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Ramblings of a MilkCrate

Well crap! Woke up early and was patiently waiting on the missus to get up and moving. She is feeling rough around the edges, so I guess the road trip will have to wait for another day :confused: I almost went without her, but I wanted her to get to smell soaps and see the assortment.

Double crap! It’s cold and nasty outside. Weather map showed rain all the way from TX to AR

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Guess it’s time for a suasage biscuit and more coffee
 
A8220E08-003E-4F9A-BC91-AE033B64EEAC.jpegShave Count (DE: 314 SE: 2 SR: 318)

Pre Shave-
Splash and go

Shave-
J Allen SR
Stirling boar
Stirling Baker Street soap

Post Shave-
Post shave lather
Stirling Baker Street AS

The process-
Just a quick update. A truly outstanding shave this morning with my usual technique. I am BBS and smelling great! I would have smelled great all the way to Arkansas if the trip wasn’t cancelled.

I’m still bummed.

Home Front-
I got nothing. Life is good!
 
Dude that sucks, but I'd rather be at home wrapped up in a blanket and watching cartoons. All caught up on your journal too. Looks like I've been on top of your game, keep it up.
 
bentheduck said:
Dude that sucks, but I'd rather be at home wrapped up in a blanket and watching cartoons. All caught up on your journal too. Looks like I've been on top of your game, keep it up.
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Life is good. My ADs are in remission. A couple of soap/AS sets I’d like to pick up, but no rush. And I have been getting some really good shaves lately.

I was thinking about grabbing that SR I scored from the mystery box. Doing a bit of cleaning on it and hone it up. If I do, it will be on deck tomorrow.
 
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Shave Count (DE: 314 SE: 2 SR: 319)

Pre Shave-
Splash and go

Shave-
F Reynolds SR
Stirling boar
CBL Jeris Tonic (Beta) soap

Post Shave-
Post shave lather
Florida Water AS

The process-
Late morning shave and the kit is random with a few new bits. Trying the Jeris Tonic soap that is the new CBL Tonsorial. It is a light scent that I just can’t place. That’s not saying much because my nose sucks and I’m not a frag head. First use of this one and loaded a bit wet. That was not on purpose, but it still worked out. Brush was dumping a bunch of water when building lather, so I did revisit the puck with a dryer brush. Whipped up a nice slick lather

40 laps on leather for this freshly honed (mystery box) razor and it was go time. Went with my standard three pass shave of WTG, XTG and ATG. No drama to report on this outing. Nice shave and the soap is plenty slick for an SR shave. I did miss a smidge on the jawline, so we’ll call this a DFS for the win! That bugs me ... but I’ll take it.

Wrapped everything up with quick rinse and towel dry. Gave it a couple of minutes so I could check the dry down. Nice. Not moisturized or dry, kinda neutral and clean. Nothing wrong with that. Followed that with a glug of the AS and everything was right as rain! It does what it was made to do, I dig it. Nice, clean, no frills shave.

Home Front-
Weather sucks, so maybe just a quiet day inside. The razor I used today could be sharper. I have another razor that I need to touch up and the SB Ark should be here today. So ... I may have to play with that. Life is good!
 
And ... my wife is giving me grief over the new to me razor. She said it needs cleaned up. Told her it would get honed up and shaved with first.

So ... hones have been lapped and put away. Second razor got a touch up. And both got a go on the SB. We’ll she what tomorrow’s shave is like.
 
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Shave Count (DE: 314 SE: 2 SR: 320)

Pre Shave-
Splash and go

Shave-
F Reynolds SR
Stirling boar
MWF soap

Post Shave-
Post shave lather
Avon Olan AS

The process-
Late morning shave ... oh yeah. It’s been awhile and The Fat got the nod today. I don’t know what it is about The Fat, but I really dig it. It easily whips up a ton of lather that is creamy and slick. Never had an issue with it. Kept the Stirling boar again and thankfully the shedding has stopped. Had plenty of lather for three passes and a post lather.

