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3rd Annual February "One Blade" Challenge!

Gotta love a nice smooth blade. This feather is just fabulous. And I’m loving the feather-feather combo. I feel smooth enough after the second pass, that I barely feel the need for a third pass, let alone any desire to go against the grain.
 
Feb.17: Sensor(17) ............................ Graydog silvertip ...... Palmolive stick ...................... Nivea Cool Sensitive

The sensor cart is starting to noticeably grab this morning.
 
Tuesday
Razor: RR GC .84p
Blade: Wilkinson Sword (11)
Brush: Stirling Boar
Soap: Bootlegger Willie (10)
AS: Clubman Whiskey Woods

Wednesday
Razor: RR GC .84p
Blade: Wilkinson Sword (12)
Brush: Stirling Boar
Soap: Bootlegger Willie (11)
AS: Clubman Whiskey Woods - LNHC Barbershop Balm

The Wilkinson Sword isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. I just realized that I haven’t swapped out razors yet, so I may do that once the Bootlegger Willie is gone.
 
Shave 18 in the books!
Is anyone utilizing any techniques, like palm stropping, to extend the life of their blades? Personally, I don’t like to remove my blade at all, thinking that if I do, and put it back in, it could alter the geometry slightly and the wear on the blade could be different.
 
Spider said:
Shave 18 in the books!
Is anyone utilizing any techniques, like palm stropping, to extend the life of their blades? Personally, I don’t like to remove my blade at all, thinking that if I do, and put it back in, it could alter the geometry slightly and the wear on the blade could be different.
Click to expand...
Nothing much special here. Just take the blade out for a rinse under the faucet to get some of the built up lather and whiskers off at the end of each shave.
 
Spider said:
Shave 18 in the books!
Is anyone utilizing any techniques, like palm stropping, to extend the life of their blades? Personally, I don’t like to remove my blade at all, thinking that if I do, and put it back in, it could alter the geometry slightly and the wear on the blade could be different.
Click to expand...
I have removed my blade weekly, cleaned, stropped (2 laps per edge) on cowhide, and flipped my blade. Has it made a difference? Perhaps a bit. I've used the same setup before for about 12-13 shaves and can't say this round has been "improved" by the above techniques.

My only thought in doing so was to make sure it would live through shaves 18-28. So now is the time for it to prove itself, as 18 is complete.
 
Shave 16 is in the books and I might be approaching the end of this blade's life. Two days in a row now I've had a small nick on my chin. If it happens again on the 17th shave I'll be calling it, as 3 days in a row is no longer user error in my book.

Spider said:
Shave 18 in the books!
Is anyone utilizing any techniques, like palm stropping, to extend the life of their blades? Personally, I don’t like to remove my blade at all, thinking that if I do, and put it back in, it could alter the geometry slightly and the wear on the blade could be different.
Click to expand...

I'm a little paranoid about scum build up within the inners of my razors, so after each shave I'll take the blade, rinse and set it on a cloth to dry - also rinse and stand my the razor upright on the same towel so any moisture migrates down and out the head. Really just necessary for TTOs but I tend to do it for most razors that allow for such drying.

Never thought about the fact that it could be helping or hindering blade longevity. I don't mark sides so it's definitely possible that I'm using the same side face up or down more so than the other. Or that I'm altering the blade seating as well. Huh. Guess those are just variables I'll have to live with!
 
Feb.18: Sensor(18) ............................ Graydog silvertip ...... Palmolive stick ...................... Nivea Cool Sensitive

Good shave, but the cart is starting to degrade. I strop the cart 10x on my jeans to help cleanup any gunk.
 
Razor: RR GC .84p
Blade: Wilkinson Sword (13)
Brush: Stirling Boar
Soap: Bootlegger Willie (12)
AS: Clubman Whiskey Woods

This blade is still super smooth and cutting hair just fine. Since the Bootlegger Willie is done I think I’ll switch razors tomorrow.
 
Another successful shave with the Wilkinson Sword/PAA El Fantasma pairing. Glad I’ve stuck with this slant. It’s my first slant that I bought back in October (for Open Comb OCtober) and I hadn’t really committed the time to get to know it before this month. I’ve been getting some excellent results. Getting these good shaves and reading @gvw755 Slant Saga from last April has given me an itch to buy some of the different types of slants to try them out.
Anyway 18 shaves on my Wilkinson Sword and no signs of showing down yet.
9B6B83FB-74CA-4D19-9B80-113EE368AB71.jpeg
 
EMG06 said:
Another successful shave with the Wilkinson Sword/PAA El Fantasma pairing. Glad I’ve stuck with this slant. It’s my first slant that I bought back in October (for Open Comb OCtober) and I hadn’t really committed the time to get to know it before this month. I’ve been getting some excellent results. Getting these good shaves and reading @gvw755 Slant Saga from last April has given me an itch to buy some of the different types of slants to try them out.
Anyway 18 shaves on my Wilkinson Sword and no signs of showing down yet.
View attachment 47737
Click to expand...
I remember saying I wanted to try a slant way back when that thread started...I still haven’t haha! I was thinking about picking up one of the PAA variations since it’s a cheap place to start.
 
Feb.20: Sensor(20) ............................ Graydog silvertip ...... Palmolive stick ...................... Nivea Cool Sensitive

Shave wasn't bad; the cart is past its prime but should make it to the end of the month.
 
SteveChuckFrank said:
I remember saying I wanted to try a slant way back when that thread started...I still haven’t haha! I was thinking about picking up one of the PAA variations since it’s a cheap place to start.
Click to expand...
You should! I’ve been impressed by the combination of closeness and lack of blade feel that I’ve been getting from this razor. I think the PAA plastic reproductions of the Fasan double slant go for about $26 and for half that you can get a RR German 37 head. I haven’t tried that head, but it seems to be very popular
 
Razor: Rockwell 6C Plate 6
Blade: Wilkinson Sword (14)
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
Soap: WSP Mahogany
AS: WSP Mahogany

No signs of slowing down for the Wilkinson Sword. It paired nicely with the Rockwell 6C on Plate 6 today.
 
The final week is upon us. Today is again flip/clean/stop day for the Nacet. I'm pretty sure this is keeping things running smoothly. Things are behaving pretty much the same from shaves 13 until now, being shave 22. The shaves just keep chugging along.


20210222_054537.jpg
 
OpusX said:
The final week is upon us.
Click to expand...
So the question is.... when the month is over, is anyone going to keep using the same blade? That is, if it still has life left.... or it everyone going to say, "Thank goodness that's over" and start with a new blade next month?
 
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