What straight did you use today? Now with PICTURES

[eezee]

6/13/21
13/16 Bengall

 

[Frank Shaves]

I like your Omega 10066, @Steve56 - one of the best deals in wet shaving. If you like the 10066, you will also like the Semogue 1800. It's the one Semogue that has some of the qualities of the Omega bristles. My son and younger daughter both have 10066s .

 

[azwetshaver]

 

[Acmemfg]

Hart Steel 7/8. Maple scales. Circa 2010-2011, back when they were making a very good razor.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Simon Pure Cutlery Co.

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[2bit_collie]

CVH Royal Kindal 6/8 hollow stainless
Simpsons Wee Scot
Pacific Shaving Co Cream

 

[CongaJon]

Young Besset,
Flare Tip SS,
Remade Silvertip mystery brush w/ PdP 63.

Pretty beefy blade on that Besset Jeune:

 

[R7photo]

CV Heljestrand MK6, half hollow , 6/8
CRSW, Mandarin Orange
( soap 8 yrs old)
Been shaving exclusively past few weeks Japanese straights
I forgot how phenomenal these razors are,,Heljestrand razors are amazing

Few notes , rescued from the bay for pennies , and she is worth 8x in gold
Feels good to be able to hone her up from scatch, and luckily created a phenomenal edge
8 shave with this edge, Pierre La lune
2 pass bbs, no irritation
Notice how thick the neck of razor is, heavy dense steel
Cheers all

 

[Gamma]

J. Stark 9/8 1/2-ish hollow

 

[Forged]

View attachment 1281164Hart Steel 7/8. Maple scales. Circa 2010-2011, back when they were making a very good razor.

Any idea when they went down hill, and which of the makers were better(or worse)?

 

[Acmemfg]

If I remember correctly the QC started waning around 2013-2015. There were a few guys who were grinding blades for Hart. My only experience was with a razor ground by James Arman. It’s an excellent piece of work; it’s one of the very few razors in my quiver I will never part with. I’m not sure if Arman is still with Hart Steel. I heard he may have gone on his own.

 

[camoloc]

Thiers Issard
The Holy Black Gunpowder Spice
Yaqi 24mm Sagrada Familia
Tony Miller Horween Strop
Jnat Shobu Finish
Thayers
Pinaud Clubman

be well all.

camo

 

[Forged]

If I remember correctly the QC started waning around 2013-2015. There were a few guys who were grinding blades for Hart. My only experience was with a razor ground by James Arman. It’s an excellent piece of work; it’s one of the very few razors in my quiver I will never part with. I’m not sure if Arman is still with Hart Steel. I heard he may have gone on his own.

Thanks for that. I have a 6/8 mirror polish Hart Steel purchased from Classic Shaving in late December of 2013. It was early days of wet shaving for me back then and for a variety of reasons I ended up sticking with DE’s until now.

As luck would have it, I actually pulled the Hart Steel out yesterday prior to seeing your post. Unfortunately it didn’t come shave ready despite CS’s assurances to the contrary, and 50 laps or so on leather barely made a difference, so I could only manage a pass on my cheeks before heavier growth (and perhaps my undeveloped straight technique) arrested my progress further.

Since I’d read about issues with Hart razors, as well as problems honing some of these, I figured I would try to determine if mine was likely one of the “Good” or “Bad” Hart razors before deciding how to proceed with getting it properly shave ready. I’ll likely post a question about that separately in the Honing forum, but the good news, thanks to your reply, would seem to be that mine is likely to be a great shaver once sorted, because it has James Arman’s “JA” stamp on the tang. So thanks again for the helpful reply.

 

[Ravenonrock]

 

[2bit_collie]

John Barber “Old English” wedge (with the assist to G. Wostenholm & Sons hollow)
TOBS Lavender cream
Semogue 1250

I acquired this John Barber recently fully restored. The seller told me that he had used it and it tugged a little. So I rehoned - had to go to 3 layers of regular electrical tape. End result this morning - it still felt like it was struggling. Wondering if there is something more fundamental wrong (bevel angle, metal got detempered during restoration?). The Barber had also performed poorly in the tree-topping test the night before, so I had loaded a back-up razor into my holder. 1/2 way thru I jumped to the back-up a Wostenholm hollow that had just been upped from black Ark to pasted balsa. The Wostenholm felt vastly better. I believe it was cutting closer too, but since I did the entire 3rd pass with the Wostenholm I couldn’t really compare the results.

