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May 2020 Gentlemanly Restraint Until Month End (GRUME)

Still in! Lathered up some Proraso White and was surprised at how it lathered. Pretty good slick stuff. I'll be shaving with it in couple days, coupled with the Cube 2.0 pre-shave.
 

Chef455

Head Cheese Head Chef
Bad Tomo, bad! Not that I fault you for purchasing a really nice scuttle, but why are you flashing pretty things whilst I'm trying to restrain myself? 😜 Good thing it's not the dead of winter here.

Anyhow... Still in.
Timeless Bronze
Sorry I didn't bother to check my blade
AOS Lavender Soap
Yaqi Tuxedo
=
DFS
 
S
Bad Tomo, bad! Not that I fault you for purchasing a really nice scuttle, but why are you flashing pretty things whilst I'm trying to restrain myself? 😜 Good thing it's not the dead of winter here.

Anyhow... Still in.
Timeless Bronze
Sorry I didn't bother to check my blade
AOS Lavender Soap
Yaqi Tuxedo
=
DFS
Sorry mate. Always nice to have some company on the side lines I guess. Should go better next month as I now really do have everything that I need. Haha. I’ve said that before...
 
Still in, despite another look at bulk blades.

Rockwell 6S, R5, used a Personna 74 again (#8), and it still feels good. I use this one now and again, between new modern blades, to keep my sense of comparison zeroed in.

Used the Rockwell 6C, R1 on "awkward areas ATG" duty again; it did OK, with no drama, but it's too bulky and inefficient.

After looking at alternatives, I'm going to try the Merkur 23C head as ATG tool of choice next, and maybe on a shorter handle.
 

Fred D

Member of The Illiterati
Still in

Razorock Game Changer .68
Gillette Platinum blade
Pre de Provence No 63 soap
Synthetic 26mm brush
 
Sorry to say that I’m out again. Third time lucky next month.

It’s getting cold in Australia and a scuttle was required to get me through the winter. Also a man can’t seriously be expected to get by with a single straight razor, honing and stropping every day like a mad man. I clearly needed a backup.

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I hope you enjoy them! As usual, feel free to play along from home.

And when a brother falls, it's time for...

Roll Call!

1) @FoolishMortal
2) Wgg2017 - out (5/3: 3 Soaps)
3) @Timeclo
4) @Roedeer
5) Tomo - out (5/15: Scuttle and SR)
6) @Blathering Idiot
7) @Chef455
8) Ridpath - out (5/11: Just...Wow.)
9) @rbscebu
10) @Stuart Ganis
11) Billy T. - out (5/8: Tcheon Fung Sing set)
12) @cryhavoc
13) @Sotiris_A
14) @Fred D
15) @RTM
16) @pbrmhl
17) Schnitzel52 - out (5/10: straight shave)
18) @GaryTha
 
Still in! Got several things rolling in from purchases from months back but nothing this month. Gonna go for a face lather with some mentholated soap later on.
 
Still in.
Getting better and better with Karve OC C and Bolzano. Really enjoying my evening shaves, hope you all do too.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
For the past 2 weeks I have been using my Gold Dollar W59 for my vesperum shaves. During the first week after each shave, its edge got 50 laps each on 0.25u and 0.1u pasted balsa strops. For the second week it got the same but on 0.1u hand held plus 0.1u hanging balsa strops.

After last night's shave I feel that this SR is ready to pass the Fool's Pass Test (FPT) which I will try this evening. If it passes it will go to 0.1u hanging balsa only after each shave.

That's the beauty of pasted balsa stropping after each shave. The edge seems to just never stop improving.
 
For the past 2 weeks I have been using my Gold Dollar W59 for my vesperum shaves. During the first week after each shave, its edge got 50 laps each on 0.25u and 0.1u pasted balsa strops. For the second week it got the same but on 0.1u hand held plus 0.1u hanging balsa strops.

After last night's shave I feel that this SR is ready to pass the Fool's Pass Test (FPT) which I will try this evening. If it passes it will go to 0.1u hanging balsa only after each shave.

That's the beauty of pasted balsa stropping after each shave. The edge seems to just never stop improving.
How often do you suggest maintainING your balsa strops with lapping and fresh paste? Do you find that eventually the effectiveness is reduced as diamond particles are pressed completely into the board?

What is the difference between the 0.1um hand held and 0.1um hanging strop? Same strop held diffferently or different strop all together? Do you have a photo?

Thanks
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
How often do you suggest maintainING your balsa strops with lapping and fresh paste? Do you find that eventually the effectiveness is reduced as diamond particles are pressed completely into the board?

