all I know for sure is.......that its 2:56.
and I barely have any stubble around my chin.
camo
and I barely have any stubble around my chin.
camo
Huh?An open-comb safety razor does indeed help to explain things. Recently, I picked up a vintage, flat-head safety razor. In shaving with it, having only used straights for the past eight years, I noticed that there were some areas beneath my jawline that showed traces of the razor's comb via partial lather removal. Elsewhere, the lather removal had been complete. From this, I concluded that when my angle of approach had been correct, it was the blade that had removed the lather, whereas in the trace areas revealing the comb, the angle had not be correct, hence the traces. From this, I would think that an analogous solid bar safety razor would not be removing the lather via the bar, if properly used, but rather by the blade like a straight razor. Beyond this, the lather's conditioning may already have penetrated the skin's surface, leading to a benefit, even if the lather is no longer present on the surface.
You mean I have been waxing my car all these years for nothing?!You'll soon have all the waxing fanatics telling you how a mirror shine polished car is faster!
You'll soon have all the waxing fanatics telling you how a mirror shine polished car is faster!
This is exactly my kind of approach - minimalistic, be it the blade itself, stone or strop - 1 razor, 1 linen strop (one side CrOx, the other untreated), 1 leather strop and one touch-up stone (12K Nani). And so I want to master this approach.as far as straight vs DE goes I have given away all of my DE razors and blades to friends who wanted to try shaving with one blade and see how it felt vs the 5+ blade carts they were scraping across their faces. But i gave them away free from regrets because for me it was a gateway drug to Straight Razors. to me they just give me more control for a much more comfortable shave. From my vintage hunks of steel to my new wacker, to my feather artist club ss, I just get far less irritation with a straight.
As far as sharpness. I’m sure that my DE feather blades when i used them were probably sharper than all of my straights, but also more aggressive for some reason. My regular shave includes a linen strop of 30 and a leather of 60. then when I feel resistance or any tugging on the blade Ill go to chromium oxide on a linen, to the untreated linen to the leather. and then regardless of resistance or pulling I hit the swaty barbers hone lightly with lather at least twice a month then through the three strop progression and that is more than sharp and smooth enough for me
Oh dont get me wrong, I do love collecting and using multiple razors, and strops and stones (sometimes two razors in the same shave!) . but I have also noticed that for daily shaing when Daily life is getting in the way of the full ritual of shaving and having fun with it, I know that one of my straight blades with That type of basic maintenance will get me a result that feels better to me than any of my DE razors did with less irritation, and a nice close shave. But There is also plenty of proof out there that DE razors are great and even better than straights for a ton of other folks though. one of my friends has quite the opposite results from me and uses an open comb merkur for his daily routine and practically bleeds out from weepers when using a straight. I think its about finding that balance of what works for you, your skin type, and hair typeThis is exactly my kind of approach - minimalistic, be it the blade itself, stone or strop - 1 razor, 1 linen strop (one side CrOx, the other untreated), 1 leather strop and one touch-up stone (12K Nani). And so I want to master this approach.
With this lock-down craze and the postal services in disarray, I'm still waiting to receive the razor (ordered about 6 weeks ago), the stone and the worst of all, an artisan soap I really have high hopes for, which has been on its way in the mail since May 08... go figure.
As a matter of fact I gave up on daily shaving some 11 years ago, I was 36 at the time. My job changed dramatically from being a manager in the office to being an entrepreneur running my own firm and since most of the work is done online I simply stopped shaving every day. Actually my routine ever since has been to shave about twice a week and off course every time I was meeting a client face-to-face. Lately, since I've been exploring SR shaving, I'm shaving more often - about every second day. Collecting razors is just not my kind of thing. I see it as a utility, but I do want to achieve that ultimate level of comfort, hence the SR pursuit. If I like it, I might get another one to experiment, but definitely not looking to piling up dozens upon dozens of razors, stones, etc, etc... wanna keep it at the very minimum.Oh dont get me wrong, I do love collecting and using multiple razors, and strops and stones (sometimes two razors in the same shave!) . but I have also noticed that for daily shaing when Daily life is getting in the way of the full ritual of shaving and having fun with it, I know that one of my straight blades with That type of basic maintenance will get me a result that feels better to me than any of my DE razors did with less irritation, and a nice close shave. But There is also plenty of proof out there that DE razors are great and even better than straights for a ton of other folks though. one of my friends has quite the opposite results from me and uses an open comb merkur for his daily routine and practically bleeds out from weepers when using a straight. I think its about finding that balance of what works for you, your skin type, and hair type
I know very little about this, so pls forgive me for asking perhaps a banal Q.
So, claims are that a SR can never be as sharp as a DE blade or Shavette, because of the nature how these DE blades are manufactured, their ergonomic, etc.
Is this true?
Then another claim goes smth. like "although a SR is not as sharp as DE blade, it removes hair effortlessly due to its weight". This seems controversial, as a normal 5/8 - 6/8 SR is going to be much lighter than a DE razor. My Muhle R41 Grande weights 3.2oz, while a heavy-duty true wedge Koraat 8/8 weights merely 2.6oz in comparison.
So, how exactly does this work?
Is shaving with a SR truly that much easier in terms of removing hair, gliding the blade over one’s face than shaving with a DE?
Indeed so and I appreciate your detailed and always meticulous feedback immensely @Slash McCoy!As you can see, most of us agree that a SR can be as sharp and comfortable as a DE blade, even better than most DE blades, even matching and according to some, beating the vaunted Feather. If you had asked this question 20 years ago you would have got a different set of answers. Today it is quite possible to match a Feather DE blade. I have done it. I don't QUITE get it there all the time, no. But I manage to nail it once in a while. Many honers don't see the point in all that cutting power at the price of 3x the work. Many others don't know how to get it or don't have the equipment for it. But more and more honers are rendering science fiction quality edges, especially self honers who don't care how long it takes to makee sharpee.
No such thing as too sharp. I like sharp. If you keep your shave angle dead low and skin stretched tightly, you will not cut yourself unless you grow careless.
Big advantage of the DE blade is the coating. It gives enough extra glide that even crappy old canned foam is good enough for lubrication.
You see these claims every now and then. If you asked me this when I first started with SRs then I would agree with these claims.I know very little about this, so pls forgive me for asking perhaps a banal Q.
So, claims are that a SR can never be as sharp as a DE blade or Shavette, because of the nature how these DE blades are manufactured, their ergonomic, etc.
Is this true?
Then another claim goes smth. like "although a SR is not as sharp as DE blade, it removes hair effortlessly due to its weight". This seems controversial, as a normal 5/8 - 6/8 SR is going to be much lighter than a DE razor. My Muhle R41 Grande weights 3.2oz, while a heavy-duty true wedge Koraat 8/8 weights merely 2.6oz in comparison.
So, how exactly does this work?
Is shaving with a SR truly that much easier in terms of removing hair, gliding the blade over one’s face than shaving with a DE?
Although I know nothing about it first hand (never honed anything), I am totally put off by the synthetics, sprays, etc (aka "the method") and what I eventually would like to use as my one_&_only stone is a Coti. My 12K Nani is still on its way...Shaves from my straights last longer than shaves from DE blades, whether they are in a shavette or a standard DE type of razor.
By lasting longer, I mean the 'need' to shave happens at a longer interval. The shave from the W&B I used this morning will push past the 20 hr mark. DE blade shaves usually don't get past 12 hr.
The W&B's edge was honed on natural stones.
No wizardry, no special sub-micron fairy dust or Pied Piper forumulas needed.