Rusty Blade’s Wet Shaving Journey

[Rusty Blade]

I think you did very well at the antique store. You can clean up those razors with polish after a good soaking and cleaning and then one them up.

Sent via Tapatalk from phone

Hey Pete. It's really hit or miss...some days you just get lucky...yesterday was a good day.

 

[labrax]

Hey Pete. It's really hit or miss...some days you just get lucky...yesterday was a good day.

Yup, it certainly is. Probably my best score at a thrift store was a Senator in Mint condition for like $8 and then a mint Fat Boy that looked new, but the box was scratched up on the outside for $10. Some days you get lucky, but it takes a lot of checking and legwork.

 

[Rusty Blade]

When I travel I always enjoy using Nivea Original Shave Cream. This is an incredible product...and inexpensive at $5 a tube. It rivals any luxury shave cream.

Pre: Proraso preshave cream
Razor: Merkur 23c / GSB
Brush: Omega
Cream: Nivea Original
Posr: Witch Hazel/ Clinique Post Shave Soother


I hope to find some time today to continue restoring my straight razors.

 

[Rusty Blade]

Early morning shave.

Pre: Proraso preshave cream
Razor: Merkur 23c / GSB
Brush: Omega Boar
Soap: Cella
Post: Witch Hazel / Jack Black Post Shave Cooling Gel

View attachment 663047

On on another matter...I continue to work on my SRs. I have completed Round 1 of the restoration of the Carbo Magnetic 60 Griffon xx. Here is a photo of the outcome of my efforts:

My process was as follows: I used 800, 1000 and 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Once the sanding is done I do several polishing sessions with Mothers Mag and Aluminium Polish. I was surprised when I took the photo that I could see the reflection of my hand holding my iPhone.

 

[Rusty Blade]

Repeat shave this morning with my Nivea Original...on the road again! Love this cream...it's like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes.

 

[Rusty Blade]

Enjoyable Sunday morning shave today. I have cleaned up my Merkur 23c and put a fresh blade in the Schick for the coming week. Always a great shave with the Haslinger soap. On my road trip I managed to pick up a few nice straight razors. I have some restoration work ahead of me. I am going to learn to hone my razors as well. This will be a nice summer, fall and winter project. I always enjoy learning a new skill.

Pre: Proraso preshave cream
Razor: Schick
Brush: Simpsons Special
Soap: Haslinger Schafmilch
Post: Witch Hazel and Jack Black Post Shave Cooling gel.

 

[Rusty Blade]

Nice shave this morning. I really enjoy this combination of products. The GFT is particularly nice.

Pre: Proraso preshave cream
Razor: Schick
Brush: Semogue
Cream: GFT Coconut
Post: Witch Hazel / Jack Black Post shave Cooling Gel



Today I begin the restoration of the straight razors I picked up on my travels. I have ten razors, all vintage, all in good condition. I am going to teach myself how to hone. The forums are a great resource and Youtube can't be beat for learning new skills. I am just waiting for a few honing supplies to arrive in the mail. I am looking forward to learning a new set of skills. I will post my restoration journey in this diary as well. I am quite excited.

 

[Rusty Blade]

Just before I get to my shave for today, I thought I would update you on my SR restoration project. I recently purchased 10 antique store SRs from a recent road trip. They are all in pretty good shape, but they do require some TLC to restore them to health. The first stage in the restoration for all of them is to clean them up: steel wool, WD40, a bit of sanding to remove rust and pitting, staining, etc. Clean up the scales. Then I spend hours polishing with Mothers Mag and Aluminium polish. This is phase 1 of my restoration. I am waiting for my honing material to arrive in the mail. That will be Phase 2...putting a new bevel on the blades and sharpening to shave ready. I may have posted a couple of my earlier work when I was travelling. It was a nice way to spend the long evenings. I purchased two Carbo Magnetic Griffin razors. This one below is the second.



My shave for today is one of my old reliable shaves...a near perfect shave every time. Even the Doctor approves!

