Nate's "Trust Your Edge" Straight Journal

[cmh737]

Looking forward to that WB performed, for sure.

BTW, back to your "geometry challenged razors" - I've got a couple of those myself and wasted a great deal of time on them. And, I, like you, set them aside for another day. I may have to dig 'em out and see what I can do with them in the not-too-distant future. But then again, I've got enough "good" razors, that I'm not sure I want to even expend any energy on them.

 

[McVeyMac]

I have a C-MON microtome that has a warp in it. A microtome is essentially a wedge on one side, and a hollow ground on the other. I found posts where people had honed these and shaved with them. On my first attempt at honing it, I spent about 3 hours and gave up in disgust.

You have me itching to get it back out to see what I can do with it.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Looking forward to that WB performed, for sure.

BTW, back to your "geometry challenged razors" - I've got a couple of those myself and wasted a great deal of time on them. And, I, like you, set them aside for another day. I may have to dig 'em out and see what I can do with them in the not-too-distant future. But then again, I've got enough "good" razors, that I'm not sure I want to even expend any energy on them.

I have a C-MON microtome that has a warp in it. A microtome is essentially a wedge on one side, and a hollow ground on the other. I found posts where people had honed these and shaved with them. On my first attempt at honing it, I spent about 3 hours and gave up in disgust.

You have me itching to get it back out to see what I can do with it.

Those Microtomes Have GOT to be a serious PITA to hone for sure. I wouldn't even want to try one of those.

Finished up the second of the Geometrically Challenged W&B's today with the same progression as yesterday and with the same results sharpness wise. So hopefully when I put blade to whiskers it will prove worth the 13 hours spent on these two LMAO

Here they are together on the Hard Black Ark:

View attachment 596041

And here is the second blade all finished up:

View attachment 596042View attachment 596043View attachment 596044View attachment 596045

 

[rockviper]

That one looks pretty good. Nothing wrong with the earlier one either.

 

[McVeyMac]

Good luck with them. I'm hoping you are amazed at the way they shave.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

That one looks pretty good. Nothing wrong with the earlier one either.

Thank you my Friend, I only hope they Shave as good as they look. This is so much fun to learn how to do

Good luck with them. I'm hoping you are amazed at the way they shave.

I am too my Friend, got about another hour or so before I try them out. In the meantime I am posting my last Honing of the day below. I absolutely LOVE this little Razor.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

My Last Honing of the day. I cannot say enough GREAT things about this little "Tiny Titan". It had a couple SUPER SMALL blemishes in the blade from my evil whiskers so I simply could not allow that to stay. I had to rehone my Lovely little Genco 5/8 Master Cutler:

Hone Progression Breakdown:

King 1K: 90 Laps to remove the blemishes and micro nicks
King 6K: 60 laps
Guangxi 12K: 100 Laps
Black Hard Ark: 200 Laps
200K Diamond Spray on 4" Home Made Duck Cloth Strop: 75 Laps.

Results:

 

[Devonmoonshire]

What I believe to be about as Mirror Finish as I presume this stone will get.

Reflection from my Black Hard Ark Now:

 

[rockviper]

^^^
That's dry, right?

 

[Devonmoonshire]

^^^
That's dry, right?

Almost, I am not washing it after use so it has the left over oil from after honing that I rubbed in with my finger. 3 Drops of Smith's sufficiently honed all three razors on this bugger today.

 

[cmh737]

My goodness - that is awesome!

 

[McVeyMac]

Looks broke in to me.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Looks broke in to me.

That it is my Friend And it is dishing out some GREAT! Edges!!

 

[Devonmoonshire]

As the title suggests I finally did the math on how many straight shaves I have actually done up to this point LOL So excited I forgot to count em up.

Tonight's Experience:

After a lot of Work on this blade to bring the edge I knew was hiding in there out to the surface I definitely managed to do so.

The Prep:
10 Minute shower using Pantene Moisturizing Conditioner to pre-soak and soften them Whiskers. After the shower Hot towel for 2 Minutes with two refreshes in between.

The Weapons Of Choice:

The Brush: The Constellation
The Soap: My Frankensoap Creation
The Blade: The Now Properly Honed 11/16 Wade & Butcher Arrow with Barber's Notch and new Wood Scales.
The Post: TAOS Lavender Aftershave Balm.

The Photo:



The Verdict on the Honing:

I believe I have truly found the edge in this razor due to three reasons:
1: It very easily mowed through two days Growth
2: Even with no pressure and just the weight to glide it along it still gave me a decent sized, yet very clean, cut due to s little skip it took across a dry spot.
3: Even with a 2 pass and clean up with just this straight Razor, (No DE this time), there was absolutely No Burn from the A/S at all and my face is silky smooth.

Overall Results:

A very pleasurable and relaxing DFS with no discomfort save for the small slice I got due to the skip and even that didn't burn much at all when A/S was applied.

Skill evaluation:

I definitely need more practice of course in really learning the twists and turns in the road that is my face. However I feel that it is coming along on pace with the number of shaves I have had so I am happy at the level I am at now and will continue to learn more each day as I map everything out in search of that "Perfect Straight Razor Shave" that I so long to get to.

