The Association of Lather Catchers: TALC

[Flintstone65]

Well my theory may have been tossed out the window with this shave. The Superior Lather Catcher was every bit as smooth as the Gem Jr Bar, but as efficient (actually perhaps a touch more so) than my Ever-Ready LCs. I need to shave with it some more, and post more pics of the razor, but tonight's shave was DFS+ close after 2 passes and no touch-up....and extremely comfortable...no irritation, no blood. Too soon to profess my undying love for this razor, but it certainly woo'd me with this shave. The handle did not come with the razor....I'm reasonably sure the handle it did come with wasn't original to the razor either.

 

[GAW9576]

Well my theory may have been tossed out the window with this shave. The Superior Lather Catcher was every bit as smooth as the Gem Jr Bar, but as efficient (actually perhaps a touch more so) than my Ever-Ready LCs. I need to shave with it some more, and post more pics of the razor, but tonight's shave was DFS+ close after 2 passes and no touch-up....and extremely comfortable...no irritation, no blood. Too soon to profess my undying love for this razor, but it certainly woo'd me with this shave. The handle did not come with the razor....I'm reasonably sure the handle it did come with wasn't original to the razor either.

Beautiful razor Fred and I love that handle. I may try to replicate one like that when I get time to work on the lathe again.

 

[Flintstone65]

Beautiful razor Fred and I love that handle. I may try to replicate one like that when I get time to work on the lathe again.

Thanks! And a mutual friend of ours (Jayaruh) told me he often uses old wooden broom handles and table legs as stock for some of his replicated wooden handles....I guess it helps with getting the tail-end shape? Just wanted to pass that along....I'm hoping to get a lathe one of these days and join you gents in making some stuff.

 

[Ron R]

Well my theory may have been tossed out the window with this shave. The Superior Lather Catcher was every bit as smooth as the Gem Jr Bar, but as efficient (actually perhaps a touch more so) than my Ever-Ready LCs. I need to shave with it some more, and post more pics of the razor, but tonight's shave was DFS+ close after 2 passes and no touch-up....and extremely comfortable...no irritation, no blood. Too soon to profess my undying love for this razor, but it certainly woo'd me with this shave. The handle did not come with the razor....I'm reasonably sure the handle it did come with wasn't original to the razor either.

Very nice shave gear for your Sunday shave, I have been using a Enders Speed lately and looking forward to Gem Monday. The Enders speed is a nice razor with the Schick proline B-20 blade in it, I'm surprized Enders did not make a lather catcher because they were in business in the 1920's when lather catchers were still being MFG but near the ending era for lather catchers production.
Have some great shaves!

 

[GAW9576]

I was going to use my ER again today and try it with a wedge adapter but the JB weld blade stop failed. So I went with the Gem Jr. Bar and a Grm Featherweight.
The Jr. Bar is a smoother more efficient razor for me and is my top favorite so far and for good reason.

 

[kjbarth]

Monday NOvember 11

No Repeat (mostly) NOvember. Up today is a Henckels Rapide with a GEM blade and a wedge adapter.

Bowl/Scuttle - Simpsons mug
Soap - Williams
Brush - Rubberset 200-4
Blade - GEM SS SE (2) w/wedge adapter
Razor - Henckels Rapide
Post Shave - OSMA Pierre alum, Furbo Blu A/S

Shave rating 5 of 5

First time using this wedge adapter with a SE blade; seemed to work well. I did a two pass shave today, the first pass, WTG, was excellent. No irritation. The second pass, XTG, was excellent as well, finishing BBS. The Willliams shave soap did an ok job but I needed to re-apply it several times during my second pass as it was drying up on my face. The alum was a little vocal again on one side of my neck but that was it. Finished up with the Furbo Blu A/S.

Happy NOvember and great shaves everyone.

 

[Old Hippie]

No pix yet, but once things dry off I'll snap a couple.

Pulled out Gem Jr. Bar for a first run this morning. Seemed like a good time to do so, with holiday time off (Remembrance Day: Thank you my brother and sister veterans!).

I used one of the screw adaptors sent to me graciously by L.A. Jones to fit an ATT Kronos handle to it.

