Straight Shaver Interview - Superbleu
- Thread starter joshmpdx
- Start date
I discussed it with Josh quickly and we were thinking of making a Wiki page...
Fantastic you guys! Keep these coming...
These interviews are great! Can a Mod or a straight razor steward create a sticky with links to all these interviews so they can be kept together for future reference?
Well I promised Josh that I would add some photos to the interview, so here they are. If anyone would like to see any more photos I can put a thread up in the darkroom, just ask.
Hope you enjoy.
Hope you enjoy.
Very pleased to continue putting these interviews up, they're a treat for me to read and i hope you're enjoying them too. Superbleu was a blast putting this together with and to hold his feet to the fire, he also promised us a few more photos
Bong and I joined B&B around the same time and have traded a handful of items back and forth, some time sooner or later, i hope we can get a drink, we're not too far from each other!
There is a lot of good info here, and if you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to fire away.
Who are you?
People call me, for some reason, Bong.
I like to hike, camp, ski, snowboard, run, cycle. Actually I will do pretty much anything (albeit not always so well) except for swim, it's my Achilles heel. I have tried taking lessons several times, but when the swim instructor calls you the human anchor, that's usually not a very good sign.
Skiing on Mt Rainier
Hauling supplies to the Don Sheldon Mountain house on the Ruth Glacier in Alaska
This is really a Spectacular place, you can read more about it here: Mountain House Info
Where are you located?
In and around the Greater Seattle area
I got this picture off the net so if you own it I apologize and will take it down if requested.
Some scenes from the area.
Mt Shuksan from the Mt Baker Ski area.
Looking into the crater of Mt St Helens with Spirit Lake in the background, Rainier is hiding in the clouds behind the lake.
North side of Mount Rainier from Bandera Mountain (this is only 45 minutes away from Seattle!)
Mount Adams from Mt Rainier
Mt St Helens from Mt Rainier
Lenticular cloud forming above Mt Rainier
Another shot of the Lenticular cloud
A view of the North Side of Mt Rainier
Where are the better Brick & Mortars in town?
I get most everything online or on the bst, but. There is a Crabtree and Evelyn, The Body shop, Bath and Body work and an AOS store in Bellevue square, Marios men's store carries some stuff, oslos men's stores, the Arctic club hotel carries Lavender and Lime TOBS creams, essenza fragrances in Fremont has some Musgo, Santa maria novella and Acca Kappa products. There are a few other places around town that carries some stuff, but that's all I can come up with off the top of my head.
How do you take your coffee?
Black. Occasionally I will add cream to mix things up a bit
Being up in the Pacific NW, do have a particular coffee you enjoy?
West Seattle Gold Coffee, Bill handles the roasting and distribution in here, while his brother runs the plantation somewhere down south in Latin America.
Here is a short article on Bill and his coffee.
Golden bean coffee interview
What happened that made you seek a better shave, or if the chicken came before the egg, how did you find B&B?
I was drawn in by the lure of the cheap shave, boy was I wrong about that one. I think a lifehacker post directed me to Cory Greenburgs shave blog, and I soon found the leisure guys blog, which lead me to B&B, then SMF, then TSD, then SRP, I wander a bit, but always seem to come back to B&B.
When you sign on, what is the first page/forum you look up?
Bst/newest/straight general/restores/.........
What was it that held your interest?
Variety, I like to tinker. So the ability to mix and match, soaps, creams, brushes, aftershaves, razors, blades, gives you endless possibilities while searching for the ultimate shave.
If i remember from your posts, you started with DE's before switching to straights; What did you start with? I started with a Merkur Progress, and some feather and (ashamed to say) Merkur DE blades.
How long was it before you started mixing in straights?
Probably about a year after joining here.
Shave Cream & Soaps? what did you find that worked well from those initial trials?
I started out with Trumpers GFT and Sandalwood creams, this was one of the first things I looked up on B&B, I spend hours on the shaving cream thread, trying to find the best there is. My first soap was VDH deluxe glycerine soap, I was so disappointed in it, it got thown away, I didnt understand the magic of soaps till I got a mystery box from our own Jim that was full of top notch soaps that really turned the corner for me.
Now I use both creams and soaps(even glycerine based) and enjoy them equally well.
Do you buy the wooden bowls?
Only when I get a good deal, otherwise, plastic bowls suit me fine.
I have a few more somewhere
Where did you get your first straight razor? was it shave ready?
First razor was a Geo F Wolstenholm Imperial X I got from Retrogrouch, and yes it was shave ready, I still have it and will keep its place in my rotation.
Its the black scaled one on the bottom right.
Top Left = Schulze 5/8 full hollow
Top Right = Bill Ellis 5/8th half hollow
Bottom Left = Le Grelot TI 6/8 ¾-full hollow
Bottom Right GFW Imperial X 5/8th Full hollow
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?
Talking to lots of folks on the board, reading the forums for tips about technique, and trying different prep, angles, soaps, creams, grips. I really wasnt sure there was a light at the end till after about the 5th shave, then something just clicked, and its been no looking back.
