temjeito's shave journal (starting with very first SR shave!

[Shave_Rat]

I love the looks on that blade. I had my first run with a wedge this weekend, I know I'm a fan of them at this point. Keep at it, could be you just aren't used to it.

 

[temjeito]

5/8 CVH MK 3
MdC scented
da Vinci 293
Captain's Choice Lime

I was going to use the Harmar wedge again today, but when I took it out I found one of SWMBO's hairs, so I tried a HHT. PING! perfect in the middle, but nothing on either side of the middle. Closer visual inspection of the edge revealed that it has a nice, even bevel on one side, but on the other the bevel trails off before it gets to the toe or the heel. Not sure how well you can see it in this picture, but the heel in particular has almost no bevel.

I'm thinking I need to get the bevel set properly on this baby. Given the smile, I think it will be a while before I feel up to the task (I've been secretly practicing my honing skills on some eBay razors in my basement. Let's just say I'm not yet ready for prime time.), so I'll be reaching out to the guy who sold it to me.

In the meantime, I moved on to the next razor in my lineup, a new-to-me CVH MK 3. I think this razor is beautiful and elegant. It gave a serviceable shave, but more work and irritation than I would have liked. After the shave I tried a HHT on it, and it failed at all points along the edge. Stropped it, and it popped the hair everywhere. Should have done that BEFORE the shave! Anyway, I'm looking forward to trying it again tomorrow with a better edge on it.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I personally don't put much stock in the HHT. I have had a razor that seemed to not really pass that at all, but I always got smooth comfortable shaves from it. *shrug*

 

[temjeito]

I personally don't put much stock in the HHT. I have had a razor that seemed to not really pass that at all, but I always got smooth comfortable shaves from it. *shrug*

I hear you, and my first and most important test for a new "shave ready" razor is to shave with it. I haven't been stropping shave-readies before I use them, but I think I'm now at the point where I'm confident enough that my stropping won't destroy the edge, and know what a shave ready (for me)should feel like, that I'll probably strop any new blade before I use it. I think that would have vastly improved the quality of today's shave with the MK 3, but I suppose I'll find out tomorrow.

On HHT, my view (based on my very small personal experience and mostly what I have read) is this:
1. A razor that passes HHT is definitely sharp enough (though not necessarily a smooth shaver).
2. A razor that passes HHT in one spot but not another may not be evenly honed (I base this pretty much entirely on the fact that the one blade I've tested with this result is clearly not evenly honed).
3. A razor that is capable of (and is) providing close, smooth shaves may not pass HHT at all.

 

[temjeito]

The Old English Razor
Martin de Candre
Semogue 1305
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

I sent a message to the guy who sold me this razor, and explained that I thought it needed to be rehoned, and why (see post #__, above). He responded that he was very confident the razor was shave-ready, and that he had tested it himself by shaving. He nevertheless offered to rehone it for free. I decided to give it one more shot before I sent it back, so I did 20 laps each on the green and red sides of my whippeddog.com balsa strop, and then broke in my brand new 2" burgundy #1 English Bridle strop from Star Shaving.

SIDE NOTE: The Star strop is a whole other level compared to the whipped dog strop I've been using. The metal D-ring makes it so easy to pull it taut, and the thickness and smoothness of the leather keep it straight and even and soooo smooth. I expect my shaves will improve noticeably going forward as I start stropping the blade on this new strop. ​

HHT worked on middle AND toe after stropping, but still no joy on the heel side. The shave, however, told the full story. After a good stropping, this razor was much smoother and cut through hair with ease. A very satisfactory shave (2 pass, WTG/XTG, plus cleanup on the neck) resulted in DFS bordering on BBS. The extra attention on the neck yielded a close shave, but a fair amount of irritation (the alum block lit me up bright red all along the lower part of my neck, where the hairs grow out from the middle towards the side). I gave myself a couple of weepers on the neck in spots where I ended my stroke near perpendicular with the skin. I don't think I'll be sending the razor back after all, as I found this to be a very enjoyable shave.

I had a bit of an epiphany last night, as I was stroking my jawline in thought and realized that the hairs right on the jawline tend to grow outward toward the ear, but my "XTG" strokes there are usually ear-chin, which works well for the cheek area where the hairs grow basically N-S. I realized I may have been shaving more WTG/ATG on the jawline, which probably accounts for the extra irritation I often get there. This morning I came in from the ears until I got to the jawline, then for my chin and jawline stared in the middle and worked my way outward. This is definitely a more awkward stroke for me at the moment, but the results bear out my theory, and I'm going to switch to this for my daily routine.

