In order to keep the Interviews going, I am doing a tag team with Josh! I'm very happy to bring you an interview with one of our Stewards in the Straight Razor forum, Honed. If you have any questions for Jens, please, post them here for him! 
Who are you? / Where are you located?
My name is Jens, Im born, raised & still living in Sweden. I love old thing & I love sharp things. Vintage straights are both. Lovely!
How do you take your coffee?
Black. In buckets. Especially during the winter, my daily intake reaches hazardous levels.
What happened that made you seek a better shave, or if the chicken came before the egg, how did you find B&B?
I stumbled upon here, searching for some new blades when the original Swedes no longer were available. I saw some interesting subjects, signed up & the rest is history.
What was it that held your interest?
At first it was the idea that people actually could spend so much time talking about shaving. Ive always been fascinated by freaks, people who wholeheartedly dissect each & every angle about a subject that is just trivial to the general crowd.
Before long I became one of myself. My wife actually anticipated that. Didnt you see it coming? You should know yourself better then that by now - you dont have casual interests or hobbies - you only have obsessions
If i remember from your posts, you always used straights; What did you start with?
Nope, DE since my teens. Im one of the lucky few who had a father that actually taught me how to shave with a DE, brush & soap. Gillette SuperSpeed, Gillette Swedes, el cheapo drugstore brush & Palmolive stick.
I rolled with that for 20 years, with the occasional brush with a cartridge & using BIC yellows for travels.
Shave Cream & Soaps? what did you find that worked well from those initial trials?
After getting accustomed to B&B a wild shopping spree broke out. But it ended fairly fast. Id been using Palmolive soap or Tabac soap for so long & I found that very few could match their performance. The only other that actually gained a permanent place was Speick soap & Olivias crema. There are a couple of other that has given me decent results & those I add just to mix things up, among them are the Portuguese lanolin creams & some of the Italian soft soaps.
Where did you get your first straight razor? Was it shave ready?
Im addicted to antique & vintage things & I attend a lot of antique shows, dig thru yard-sales & thrift-stores so Ive actually picked up a couple of straight thru the years & theyve been sitting in my drawers just waiting
One day was that day, I sent one out, a vintage Solingen full hollow. It was one of these that sat around in my shop that I had rescued from some flea-market or such. After doing my first shave with it I never looked back. It all clicked. The bug bit me. And the madness begun
Determination is key with shaving with a straight, how did you push through the Month + of sub par shaves? did you know there was a light at the end of the tunnel?
The shaves werent that bad actually. I touched-up with my DE if necessary & just kept at it. And like my Precious pointed out in the above quote, when I get into things I tend to push them as far as I can. My determination borders on insanity, no doubt.
Now my favorite question... if you were stranded on a desert island and could only choose:
3 razors:
W&B 9/8 For Barbers Use wedge. Good for hunting & self-defense. Doubles as a frying-pan. Also great fun to shave with!
C.V Heljestrand MK#32 6/8 full hollow. The best straight razor ever produced by man.
3rd would be Swedish model frameback by Söderén, Jernbolaget or Klas Törnblom.
2 brushes:
Simpsons Colonel.
Instead of a second brush Id like to pack a small coticule for maintenance.
3 soaps:
Tabac, Palmolive & Speick
2 creams:
Olivias crema.
Id do like Ian & take some ice-cream instead of a second cream
3 colognes:
Ill just squeeze some fresh limes on myself if going on a date with a mermaid.
But, it might get a bit chilly after the sun is down & then it wouldnt be so bad to splash a drop or two of Trumpers Eucris on before snuggling up under a palm-tree with the before mentioned mermaid.
Aftershaves:
If I only can take one, Id bring Swedens pride Aqua Vera Rakvatten. Same recipe since it was born in the 1920s.
If I can add another one it would be hard to pick between Speick or Floïd Suave.
What is your strop preference and what is your stropping regime?
I almost exclusively use my Neil Miller 2.5 linen/buffalo.
I dont count laps but I guess its about 20/50 before a shave.
A few on the linen after shaving
A freshly honed blade gets maybe 30/60.
If I dont finish on pastes, then it a bit fewer on the linen.
What is your honing set up for ebay specials?