40 laps on leather and it’s time to check out this hone job. Went with my standard three pass shave of WTG, XTG and ATG. No drama to report with this shave. Nice smooth shave, but I was noticing a bit more stubble when rinsing between passes. Thought I would pick up some of that on the next pass and for the most part I did. Nice shave ... not awesome ... but nice. I am DFS for the win! I’ll take that on an easy day.

Wrapped everything up with a quick rinse and towel dry. Followed that with a glug of the AS and everything was right as rain! Yup, I dig the vintage Avons too. Good stuff right there.

Home Front-
Just an easy day today, taking things as they come. Some random thoughts. I know my edges were sharper when using lapping film followed by pasted balsa strops. It was consistent sharpness with 60 laps on each grit. Coming off the strops I had scary sharp razors. I know I won’t hit that with the Naniwa progression and SB finisher. But I am curious how far I can push this progression. Ah ... not far enough on this razor. It needs more work. Life is good!
 
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I've enjoyed some really nicely honed razors from film, but I've only ever really honed on Naninwas, and have always found a 12k edge plenty sharp.
 
Brew said:
I've enjoyed some really nicely honed razors from film, but I've only ever really honed on Naninwas, and have always found a 12k edge plenty sharp.
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The sharpest razor I’ve tried was in a pass around. Honed on film and finished on diamond balsas. Truly outstanding and smooth. 20 laps on the diamond balsa after each shave kept it that sharp. To me there is just something about using the stones.

The two razors I honed before this one were both on Naniwa up to 12k. Definitely sharp enough, but were kinda harsh. The leather helped with that. But I think the SB can help with that also.

The previous two razors also were sticky on the stones, this one wasn’t. I just need to find my groove for consistency on the stones.
 
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Shave Count (DE: 314 SE: 2 SR: 321)

Pre Shave-
Splash and go

Shave-
Henckels SR
DSC Badger
Atomic Age Bay Rum soap

Post Shave-
Post shave lather
Atomic Age Bay Rum AS

The process-
Here we are again starting a new work week. As much as I would like to finish off that tub of Proraso Red, I had to squeeze in another scent this week. It has been way too long since Bay Rum has been on deck. Arrrg! So AA Bay Rum it is. Man, I really dig this scent. I really don't care for the price, but the scent is awesome. Anyway, I grabbed the DSC to make a mess of things and it was very nice. Looking back, a 30 second load time may have been a bit much. I had a ton of lather going on and there was a bit of slinging. Ah ... good times. This soap really does have some good slickness going on as well.

The Henckels has really been neglected lately and it was time to correct that. Great razor that has delivered some awesome shaves. I had lost the edge on it and had just set it aside. Being lazy. Well, Sunday I took it back to the hones to get it back up to speed. Along with the F Reynolds that I recently scored. 40 laps on leather this morning and it was go time. Went with my standard three pass shave of WTG, XTG and ATG. No drama to report with this shave. No tugging or any other indicators of a bad shave. But ... Hm ... so what is the shave that is below DFS? Oh that's right ... crap. I got a crap shave! Between passes, I could feel more stubble than usual, it just wasn't mowing it down. I thought I could pull it out on the ATG pass, but that was not to be. Man that sucked ... I am embarrassed with the edge I put on this blade. I won't even claim that honing. Uh ... my dog honed that razor and she did a horrible job. She needs opposable thumbs. I can't do that to her ... I own that poor honing. I will fix that. In the meantime, I will suffer through the day with 5 o'clock shadow. I was running a bit late and didn't have time for a fourth pass with a DE. Arrrg ... that sucked! Wrapped everything up with a quick rinse and towel dry. It's Bay Rum baby ... you know I followed that with a glug of the AS and everything was right as ... what the ... ouch! Oh man, that lite me up. That bad edge strikes again I guess. Arrrg!

Home Front-
So there ya have it, two bad hone jobs in a row. That was not pleasant. Both razors go back to the stones, but one at a time until it is right. Man, that kinda crap will keep you humble. Full week at work and loaded with high profile projects. Gonna be busy. Not sure what else the week holds yet ... we will see. Life is good!
 
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