The perticklers:

Razor: Gem Jr. Bar
Blade: PTFE (4)*
Soap: Williams
Brush: RazoRock Beehive
Ahhh: Nivea Men sensitive skin

*Hard hair, bony scalp. I end up killing Gem blades within six shaves and this one is ready for the bin now. Might get one more shave out, possibly even hit six. I'll try Weds. and Fri.

I found two angles where this thing shaves. A steeper angle which didn't feel right, and a shallow angle that was pretty smooth. Guess which one I worked on most? The original documentation came with this razor, along with six out of seven blades for the 7-day set.

Four of the blades are marked for the Jr. Bar and are what I think is the very oldest style of non-wedge Gem blade. They are thick steel and have a steel spine that is rounded instead of simply folded over the blade, so they have a profile somewhat like a wedge. The other two blades are slightly later vintage, Gem Damaskeene. One slot is empty.

The original documentation came with it (or maybe not THE original but somebody put it in there) and it indicates that the razor should be used WTG with additional passes also WTG if needed. I certainly needed an additional pass but the first one took off a fair bit of stubble. This would be fine with me if I wanted to shave every day. Maybe when I retire; just now I am grateful to be able to "steal" 45 minutes three times a week.

I finally worked out -- I think! -- why I have trouble XTG and especially ATG with lather catchers. The frames aren't as torsionally stiff as later razors. I could feel the vibration from going XTG as the blade cut individual hairs and the head twisted just slightly. I don't get that when I use my Damaskeene, but I do also get it with the Star lather catcher. Not with the Little Lather Catcher. I'm not real sure what forces are at work, but looking at the result I can say, "That means something..."

I knocked off with an acceptable shave. I found that smooth angle worked best, and worked on the cleanup carefully. I quit a little early due to the Williams not being as thick as it should have been, although by the end of the shave it had lost enough water that it was starting to slick up.

I'll try that one again sometime.

O.H.

 

[Flintstone65]

Been a while, so I took out my Eagle Improved lather catcher with it's modified Gem SS PTFE blade, plus some Modern Williams (as it's Williams Wednesday, and I was inspired by @Old Hippie) lathered with an Omega 10777 boar. It was a very comfortable 2-pass (no-touchup shave). This wasn't an overly close shave (probably closer to CCS than DFS in terms of closeness), but it was a fun one. Hard to see the "key" on the back -- my photo is a little too straight on -- but I always thought that was a cool touch.

 

[Old Hippie]

plus some Modern Williams (as it's Williams Wednesday, and I was inspired by @Old Hippie)

My first thought was, "This is pretty good stuff for under two bucks a puck."

My second thought was, "This is pretty good stuff for FIFTEEN bucks a puck."

O.H.

 

[Tanuki]

Thread hijack, no lather catchers here:

PIF - 1000 posts

Listen up, people! This PIF is complicated. But, prizes, prizes, prizes!!! And CONUS shipping is covered, so it is definitely worth your time. I recently realized that I have been shooting my mouth off on B&B to the tune of 1000 posts. Plus I have a few items I might not use. (But all are...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[dangerousrazor]

Two of my latest acquisitions are Star lather catchers.

1. Star Cru Steel 1913

It feels like being in the same league with Ever Ready Lather catcher in terms of efficiency and smoothness. Not as smooth as Gem Junior bar and its kind

 

[dangerousrazor]

2. Star Bar Lather Catcher.

It looks like being made in pre ASR era. Almost the same except engravings on the back of the head and handle.

 

[dangerousrazor]

Differences between pre ASR and post ASR Star bar lather catcher

 

[Ron R]

2. Star Bar Lather Catcher.

It looks like being made in pre ASR era. Almost the same except engravings on the back of the head and handle.

View attachment 1036926View attachment 1036927View attachment 1036928

I also have a #4 Star Bar LC and it is a nice shaver IMO. I paid a little more for my Star bar LC than my Gem Jr bar LC but it was like new and it is possibly slightly more aggressive & worth it for its rarity and performance.
From what the fellows are saying is the earlier Star models are a little more aggressive than Gem razors of the same time line and earlier. Kampfe brothers (Star) brand were decades prior to Gem company was founded & they liked their razors that were aggressive possibly?
Have some great shaves!

 

[dangerousrazor]

I also have a #4 Star Bar LC and it is a nice shaver IMO. I paid a little more for my Star bar LC than my Gem Jr bar LC but it was like new and it is possibly slightly more aggressive & worth it for its rarity and performance.
From what the fellows are saying is the earlier Star models are a little more aggressive than Gem razors of the same time line and earlier. Kampfe brothers (Star) brand were decades prior to Gem company was founded & they liked their razors that were aggressive possibly?
Have some great shaves!

