+100, pictures are needed to determine what is going on. Some razors are designed for use with a wedge blade, but most can be used with a modern blade, although a modern blade may require a shim or adapter or other method of securing the blade in place.
The Association of Lather Catchers: TALC
- Thread starter Flintstone65
- Start date
+100, pictures are needed to determine what is going on. Some razors are designed for use with a wedge blade, but most can be used with a modern blade, although a modern blade may require a shim or adapter or other method of securing the blade in place.
Good news everyone! So, this morning I rushed my Ever Ready into emergency reconstructive surgery. It was touch and go for a while, but the surgery was a success. I was able to bend the locking tab and one hinge back into place. Everything seems to be solid now, though I think the blade stops on the front are well worn but will function just fine. I'm gonna take it for a test run this morning for my shave, so hopefully everything works out!
- Thread starter
- #223
Flintstone65
Imagining solutions for imaginary problems
Truly excellent news!!! Looking forward to hearing about that shave.
So, used my Ever Ready this morning.
Ever Ready Lather Catcher
Gem PTFE (16)
Grooming Dept Pura soap
Shave wasn't to bad, not rough but not entirely smooth. I still prefer my Gem Jr. to this, but it was my first shave. I attempted a steeper angle but am not entirely sure it was a good or bad angle. I'll work on shaving with it so hopefully it will continue to improve as I shave with it. My one complaint however is that the handle I got with the razor is very light and very short. I prefer the knurled handle that I got with my Gem Jr over this and might have to try it on my Ever Ready to see if it improves my shave.
Ever Ready Lather Catcher
Gem PTFE (16)
Grooming Dept Pura soap
Shave wasn't to bad, not rough but not entirely smooth. I still prefer my Gem Jr. to this, but it was my first shave. I attempted a steeper angle but am not entirely sure it was a good or bad angle. I'll work on shaving with it so hopefully it will continue to improve as I shave with it. My one complaint however is that the handle I got with the razor is very light and very short. I prefer the knurled handle that I got with my Gem Jr over this and might have to try it on my Ever Ready to see if it improves my shave.
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
I think you would be better with a Shallow approach(ride the cap and tilt until you hear the razor working) and you will enjoy your shave better. They were designed for that technique unless someone else tells me different. You can shave with a steep approach but you are scrapping the whiskers & skin and increasing aggression considerably because of the design of these type of razors IMO.
Have some great shaves!
Ah, that's where I got my terminology mixed up. I meant shallow, it was flatter on my face. Man this gets confusing 
Ah, that's where I got my terminology mixed up. I meant shallow, it was flatter on my face. Man this gets confusing
Which is exactly why I put up that post on the SE forum about defining terms. I have seen them used both ways in the archives. I'm good either way; just want to know what the accepted usage is. As I said, I do know what the words mean but I want to understand how people are using them.
[\rant] Heh.
So I'm now comfortable that the majority definition seems to consider the angle of attack of the blade. However, just because I've cleared it up doesn't mean there's no more confusion, even for me. The very best way I've seen to come at the problem of terms without locking up people's brains is, apparently, not to use the terms at all. [shrug].
"Riding the Cap" is correct, because if you're keeping it on the cap you're creating a shallow blade angle. Or, with reference to lather catchers I guess we'd say "Riding the Blade."
O.H.
Yeah, I saw that, read it, and still messed it up lol.
No worries, Mate. I thought it was just me, then it turned into a rabbit-hole.
Language-Obsessives of the World, Unite!
O.H.
Language-Obsessives of the World, Unite!
O.H.
Today's shave was very enjoyable, Erver-Ready shovel head started the show and Gem Jr. Bar wrapped things up very well. A 4th use Gem blade was shared between these two excellent razors.
Not pictured is a tube of Proraso green, of which I added a dab of to cool things down. The cooling effect was enjoyable, however I didn't enjoy diluting the fabulous scent of Fougere Orange enough to repeat the procedure.
Not pictured is a tube of Proraso green, of which I added a dab of to cool things down. The cooling effect was enjoyable, however I didn't enjoy diluting the fabulous scent of Fougere Orange enough to repeat the procedure.
So just found out a new trick my Jr Bar can do
Was not aware the bottom came out and made a stropper. It looks like it hasn’t seen the light of day in decades and is all rusted, but nothing some elbow grease and patients can’t fix.
Was not aware the bottom came out and made a stropper. It looks like it hasn’t seen the light of day in decades and is all rusted, but nothing some elbow grease and patients can’t fix.
- Thread starter
- #232
Flintstone65
Imagining solutions for imaginary problems
You know, I almost I asked if you knew that was in there. Glad you found it! Mine was pretty jammed in there, but I did manage to get it out.
- Thread starter
- #233
Flintstone65
Imagining solutions for imaginary problems
I realized that I forgot to post my shave from yesterday -- a Gem Junior Bar with a custom wooden handle. The handle was made by a friend who was inspired by the old ivory-colored Gem handles of old. I've got a couple of these type of handles and I find the weight of the wood and weight to work really well with the Jr Bar -- I may give this a try with my Ever-Ready Lather Catcher tomorrow.
Here is the snapshot of a GEM handle from weights:
And here's my handle:
The shave was a Daily Double: The Gem Junior Bar with GEM SS PTFE (9) and the Wunderbar with Voskhod (5); soap was Tabac and the Yaqi 26mm Brown (Fax Horse) knot in a rainbow handle. The W started the shave out with the first pass, but the real star of this shave was the Junior Bar with next 2 passes -- the shave ended up being a DFS+.
