Notes From The Edge

[Seveneighth]

A DE shave tonight. Rex Ambassador. Gillette Platinum blade. Mitchell's. Best Badger (unbranded). Pinaud Clubman.

Settings 6, 4, 2. I adjusted my ATG pass - hover style.

A great BBS. The only downside of the shave was that I had previously pulled the razor with miracle clock oil. The razor is performing better and better but I can't get rid of the smell of the oil.

Nevertheless, I think my skin needs a change right now which the DE shave are providing.

 

[Seveneighth]

I hope the psoriasis is clearing up.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Not yet. It'll take time. Or I'll go to a dermatologist.

 

[Seveneighth]

Life is getting in the way of shaving at the moment. Well that is not entirely true. It is getting in the way of honing and thinking too closely about shaving.

I have fallen into a rhythm of shaving with a stainless steel straight razors, using Mitchell's as preshave and lather. Good shaves all. This weekend I did not have time to shave until this evening (Sunday). The heavy growth came away easily. I used a Dovo Master's - refreshed it slightly with a few strokes on a pasted hanging strop, followed by canvas and leather. The first pass was so close I felt like I could have stopped there, but I have meetings tomorrow and would like my face to be really close. The second pass went beautifully as well. I have an extremely soft chin now. Happy shaves indeed.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Life is getting in the way of shaving at the moment. Well that is not entirely true. It is getting in the way of honing and thinking too closely about shaving.

I have fallen into a rhythm of shaving with a stainless steel straight razors, using Mitchell's as preshave and lather. Good shaves all. This weekend I did not have time to shave until this evening (Sunday). The heavy growth came away easily. I used a Dovo Master's - refreshed it slightly with a few strokes on a pasted hanging strop, followed by canvas and leather. The first pass was so close I felt like I could have stopped there, but I have meetings tomorrow and would like my face to be really close. The second pass went beautifully as well. I have an extremely soft chin now. Happy shaves indeed.

Nice to hear about.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Seveneighth]

Travel setup...

It's nice to hone and shave when you are the other side of the world on business. A little home from home to bring with you.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Travel setup...

It's nice to hone and shave when you are the other side of the world on business. A little home from home to bring with you.

A coticule?

What strop do you take on business trips?

I love that you don't use the usual cart for travel so many guys settle on (but I also see why they do; TSA issues; carry-on issues).

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Nice one, Kit

 

[Seveneighth]

Sorry chaps, not paying attention.

Here are the strops:

Robot Check

Nc Herold 9230 Double-Sided Leather Razor Strop - Hide on Felt - Russian Type - 32 cm: Amazon.co.uk: Health & Personal Care

Nc Herold 9230 Double-Sided Leather Razor Strop - Hide on Felt - Russian Type - 32 cm: Amazon.co.uk: Health & Personal Care

www.amazon.co.uk

You would like the second one, Jim. One side is pasted with something similar to black Dovo strop paste.

I am please with the coticule. I have finally got the hang of 4cm wide stones. This opens the door to many more good specimens - cheaper good 4cm stones are more common.

 

[Seveneighth]

On the subject of convex stones...

I bought a convex bout from The Superior Shave earlier in the year. It was a "Special" grade stone from Ardennes. I just didn't get on with it AT ALL. Eventually I gave up and lapped it flat, and lo and behold it turned into a phenomenal hone - possibly my all time favourite. It is fairly fast with slurry and yet produces a nice edge in the water stages.

On the other hand another coticule that I convexed myself has proven to be brilliant for wonky geometry razors.

The thing I find with coticules is that they don't hone well with a regular x stroke - at least they don't for me. The technique is quite a bit different from other stones. I find I need a back and forth stroke or a circle for most of the honing. Now that's all very well for nicely straight blades, but when you have a warp or problematic shoulders and you want to hone along the wonky geometry that's a major PITA with a back and forth or a circle. You can roll it but it takes 10x the concentration and these days I don't have the time or energy. For most razors I would switch to a nice synthetic progression or my Welsh or Scotch stones and roll my X strokes to get round the warp. This is fairly straight forward once you get the hang of it.

The problem comes with Solingen and Swedish steel. I just can't shave with these off anything other than a coticule. I don't know why. There is something about the steel that upsets my skin. Coticules are fine. I have tried every type of finish. A Charnley Forest is OK, but I still prefer a coticule edge. I have an absolutely TERRIBLE Dovo which has a warp down it that looks like one of those mirrors at the fairground. This is where my convex coticule is just perfect.

Using a sweeping elliptical motion you don't even have to think about how the edge is making contact with the stone. It just works.

 

[Seveneighth]

A coticule?

What strop do you take on business trips?

I love that you don't use the usual cart for travel so many guys settle on (but I also see why they do; TSA issues; carry-on issues).

Happy shaves,

Jim

I used to buy into the whole carry-on thing, but as I get older I have worried less and these days usually check a bag. It's great because, whilst everyone is trying to cram their over-sized carry on bags into the over head lockers you can swan onto and off the plane without too much hassle. There is a risk of the bag getting lost, but I feel that is what travel insurance is for.

On business travel, it is great to relax in your hotel room and shave properly.

 

[Somerled]

The thing I find with coticules is that they don't hone well with a regular x stroke - at least they don't for me. The technique is quite a bit different from other stones. I find I need a back and forth stroke or a circle for most of the honing.

