My First Vintage SR - by George Buttler & Co

[rbscebu]

Offer putting my GB "Shakespeare" through a full honing progression from 10k to 0.1μm diamond pasted balsa stopping, I shaved with it again this morning. Result was an improvement but the edge is still not dialled in. I needed one of my other SR's to finish my fool's pass.

Back to the honing for this SR. I will not let it beat me!

 

[Legion]

Offer putting my GB "Shakespeare" through a full honing progression from 10k to 0.1μm diamond pasted balsa stopping, I shaved with it again this morning. Result was an improvement but the edge is still not dialled in. I needed one of my other SR's to finish my fool's pass.

Back to the honing for this SR. I will not let it beat me!

What are you using to set the bevel?

 

[rbscebu]

What are you using to set the bevel?

I have not (yet) reset the bevel as the edge has been shavable. I will consider resetting the bevel this week. It might be the only way to go. At least than I will know that I have covered all bases.

 

[5whiskey]

Enjoy! And be careful of the vintage SR rabbit hole.
"Oh, I'll only buy just the one..."

View attachment 1280945

^^^Truth. It’s a good addict... I mean hobby though. Not to mention, I have this (likely completely unrealistic) belief that I will pass my collection down to my grandson and it may be of actual real value when he is a little older than I am now.

Back to the shave... yeah you definitely need to set the bevel. I‘ve purchased a few that seemed pretty good upon first glance, but after trying the quick way I’ve always needed to bevel set for best results.

 

[rbscebu]

....
Back to the shave... yeah you definitely need to set the bevel. I‘ve purchased a few that seemed pretty good upon first glance, but after trying the quick way I’ve always needed to bevel set for best results.

I am now thinking the same.

 

[DrStrange]

I would start with a Sharpie test.

 

[rbscebu]

I would start with a Sharpie test.

I did. That was the first thing that I did upon receiving the SR. The whole bevel passed the sharpie test. That is why I initially did not reset the bevel.

 

[Legion]

I did. That was the first thing that I did upon receiving the SR. The whole bevel passed the sharpie test. That is why I initially did not reset the bevel.

Did you do it on a stone?

A sharpie test is not too accurate if it is done with pastes on a surface with any give whatsoever.

 

[rbscebu]

Did you do it on a stone?

A sharpie test is not too accurate if it is done with pastes on a surface with any give whatsoever.

Yes, it was done on a freshly lapped 10k stone. All I can think is that the edge was slightly rounded, so fine that I could not see any ink using my loupe.

 

[rbscebu]

I had a bit of free time this afternoon so reset the bevel on George using a 4k synthetic. Then refined it on 8k and 12k before putting it though a diamond pasted balsa strop progression. Overall about 30 minutes work.

The edge on George easily tree-tops along its entire edge at better than 10mm. That matches many of my other SR's so I have George booked in for a shave on Monday morning and will report back in this thread.

I expect that George will perform well but he may improve with a few more diamond pasted balsa strop progressions.

 

[rbscebu]

This morning I shaved with George after resetting the bevel and honing up the edge last week. The shave went well, however the edge is still not up there with the best. I will continue shaving with George for the next few days, putting it though a full diamond pasted balsa strop progression after each shave until I can notice no more improvement.

 

[rbscebu]

Three more shaves, each followed by a full diamond pasted balsa progression, and things are coming together. This morning produced an almost-perfect shave with George.

I have still been noticing an edge improvement with each shave so I will continue with this routine for a little longer. The only area were George is still letting me down is in the fool's pass. The shave is smooth but not yet resulting in an upper lip BBS finish. I probably could have speeded this process up by going back to some of the finer lapping films but I prefer to take things slow and steady, particularly with this SR.

I am confident now that I can achieve my desired result with this SR.

My Cadman "Bengalls" should be in my hands by the end of this week.

 

[rbscebu]

My George Butler "Shakespeare" has been put through another couple of shaves followed by full diamond pasted balsa progressions. This SR is now dialled in well enough to include it in my normal shaving progression. Not yet my best but still damned good.

 

[rbscebu]

Six months later. My George Butler "Shakespeare" has improved with a few more shaves and full pasted balsa strop progressions. Its edge is now up to the standard of my Revisor 6-0035 and most of my other SR's.

I am now looking at buying a Brookes & Crookes 6/8 in natural ivory scales. Not too motivated with this as the asking price of about $200 it at the top limit of what I am prepared to pay for a SR (new or used).

 

[Steve56]

Keep your eyes open, Brookes and Crookes are not that rare, even in ivory.