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My "Ah-Ha!" Moments

Therein lies the caveat, YMMV. Who's to say a certain razor was designed incorrectly?

When all else fails, however, Technique will win out over the greatest designed razor.

~doug~

To me, the old cliche about "building a better mouse trap" comes to mind.

There have been many attempts but the basic design remains unchanged. The modern versions may be made of different materials, are modern in aesthetics, etc, but the original gets the job done just as well.
 

Rosseforp

I think this fits, Gents
To me, the old cliche about "building a better mouse trap" comes to mind.

There have been many attempts but the basic design remains unchanged. The modern versions may be made of different materials, are modern in aesthetics, etc, but the original gets the job done just as well.
You could say the same about the automobile. What the modern version offers over the original is mostly creature comfort and efficiency. Both get the job done.

My 100 year old Gillette Old Type with the Thin Cap is extremely efficient and very capable of delivering a close comfortable shave. So does my Fatip Mk1 Grande, but it remains close to the original design.
Both should be used with care.

I think a Timeless 95 would be a razor that is quite far from the original design, using a process that simply was not available at that time of the original design.


~doug~
 
So, I've been TWS with a DE razor for almost one year. Lots of growing pains in the way of a few nicks (mostly minor), wasted money, flipping razors that just didn't work, etc...you know.

I've finally arrived at a place where I'm confident that I can use any DE razors and get a DFS result, and also some pretty strong opinions, which I reserve for this space.

Sidebar:

I used to hang out at an audiophile headphone and amplifier forum (Head-Fi, don't go there - you've been warned 🙂). Anyway, discussions used to get so heated, that the forum instituted a "no discussion of blind-listening" policy, meaning you couldn't rabidly debate the infinitesimal differences of the sonic differences between a $5 power cable and a $1200 power cable.

To illustrate the ridiculousness on display there, some members will swear as gospel that by replacing their $5 power cable (like the one connected to a computer tower) with a hand-made $1200 cable fashioned by a boutique cable-maker from the exact same copper, plus a dash of unicorn tears, their $5000 headphone amp sounds infinitely better than it does with the crappy $5 cable. Forget about the MILES of aluminum power cable supplying their home, and the copper, un-shielded Romex in the walls of their home - that last 3ft of $1200 cable makes their headphones sing like angels in heaven.

I can't verify their claims but I suspect that the above claim would bring a huge smile to the face of P. T. Barnum (even if it wasn't his quote).

All to say that I appreciate the gentlemanly behavior at this forum, which makes it special, and brings me to my point:

The BBS shave.

When I rate my shaves, I have decided that I have never achieved a "perfect shave" otherwise known as "a 10". I've rated a couple, on my own personal grading curve, as a "10" but will no longer do so unless I achieve a TRUE BBS shave, which I will define as my face feeling exactly the same as it did when I was 9 years old, or as smooth as my wife's whisker-free face.

I'm talking about NO STUBBLE, in any direction, not a trace.

I've gotten some DFS shaves that were very close to BBS, but like the unicorn tears, I don't believe true BBS exists, and will rate my future shaves accordingly.

Maybe some day I'll find myself at the end of a rainbow and it will happen. 🙂
 
When I rate my shaves, I have decided that I have never achieved a "perfect shave" otherwise known as "a 10". I've rated a couple, on my own personal grading curve, as a "10" but will no longer do so unless I achieve a TRUE BBS shave, which I will define as my face feeling exactly the same as it did when I was 9 years old, or as smooth as my wife's whisker-free face.
I have mentioned it elsewhere, but I came to the same conclusion, maybe slightly different definition. My daily shaves are between 9.2-9.4 without any irritation or soreness. An occasional 9.4-9.5 will cause some lasting soreness, but nothing more. That 9.5 is pretty much a culmination of a number of factors all coming to together, but requiring a sharper blade than I prefer in my most efficient razor. As far as I am concerned, above 9.5 exists by progressive removal of layers of skin as Iridian puts it. I bet I can get a 9.6-9.7 with a truly aggressive razor, but I have no desire to try. My face is completely smooth when wet after shaving with my 9 and above shaves. :thumbup1:
 
I have mentioned it elsewhere, but I came to the same conclusion, maybe slightly different definition. My daily shaves are between 9.2-9.4 without any irritation or soreness. An occasional 9.4-9.5 will cause some lasting soreness, but nothing more. That 9.5 is pretty much a culmination of a number of factors all coming to together, but requiring a sharper blade than I prefer in my most efficient razor. As far as I am concerned, above 9.5 exists by progressive removal of layers of skin as Iridian puts it. I bet I can get a 9.6-9.7 with a truly aggressive razor, but I have no desire to try. My face is completely smooth when wet after shaving with my 9 and above shaves. :thumbup1:

Yep.

