Looking forward to seeing your work, Mike.
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An Unexpected Journey: A Newbie's Walk In Wet Shaving
- Thread starter Blade-meister
- Start date
I'm thinking by late fall it will be cool enough to get the forge going. I can't imagine the historic blacksmiths in Alabama having to forge daily in this kind of heat. Going forward the plan will be to forge in the fall and winter then finish things during the hot summer months......like putting handles on the knives, etc.......Looking forward to seeing your work, Mike.
Sounds sensible.
So I won Dangerous Don's last PIF for the Choco Cubano. I thought I'd share my impression of this soap and AS.
The scent is strong when you whiff the soap, and the AS is really powerful when you whiff it as well. I liked that right off. Nothing I dislike more than a great smelling soap that doesn't really have any linger power. My dog was interested in eating it after I gave him a whiff, so you know the chocolate scent is coming through strong. The next morning I gave it a try. Though my razor was on its last few shaves, I decided to do a 3 pass shave anyway. I face lather for the first pass and this soap lathered great and the scent was wonderful. I normally have Sterling soaps as my daily choice, and I found Choco was slightly less slick than the Sterling I'm used to - no big deal really. All 3 passes felt great (I bowl lather for the last 2 passes.) While shaving, this song played through my head:
Now for the all important Mammoth Painting test! I'd have to give this a solid medium score of 5 out of 10 in this test. The scent was there and lingering, but only my wife would get close enough to smell it really. I skipped the AS in order to give the Mammoth Painting a fair chance.
The next day, another 3 pass shave with the same results and this time I did a regular splashing of the AS. WOW! a regular amount is too much IMO. It's potent and smells wonderful. It's been described as walking into a candy shop. I would go one step further and say it's like following a guy into a fine chocolate shop who just got done smoking a great cigar. I really like the scent a lot! No need really to mammoth paint with an AS like that. I think this is a classic case of the soap and AS needing to be used together to complete what the soap artisan was shooting for. I'm not sure if this soap gets an stars for being manly, but the ladies sure do seem to like this one. I give this scent, soap, and AS high marks. This is the first A&E soap I've used.
The scent is strong when you whiff the soap, and the AS is really powerful when you whiff it as well. I liked that right off. Nothing I dislike more than a great smelling soap that doesn't really have any linger power. My dog was interested in eating it after I gave him a whiff, so you know the chocolate scent is coming through strong. The next morning I gave it a try. Though my razor was on its last few shaves, I decided to do a 3 pass shave anyway. I face lather for the first pass and this soap lathered great and the scent was wonderful. I normally have Sterling soaps as my daily choice, and I found Choco was slightly less slick than the Sterling I'm used to - no big deal really. All 3 passes felt great (I bowl lather for the last 2 passes.) While shaving, this song played through my head:
Now for the all important Mammoth Painting test! I'd have to give this a solid medium score of 5 out of 10 in this test. The scent was there and lingering, but only my wife would get close enough to smell it really. I skipped the AS in order to give the Mammoth Painting a fair chance.
The next day, another 3 pass shave with the same results and this time I did a regular splashing of the AS. WOW! a regular amount is too much IMO. It's potent and smells wonderful. It's been described as walking into a candy shop. I would go one step further and say it's like following a guy into a fine chocolate shop who just got done smoking a great cigar. I really like the scent a lot! No need really to mammoth paint with an AS like that. I think this is a classic case of the soap and AS needing to be used together to complete what the soap artisan was shooting for. I'm not sure if this soap gets an stars for being manly, but the ladies sure do seem to like this one. I give this scent, soap, and AS high marks. This is the first A&E soap I've used.
Nice review, Mike
If you've got the chest hair, mammoth painting is alive and well. There are a few others like me on this forum......Jedi's of the mammoth painting orderExcellent report Mike! Glad to hear the mammoth painting method is still in use
Been a while since I've done much on my journal. Shaving wise, I'm using Stirling Soaps most days along with Soap Commander aftershave balm. I used to not tolerate menthol very well, but the Soap Commander balms work well for me for some reason. I got one in a PIF and really like it a lot. Still using the Parker Variant and various synthetic brushes. Loving my shaves really. I just put in a new soap order with Stirling for some different scents so I hope to be more faithful and listing what I experience with them here.
I made a shift to Law Enforcement after the move to AL. I spent a lot of time behind a desk in my other lines of work so it's great to be out and about all the time. I absolutely love living in the deep south! Winter in AL feels like perpetual spring to me after living in upstate NY my whole life. Nothing about the move south that I regret. Tornadoes are something we are getting used to, but the advanced warning system in my area is excellent and being in law enforcement I get the latest as soon as it's available.
