Happy New Year, Tim. I hope the MK shows up soon.
TimS' shave journal
- Thread starter TimS
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- #602
Thanks Larry. A Happy New Year to you as well!
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- #603
MK32 showed up 
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- #604
But I hate you, Mr. Packwood.
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- #605
It's been a while since posting here. Been on B&B several times a day, but haven't made the effort to post, for some reason.
It's also been a while since I used a straight razor. About a month ago I stupidly shut my left hand in the door of my truck, doing some damage to my index finger. Since I use both hands for shaving, and a bandage around my finger kind of gets in the way of holding a razor, I resorted to a DE. I had a couple weeks' worth of travel mixed in as well, so a DE made everything easier.
Tonight I got to use, for the first time, a razor that arrived just before my last trip. I picked up one of the Riga razors seen on eBay frequently, and it did not disappoint. The edge was superb, as was the balance and handling of the razor. I really, really like it.
Sorry for the lousy photo, but you get the idea...
It's also been a while since I used a straight razor. About a month ago I stupidly shut my left hand in the door of my truck, doing some damage to my index finger. Since I use both hands for shaving, and a bandage around my finger kind of gets in the way of holding a razor, I resorted to a DE. I had a couple weeks' worth of travel mixed in as well, so a DE made everything easier.
Tonight I got to use, for the first time, a razor that arrived just before my last trip. I picked up one of the Riga razors seen on eBay frequently, and it did not disappoint. The edge was superb, as was the balance and handling of the razor. I really, really like it.
Sorry for the lousy photo, but you get the idea...
Very nice looking razor, Tim. Congrats! What are the scales from?
Glad your hand is on the mend.
Glad your hand is on the mend.
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- #607
Thanks Larry. The razor was listed as having Mora wood scales. I'm not a huge fan of wood scales, but these are nice enough. Maybe I'll switch them out someday.
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- #608
Today was straight razor spring cleaning day. Had some time to myself, so figured I'd try to get organized for a change.
I really have tried to subscribe to the 'one in, one out' philosophy of acquiring razors, and actually haven't acquired much lately. But a rash of purchases recently had me prioritizing what I want and don't need.
First up, I found out today that my nephew (mentioned earlier in this journal) is reduced to using a disposable (!) whenever he visits his dad on weekends. Wow, I never knew. Tomorrow he gets my Kanayama #3 that's been sitting in a box under my bed, waiting for what??
I have a bunch of razors sitting in a piece of pottery, the 'I'll get to them someday' group. Today things got cleaned up. First up is a handful of stubtails I'll put on eBay for restoration (no scales). I decided I have enough stubtails in my collection, so no need to go through the time/expense of rescaling these.
Next is a group of razors not really worth putting up for sale, but can't get thrown away. I'm going to bring them to my nephew tomorrow and let him pick a couple; the rest will be PIF'd, as I occasionally give away razors to those newbies who post here on B&B inquiring about getting started. If you're a new guy who stumbled across this posting and want a razor, let me know. Otherwise, I'll keep an eye out on the main board.
Finally, a handful of decent razors will go on the BST once I get them honed and tested.
Now my razor cases are filled with a collection I'm very happy to own, and it'll feel good to get the stragglers out of the house.
As far as what's left to acquire, I still have 4 or 5 empty slots in my tortoise box. Haven't seen any of those for sale for a few months now.
I really have tried to subscribe to the 'one in, one out' philosophy of acquiring razors, and actually haven't acquired much lately. But a rash of purchases recently had me prioritizing what I want and don't need.
First up, I found out today that my nephew (mentioned earlier in this journal) is reduced to using a disposable (!) whenever he visits his dad on weekends. Wow, I never knew. Tomorrow he gets my Kanayama #3 that's been sitting in a box under my bed, waiting for what??
I have a bunch of razors sitting in a piece of pottery, the 'I'll get to them someday' group. Today things got cleaned up. First up is a handful of stubtails I'll put on eBay for restoration (no scales). I decided I have enough stubtails in my collection, so no need to go through the time/expense of rescaling these.
Next is a group of razors not really worth putting up for sale, but can't get thrown away. I'm going to bring them to my nephew tomorrow and let him pick a couple; the rest will be PIF'd, as I occasionally give away razors to those newbies who post here on B&B inquiring about getting started. If you're a new guy who stumbled across this posting and want a razor, let me know. Otherwise, I'll keep an eye out on the main board.
Finally, a handful of decent razors will go on the BST once I get them honed and tested.
Now my razor cases are filled with a collection I'm very happy to own, and it'll feel good to get the stragglers out of the house.
As far as what's left to acquire, I still have 4 or 5 empty slots in my tortoise box. Haven't seen any of those for sale for a few months now.
I seem to go through phases. I've picked up a couple recently, and have been considering dumping a few that just don't get used. My razor preferences continue to narrow, making the available pool of razors I'd consider to buy smaller and smaller.
Your nephew resorting to a disposable...these are the things nightmares are made of! Just kidding. I am sure he will be extremely happy with the Kanayama!
