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My 7-day Set

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
A while ago I was reading up on some of the history of SR shaving. One short comment stuck in my mind.

"Every true gentleman of means should have a seven-day razor set."

Well, I believe that I am a true gentleman and I am of (at least modest) means. I have decided to put together a 7-day set of identical straight razors.

My SR of choice will be one of the Titan 1918 models due to cost and quality. I already have two ACRM-2 blades and a VG10-HZ and ACRO on order. Once I try the two ordered blades, I will make a decision on which blade to use in my set.

I know that there is no physical reason to have a 7-day set, however there are also psychological reasons to take into consideration.

This will be a longer-term project, so as things develop, I will update here in this topic.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I am rather partial to timber scales, particularly mahogany scales. I have my preferred local Filipino cabinet maker lined up to make a custom display box for storage. I just haven't decided upon the box design yet.

I think I might engrave the spines with the week days in Latin, showing I'm an educated true gentleman.
 
The rabbit hole is deep!

When I started I thought two straights will be enough. Then seven, but somehow I have 4 seven day cases and recently had to buy the fifth!

It's a matter of principle, discipline, and maybe good practise for me to use every razor in turn, if I don't use them why do I have them? Also it gives you a opportunity to see if they require extra care and not be neglected. The only ones that don't get used in turn is the shavettes and DE's. For them it's a case of "when I feel like it".

Doesn't appeal to me to have a set of identical razors.

So what happens, in reality, is I take a case out and work my way through it. Strop them all and that one goes to the bottom of the pile. I don't keep to a specific day, in some cases when the shave was less than perfect I will give it some love and try again the next day until I am happy.

Problem is, how do you organise them? One case for 5/8th's, one for 6/8th's, one for smaller and kamisoris, and one for favourites:biggrin1:

Always look forward to the favourites case to come into rotation!
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
The rabbit hole is deep!

When I started I thought two straights will be enough. Then seven, but somehow I have 4 seven day cases and recently had to buy the fifth!

It's a matter of principle, discipline, and maybe good practise for me to use every razor in turn, if I don't use them why do I have them? Also it gives you a opportunity to see if they require extra care and not be neglected. The only ones that don't get used in turn is the shavettes and DE's. For them it's a case of "when I feel like it".

Doesn't appeal to me to have a set of identical razors.

So what happens, in reality, is I take a case out and work my way through it. Strop them all and that one goes to the bottom of the pile. I don't keep to a specific day, in some cases when the shave was less than perfect I will give it some love and try again the next day until I am happy.

Problem is, how do you organise them? One case for 5/8th's, one for 6/8th's, one for smaller and kamisoris, and one for favourites:biggrin1:

Always look forward to the favourites case to come into rotation!

Obviously you need a 30 day set. On day 31, don't shave. Or maybe a 365 day set?
 
This is my 7 day set for the week.
699646ED-9257-4AEE-9E06-4AA03C4008C8.jpeg
 
I have a "real" 7 day set but it's in desperate need of a full refurbishment.
Unfortunately it's at the bottom of the refurb pile at the moment as it will entail a LOT of work.
The case needs to be done, all the razors need to be cleaned, honed and some need a rescale but the scales are so thin it'll take some imaginative thinking.
 

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The rabbit hole is deeper than deep!

I have been engaged in this hobby for a little over a decade now, but I only started with straights last year. Since then, the shaving brushes, safety razors and all the other hardware have been seriously neglected. But this was not only limited within the shaving hobby, no! Unfortunately, other things in real life were also neglected! The straights acquisition disorder has gotten completely out of control at the beginning.

At first I wanted to buy an individually composed 7-day set of vintage Solingen straights. After that I wanted a 7-day set of international vintage straights. But since I cannot know before buying which straight suits me and which does not, I need a third 7-day set! The third one is only there temporarily, it's more a cache or buffer set, kinda survival of the fittest thing, so that finally two 7-day sets will remain. If we then add my learning straight, I get 15 straights. And when the collection is complete, I will have two more custom straights, one full hollow and one wedge, to top it off. A new straight will then only be added to the collection when another one moves on.

This is the only way I can keep the straights acquisition disorder in check. In the long run it will be 17. No more, no less! Amen, so be it!

PS: I do only strop and shave. All my straights are honed by pros. I don't see the point of investing a lot of money and time just to realize after a few years that you can't keep up with the best sharpeners. With the right care and technique, a blade can go 100 or more shaves between honings (e.g. properly stropped, only (!) before shaving and on leather, etc.).
 
The only seven day set that ever tempted me was a set by Theirs Issard. I know a new set sells for around £2000 and a flawless set came up for sale on eBay. Sold for about £600 if I remember correctly. Absolute bargain.

Beautiful razors, but when I thought about it, a cheesy joke came to mind:

A genie granted a Scotsman three wishes. First he wished for a bottle of the best whisky that will always be full. After taking a few good gulps out of it, he carefully inspected it only to see it's still full. That's great! I will have two more of them, thank you!

Silly man, I would only have asked for two. Just in case something bad happens to the first one.

 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Fistofthenorthstar got me thinking. I might need more than seven straight razors. If I am having guests for dinner or going out in the evening, I will sometimes shave twice a day. To keep the wear even on my 7-day set, I will need other razors for these extra shaves.

It's not easy being a true gentleman.
 
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despite certification to the contrary, by these standards, I'm not a gentleman. I can live with that. I'd like to get down to 2 mixed blade 7-day sets. I could easily live with just one mixed set. but yeah, nah. not likely.
 
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