 

[cmh737]

Great job, on all counts!

 

[McVeyMac]

Ok, now that you have the honing situation worked out to your satisfaction, you can take your time to focus on the shave. It is always the hardest thing while beginning to get a really good shave from a sub-standard edge because you do not have the experience to know how well it is supposed to cut when sharpened correctly. Conversely, beginners might start out with an excellently honed razor, and get poor results due to inexperienced technique. Combining an excellently honed edge with impeccable technique gets us to shaves like we have never before experienced. And this was my goal when starting. As you get further along into the journey, it might be well worth the $30 or so dollars with shipping to get one of your razors honed by one of the very good honemeisters here on the forum in order to compare your results, or, you can pair up with a honing buddy and swap razors back and forth, constructively critiquing each others edges as you go.

When I began honing, I would judge the edge mainly by feel. Smooth with no tugging in either direction was the best that I could discern. At around 100 shaves, I began to judge them by how well they performed at removing whiskers from my problem areas given my already proven technique.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Great job, on all counts!

Thank you very much Chris, one obstacle down and now to get down to business with really "Learning" the shave. It should be easier with proper blades for sure.

Ok, now that you have the honing situation worked out to your satisfaction, you can take your time to focus on the shave. It is always the hardest thing while beginning to get a really good shave from a sub-standard edge because you do not have the experience to know how well it is supposed to cut when sharpened correctly. Conversely, beginners might start out with an excellently honed razor, and get poor results due to inexperienced technique. Combining an excellently honed edge with impeccable technique gets us to shaves like we have never before experienced. And this was my goal when starting. As you get further along into the journey, it might be well worth the $30 or so dollars with shipping to get one of your razors honed by one of the very good honemeisters here on the forum in order to compare your results, or, you can pair up with a honing buddy and swap razors back and forth, constructively critiquing each others edges as you go.

When I began honing, I would judge the edge mainly by feel. Smooth with no tugging in either direction was the best that I could discern. At around 100 shaves, I began to judge them by how well they performed at removing whiskers from my problem areas given my already proven technique.

That honing part really was a difficult one. I just wanted to be able to reproduce the feel of the Edge I got from Larry at Whipped Dog as it was truly shave ready. So that was the "Feel" I was aiming for when I first started honing these. I have gotten it on both of my cheap Hashir Razors that came with my Strop but was unable to get the same effect from these two W&B's. Now that I have them I can definitely concentrate on the technique in order to get better shaves and less wounds. These buggers Bite Hard when you get sloppy or in a rush.

So now begins the Real Journey, the Journey to consistency, consistency and more consistency at being able to 1: Get to a Great Shave and 2: To be able to reproduce it.

I kinda like the idea of a honing swap buddy because ultimately I think it focuses a person more in order to do the very best job you can since it is going to be tested by someone else. Sort of forces you into good technique and concentration.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Straight Shave #24

Tonight's Experience:

The honing on the 6/8 W&B Arrow without the Barbers Notch was definitely excellent. Whipped right through the stubble with little to no effort. Now that I have a proper bevel set on this sucker I bet it will only get smoother from here on out.

The Prep:
10 Minute shower with no conditioner this time. After the shower Hot towel for 2 Minutes with two refreshes in between. Used a little pre-shave oil for the extra Lavender scent tonight too. Really doesn't do much for me shave wise.

The Weapons Of Choice:

The Strop: Hashir 2 1/2x18 in. 25/70 Canvas/Leather
The Pre-Oil: TAOS Lavender Pre-shave Oil
The Brush: The Constellation
The Soap: TAOS Unscented
The Blade: The Now Properly Honed 6/8 Wade & Butcher Arrow without Barber's Notch.
The Post: Stetson Preferred Stock (Changed things up a bit tonight)

The Photos:





Results:

Blade:
Felt great, very little to no irritation and extremely easy to go through the whiskers.

Lather:
The lather I get with just about anything with this homemade brush is only getting better and better every time I lather up, face, palm, bowl or just in the container it came in.

The Shave:
Extremely Close, I may even go as far as BBS as it passed the dry cotton ball test tonight. Very relaxing and comfortable with very little irritation, mostly on the areas I still have trouble getting to which will decrease with time and practice. I did get a couple nicks mostly due to the joint in my hands shifting on occasion due to arthritis, which makes the blade twitch and bite me. Nothing I can do about that one but at least tonight I did not get any nicks due to overpressure so THAT is a win.

Post Shave:
Got a little burn on this one due to the nicks and places I spent more time on due to above mentioned problem areas.

Overall Thoughts:

My Shave today was better than yesterday, and THAT is the important part. Was it perfect? No but it was better and as long as I keep getting better than I am making progress which is what I am here to do right?

 

[Devonmoonshire]

After a 16 hour day I must concede that I am too tired to attempt a straight shave tonight. I will shave in the morning after some rest. I hope the Shaving Gods can forgive me I am just way too loopy to even think I can do this without serious injury.

Hope everyone has a great night.
Sincerely;
Nate

 

[cmh737]

Wise to wait till the morning.