I face-lathered the MdC today, and had no trouble producing a wet, cushiony lather with the Semogue. I think this has to do with the amount of product and/or water the boar brush holds vs. the 293, but I'm not sure. Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.

A couple of of other questions arose from today's shave, and I'll throw it out there to you, my loyal readers*:

1. After today's shave I wiped some of the remaining lather from my brush onto the strop, as suggested in the little pamphlet that came with it, and as I have read others suggest as well. I let it sit for a few minutes while I cleaned up, then wiped down the strop and used it to strop the razor. When I was done, the razor had burgundy lines on both sides where the spine had run along the strop. This did not happen when I stropped the razor before the shave, so I'm assuming it happened because of the soap, and was either soapy residue that picked up the stain of the leather, or leather that got scraped off because of the water or the soap. My question is: what am I doing wrong? Should I wait until after the stropping to put the soap on the strop? Should I wipe it off sooner, or later (e.g., should I let it sit overnight, or just paint it on and wipe it right off)?

Pic of the red mark on the blade after stropping:


2. The Martin de Candre bowl seem to be bleeding orange. I think it is the ink on the label that bleeds when it gets wet. This seems like a pretty glaring design flaw for such an expensive soap (and a jar that is obviously going to get wet). The orange comes up easily off of my counter, so not a huge deal, but I was wondering if anyone else had experienced this, or if I had a defective or possibly counterfeit jar?

Pic of the MdC jar, with orange stain shown on the rag:



*OK, basically just Shave_Rat

 

[Shave_Rat]

lol Cute footnote...

I've never lathered my strops, I only strop my hand/palms on them a few times a week so they get naturally oiled, so I'm not much help there. I do know from working with leather in general, it can bleed dye when it gets wet, especially if it's a pretty new item that hasn't seen much use and breaking in yet.

Same goes for labels on some things. I've never heard of counterfeit soaps, even the pricey ones like MdC. I have the MdC fougere, and I merely take some off the top, put it into a plastic tub for the daily use, and use the glass jar as a storage container for the remainder. Less chance I'll drop the glass one and break it when trying to handle it with wet hands. lol

 

[temjeito]

lol Cute footnote...

I've never lathered my strops, I only strop my hand/palms on them a few times a week so they get naturally oiled, so I'm not much help there.

Great help, actually. That sounds like a fine idea!

I've never heard of counterfeit soaps, even the pricey ones like MdC.

Oh, there's counterfeit everything. I doubt very much it is counterfeit -- for one thing, it works really well. I guess I'm just surprised such an expensive soap would come with such a cheap label.

I have the MdC fougere, and I merely take some off the top, put it into a plastic tub for the daily use, and use the glass jar as a storage container for the remainder. Less chance I'll drop the glass one and break it when trying to handle it with wet hands. lol

Another great idea!

 

[Shave_Rat]

It is truly a remarkable soap. I'd rather have a cheap label and a great product that's pricey, compared to an expensive label and a product that costs even more than it already does. lol

 

[temjeito]

#25 - CVH MK 3, MdC, Semogue 1305 - with a good stropping, this was a nice shave. Took a lot more strokes to clear the field on my chin, but still a nice shave.

#26 - Torrey near wedge, MdC, Semogue 1305 - another very nice shave, until the Torrey bit me. My biggest cut so far, a good half inch vertical slice in the "ball" of my chin.

#27 - The Old English Razor, Arko, Omega Bambino - my first straight shave away from home. Gotta love Arko. My brother sniffed it and goes, "wow, I LOVE the way this smells! What is this?" I had to laugh. A really nice shave. This may be my favorite razor (don't tell the Torrey)

#28 - The Old English Razor, MdC, Semogue 1305 - I had some lather issues again. When face lathering the MdC with the 1305, I got super-thick lather that took a while and a lot of added water to build on the first pass, and then I got a thin lather on the second pass. More product?

I've hit a nice groove where (other than that nick from the Torrey) I get consistently good shaves without a lot of drama. I definitely want to work on using even less pressure/finding the right angle, as I'm still getting some irritation, especially on the neck. I've been favoring the heavier grinds, in part because they are so forgiving, and I think that has given me a bit of room to develop greater confidence. I think I may now go back to some of the hollower grinds in my collection and work on refining my technique.

 

[Bird_Flu]

Have you tried a shavette? I found I lightened up a lot after a shavette shave. My cure for an irritated neck and I'm not perfect at it, is almost flat spine against the neck and learning the contours of the neck. It's a tough spot to figure out. Sounds like you're doing awesome though keep it up!!