That Riga razor looks awesome!
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- #612
It really is. Feels great in hand and gives a tremendous shave.
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- #613
Miserable day, miserable weather. It's raining buckets right now, and I'm home sick for the third day in a row. It's just a cold, but it's a doozie.
My most recent shave-related 'win' consisted of finding a source for my much-loved Barbon shaving cream. I only had a few tubes from a trip to Hungary a few years ago, and went looking to load up on some more (unfortunately, no trips to Budapest in my future, as far as I can tell). eBay has it for about $10/tube shipped, but knowing I paid a fifth of that when I was there had me looking elsewhere. No domestic sources turned up. Did find a Bulgarian beauty supply place that took PayPal and shipped for less than $3/tube. Took a while to get here (and I was apprehensive that I navigated their online store correctly (in Bulgarian, which I don't know), but now I'm resupplied with what's getting to be my favorite cream. Love the performance, smell, etc. When I'm done with these half-dozen tubes, I'll probably triple my order. The Bulgarians will probably wonder what kind of American weirdo is buying up this shaving cream in bulk.
On the honing front, I'm wrestling with a Japanese western that I just can't get the edge on it I want. I can get a BBS shave from it, but not without a bit of tugging and discomfort. It's one of the razors I recently decided I'm going to sell, but I can't put it on the BST until I get an edge I'll be proud of on it. Most recent attempts were first a touch-up on the Naniwa 12K (a fairly recent purchase I wanted to test out--got some really nice edges on other razors from it), and after that wasn't good enough, tried one of my Jnats. Still not great. I guess I'll take it back a step or two and go from there.
That's it for now; time for yet another nap before family members start returning home from their day.
My most recent shave-related 'win' consisted of finding a source for my much-loved Barbon shaving cream. I only had a few tubes from a trip to Hungary a few years ago, and went looking to load up on some more (unfortunately, no trips to Budapest in my future, as far as I can tell). eBay has it for about $10/tube shipped, but knowing I paid a fifth of that when I was there had me looking elsewhere. No domestic sources turned up. Did find a Bulgarian beauty supply place that took PayPal and shipped for less than $3/tube. Took a while to get here (and I was apprehensive that I navigated their online store correctly (in Bulgarian, which I don't know), but now I'm resupplied with what's getting to be my favorite cream. Love the performance, smell, etc. When I'm done with these half-dozen tubes, I'll probably triple my order. The Bulgarians will probably wonder what kind of American weirdo is buying up this shaving cream in bulk.
On the honing front, I'm wrestling with a Japanese western that I just can't get the edge on it I want. I can get a BBS shave from it, but not without a bit of tugging and discomfort. It's one of the razors I recently decided I'm going to sell, but I can't put it on the BST until I get an edge I'll be proud of on it. Most recent attempts were first a touch-up on the Naniwa 12K (a fairly recent purchase I wanted to test out--got some really nice edges on other razors from it), and after that wasn't good enough, tried one of my Jnats. Still not great. I guess I'll take it back a step or two and go from there.
That's it for now; time for yet another nap before family members start returning home from their day.
I can't say that I've heard of Barbon shaving cream. How would you describe the scent?
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- #615
Hmmm...'green'?? Kind of hard to describe--a clean, fresh smell. I just asked my wife and daughter, and neither could help. And I'm really stuffed up right now, so I can't give it a fresh whiff.
What a lame answer. Sorry.
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LOL - I understand. I'm no good at describing scents either.
I'm surprised to read you picked up a Naniwa hone. I did't think you had any interest in synths. But then again, I keep getting shiny bevels from up there, so perhaps there's something to splash and go?
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- #618
I wanted to give it a whirl. After shaving with what I was told was a Naniwa 12k edge, and being very impressed with that edge, I wanted to see what I could do with it. Three razors I tried came out with fantastic edges (and I touched up a few for my nephew but haven't received feedback on those), but this next razor isn't coming along as well. I did take it back down to 8k and then 12k again, and got an incremental improvement. Still not where I want it to be.
Truth be told, I'm still all over the place with my edges. Most times, I get where I want to or close to it. But I can't yet get a great edge, every time. I know part of that comes from my irregular honing sessions, as well as not being able to focus on one regimen at a time.
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I have had some success with the 8 and 12k hones on smile-less razors that have no warp. Anything other than one dimensional honing is totally hit or miss, mostly miss.
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- #620
Today is a much better day than the last several have been: cold/flu is clearing up, the deluges of this past week are gone, and another try on the hones with the Kikuboshi resulted in a very nice shave this morning. Not sure it had anything to do with my 'meh' edges lately, but I cleaned up the 8K and 12K with a DMT plate before honing last night, and the 8K definitely was slightly dished. Cleaned everything up, hit the hones, got a great HHT, and finally, the shave test was more than satisfactory.
With a great shave and a sunny day in front of me, things are looking up.
With a great shave and a sunny day in front of me, things are looking up.
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