DMT 325 or 600 depending on just how bad the things are until the bevel looks good & even & passes TNT. Then onto Naniwa 1K for stiffer grinds or 2K Naniwa for hollows & proceed thru 5/8/10K. Or instead of the Naniwas I whip out a coticule & use dilutions. But the Naniwas has really grown on me lately.
Then its time for the grande finale, ze finish
Favorite finish?
I love a good coticule edge, for the smoothness, I have a small La Grosse Blanche (handpicked by Bart!) that creates a wonderfully velvet virgin smooth edge. Lovely!
But I also really like a sharp edge, so my vintage Thüri probably gets the most use. Either following the 10K or after the coti. Im still not sure if slurry to water or only water is best. Ive also played around a whole lot with pastes & since discovering Hand American diamond sprays Ive come to like diamond too. When done properly, the 0.25 micron screaming sharp edge is really something!
Recently the 0.125 CBN surfaced & it was a bit of a revelation. Im in the process of trying out some of that in various setting & in combination with even finer diamond, well below the 0.1 micron mark! Ive had some great help from very experienced knife-sharpeners, they have brought a lot of interesting ideas to my straight honing recently. Ill post results & reviews a soon as I have some valid, conclusive results.
How often and what's your method for touching up your straights?
I seldom do that. Im a sharpening & hone-junkie. I take every opportunity to hone or sharpen things, so its not likely that a razor will need a touch-up before it has been already honed again.
Are you currently reading a book? or perhaps even better; what book will you be reading next?
Im currently reading Inferno by August Strindberg. Next will probably be a re-read of some of Joseph Conrad books. Conrad is one of my absolute favorite writers, if you havent read anything by him, do yourself a favor & pick up a book by him!
Favorite Movie or two?
I very seldom watch movies & its even rarer that I like one. The same goes for TV. If Im still supposed to be on that desert island, Id let the mermaids choose.
With what fictional/historical character do you most identify?
Id love to answer Cary Grant, JFK or some of our great Swedish Kings. But far to often I have moments when I find myself reminding a whole lot of Donald Duck.
Do you have any motto's, sayings, or quotes to live by?
Wed be fools not to ride this strange torpedo all the way out to the end
What has been the best advice you've gotten from a member at B&B?
Its only shaving
If you could give one piece of advice to someone new at this, what would it be?
Its only shaving
Who are you? / Where are you located?
My name is Jens, Im born, raised & still living in Sweden. I love old thing & I love sharp things. Vintage straights are both. Lovely!
How do you take your coffee?
Black. In buckets. Especially during the winter, my daily intake reaches hazardous levels.
What happened that made you seek a better shave, or if the chicken came before the egg, how did you find B&B?
I stumbled upon here, searching for some new blades when the original Swedes no longer were available. I saw some interesting subjects, signed up & the rest is history.
What was it that held your interest?
At first it was the idea that people actually could spend so much time talking about shaving. Ive always been fascinated by freaks, people who wholeheartedly dissect each & every angle about a subject that is just trivial to the general crowd.
Before long I became one of myself. My wife actually anticipated that. Didnt you see it coming? You should know yourself better then that by now - you dont have casual interests or hobbies - you only have obsessions
If i remember from your posts, you always used straights; What did you start with?
Nope, DE since my teens. Im one of the lucky few who had a father that actually taught me how to shave with a DE, brush & soap. Gillette SuperSpeed, Gillette Swedes, el cheapo drugstore brush & Palmolive stick.
I rolled with that for 20 years, with the occasional brush with a cartridge & using BIC yellows for travels.
Shave Cream & Soaps? what did you find that worked well from those initial trials?
After getting accustomed to B&B a wild shopping spree broke out. But it ended fairly fast. Id been using Palmolive soap or Tabac soap for so long & I found that very few could match their performance. The only other that actually gained a permanent place was Speick soap & Olivias crema. There are a couple of other that has given me decent results & those I add just to mix things up, among them are the Portuguese lanolin creams & some of the Italian soft soaps.
Where did you get your first straight razor? Was it shave ready?
Im addicted to antique & vintage things & I attend a lot of antique shows, dig thru yard-sales & thrift-stores so Ive actually picked up a couple of straight thru the years & theyve been sitting in my drawers just waiting
One day was that day, I sent one out, a vintage Solingen full hollow. It was one of these that sat around in my shop that I had rescued from some flea-market or such. After doing my first shave with it I never looked back. It all clicked. The bug bit me. And the madness begun
Determination is key with shaving with a straight, how did you push through the Month + of sub par shaves? did you know there was a light at the end of the tunnel?