 

[temjeito]

Have you tried a shavette? I found I lightened up a lot after a shavette shave.

No, but I'm tempted.

My cure for an irritated neck and I'm not perfect at it, is almost flat spine against the neck and learning the contours of the neck. It's a tough spot to figure out. Sounds like you're doing awesome though keep it up!!

Thanks! I feel in making slow but steady progress on the neck. Hopefully by shave 100...

 

[global_dev]

HHT worked on middle AND toe after stropping, but still no joy on the heel side. The shave, however, told the full story. After a good stropping, this razor was much smoother and cut through hair with ease. A very satisfactory shave (2 pass, WTG/XTG, plus cleanup on the neck) resulted in DFS bordering on BBS. The extra attention on the neck yielded a close shave, but a fair amount of irritation (the alum block lit me up bright red all along the lower part of my neck, where the hairs grow out from the middle towards the side). I gave myself a couple of weepers on the neck in spots where I ended my stroke near perpendicular with the skin. I don't think I'll be sending the razor back after all, as I found this to be a very enjoyable shave.

good looking out on the edge, but what does the other side of the bevel look like on the heel? a hige or small bevel doens't tell you how an edge is gonna be, but if the other side is wide than it could be either a slight warp or non-matching hone wear induced.

I had a bit of an epiphany last night, as I was stroking my jawline in thought and realized that the hairs right on the jawline tend to grow outward toward the ear, but my "XTG" strokes there are usually ear-chin, which works well for the cheek area where the hairs grow basically N-S. I realized I may have been shaving more WTG/ATG on the jawline, which probably accounts for the extra irritation I often get there. This morning I came in from the ears until I got to the jawline, then for my chin and jawline stared in the middle and worked my way outward. This is definitely a more awkward stroke for me at the moment, but the results bear out my theory, and I'm going to switch to this for my daily routine.

interesting, i much prefer a edge going from center towards ear than away from it...

I face-lathered the MdC today, and had no trouble producing a wet, cushiony lather with the Semogue. I think this has to do with the amount of product and/or water the boar brush holds vs. the 293, but I'm not sure. Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.

don't know but MdC is great! the 293 is the davinci? boars dfor mne always made less airy lather. but i face lather for the most part so i no longer get pillows of product like a bowl lather process induces.

A couple of of other questions arose from today's shave, and I'll throw it out there to you, my loyal readers*:

some of us just lurk at times... we are still reading... on occasion

1. After today's shave I wiped some of the remaining lather from my brush onto the strop, as suggested in the little pamphlet that came with it, and as I have read others suggest as well. I let it sit for a few minutes while I cleaned up, then wiped down the strop and used it to strop the razor. When I was done, the razor had burgundy lines on both sides where the spine had run along the strop. This did not happen when I stropped the razor before the shave, so I'm assuming it happened because of the soap, and was either soapy residue that picked up the stain of the leather, or leather that got scraped off because of the water or the soap. My question is: what am I doing wrong? Should I wait until after the stropping to put the soap on the strop? Should I wipe it off sooner, or later (e.g., should I let it sit overnight, or just paint it on and wipe it right off)?

definitely wait to lather the leather after stropping. let the strop dry and then brush off the residue with your palm. my palms are not oily enough and the room my strops are in is a bit drier. so palm oiling that was not effective for me.

 

[temjeito]

good looking out on the edge, but what does the other side of the bevel look like on the heel? a hige or small bevel doens't tell you how an edge is gonna be, but if the other side is wide than it could be either a slight warp or non-matching hone wear induced.

One side has a nice, even bevel. The other has a bevel that narrows to nearly nothing at the ends. I'll try to take some pics with a loupe.

EDIT: Here are some pics of either side of the blade near the heel:

interesting, i much prefer a edge going from center towards ear than away from it...

I think I'm still too new at this to really have developed any strong preferences--anything I try for the first time is going to be awkward, but for some reason I default to an ear-inwards stroke rather than vice versa.

the 293 is the davinci?

Yes.

boars dfor mne always made less airy lather. but i face lather for the most part so i no longer get pillows of product like a bowl lather process induces.

I've switched back to the Semogue 1305 for the time being, trying to keep things consistent as possible while I work out my lathering issues. I'm finding that on my first pass of face-lathering I do get pillows of lather similar to bowl lathering, except that a fair bit of it goes flying around the room. Second pass is a thinner, more manageable lather.

some of us just lurk at times... we are still reading... on occasion

I've found your feedback invaluable -- I hope you keep lurking and reading and occasionally commenting!

definitely wait to lather the leather after stropping. let the strop dry and then brush off the residue with your palm. my palms are not oily enough and the room my strops are in is a bit drier. so palm oiling that was not effective for me.