Pre: Proraso Preshave cream
Razor: Schick
Soap: Haslinger Schafmilch
Brush: Victoria Badger
Post: Witch Hazel and Jack Black Post Shave Cooling Gel

 

[Rusty Blade]

I am a bit tired today...was up late last night watching Youtube videos and reading up on bevel setting and honing. One thing is clear -- everyone seems to do it differently. While the desired outcome is the same, the pathway to getting there is different. Fortunately, I have 10 razors to experiment with. I have identified four or five that are really nice vintage razors. I would like to do those ones really well and use as my daily razors. The remainder will be trainers. I think I may identify two or three approaches to bevel setting and honing and try a different approach on each razor until I find one that seems to work for me. Can't wait to set metal to stone.

Great shave this morning. I just don't know if it can get any better than this...

Pre: Proraso preshave cream
Razor: Schick
Brush: Simpsons Special
Cream: GFT Coconut
Post: Witch Hazel / RB Balm

 

[Rusty Blade]

My shave was generally pretty good, though for some reason this blade (only 5 days old) is giving me trouble. I usually can get 10 days easily out of a Schick blade, but this one is causing me a bit of grief. A few small weepers. The lather was great, prep was good...so I don't understand why. I will try it one more time tomorrow and if it pulls or gives me any trouble I will switch over to a DE and a GSB. Always a guarantee of smoothness and delight.

Pre: Proraso Preshave cream
Schick
Brush: Vie Long
Soap: Haslinger Schafmilch
Post: Witch Hazel / RB Balm /Jack Black Post shave Cooling Gel



I am waiting patiently for my honing supplies to arrive.

 

[labrax]

Looking forward to seeing your restoration results on each of these new to you straights.



Sent via Tapatalk from phone

 

[Rusty Blade]

Look no further! Here is one I just finished up today -- a Wade and Butcher, Sheffield, England.

I did this all by hand, starting with WD40 and some steel wool, 800, 1000, and 2000 wet/dry sandpaper, Mothers and Mag Aluminium Polish...and lots of elbow grease. I am quite pleased with the results.

View attachment 664814

 

[Rusty Blade]

My scent sensitivities are active recently, so I am switching to my unscented products for a while. No pre- no post-shave products. Just a bit of Witch Hazel. Not sure why this happens, I have just learned to go with the flow. Barrister and Mann Unscented is a nice product...no complaints there. Amazing lather.

Razor: Schick
Soap: Barrister and Mann Unscented
Brush: Omega Boar

It doesn't get any simpler than that!

 

[Rusty Blade]

Great shave this morning. I am still going low scent today. I started by using Noxema Classic as my preshave cream. This scent doesn't seem to bother me. I generally massage this in and then rinse it off before I work up my lather. The Simpsons shave cream is a particularly nice product. Absolutely no scent and a great lather. The Schick blade that I complained about a few days ago seems to have settled down. Nothing but smooth sailing now.

Pre: Noxema Classic
Razor: Schick
Cream: Simpsons
Brush: Semogue
Post: Clinique Post Shave Soother


I am expecting my honing stones and strop this week. I have several SRs ready to sharpen. I am quite excited. I know it will take some time to get the hang of it...but the way I see it -- if others can do it, so can I. And you have to start somewhere. I still have a couple of SRs to restore. This time I will remember to take before and after pictures. This one is a Geo Wostenholm & Son (Peerless), Sheffield. It is a full hollow, 9/16ths, carbon steel. This one has a beautiful etching on the blade -- "Peerless". I find these a bit more difficult to clean up because I don't want to damage the etching with sandpaper! It seems like it will clean up easily...but you never know. It is very sturdy with the extra pin in the scales. This one won't be the first on the stones. I want to make sure I sharpen this one correctly! I can't seem to find much on dates. This is different from the world of DEs where dates are easily found either by the make or by date stamping. Not so with SRs!

 

[Rusty Blade]

What's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome? Well then I am insane. This morning as I was laying in bed I decided that I had not tried a three pass shave since I started using my Schick Type G. Who knows...maybe this time it would be different. So I lather up my wonderful Barrister and Mann Unscented and work it into my beard. I do three extra light passes WTG, XTG and ATG...and I thought I did a nice job until I rinse and put on the Witch Hazel. It was as if someone had come in during the night and switched my Witch Hazel for some caustic chemical. And I had several small weepers to cap things off nicely. Fortunately, the Jack Black Post Shave Gel worked its usual magic and it settled the irritation nicely. And in the end..I didn't even get a true BBS shave....close, but not quite. But I wasn't going back for another pass.