The shaves werent that bad actually. I touched-up with my DE if necessary & just kept at it. And like my Precious pointed out in the above quote, when I get into things I tend to push them as far as I can. My determination borders on insanity, no doubt.
Now my favorite question... if you were stranded on a desert island and could only choose:
3 razors:
W&B 9/8 For Barbers Use wedge. Good for hunting & self-defense. Doubles as a frying-pan. Also great fun to shave with!
C.V Heljestrand MK#32 6/8 full hollow. The best straight razor ever produced by man.
3rd would be Swedish model frameback by Söderén, Jernbolaget or Klas Törnblom.
2 brushes:
Simpsons Colonel.
Instead of a second brush Id like to pack a small coticule for maintenance.
3 soaps:
Tabac, Palmolive & Speick
2 creams:
Olivias crema.
Id do like Ian & take some ice-cream instead of a second cream
3 colognes:
Ill just squeeze some fresh limes on myself if going on a date with a mermaid.
But, it might get a bit chilly after the sun is down & then it wouldnt be so bad to splash a drop or two of Trumpers Eucris on before snuggling up under a palm-tree with the before mentioned mermaid.
Aftershaves:
If I only can take one, Id bring Swedens pride Aqua Vera Rakvatten. Same recipe since it was born in the 1920s.
If I can add another one it would be hard to pick between Speick or Floïd Suave.
What is your strop preference and what is your stropping regime?
I almost exclusively use my Neil Miller 2.5 linen/buffalo.
I dont count laps but I guess its about 20/50 before a shave.
A few on the linen after shaving
A freshly honed blade gets maybe 30/60.
If I dont finish on pastes, then it a bit fewer on the linen.
What is your honing set up for ebay specials?
DMT 325 or 600 depending on just how bad the things are until the bevel looks good & even & passes TNT. Then onto Naniwa 1K for stiffer grinds or 2K Naniwa for hollows & proceed thru 5/8/10K. Or instead of the Naniwas I whip out a coticule & use dilutions. But the Naniwas has really grown on me lately.
Then its time for the grande finale, ze finish
Favorite finish?
I love a good coticule edge, for the smoothness, I have a small La Grosse Blanche (handpicked by Bart!) that creates a wonderfully velvet virgin smooth edge. Lovely!
But I also really like a sharp edge, so my vintage Thüri probably gets the most use. Either following the 10K or after the coti. Im still not sure if slurry to water or only water is best. Ive also played around a whole lot with pastes & since discovering Hand American diamond sprays Ive come to like diamond too. When done properly, the 0.25 micron screaming sharp edge is really something!
Recently the 0.125 CBN surfaced & it was a bit of a revelation. Im in the process of trying out some of that in various setting & in combination with even finer diamond, well below the 0.1 micron mark! Ive had some great help from very experienced knife-sharpeners, they have brought a lot of interesting ideas to my straight honing recently. Ill post results & reviews a soon as I have some valid, conclusive results.
How often and what's your method for touching up your straights?
I seldom do that. Im a sharpening & hone-junkie. I take every opportunity to hone or sharpen things, so its not likely that a razor will need a touch-up before it has been already honed again.
Are you currently reading a book? or perhaps even better; what book will you be reading next?
Im currently reading Inferno by August Strindberg. Next will probably be a re-read of some of Joseph Conrad books. Conrad is one of my absolute favorite writers, if you havent read anything by him, do yourself a favor & pick up a book by him!
Favorite Movie or two?
I very seldom watch movies & its even rarer that I like one. The same goes for TV. If Im still supposed to be on that desert island, Id let the mermaids choose.
With what fictional/historical character do you most identify?
Id love to answer Cary Grant, JFK or some of our great Swedish Kings. But far to often I have moments when I find myself reminding a whole lot of Donald Duck.
Do you have any motto's, sayings, or quotes to live by?
Wed be fools not to ride this strange torpedo all the way out to the end
What has been the best advice you've gotten from a member at B&B?
Its only shaving
If you could give one piece of advice to someone new at this, what would it be?
Its only shaving