I think next step on the Barber is to check the bevel angle. Which might be tricky. With the funny chamfer on the side of the spine, I’m not exactly sure how I would go about checking the angle. I assume the first step is to slap the tape back on for the measurement.

 

[2bit_collie]

CV Heljestrand MK6, half hollow , 6/8
CRSW, Mandarin Orange
( soap 8 yrs old)
Been shaving exclusively past few weeks Japanese straights
I forgot how phenomenal these razors are,,Heljestrand razors are amazing

Few notes , rescued from the bay for pennies , and she is worth 8x in gold
Feels good to be able to hone her up from scatch, and luckily created a phenomenal edge
8 shave with this edge, Pierre La lune
2 pass bbs, no irritation
Notice how thick the neck of razor is, heavy dense steel
Cheers all

”rescued from the bay for pennies”??? Lucky man! I’ve not seen many CVH on eBay that I would call cheap (though I did score a No. 24 with a chipped edge for a good price), not as bad as Filis but certainly in a league with famous-name Sheffields. The MK 3* series in particular seem to go for a premium.

 

[2bit_collie]

If I remember correctly the QC started waning around 2013-2015. There were a few guys who were grinding blades for Hart. My only experience was with a razor ground by James Arman. It’s an excellent piece of work; it’s one of the very few razors in my quiver I will never part with. I’m not sure if Arman is still with Hart Steel. I heard he may have gone on his own.

Maggard’s sells straight razors made by James Arman. His own company is TTFFC, I think he makes razors and his wife makes shaving soap, both are available on the Maggard’s site. In particular they have offered 1/4 hollows with 6/8 and 7/8 width.

 

[GNR]

Please stop reading this post if sentimentality makes you feel uneasy.

This week's razor

2016 wasn’t a good year to me. My wife and my father, the two supportive pillars in my life, both passed away after having been dying slowly and very painfully over several years. In 2017 I was worn and mourning. The joy of my life was, and still is, my then eight year old son. I really had no idea what the future would be like or even if we be able to keep our house. At this point I got a package from the USA. I had no idea what it was in it or who the sender was. When I opened it I found a letter and this NOS Coral razor, a razor that I had been admiring for years.

The razor was a gift from a man named Royce that had become member of B&B about the same time as I. We had become friends over the years. He wrote that he knew that I liked the looks of the razor model and wanted me to have one. I still like the razor, and the kindness this gentleman showed me warms my heart to this day.

Today I am fine. We still live in the same house and I can and will continue to work part time for another year until the cub’s fourteenth birthday, this to spend time with him. He shall never doubt that even if he lost his mother in the most horrific way his old man will always be there for him.

End of story. I wish you all a very good week.


The "rings" on the toe of the blade is the reflection of the ceiling mounted bathroom vent.

View attachment 1280582

Sorry for your loss. The time spent with your son is the best gift ever. I wish you both the best.
What a pleasant surprise, receiving a gift during those troubling times. Enjoy the wonderful razor and pass it on to your son when the time comes.

 

[Steve56]

310 Shell Silver Steel frame back, testing the La Lune edge N12k -> La Lune 25 stokes water and 3 drops glycerin. Cream was T&H UC lathered with a Simpsons 58, and a little Floris 89 AS finished up an excellent shave.

The edge was very sharp and delivered a very close shave with no stubble left behind. The AS lightly tingled for about 1/2 second, no issues when the shave is this close. Like other edges that I’ve made with it, it doesn’t seem quite as smooth as the best JNat, but if you have a tough beard (mine is rather normal) the ‘grape ape’ may make just the edge for you - I have a tough-bearded friend that loves his.

 

[azwetshaver]

Koraat 8/8 1/4 hollow

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