Fat february! Who will join me?

[slant81]

Here are the other 2.

There really isn't a beginner straight razor. I was wondering the same thing at first. Anything between 4/8 and 6/8 should be fine. Something with a rounded toe (tip of the blade) so that you don't have that square point to cut yourself while your learning. I started with a 4/8 full hollow. And it seems still a little easier than my 6/8 when trying to get under the nose and my chin. I'd say 5/8 is the most common size and probably the happy medium. Half hollow. I haven't used a wedge yet but I will be getting one soon. Not sure how they stack up.

 

[Chronarch]

I think of it as the soap they have in schools. Smells alot like it. Either that or cheap hotel soap. Mosquitos love me as well. I have always had large pores so I sweat easily and I believe the mosquitoes can smell it and I get nailed. I'm not a big fan of williams. Have you tried arko? I used to hate on it. It grew on me. The lather is absolutely top shelf. Super easy and rich. Its been a brutal week. Its just the beginning. You got some nice straights man. I'm jealous. I got a cheap strop from amazon to learn on it was like 15$. When i send the razors to you i will give you the strop as well so you can practice making laps with a dull razor. I got the feel I moved on to my premier red Latigo from maggards. I got the 2" to start because it was a little cheaper. But my next will be a 3" from whipped dog because even if you make a mistake and cut into the strop, (happens to most people when learning) you can get a replacement leather strop from him for 18$. Seems like the best deal in town. Send me whatever straight you think you want to shave with and I'll get it in shaving shape. Eventually I'm going to start buying old ones and restoring and sharpening them up. It will be my hobby for next winter I'm sure. I haven't looked into how to do it yet. For now just being able to take a dull blade and make it very sharp is good for me. You should send me 2 razors. That way you can shave with one for a month or so and learn to strop. Then you have another when it won't shave anymore. Send it back to me and shave with the other one While I'm getting that one tuned up. But I'm sure by then you will be completely obsessed and you'll be into honing. But if not I'll gladly keep your razors sharp.

i have not tried Arko yet. Probably will at some point. I have heard it smells like urinal cakes. Ha. I think I will go ahead and send you the Wostenholm and Henckels. I really don't have a round point so I better figure this out quickly. Ha. I'll have the styptic pencil ready to go. I appreciate you sharpening these up for me. Can't wait to give it a go. Like i said the only thing keeping me from trying was not wanting to practice honing on these vintage razors. I am sure at some point I will dabble in it. I'll probably pack them up sometime next week hopefully. I'll send you return postage as well to get them turned around. Thanks again.

 

[slant81]

Nah don't worry about the return postage. I will gladly take care of it. If you don't have a block of alum you might want to get one. The razorock one on is like 5$ on amazon. I like it. It's better than the Gentleman john one I had that was just breaking in pieces. The alum is not only for after shave. It's mostly for skin stretching. With straights skin stretching is a must. You rub your hand on the block so you can hold your skin without sliping. Also can be used to grip the razor. I was the same way about strights. I didn't wanna hone th em. But now that I got a couple hones I'm fully addicted. It's probably my favorite part of straights. When you do decide to get a couple stones let me know and I'll steer you in the best direction. You can get away with two stones and a strop and be good. Then once you get pumped about honing I'll teach ya to use the coticule. I'll have cotis totally mastered by then.

 

[slant81]

I might skip my shave today for probably one of the first times ever since starting wet shaving. I shaved late last night. Who knows, I might have to anyways.

 

[Chronarch]

Nah don't worry about the return postage. I will gladly take care of it. If you don't have a block of alum you might want to get one. The razorock one on is like 5$ on amazon. I like it. It's better than the Gentleman john one I had that was just breaking in pieces. The alum is not only for after shave. It's mostly for skin stretching. With straights skin stretching is a must. You rub your hand on the block so you can hold your skin without sliping. Also can be used to grip the razor. I was the same way about strights. I didn't wanna hone th em. But now that I got a couple hones I'm fully addicted. It's probably my favorite part of straights. When you do decide to get a couple stones let me know and I'll steer you in the best direction. You can get away with two stones and a strop and be good. Then once you get pumped about honing I'll teach ya to use the coticule. I'll have cotis totally mastered by then.