 

[temjeito]

4/8 KB Extra 25
Semogue 1305
Martin de Candre
Captain's Choice Lime

So, I went from a 7/8 near wedge to a 4/8 extra hollow/faux frameback, and the results were markedly different.

First, this little guy is still tricky to strop. He clearly started life at 5/8 or bigger, and the spine is so wide relative to the blade that the edge doesn't want to rest on the strop, but rather lift up a bit. So, I have to exert a bit of pressure to keep the blade against the strop as I pass the spine across the leather. The KB left its mark on my new strop, in the form of a long but shallow cut near the handle. No biggie, easily sanded out, but...new strop......I'll get over it.

I used bottled water instead of tap water today, to see how much the hardness of my water is affecting the lather. I definitely got more lather quicker, and the lather was thicker and more voluminous than usual. I still have the face-lathering issue of having really thick lather on the first pass and really thin on the second. Not sure if this is normal, but I wish the lather weren't so thick on the first pass. More water?

I suspect what is true for the leather is true for the face, and perhaps my angle was just off this whole shave, because hair removal was not on a par with recent shaves. I did three passes. First pass (WTG) didn't remove much hair. I've been getting CCS on my cheeks with the first pass lately, but I was definitely trying to use no pressure, and maybe as a result didn't get the edge close enough to the skin. Second pass (XTG) took off more hair, but still not as much as the first pass has been lately. I did not feel much tugging or catching--the blade felt plenty sharp, but it definitely took more strokes than usual to mow down the chin whiskers. The result was SAS, but nowhere near as close as I've gotten used to.

My goal for this shave was not BBS, but to get as close to an irritation-free shave as I can. Not sure how I did toward that goal. While applying my second lather after the first pass, I felt a burning sensation in many parts of my face. Typically I do not feel or see much irritation during a shave, but then the alum block tells me where I goofed with stinging and redness. So this was an unusual sensation, and I'm wondering if it wasn't a mild reaction to the soap? I had a somewhat similar experience a couple of days ago, when a few hours after my (otherwise very low-irritation) shave my neck felt a little itchy and I noticed it was quite red. I was at my parents' house, so I figured maybe something in their water, or the (regular) soap I used, did not agree with me. The (mild) burning sensation persisted throughout the shave, but when I applied alum there was very little stinging, and the same was true when I applied the aftershave. I snapped a photo with my cell phone, as I often do after a shave because something about the lighting and that camera really shows any redness, and it showed only minor redness in patches on the neck (par for the course, for me).

Spoiler

I'm writing this a couple of hours after my shave, and feel/see almost no irritation--just tenderness on the skin in the two spots that show up red in the pic above, which is pretty much ever-present.

This wasn't a terrible shave by any means, and obviously there was a lot of adjustment required in moving from that great elephant to this little wasp. I went back and read my first three shaves with this razor. Interestingly, I managed 2-pass CCS on my second shave (although I also sliced myself up pretty good), and my third shave with this razor (11th ever) was my best so far, with mostly-DFS after 3 passes. So, this shave was a bit of a step backwards.

 

[global_dev]

One side has a nice, even bevel. The other has a bevel that narrows to nearly nothing at the ends. I'll try to take some pics with a loupe.

EDIT: Here are some pics of either side of the blade near the heel:
View attachment 347333View attachment 347334View attachment 347335View attachment 347336

the heel on both sides looks suspect...

as for your most recent shave... this could be one of those arguments that the no-tapers rail against. the angle of the bevel could be way off if the spine was preserved, but the width was ignored. whats the calculated angle if you can figure it out? is that a 4/8s now? i find it a PITA to strop a 4/8s, just not fun. but as far as stropping, i would think the strop and spine and edge wouldn't be an issue... thats something i hadn't noticed before, but the only 4/8s i ever hone or strop with are in for a hone/strop and then back out in the mail...

or it could be that technique was off. or the edge is weak...

as for lather being billowy, i find (and thought) that its really more difficult to incorporate similar amounts of air into soap by face lathering than bowl.. i can imagine the process and it appears amusing, almost comedic. but MdC is a great latherer, i love it!

 

[temjeito]

the heel on both sides looks suspect...

whats the calculated angle if you can figure it out?

