(Slaps link to thread) You Can Fit So Much Wrong In This Journal

[thombrogan]

Thanks for the tip. I’m afraid menthol must remain a post-shave treat because it dulls my tactile senses.

 

[TinyT]

Thanks for the tip. I’m afraid menthol must remain a post-shave treat because it dulls my tactile senses.

That's why I like it.

 

[Dovo1695]

@Dovo1695 ,

If I understood your mentions here and in your croap-measuring thread correctly, the higher the number on the Dovometer tm, the harder the soap? And a harder soap is more likely to contain less water and unsaponified lipids due to its higher density, thus delivering more shaves’ worth of lather per volume? And from the original thread, where are you getting these rigid Fatip Grande razors? The blade exposure on my family’s Fatip Grande makes it a flappy bird, even if less flappy than an R41.

Yup, the dovometer measures the mm compression of a pen spring. The scale is linear, so a dovometer of 18mm (Mogno) is roughly double the hardness of 10mm (Arko). Mogno wears like carbide; I'm 60 shaves in and I've barely dented it.

Rigid is relative for sure. I always found the Fatip grande/piccolo to be a fairly rigid razor. That said, the quality control of Fatip razors has historically been such that no two razors shaved alike. We could be shaving with very different razors.

Recently though, the QC has improved considerably. My understanding is that they have implemented statistical quality control out to 4 sigma, and that they are using a letter-level accuracy standard. If it looks like a "T", it passes.

These QC improvements have only been in place for the last six months or so though. Maybe it's time to uprade your grande?

 

[thombrogan]

Last night’s shave
RazoRock BBS
Bic Chrome Platinum (4)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: ARKO!
Post-shave lather: ARKO!
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block
Stirling Unscented Menthol with Witch Hazel & Aloe Vera
Stirling Glacial Unscented Aftershave Balm

Three passes, WTG/XTG/ATG + some ATG cleanup. Better than first voyage. Got a little better at lighter touch and a little better at XTG, but only enough to write here and not home. Some weepers under jawline, but less and smaller than less time. Want to go back to move overt skin stretching to see if that improves everything, but will try getting better at lighter touch for the next few excursions.

Happy shaves, everyone!

If it looks like a "T", it passes.

LMAO!

Maybe it's time to uprade your grande?

The RazoRock BBS and Ikon X3 are both upgrades over my current Grande. And my Grande is its own upgrade if used at a shallow angle. Though a gold Fatip Lo Storto Originale would likely have better quality control, more rigidity, and less likely to be taken and publicly displayed by Raven (my nickel plated Grande constantly relies on Mr. Koenes’ good character and his fear of spousal scolding).

Yup, the dovometer measures the mm compression of a pen spring. The scale is linear, so a dovometer of 18mm (Mogno) is roughly double the hardness of 10mm (Arko). Mogno wears like carbide; I'm 60 shaves in and I've barely dented it.

Waiting on my town’s overloaded postal system to see if the Mogno lathers my whiskers like shimmering samite.

 

[Rosseforp]

Mogno wears like carbide

Oh my

statistical quality control out to 4 sigma

sounds a lot like statistical process control

If it looks like a "T", it passes

"Just more paperwork to slow us down" cried the workers.

 

[thombrogan]

Last night’s shave
RazoRock BBS
Bic Chrome Platinum (5)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: ARKO!
Post-shave lather: ARKO!
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block
Stirling Unscented Menthol with Witch Hazel & Aloe Vera
Stirling Glacial Unscented Aftershave Balm

Steep ATG for one full pass and some cleanup. A little extra work on the jawline provided some nicks, but improvement is on its way. The well-rounded, polished safety bar feels like the comb of the Fatip Grande, but the blade is bent to favor steep-angled sharpening and clamped closer to the edge. It has more learning curve, more efficiency, and more blade feel than I was expecting and I like it.

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[thombrogan]

That was supposed to say shaving, not sharpening. Was humming a tune about the Kershaw External Toggle folding pocketknife to myself (as one does) while typing.

 

[Esox]

You only need one hand for these.

Mine lives in the console of my car. The thumb stud is on both sides of the blade so you can open it with your thumb or index finger and those Veff serrations go through 1" nylon rope like it isnt even there.

 

[thombrogan]

Neat! Veff serrations intrigue me tons.

 

[thombrogan]

Last night’s shave
RazoRock BBS
Bic Chrome Platinum (1)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: ARKO!
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block

Shallow-angle shaving; feeling the lip of the razor cap just barely on my skin instead of the comforting safety bar…

Was down to a single weeper and alum heat under the jawline with no sting. Slightly better than the nickel-plated Fatip Grande for barely under thee times the price… ($7.50usd MMOC laughs smugly…)

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[thombrogan]

Last night’s shave
RazoRock BBS
Bic Chrome Platinum (2)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: ARKO!
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block

Steep, ATG, small, often slow strokes to foster a lighter touch. Kind of worked. Tiniest red dot at left corner of lips and slight, but present alum sting. Will see if this can be improved at next bout.