What is the difference between the 0.1um hand held and 0.1um hanging strop? Same strop held diffferently or different strop all together? Do you have a photo?

Thanks
I am currently maintaining my 3 diamond pasted balsa strops based on the approximate number of laps they receive. I currently reflatten and repasted as follows:

0.5u after about 3,000 laps
0.25u after about. 4,000 laps
0.1u after about 5,000 laps

I may increase these lap numbers as I gain more knowledge. At this rate, a 5g tube of diamond paste should last me about 20 to 30 years.

The 0.1u hanging is just the normal 0.1u pasted balsa strop but only held at one end with one or two fingers and the thumb so that it hangs down. You then VERY lightly strop vertically top to bottom to top. This removes the support normaly given by hand holding and also removes the weight of the blade from the stropping pressure so that your stropping pressure is even lighter than hand held.

With a properly prepared SR edge, you never need to hone again (baring physical damage) if, after each shave, you give the edge about 50 laps on a 0.1u diamond pasted hanging balsa strop. Also, your edge seems to keep on improving.

My routine is 50 laps on a clean leather strop, shave, 50 laps on a 0.1u pasted hanging balsa strop and then gently wipe the blade to remove any diamond particles before putting it away. You don't want diamond particles to get on your leather strop before you next shave.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
My 0.1um diamond pasted balsa strop after about 3,000 laps use.

IMG_20200518_075517.jpg
The balsa strop is about 300mm x 75mm x 36mm thick. It consists of (from the top) 10mm thick balsa, 6mm thick ceramic tile (to prevent warping of the balsa) and 18mm thick PVC structural foam (painted with acrylic). The glue used for PVC to ceramic was epoxy and rubber (Rugby) glue for balsa to ceramic.

This gives me a basla strop that is about 75% of the mass of one based on cast acrylic and plenty of thickness to protect my delicate manicure 😁.

I used rubber glue to that it would be easier to replace the balsa if ever needed.

I have two others of the same, one for 0.5um and one for 0.25um. Each is stored in its own airtight container to prevent cross contamination of diamond particles.
 
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My 0.1um diamond pasted balsa strop after about 3,000 laps use.

The balsa strop is about 300mm x 75mm x 36mm thick. It consists of (from the top) 10mm thick balsa, 6mm thick ceramic tile (to prevent warping of the balsa) and 18mm thick PVC structural foam (painted with acrylic). The glue used for PVC to ceramic was epoxy and rubber (Rugby) glue for balsa to ceramic.

This gives me a basla strop that is about 75% of the mass of one based on cast acrylic and plenty of thickness to protect my delicate manicure 😁.

I used rubber glue to that it would be easier to replace the balsa if ever needed.

I have two others of the same, one for 0.5um and one for 0.25um. Each is stored in its own airtight container to prevent cross contamination of diamond particles.
Interesting. I also strop post shave 20x linen, 20 leather before going to the diamond. My theory is to align the edge prior to honing to remove any jaggedness that may cause uneven wear on the bevel or create toothiness in the edges as the microscopic jaggedness is ground out. I am coming up to about 2000 laps now and am starting to feel that the cutting power of the diamond may be reducing. I have gone for a thick piece of balsa 26x70x300mm stored in a humidor to combat warping. I intend to get an acrylic backing but haven’t got around to it yet. The humidor seems to be working and the thick piece is very stiff.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Here is my thread on making a balsa strop:
 
Still in. I keep using almost the same setup as last month. The difference is that I switched to badger brushes for now. Probably, stating the obvious, but I find Arko to be a great soap irrespective of price. I still slightly prefer the MWF and the Tabac, but I could happily stick ;) to Arko if needed.
 
Great shave today.

Charcoal Goods Level 3 razor
Nacet blade
Morris & Forndran brush
Dirty Bird scuttle
Grooming Dept pre-shave
Talbot Grace soap
Maol Grooming Grace aftershave

Still in.
 
Still in! SOTD - 18 MAY 2020

SOTD 05182020.jpg


Brush - Omega 10066
Lather - Cube 2.0 + Proraso White
Razor - CJB Kamisori Shavette
Blade - Feather AC Pro (6)
Post - Thayer's WH Rose

Great shave today. A full shave with the CJB and barely any irritations. I'll call it a success. Proraso was okay and I do prefer other soaps.

I got tempted by a great deal on BST but said no right away. I gotta stop looking around, seriously, :).
 
With unusually hot days I put Nuavia Rosso back into cupboard and went with Edwin Jagger lime cream sample. Sample size is enough for two shaves. I feel bad for never trying this cream. My loss entirely. Great stuff.
 
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