while the European White has not.

I like the high loft of these brushes. It keeps the lather from running down the handle. They have a medium density but are great little lather machines. They knot swells up like a powder puff holding lots of lather which it then releases easily. You don’t see many Plisson’s on the site but I think they are about as classic a shaving brush as you can get. If you order one, you can ask that they send you photos of the examples that they have in stock. It’s nice to be able to choose a horn or wood grain that speaks to you. Being a natural material they can look very different from brush to brush.