The blade is oddly-shaped, but here's what I get with my cheap digital calipers:

spine width at heel: 5.36mm
blade width at heel: 18.9mm
approximate bevel angle at heel:16.3
spine width in the middle: 4.6mm
blade width in the middle: 20.8mm
approximate bevel angle in the middle: 12.7
spine width at toe: 4.75mm
blade width at toe: 21.25mm
approximate bevel angle at toe: 12.8

I'm not sure how to make sense of the above numbers, since the only angle that's within the range I understand to be appropriate for a straight razor (15-20ish) is at the heel, where I'm getting no love. I've read that an angle below 15 is too weak to give a good shave, but it seems I'm getting good shaves from a 12-13 degree bevel. Or, more likely, my measurements/calculations are crap.

As you can tell from the measurements above, the spine is not consistently worn, so although it generally tapers toward the toe it does not do so evenly, as you might be able to see in this photo:

I think you can also see in this picture that the wedge shape is not symmetrical:


I'm not sure what to make of all this, and to some extent as long as I'm getting good shaves from the razor it's more of an academic exercise (unless I could be getting better shaves from the razor!), but it seems as if historically this razor was not evenly honed (perhaps in part due to the smile and tapering blade width), resulting in (1) an off-center bevel (in relation to the center of the spine--it almost looks like a kind of kamisori-style hone, where one side is flat and the other angled) and (2) uneven hone wear on the spine. I'm guessing that the current shape of the blade makes it tricky to hone, but that it is probably very difficult/not worth it to try to correct the issues above. But, I don't know what I'm talking about, so there's that.

is that a 4/8s now?

No, the edge shots are of the 7/8 near-wedge. The 4/8 (KB Extra) is indeed the one I have trouble stropping, but it's the 7/8 I had questions about the edge/bevel.

 

[global_dev]

That spine width delta is odd. I dont see any hone wear. Does it have any?was it honed on lots of tape?

The grind looks like a flex style. I dont recall exactly, but it was an 'innovation' iirc.

 

[temjeito]

That spine width delta is odd. I dont see any hone wear. Does it have any?was it honed on lots of tape?

It's hard to tell if there is hone wear. The scratch pattern is pretty uniform, so maybe not. Also, I just noticed that the asymmetry is more than just the angle--this razor has a groove in it that extends from the barber's notch down the spine to the thumb notch on one side, but on the other side it is flat. Well, not perfectly flat, but it does not have the pronounced groove:

I've not been able to find much information about this razor, so I don't know how old it is or what it is *supposed* to look like, but it says it is "cast steel", which may account for the slightly irregular ("lumpy") surfaces. Given how unusual it seems to be, I'm guessing this thing is very tricky to properly hone?

 

[temjeito]

4/8 KB Extra 25
Kent BK8
Olivia's Seife Dschinn
Captain's Choice Lime

Longest. Shave. Ever.

I feel like I just cleared a forest with a nail file.

A few days ago I was getting great straight shaves that rivaled most of my DE shaves. A few weeks ago I was getting great shaves from this razor! Today, I must have spent close to an hour on what I'm going to call a "3-pass" shave, but in truth was probably closer to 6 or 7 passes, as I kept relathering and going over the same spots again and again, usually WTG, and each time removing a tiny bit more of the hairs. I spent a TON of time on my chin and neck, resulting in a bit more irritation than usual on the neck, but even so I've barely got a SAS.

Especially on the neck, I could see the razor going over hairs and not catching them. It is as if they were lying extra-flat to avoid being cut. I had stubble in almost every wipe of the lather, and I could hear the razor cutting through more on each stroke, but it still left my skin like this:

I can feel the stubble...It's everywhere!!!

Edit: It's 5 O'clock and I need a shave!

I'm tempted to say I was just being really cautious with the angle and pressure, but towards the end I was getting fairly aggressive with it. My theories:

1. my time with heavier grinds has altered my technique in a way that will require me to re-learn this razor over a longer period of time than it took me the first time out.
2. my notion of "aggressiveness" in terms of angle and pressure has changed, and I need to get even more aggressive with this one.
3. the razor is losing its edge. I'm hesitant to go with this one, not only because it deflects blame from the more likely source (my lack of experience), but because I didn't feel much tugging or catching. It seemed to be cutting hairs, just a very, very tiny bit at a time.

On the plus side, I got my new BK8 yesterday, and today was my first time using it. I face-lathered until I ran out, then bowl lathered for the second half. What a phenomenal brush. So dense. So pillowy. So effective. So, why have any other brushes?

"You are my density"​

 

[global_dev]

This brush is getting intriguing.

I don't think one would have to really change technique from a wedge to hollow based on hairs NOT being cut. It's usually based on cutting too harsh especially if honed on same style of honing