Here is the snapshot of a GEM handle from weights:
And here's my handle:
The shave was a Daily Double: The Gem Junior Bar with GEM SS PTFE (9) and the Wunderbar with Voskhod (5); soap was Tabac and the Yaqi 26mm Brown (Fax Horse) knot in a rainbow handle. The W started the shave out with the first pass, but the real star of this shave was the Junior Bar with next 2 passes -- the shave ended up being a DFS+.
When I first got it my initial instinct was to turn the bottom off, but it didn’t budge and I didn’t want to ruin the handle so I gave up.
- Thread starter
- #235
Flintstone65
Imagining solutions for imaginary problems
So I opted to use my Ever-Ready 1911 today. By the way, here is a slight excerpt from Waits Compendium which may be helpful for folks to guesstimate their ER Lather Catcher age -- I sincerely hope I'm not breaking any forum rules or other copyright laws with these "snapshots".
Now back to my shave. The bottom line is that it still wasn't as smooth feeling as my Gem Jr Bar (GJB); but it was much better than I remember it being the last time I used it. I don't have a lot of experience with the ER, I've used it about 3 or 4 times prior to this shave and I remember being disappointed that it didn't give me the same "joy" as my GJB. I also remember the shave just feeling a bit harsh, even with a well-worn blade. The GEM SS PTFE blade today was on it's 10th shave. I found the best angle was shallow (i.e., the handle was almost parallel with the floor, so I was riding the cap. Basically it's about the same angle I use for my Schick injectors. Even with that angle, it still seems like a fair amount of blade feel and a fair amount of audible feedback.
I did a 3-pass shave (WTG, XTG/ATG, and a light touch-up XTG/ATG in certain areas) and ended up with a DFS+ shave....no blood, no irritation. It's a good Lather Catcher, but I would rank my GJB and my Eagle Improved Lather Catcher (which I'll be using again soon) above it. I do think it's easier to use than my Kampfe Bros Star Lather Catchers, and the shave is a touch smoother.
One thing I did differently was use a different handle. This is another wooden handle made by a friend. It's a strange modified-tear-drop handle, but the length and weight makes maneuvering the razor easier than the small (and a bit heavy for the head) original handle -- in my opinion. One of these days I want to do a "shave-off/comparison shave" between the ER and GJB, just to see if the difference is really as stark as I think it is. I also really want to build a graph similar to @Ron R's where I plot the various Lather Catchers on a Efficiency vs Aggression scale.
For now, here is my shave for today (and further down are some more razor pics with the two different handles:
Ever-Ready 1911 Lather Catcher with GEM SS PTFE (10) | 24mm Synth brush lathering LEA Professional Cream
Now back to my shave. The bottom line is that it still wasn't as smooth feeling as my Gem Jr Bar (GJB); but it was much better than I remember it being the last time I used it. I don't have a lot of experience with the ER, I've used it about 3 or 4 times prior to this shave and I remember being disappointed that it didn't give me the same "joy" as my GJB. I also remember the shave just feeling a bit harsh, even with a well-worn blade. The GEM SS PTFE blade today was on it's 10th shave. I found the best angle was shallow (i.e., the handle was almost parallel with the floor, so I was riding the cap. Basically it's about the same angle I use for my Schick injectors. Even with that angle, it still seems like a fair amount of blade feel and a fair amount of audible feedback.
I did a 3-pass shave (WTG, XTG/ATG, and a light touch-up XTG/ATG in certain areas) and ended up with a DFS+ shave....no blood, no irritation. It's a good Lather Catcher, but I would rank my GJB and my Eagle Improved Lather Catcher (which I'll be using again soon) above it. I do think it's easier to use than my Kampfe Bros Star Lather Catchers, and the shave is a touch smoother.
One thing I did differently was use a different handle. This is another wooden handle made by a friend. It's a strange modified-tear-drop handle, but the length and weight makes maneuvering the razor easier than the small (and a bit heavy for the head) original handle -- in my opinion. One of these days I want to do a "shave-off/comparison shave" between the ER and GJB, just to see if the difference is really as stark as I think it is. I also really want to build a graph similar to @Ron R's where I plot the various Lather Catchers on a Efficiency vs Aggression scale.
For now, here is my shave for today (and further down are some more razor pics with the two different handles:
Ever-Ready 1911 Lather Catcher with GEM SS PTFE (10) | 24mm Synth brush lathering LEA Professional Cream
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
Just a excellent review and we all learn something along the way. I hope you get some of those other lather catchers you have in your collection put into action.
Have some great shaves!
- Thread starter
- #237
Flintstone65
Imagining solutions for imaginary problems
Thank you, sir -- and I'm working on it!
Ever Ready Lather Catcher
Gem PTFE (lost count of shaves)
Rubberset 200-5 w/ 30mm Maggard 2 band
GD Pre-Shave
GD Valencia
Skinbracer/Stirling Glacial unscented balm
Still getting use to this razor so it’s not the best shave, but still a great one!
- Thread starter
- #239
Flintstone65
Imagining solutions for imaginary problems
Great one-sentence synopsis, which also summarizes my shave....I'm just a tad more verbose (emphasis on the "tad")!
I also really like your pic -- great staging with the razor nestled in the brush. I've been trying to work on my photo skills, but no matter what I do, it always feels like it's the same shot with different "players".
Great one-sentence synopsis, which also summarizes my shave....I'm just a tad more verbose (emphasis on the "tad")!
I also really like your pic -- great staging with the razor nestled in the brush. I've been trying to work on my photo skills, but no matter what I do, it always feels like it's the same shot with different "players".
I'm not great at reviewing, but I know if something is good or bad lol.
The pic was kind of inspiration of the moment. I had my brush in one hand and the razor in the other and the size difference was so staggering in my mind that I just had to do it. If I had used my Maggard SHD 30mm Fan it would have been even more staggering because the bloom on that one is massive.