It is one of my favorite razors. I don't find any significant difference between Gem Jr bar and Star Bar. Both are really beautiful and a fantastic shaver.


Maybe you're right. But The earlier Star lather catchers(early to mid 1900's. I don't have any experience with Star LCs without blade stop) were made to use wedge blade while Gem Jr bar at the same age was made to use rib back blade. So before I try Star lather catchers with wedge blade, I'd better not jump on the conclusion that Star LCs are more aggressive.

 

[GAW9576]

Those are some beautiful lather catchers @pelicanachic. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Flintstone65]

I've got both (Gem Jr Bars and Star LC's with blade stops), and for me it's about comfort, technique and efficiency. Relatively speaking (and again, "for me"): The Gem Jr Bars are more comfortable, requires less attention to technique, and is less efficient than the Stars. Despite having blade stops, the early Star's (that I have) definitely came with and were made for wedge blades, so while you can use a Gem blade with them, I suspect it REALLY impacts the razor's shave. I haven't gotten around to using a wedge blade with my Stars, but my hypothesis is the wedge blade (assuming I can get a decent edge on it) will help with comfort.

Thanks @pelicanachic for sharing your razors and thoughts.

 

[GAW9576]

I've got both (Gem Jr Bars and Star LC's with blade stops), and for me it's about comfort, technique and efficiency. Relatively speaking (and again, "for me"): The Gem Jr Bars are more comfortable, requires less attention to technique, and is less efficient than the Stars. Despite having blade stops, the early Star's (that I have) definitely came with and were made for wedge blades, so while you can use a Gem blade with them, I suspect it REALLY impacts the razor's shave. I haven't gotten around to using a wedge blade with my Stars, but my hypothesis is the wedge blade (assuming I can get a decent edge on it) will help with comfort.

Thanks @pelicanachic for sharing your razors and thoughts.

Have you tried the older Star razors with a wedge adapter and modern blade?

 

[Flintstone65]

Have you tried the older Star razors with a wedge adapter and modern blade?

I haven't. My wedge adapters don't seem to work "as is" in my Star LC's and will need to be filed down/adjusted....I've been holding off on permanent changes to the adapter, but I have found (and subsequently learned) that 3-D printing stuff very often needs some "polishing" (i.e., adjustment with sandpaper or a file) to work as designed. One of these days, I'll layout all the LC's I have that require an adapter and see if I can manage to customize my adapter in a way that gives me the best access to the most razors. The other thing I should note is that many of the Star LC's without the blade clips do have adjustment screws for the posts that hold the side clips. These screws are very tiny (e.g., the size that fits eyeglass posts), and I have really tried adjusting them, so it maybe that I won't have to do much at all to my adapters. The problem in the past has been space (and time) for me to go all Dr. Frankenstein (or is it Frankensteen) / Dr. Jekyll (or in my case all-thumbs-Hyde) on exploring the various razors I have and how best to use them. I'm in the process of relocating to a place where the new shave den will allow me to have a fair amount of privacy to do my razor "work" without tying up a needed bathroom.

 

[Flintstone65]

Speaking of my new shave den -- I had my first shave in mine. I put on some Ragtime (I really like Scott Joplin) and loaded a new Schick Proline B into my GEM Zinn Automatic and had an amazing shave. I had several days growth, and after one-single-pass, I was easily CCS. The second pass made it a straight-up DFS, and I stopped. No touch-up, no blood, no irritation, no worries in the world. It's been stressful (and will be for a while) with several things going on in my life at the moment, but THIS shave just melted the worries away. The soap was Men's Soap Company's Bay Rum -- an easy to lather, super slick soap with an amazing scent. The brush was a Jayaruh (JR #270) synthetic boar-style knot with an "old fashioned" handle. The Lather Catcher is still fairly new to me (this is maybe my 3rd shave with it), but it is so comfortable and easy to use, that it was an easy choice to make for an inaugural shave in Den #1....a GEM style razor and a Schick styled blade, what's not to love?!!! Oh and yes, I did have some fun with a little filter-play on the pic -- and I still need to reallly work on the lighting when I'm taking the shot.