Now my favorite question... if you were stranded on a desert island and could only choose:
Not really favorites, more like flavor of the minute, but for right NOW.
3 razors: Cobra classic injector, Big boy Deluxe, Muhle R89 old Fatip head (Thanks to you)
Opps, a Barbasol snuck in place of the big boy deluxe.
From Left to right, Barbasol, Cobra classic Injector, Muhle R89
Straight razors: Schultze full hollow 5/8th, Bill Ellis custom 5/8th, ¾ hollow Le Grelot: see above for photo
2 brushes: Rooney Stubby 1 in finest, Simpsons Sommerset T2
3 soaps: La Toja stick or bowl, they both are very similar, Palmolive stick, Wilkinson Stick
2 creams: Charles Tyrwhitt Lemon and Cedar, Alrazs The bomb in Palermo (sage)
Aftershaves!: Speick splash, Proraso Splash and Pitralon Classic & The gentlemans refinery unscented balm, and La Toja would get the nod for AS balms
& 3 colognes: Terre de Hermes, Diptyque Philosykos, Miller Et Bertaux #3 Green Green Green and Green
What is your honing set up for ebay specials?
Disclaimer: I'm pretty much a hack at honing so take my words with a grain of salt.
Depends on how special they are, usually the path I follow is this: DMT 600/Shapton glass 500/DMT1200/Norton 1K then on to regular progression.
how often and what's your method for touching up your straights? favorite finish?
How often? Depends on my mood, sometimes a lot, sometimes I just make do. I usually use the Naniwa 10K chosera, or 12K superstone, mostly because they are quick and give good consistent results, sometimes I will bring out the Nakayama kitta, thuringian, or Coti if I want to do some experimenting.
What do you think of the 10k Chosera VS the 12k Superstone?
Cholera is a pretty new stone to me. One complaint with both the naniwa stones I have is the glaze up pretty fast
Also, what do you think of the shapton VS norton stones for folks just jumping into a hone set?
I have a hodgepogde set of stones, the only full sets I have are the Norton and the Shapton pro up to 15K (I can't afford the 30K pro)
For the shapton glass I only have the 500, 2K and 30K.
Starting out the Norton set is tough to beat. Nortons are cheaper, and do a fine job. They need more lapping and cleaning/refreshing, load up faster with swarf, need to be presoaked, the 1k can release grit that can scratch the blade if not careful. More people have more experience w Norton vs shapton, so advice with them seems to be easier to come by.
The Norton lapping stone sucks though, I would really recommend the dmt 320 to lap all your hones big timesaver, and some of the best money I have spent on all my shaving gear.
Are you currently reading a book? or perhaps even better; what book will you be reading next?
Last words, an biography of George Carlin, what will I read next? I just picked up a book called The Sellout, I usually just browse the library till something catches my eye.
Favorite Movie or two?
Fight Club. No specific reason, I just find it entertaining.
I think I watched this at least 5 times in a row straight, listening to all the various commentary tracks too.
With what fictional/historical character do you most identify?
I have not a clue.
Do you have any motto's, sayings, or quotes to live by?
I have a few depending on the situation, but none should be published in public.
Abe Lincoln has some fantastic quotes if you are looking for some one liners to live by.
What has been the best advice you've gotten from a member at B&B?
There has been so much that has passed my eyes, its mostly a blur. Years ago BroJohn PIFed me a stick of Palmolive shave stick and said something to the effect of you can thank me by PIFs something when you can. One of the many things that made me realize how great our little shaving community at B&B is.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone new at this, what would it be?
You can ask all the questions, and read all the posts in the world, but in the end if you are curious about you have to try it for yourself first hand, after all YMMV! Dont be afraid to experiment.
Very nice pictures!! 
Hum... I'm not sure actually... That one is really not easy to find compared to the stick...
Who's going to interview Josh?
The interviews are cool - keep em coming!
I might not be the first but I already volunteer to do it. I think Josh wants to interview a few more members first...
I am loving this photo! One day, I hope to get my own seven-piece razor set. That's the terrible thing about this website. I hate you all! You make me take up more expensive hobbies that I just love so much...
You would hate me even more if I told you how much I paid for that set. If it makes you feel any better, only 6 of the 7 were salvageable.
You would hate me even more if I told you how much I paid for that set. If it makes you feel any better, only 6 of the 7 were salvageable.
Oh go on then. What'd you cough up and what was wrong with the seventh razor?
It was a sleeper on the bay, only had one crummy picture that took a pretty big leap of faith on my part. I figured if one or even 2 were salvageable it would be ok, so I went for it. The one bad razor had bad rusting on the edged so it was taken out of service, but the whole set cost me 80 US dollars + shipping. Also the Box didn't come with the set, I just used it to take the picture.
I think the box goes very well with the set, even if it didn't come with it.
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- #37
Very nice pictures!!
Awesome, Bong!! we didn't even tough on what looks to be some pretty serious adventures!
Im happy to do one! Oglethorpe, are you up for it??
I think so too! i hope we can keep them running!
These are great.
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