The one thing I am certain of, from my actual experience, is that IF I somehow managed to get a BBS shave (not a single trace of any stubble), my face would be raw hamburger. So, my "10" is "9.5", which is BBS on the easy parts (cheeks, mainly) and VERY close and smooth feeling WTG/XTG everywhere else (neck, jawline, chin, moustache).

And to be clear: I've never bowled a perfect game, pitched a no-hitter, or had a hole-in-one. That doesn't mean those things don't happen, just extremely rare, and not in my world.
 
So, my "10" is "9.5", which is BBS on the easy parts (cheeks, mainly) and VERY close and smooth feeling WTG/XTG everywhere else (neck, jawline, chin, moustache).
Complete agreement. It might be worth adding that my new favourite measuring stick is my goatee area, the toughest densest stubble on my face. I have had shaves with an unfamiliar blade feel like they are routine 9.2 dropped a .2 point because I felt stubble too soon on my cheeks, only to drop it a further .2 because I can physically seen that the goatee stubble isn't all cut. I feel much better rating that a decent DFS+, but won't seek out that blade again. To me, this is where the sacred mysteries of bevel angles come into play, some blades seemingly nice enough only to not be able to get ahold of those goatee hairs.
 
Over nearly the past year, I've bought and sold a bunch of razors. Most of the razors I've sold were modern, low to mid-priced razors: Karve Overlander, Game Changer 84P, Winning, Henson, Fatip Gentile (PIF-ed), stainless steel Hawk, EJ DE89 (PIF'ed), Merkur HD (gave to my brother)...probably forgetting some...

I've hung onto most of my vintage razors except for a couple of Techs that I PIF'ed, a near new 195 in its case with blades, and a Lady Gillette Blue Star that a member wanted for his wife. So, the bulk of my collection is now vintage Gillette razors that I found locally for 5-10 bucks. The only modern razors I own are a couple of Game Changers, a Feather ASD2, a Pearl Flexi, a used Karve CB with two plates, a Blackland Vector, a couple of Hawk Ecos, and a Leaf. The last four are used exclusively for my head shaves.

I'm close to 40 razors, so a lot of vintage Gillette.

I've recently gotten to the point that I am confident enough in my technique that I can get a DFS shave with any of my razors, and cocky enough to believe that I could do the same with any DE razor.

The razors I sold were razors that I didn't agree with, and quickly parted with them. I'll admit that some were sold out of neglect, and me getting nervous about my pile-O-razors, or to justify the purchase of something else, but mainly because I didn't get the shave I expected.

So, today's Ah-Ha moment:

I may have sold them too soon.

I bet that today I could get a DFS shave from any/all of those departed razors.
 
Got bored and pulled out the buffing wbeel.

I recently picked up a very nice Carve CB with two plates for a great price in the BST forum. I shaved with the "B" plate and decided it is a keeper.

Now the question is:

Am I comfortable enough to polish it?...maybe plate it?

Baby steps...so I decided I would polish it and see what happens. No big deal, right?

I used my bench buffer to polish the yet-to-be-used-by-me "C" plate. I started with a 4" cotton wheel with white compound, then switched the cotton and used green compound to finish. So...

Today's Ah-Ha! moment:

I already knew this, but now I see it in action...a matte finish hides some (minor) warts in a metal finish.

My result was nice, but now I can see all of the tool marks that were hidden under the bead-blasted (?) factory finish. IF I do decide to attempt a mirror nickel plating of this razor, it is going to need some sanding to remove the machining marks, and then a multi-step polish.

This is what makes Chris at Back Roads Gold an artist, and me an amateur...but, practice makes perfect. 🙂

Anyway, here is my result after just minutes on the wheel, with the un-polished "B" plate on the bottom for comparison:

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It's hard to see but even though it is much shinier, and a bit smoother, if I try to plate it as-is I fear it will magnify the tool marks. For now, I'm going to leave it alone, at least until I get tired of the patina that I know will quickly appear.
 
Woah Joe, that's seriously impressive!

Since you appear to be a master of the elements, an alchemist in disguise and a matallurgical genius would you mind me asking how you would "repair" a silver plated topcap like the one of one of my NI razors?

I see you have experimented with copper and nickle. I take it this procedure doesn't work with silver?

Would there be a way to smooth this out without creating a laboratory like yours?

Any tips are welcome, but imagine a guy with zero knowledge about replating, touching up razors, then look 100 FT below to find me. 😅

I guess I am mostly worried that soap would eventually eat it's way through the cap, or is that something that won't happen here?