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[thombrogan]

Last night’s shave
RazoRock BBS
Bic Chrome Platinum (3)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts Incorporeal
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block

Pressed the rest of the sample into my classy, gray cereal bowl. It was easily transferred from its wee, glass container with the aid of a toothpick. With all its unsaponified fats and its clay, it’s likely immune to the effects of milling.

Swirled the damp brush into the cereal bowl and gently swirled until I assumed the brush was loaded a few seconds later. Face lathered and added lots and lots of water. The lather noticeably different from Arko lather at every stage of its development — even when it was finally hydrated and thinned out enough to be trusted.

Started out steep-angled ATG with buffing strokes. Did cleanup with the same. Got a weeper under the right jawline. Alum stung, but less than when I normally do dumb things like buffing.

Squeezed lots of lather out of the brush back into the gray bowl for use next time.

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[Raven Koenes]

Last night’s shave
RazoRock BBS
Bic Chrome Platinum (3)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts Incorporeal
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block

Pressed the rest of the sample into my classy, gray cereal bowl. It was easily transferred from its wee, glass container with the aid of a toothpick. With all its unsaponified fats and its clay, it’s likely immune to the effects of milling.

Swirled the damp brush into the cereal bowl and gently swirled until I assumed the brush was loaded a few seconds later. Face lathered and added lots and lots of water. The lather noticeably different from Arko lather at every stage of its development — even when it was finally hydrated and thinned out enough to be trusted.

Started out steep-angled ATG with buffing strokes. Did cleanup with the same. Got a weeper under the right jawline. Alum stung, but less than when I normally do dumb things like buffing.

Squeezed lots of lather out of the brush back into the gray bowl for use next time.

Happy shaves, everyone!

You recycle lather? That's a thing? BOSC rules!

 

[thombrogan]

That's a thing?

If Al can do it well, I can do it poorly.

 

[thombrogan]

Last night’s shave
RazoRock BBS
Bic Chrome Platinum (4)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts Incorporeal
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block
Stirling Unscented Menthol with Witch Hazel & Aloe Vera
Stirling Glacial Unscented Aftershave Balm

I chased the baby and my touch was not light. The combination of the gentle razor and Southern Witchcrafts lather make me feel invincible. I vinced myself.

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[thombrogan]

Tonight’s shave
RazoRock BBS
Personna Platinum (1)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts Incorporeal
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block

A different brand razor blade merely because I want to use up all my samples before tearing into the box of Bics I got in anticipation of this razor.

To reduce irritation, I went back to shallow or nigh-shallow (which appears steep due to the pronounced curve of the cap) and sought out avoiding tugging as much as possible. Clean-up was reduced to just around the Adam’s apple. And lathering was painting a thick layer of soap following by painting in the water to hydrate it. Got that from a thread discussing head shaving with a straight razor or shavette:

Wanted to add a line on creating this rich but slick lather, in case anyone finds my research helpful. Found the following method most reliable.

I've been applying a lot of soap to the brush with minimal water, to reduce the tendency of the lather to explode. 'Painting' this very dense stuff onto the scalp, then moistening brush tips with a bit of water and gently re-painting over this layer. This makes a lovely, super-slick lather.

I'd thought I was done with soaps having moved to using pharmaceutical moisturising creams instead, but find this method almost or equally as comfortable, and superior for longer stubble.

Read it because I know I’ll be back to using my Mythus one day (it’s orange!), but it works for DE lathers, too.

Applied slight zig-zag on strokes for cheeks/sideburns, too. Worked really well and I hope to gradually expand that technique across the whiskers as the skill improves.

No weepers. Alum just over cusp from heat to sting. Just a little less alum sting and this would’ve definitely been DFS results.

In related news, just got a tub of CeraVe Moisturizing Cream and the first application has me thinking future Stirling purchases will not include witch hazel or balms.

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[MurderousCrow]

Happy shaves, everyone!

Nice one @thombrogan, glad it was useful

Yep, happy shaves!

 

[thombrogan]

Tonight’s shave
RazoRock BBS
Personna Platinum (2)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts Incorporeal
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block

The zig-zag strokes improved comfort and reduced the need for cleanup. Still goofed and nicked my chin a little. No alum sting anywhere else, though, so yay that.

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[Sotiris_A]

Forgive my ignorance, what is a zig-zag stroke? Is it similar to the Gillette slide?

 

[thombrogan]

It’s moving slightly to the left and then slightly to the right iand repeating instead of moving in a straight line.