You never said anything about skin stretching. Ha. I am going to be watching some video tutorial for sure. I actually have a couple of the RazoRock Alums so I am good there. Good thing Ill be able to use them now. I gave up using them months ago for DE shaving. So have you tried tightening the pins on these. I think the Woste is a little loose but not sure that matters much.

I also skipped shaving today...sort of. I started growing the beard again. I did clean up my cheeks using Proraso pre-shave and the RFB #77. Will be cutting my neck line in soon as well.

 

[slant81]

I haven't tried yet but I've been pretty curious how the pins work. The other good thing about straights is that they'll mow down months of growth in one easy pass like it's one days worth.

 

[slant81]

I use poraso white pre shave. It's the only pre shave I've used that I think actually makes a difference. Minimal difference, but I don't think pre shaves do alot. With straights, prep is one of the most important things. I shower right before shaving 90% of the time. Also you want a different lather. More runny. It must be slick. Not thick. If it's thick the blade will suction to your skin and create drag.

 

[Chronarch]

Well I ended up shaving today. I used my double ring OT with a Minette shim and it was fantastic. Blade gap jumped from 0.13 to 0.7 mm. I used Tabac and followed with a splash of Speick. Check out the thread here:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/447477-For-You-Shimmers-Out-There/page3

I don't use pre-shave very much but if I have a beard I will sometimes use it instead of shaving lather. Works good for small touch ups.


The runny slick lather makes sense. I guess you don't want a long sharp blade sticking to your face. Ha. Recipe for disaster.

 

[slant81]

Yeah last night I used gft. And it's super rich. I had the blade end up Sticking in and giving me a nice cut. Also when I was stropping I just barely touched my finger and got a nice gash. Oh well,can't win em all.

 

[Chronarch]

Busted out the trusty Kronos S2 today. Another great shave with the Polsilver loaded. I went full on DR Harris Arlington today. Used the soap, aftershave, and the Deo stick. I can still smell it faintly after 12 hours. Good stuff. Reminds me of fruity pebbles for some reason. Ha.

 

[slant81]

I think I got my coticule dialed in. Best shave to date. I've never had a shave that close. The hair was literally just jumping off. I went with tobs Eaton college and poraso pre. I busted out the tgn finest.

 

[Chronarch]

How you doin Keith? I started my beard again but did shave today. Used my brand new MDC the wife got me while we were in Pasadena. Rolled through the Old Town Shaving store there. They have some good stuff. She also got me some Arko and a brick of Cella. I also picked up sme CC lime. The MDC is fantastic and smells great. Great slick lather. Stuff is crazy priced but what can you do. Used my NEW De Luxe head paired with my ATT Atlas. Great shave today. Hope your doing well. I still intend on sending you a few straights. Probably next week some time.

 

[slant81]

How you doin Keith? I started my beard again but did shave today. Used my brand new MDC the wife got me while we were in Pasadena. Rolled through the Old Town Shaving store there. They have some good stuff. She also got me some Arko and a brick of Cella. I also picked up sme CC lime. The MDC is fantastic and smells great. Great slick lather. Stuff is crazy priced but what can you do. Used my NEW De Luxe head paired with my ATT Atlas. Great shave today. Hope your doing well. I still intend on sending you a few straights. Probably next week some time.

Awesome bud. I'm doing great. Just got back from my first fishing trip of the year. We got skunked but it was nice to get out. We have a power plant on a river that puts out hot water so that section never freezes. Usually good fishing there all winter. I'm dieing for the lakes to ice out. I used cella this week too. First time I used it In a lo g time. Always great lather. I mashed my last stick of Arko into a small hand cream tin. Not a huge fan of rubbing directly on my face. I guess it's all the same though. I leave my arko wide open so the smell isn't so strong. I like it now. Yes please do send them whenever. I'm getting great edges consistently.

 

[slant81]

Been a long week. Crazy hours. I haven't had time for much. I like to shave at night so I can use my straight every time. Today I got to day shave and I used c.o. Bigelow. Been quite a while since I last did. I'll be keeping it out for a while because I forgot how great the stuff is. One of the best I've used for straights.

 

[Chronarch]

I have super busy as well! I managed to have a some time today so I went ahead with my ABC shell handle paired with my NEW LC and a Feather blade. Whipped up the Cella...this soap is pretty good!. Finished off with some Irisch Moos. Good times.

 

[slant81]

Yeah cella is great. I got my new 3 inch black Latigo strop the other day I am loving it much better than my old one, way easier.