Using a sweeping elliptical motion you don't even have to think about how the edge is making contact with the stone. It just works.

Think that's why I like the elipticot method so much - it just works, and feels right.
I bought a cheap 5x1 coticule months ago and it's a pretty fast stone. Perfect to start on a new razor with and easy to do with elipticot.

Although, when I finish under running water I'll change to X-strokes once the stiction starts to bite.

 

[Seveneighth]

Think that's why I like the elipticot method so much - it just works, and feels right.
I bought a cheap 5x1 coticule months ago and it's a pretty fast stone. Perfect to start on a new razor with and easy to do with elipticot.

Although, when I finish under running water I'll change to X-strokes once the stiction starts to bite.

Have you tried taking the elipticot all the way through? Tonight I refreshed a razor just with circular strokes, no x strokes, and the stiction bit hard under running water like that.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I swear you two talk a foreign language when discussing all this stuff

I finally ordered my tri-set of Welsh hones from AJ today. Just little ones - 150mm x 50mm. Although I'm still a little awkward in the use of a straight, and it does feel a little clumsy at times (partially due to using them so infrequently, and partially concerns about the health complications) I am at least capable of getting a shave of the quality I want now. Next step is to be able to hone to the quality I want. I expect with little hones like that, it'll be hand held with circular motions to get the best results.

Kit, did you say that you had to relap the hones from AJ? Is 600 grit wet and dry good enough for that?

 

[Somerled]

Have you tried taking the elipticot all the way through? Tonight I refreshed a razor just with circular strokes, no x strokes, and the stiction bit hard under running water like that.

Nope, not tried that. I'm picking out a couple of razors to refresh over the weekend, I'll give that a go then and let you know.

I swear you two talk a foreign language when discussing all this stuff

I finally ordered my tri-set of Welsh hones from AJ today. Just little ones - 150mm x 50mm. Although I'm still a little awkward in the use of a straight, and it does feel a little clumsy at times (partially due to using them so infrequently, and partially concerns about the health complications) I am at least capable of getting a shave of the quality I want now. Next step is to be able to hone to the quality I want. I expect with little hones like that, it'll be hand held with circular motions to get the best results.

Kit, did you say that you had to relap the hones from AJ? Is 600 grit wet and dry good enough for that?

600 W&D should do it, just remember to hatch the side of the stone your lapping with a pencil. Some people go OCD with lapping flat - near enough is good enough for me.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with your new hones Al. Just fire any questions you have our way.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

600 W&D should do it, just remember to hatch the side of the stone your lapping with a pencil. Some people go OCD with lapping flat - near enough is good enough for me.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with your new hones Al. Just fire any questions you have our way.

Excellent. Cheers Doug

 

[Seveneighth]

I swear you two talk a foreign language when discussing all this stuff

I finally ordered my tri-set of Welsh hones from AJ today. Just little ones - 150mm x 50mm. Although I'm still a little awkward in the use of a straight, and it does feel a little clumsy at times (partially due to using them so infrequently, and partially concerns about the health complications) I am at least capable of getting a shave of the quality I want now. Next step is to be able to hone to the quality I want. I expect with little hones like that, it'll be hand held with circular motions to get the best results.

Kit, did you say that you had to relap the hones from AJ? Is 600 grit wet and dry good enough for that?

The AJ ones weren't too bad as I remember. You should definitely lap them though. It was the Inigo Jones hone that definitely needed lapping. Wow - the Inigo Jones hones have gone up from £7.95 to £17.95.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

The AJ ones weren't too bad as I remember. You should definitely lap them though. It was the Inigo Jones hone that definitely needed lapping. Wow - the Inigo Jones hones have gone up from £7.95 to £17.95.

Wow! AJ's are about 50% thicker (albeit a little shorter) and I'm getting three plus slurry stones for £34.

 

[Somerled]

Have you tried taking the elipticot all the way through? Tonight I refreshed a razor just with circular strokes, no x strokes, and the stiction bit hard under running water like that.

Refreshed two razors at the weekend using the elipticot method and carried on all the way to the finish with circles.
I did find it a little difficult doing circles under running water with the amount of stiction I was getting though.
Actually had a hard time keeping the stone in my hand, it was tugging so much - like a magnet.

Did this with my Tanifuji 3 Dolls and Filarmonica Doble Temple 13. Both have given fantastic shaves, I must say.

Think this is my prefered method for honing, because I get consistantly good results this way.

I need to get myself a new slurry stone. The one you gave me is wearing out.
I bought that small 5x1 coticule with the intention of cutting it up for slurry stones. But it turned out to be a good coticule in it's own right. Glad I tested it before breaking it up!

 

[Seveneighth]

It's about time I started posting again.

Yesterday a disastrous start to a shave - a gash from an Ed Brice. It's been a long time since I have shaved with an Ed Brice and I was caught off guard. I switched to a vintage Kropp and finished off nicely.

Tonight a razor for which @Somerled made the scales. Smartened up the edge on my best coticule and got a BBS in two passes.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

It's about time I started posting again.

Yesterday a disastrous start to a shave - a gash from an Ed Brice. It's been a long time since I have shaved with an Ed Brice and I was caught off guard. I switched to a vintage Kropp and finished off nicely.

Tonight a razor for which @Somerled made the scales. Smartened up the edge on my best coticule and got a BBS in two passes.

What was is about the Ed Brice?