Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Shave 128, edge unchanged. Post shave, 40 soft Latvian linen 90 roo, no suede.
How Many Shaves
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Steve56
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Shave 129, the Latvian linen and roo strop seem to have helped; some resistance but no tugging. Shave was fine. Repeated 40 Latvian linen and 80 roo post shave.
Steve56
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Shave 130 today, the edge is if anything noticeably better over the last 2-3 shaves. The Latvian linen and roo seem to be helping. Both are very thin and flexible. The only other change has been going back to Santa Maria Novella shaving cream, which is just one of the very best SR soaps that there is. IMO. Again, no tugging. Post shave strooping was again 40 Latvian linen and 80 roo.
My run came to an end on shave 77. But not because of tugging, it got sold after refreshing the edge.
My “new” daily driver, a Dorko Barber’s Pride that already on shave #15.
My “new” daily driver, a Dorko Barber’s Pride that already on shave #15.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Shave 131, no tugging, cream was SMN. Post shave stropping, 40 Latvian linen, 80 roo. Seems to be working.
Steve56
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#132 this morning, still shaving quite well. Post shave stropping: 40 Latvian linen, 85 roo.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Shave #133 this morning and the edge is good, and equals the number Alfredo got from his TI, so his result is not a fluke. I had previously posted that the edge is actually improving a bit over #125-127. I did some things differently, mostly to test the efficacy of fabrics and strops on an edge that appeared to be declining. Most likely the increased smoothness/performance is due to simply doubling the fabric from 20 to 40 each shave. I did switch to Latvian linen and a roo strop to see if more flexible products made a difference. Maybe, but the conventional wisdom is that the type of fabric and leather don’t make that much difference, but the thinness of the linen and leather I’m currently using has advocates. There’s something going on, again, likely just increased linen.
I thought about stopping around #128, the edge didn’t seem to have much left in it and just flogging a few more shaves from it to exceed Alfredo’s number seemed like a ‘little’ thing to do with little relevance to maintaining an edge for many shaves. But I got a PM from Alfredo that simply said ‘Keep it going’, so that’s what I’m going to do. Thank you Alfredo!
Post-shave stropping was 40 Latvian linen and 80 roo.
I thought about stopping around #128, the edge didn’t seem to have much left in it and just flogging a few more shaves from it to exceed Alfredo’s number seemed like a ‘little’ thing to do with little relevance to maintaining an edge for many shaves. But I got a PM from Alfredo that simply said ‘Keep it going’, so that’s what I’m going to do. Thank you Alfredo!
Post-shave stropping was 40 Latvian linen and 80 roo.
You could still test your theory and use the regular linen for the next go.
Return to the flax and see if there is a difference - same number of strokes.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Absolutely. So many options, so little time.... And I have a loaner to test too.
I find fabric types to make a huge difference. I used to use 55 laps on my hemp strops and now I use 3 on a polyester.
On another note, both you and Alfredo used razors on the hard side of the spectrum and while all of my current razors are on the hard side, the razor that set my personal record of 131 is a no name hardware store razor marked 'The Winner' that is on the softer side. I attribute the high number of shaves on that razor to the fact that the softer steel responded so well to the strops.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Could be Victor. Can you describe the characteristics and advantages of polyester? Is it thin and flexible?
It is a bit coarser and stiffer than seat belt or the SRP polys, but more supple and finer than any other fire hose that I've seen or tried. I think that its aggressiveness is do to the composition more than the stiffness or weave. In another thread I described learning that fumed silica is often used as a thickener in polyester resin. I suspect that this is the source of the abrasive nature of this strop. Similar to the higher silica content of flax linen and hemp verses cotton.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Shave #134, going back to Kanoyama canvas, suede, and cordovan after the next shave.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Shave #135, what can you say except Fillys rule! I had a little extra growth this morning and could tell it WTG, but ATG was normal. The edge seems to be showing a bit more wear and tear under the loupe, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting the shave, which is still DFS. It isn’t a fresh edge of course, but it’s still delivering a perfectly good shaving experience.
Post shave, 40 Kanoyama canvas followed by 35 Kanoyama suede and 75 Kanoyama cordovan. Let’s see if I can tell a difference next shave.
Post shave, 40 Kanoyama canvas followed by 35 Kanoyama suede and 75 Kanoyama cordovan. Let’s see if I can tell a difference next shave.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
#136....
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Shave 137, shave was kind of ‘meh’, but I did have more growth than usual. Post shave stropping was 40 Kanoyama canvas followed by 40 Kanoyama suede and 75 cordovan. If the edge isn’t smoother tomorrow, back to the Latvian linen and roo.
Do I need to start tuning my violin?
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Lol, I have no idea Nick, the thing just keeps surprising me by keepin’ on keepin’ on. I have no idea, really. It could be tomorrow or who knows when. It is no doubt, nearer the end than the beginning.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Shave #138, less beard than yesterday, better shave, but not as good as I was getting a few shaves back. So back to Latvian linen and roo, 40 linen and 100 roo (equal number to 35 suede and 65 cordovan on the Kaniyama) we’ll see if the shave improves.
At this point we are getting an interesting comparison of secondary effectiveness, even if it is only a sample size of one. Interesting!