Pre: Proraso preshave cream
Razor: Schick Type G
Brush: Semogue
Soap: Barrister and Mann Unscented
Post: Witch Hazel (ouch) and Jack Black Post Shave Cooling Gel (ahhhh).



On another note...I worked on another SR restore project yesterday. This was a Geo Wostenholm and Son, Sheffield England. The beautiful etching in the original photo disintegrated fairly quickly once I started trying to clean up the water staining. And yes, I was careful! So I decided to clean it down to a near mirror finish and have a plain blade. There must be some trick (which I obviously don't know) to clean up this type of fine etching on the blades. Still, I am not disappointed...I like a clean look.

Before:
View attachment 665659

And after:

 

[Rusty Blade]

This morning I decided to switch up my soaps and start using Mitchel's Wool Fat again. I cut a piece of the puck I had and pressed it into an Old Spice mug. I had it in a 1 cup Pyrex container, but the container was quite full and I wanted some space to whip up a lather. The OS mug is just the ticket...I left about 3/4 of the mug empty, so I have lots of room to lather.

This Schick blade has been inconsistent. It has not been as smooth as others I have used. Even today it just didn't feel as comfortable. Its been 9 days since I last switched. I think tomorrow I will either switch to a DE or replace the blade.

This morning I also used MWF bath soap. It is as amazing as the shaving soap. Great product.

Pre: MWF bloom water
Razor: Schick Type G
Brush: Simpsons Special
Soap: MWF
Post: RB Balm, Proraso green ASB (just a bit)...

 

[Rusty Blade]

Some time ago I received a soap sample from Crown Shaving Company called "Sacre Bleu". I scooped it out and put it in an OS mug...decided to use it this morning. Scent is a big stronger that I would prefer, but it was okay. I would describe it as a manly fragrance. The kind of fragrance my father would have liked. Nice lather. It is not a soap I would normally order...because of the stronger scent.

One pass WTG...one small nick on my Adam's Apple. Time to ditch this blade. I have a GSB loaded in my Merkur 23c for tomorrow.

Pre: Warm water
Razor: Schick
Brush: Omega Boar
Soap: Sacre Bleu -- Crown Shaving Company
Post: Jack Black Post Shave Cooling Gel



On another note...I am afraid I have been been bit by a bad case of SRAD. I picked up a Genco Gold Seal SR yesterday. I will enjoy cleaning and restoring this razor. I am starting to develop a backlog of razors to be cleaned and restored. Better get busy! I am a bit concerned about the celluloid scales. They are in good condition, but from what I read they can disintegrate from some hideous disease called "cell rot"...I am guessing this is the Ebola or gangrene of the SR world. Have to treat the scales carefully.
View attachment 666139

 

[Rusty Blade]

This morning I had a great shave. I switched to the Merkur 23c and did one pass WTG. Darn near fainted the shave was that nice!

Pre: MWF bloom water
Razor: Merkur 23c / GSB
Brush: Semogue
Soap: MWF
Post: Witch Hazel and Jack Black Post shave Cooling Gel

 

[Rusty Blade]

Last evening I spent some time working on my Genco Gold Seal SR. I did not want to remove the pin, so I did this by hand with only Mothers Mag and Aluminium polish on the blade, tang and tail. The rust on the tail and pivot I used a bit of sandpaper, and carefully used a home made sandpaper dental floss and regular dental floss to clean up the pivot. The after photo is not the best -- it shows the tail as being dark, but it is quite clean and shiny. There is some very small pitting on the tail from the rust. For the scales I only used warm soapy water and Q-tips. I am quite pleased with the outcome.

Before:


And after:

 

[Rusty Blade]

I had a wonderful shave this morning. I put a new blade in the Schick and this one is smooth as silk. The last one just wasn't up to par. However, we will not dwell on the past, but boldly face the future.

Pre: MWF bloom water
Razor: Schick
Brush: Omega
Soap: MWF
Post: Proraso Green ASB