I found one way to solve it. The head of my Heritage adjustable gibbs replica seems to fit. Is that my A-Ha moment or would that be cheating? 🤔😊

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Woah Joe, that's seriously impressive!

Since you appear to be a master of the elements, an alchemist in disguise and a matallurgical genius would you mind me asking how you would "repair" a silver plated topcap like the one of one of my NI razors?

I see you have experimented with copper and nickle. I take it this procedure doesn't work with silver?

Would there be a way to smooth this out without creating a laboratory like yours?

Any tips are welcome, but imagine a guy with zero knowledge about replating, touching up razors, then look 100 FT below to find me. 😅

I guess I am mostly worried that soap would eventually eat it's way through the cap, or is that something that won't happen here?

I found one way to solve it. The head of my Heritage adjustable gibbs replica seems to fit. Is that my A-Ha moment or would that be cheating? 🤔😊

View attachment 1604176

First of all "...master of none.." is probably more befitting. 😆😆😆

I haven't researched silver and though it likely can be done, possibly using different chemical solutions, in similar fashion.

One thing I will say is that the brightest and smoothest surfaces that I have been able to achieve in nickel have been the top caps. Those have been the easiest to prep, and the results have been very good.

If that is a brass razor head it can be prepped and plated very easily in nickle, but It may have a different hue, not quite as bright as silver.
 
The one-year anniversary.

Has it been a year already?

I started this about one year ago. My "join" date on B&B is March 11, 2022 but I started just before then, the exact date unknown, so I figure today is as good a day as any between now and March 11 for my one-year anniversary shave.

And how better to mark the date than to use the razor I used for my very first DE shave?

Well, that is exactly what I am going to do.

Last February, my wife stopped at a CVS pharmacy and I wandered into the shaving aisle. At the time I was put off by Gillette telling me how to be a man and started looking for an alternative. I was using Harry's as a middle finger to Gillette, and had recently returned a sizable stockpile of Gillette carts to Costco for a refund of nearly 200 bucks.

Anyway, there was my answer: a chrome-plated TTO with five blades (all unmarked) in a cardboard box, hanging among the scores of cartridge handles and refill blades, for the sum total of 15 bucks. I happily smirked (a derisive grin aimed at Gillette) and grabbed the razor and a tube of Creamo Sandalwood.

It felt liberating.

Anyway, I got home and read a little bit before attempting my first shave with my new toy, which I now believe to be a chrome-plated brass Bali or Viking clone.

I survived the shave with two minor cuts: one at the left corner of my mouth, and one on my chin. Neither bled much or for long, so success, right?

Well not really. I had read about "pressure" yet still managed to apply my normal ham-fisted, way-too-hard, cartridge technique which resulted in a hearty dose of razor burn. My face literally felt like it was on fire for the rest of the day and was still uncomfortable the next day.

That was the one and only shave with that razor - until today:

Chinese (?) TTO
Astra SP (I threw out the original unbranded blades)
Creamo Sandalwood (same tube, not used since the first shave)

No brush, no aftershave in order to replicate that very first shave. Just wash face, leave wet, apply a squeeze of Creamo and massage into beard. Since I'm going for 3 passes, I apply a bit more Creamo for each pass.

Now, I'm one of those guys cocky enough to believe that my technique has evolved to the point that I can pick up ANY razor and get a DFS in three passes, and aim to prove that to myself today. This razor is unfamiliar to me, having only been used once by me. For this shave, the one true variable is my full year of experience. To those that would argue "what about the blade?!!??", I will concede that it is different, but will counter with:

So what?

After doing this for a while, and using a bunch of different blades - and essentially getting VERY similar shaves - I've come to the (possibly controversial) conclusion that there is very little difference between the popular, mid-tier blades. Yes, there are a few outliers which are noticeably sharper or some on the other end which may tug a bit more, but in my limited experience most fall solidly into a normal bell curve, with little difference in performance.

So, how was the shave?

First pass was surprisingly efficient. I could have done some touchup and had a SAS, but I'm after DFS.

A tiny bit more Creamo and some water and a second XTG pass. Closer but not done yet.

Third pass ATG (primarily south-north, with a little diagonal) some touchup on jawline, chin and mustache area and done, just like every other shave.

The result was DFS, one weeper on my chin that stopped on it's own, and a smooth but very dry face-feel.

It's weird not using a brush, and the Creamo is OK in a pinch, but it's going back into the bottom drawer of the bathroom vanity. Overall a pretty good shave, on par with my expected norm. I could use this razor everyday if needed, but it just feels boring in a generic sort of way.

9.5 of 10

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