It's been a lot of work to clear the brush from the backyard, but I've found I have a little bit of usable woods out there and plan on building a small cabin out there. I've already established a new fire pit, the rest will come with time. The spring rains here have been a challenge with the AL clay soil and it's quite evident I need to put in some French drains to help the septic drain field work at capacity and keep my yard from being something that could resemble a rice patty. Still no forging, I just haven't had time yet to get at it. I did do some flintknapping as a demo for the local college archaeology class and also made my first point since landing in AL. I've also built 2 long work benches with lumber and pallet wood.
I made a shift to Law Enforcement after the move to AL. I spent a lot of time behind a desk in my other lines of work so it's great to be out and about all the time. I absolutely love living in the deep south! Winter in AL feels like perpetual spring to me after living in upstate NY my whole life. Nothing about the move south that I regret. Tornadoes are something we are getting used to, but the advanced warning system in my area is excellent and being in law enforcement I get the latest as soon as it's available.
It's been a lot of work to clear the brush from the backyard, but I've found I have a little bit of usable woods out there and plan on building a small cabin out there. I've already established a new fire pit, the rest will come with time. The spring rains here have been a challenge with the AL clay soil and it's quite evident I need to put in some French drains to help the septic drain field work at capacity and keep my yard from being something that could resemble a rice patty. Still no forging, I just haven't had time yet to get at it. I did do some flintknapping as a demo for the local college archaeology class and also made my first point since landing in AL. I've also built 2 long work benches with lumber and pallet wood.
Of course you will!
Don't forget about hurricanes too, but I don't think they're as big as issue there as they are for the rest of the gulf coast. I'm glad you're enjoying your move and transition to LE.
We got a tornado shelter installed in the garage, so that gives us some peace of mind. Our part of AL sees the least amount of tornadoes, but when we do get them they tend to be on the ground a long time tearing up things and eating up trailers. Actually, before I moved I did research and found out that more people die on upstate NY winter roads and highways each year than those that die in tornadoes in AL. I'm technically safer here than I was driving in all that snow. Don't miss the dang snow one bit. I feel like I'm in perpetual spring with the winters down here. Never seen so much pollen though!I’ll admit, as we considered moving to MS not too many years ago for my work…the thought of tornadoes scared the bejesus out of me! Still does!
It's been a bit since I've done LE related work, and this is lower key stuff so I'm enjoying it. It took me a bit to get used to how things are done down here, and of course I've taken some friendly ribbing for how I say things on the radio. One of these days I'm going to do my best southern accent when I make a radio call just to see what dispatch does
I already know someone who's can get me the logs so I can hew them. I'm thinking a 10 x 12 log cabin. Just somewhere I can get away and kick back in the 18th century for a little while. I hauled my cast iron stove all the way down here, so I'd sure like to get it in a tiny log cabin. I really thought I gave all that up for my corner lot down here, but once I cleared the scrub brush away I could see there's just enough space to build a small cabin. Down here nobody cares what you do so long as you don't bother them. It'll be a fun project.Of course you will!
Have you gotten your first "bless your heart" yet?
Not yet, believe it or not. I've been sworn at when I write tickets but no bless your heart yet. I do know about it and that it's not always what it may seemHave you gotten your first "bless your heart" yet?
I have heard a few times......quite a few times actually "Well I'm hanging in there like a hair in a biscuit." I'm loving the way things are put down here too. "Y'all come" means a paragraph if you were to lay it all out. "All y'all" means literally everyone that can here you and is really handy. You also can't beat southern BBQ. If it fits in the smoker, it just tastes so good. Bacon wrapped little smokies in the smoker, smoked chicken wings, pulled pork...........it's all really fine eating.
"You're cute as a little tater-baby!"Not yet, believe it or not. I've been sworn at when I write tickets but no bless your heart yet. I do know about it and that it's not always what it may seem
I have heard a few times......quite a few times actually "Well I'm hanging in there like a hair in a biscuit." I'm loving the way things are put down here too. "Y'all come" means a paragraph if you were to lay it all out. "All y'all" means literally everyone that can here you and is really handy. You also can't beat southern BBQ. If it fits in the smoker, it just tastes so good. Bacon wrapped little smokies in the smoker, smoked chicken wings, pulled pork...........it's all really fine eating.
Let me know when you hear that one..
Seeing @ShawnF reemerge inspired me to write a little something here. On the shaving front, I've been having absolutely great shaves with the Stirling soaps I've been using. Got the badger brushes out this week and forgot just how heavenly they feel to shave with since I usually drive daily with synthetic brushes. My way has always been to stick with what is working great and I usually don't try new stuff unless it arrives in the mail through a PIF or someone here sending me stuff to get me out of my rut. One day a week I have to get to work really early, so the day before I actually shave once in the morning and then am able to do a full 3 pass shave that night so I don't have to get up early to shave. The nature of my job requires me to be clean shaven so......shaving at night is the best option.
Now onto manly affairs. It seems like since I moved I just lost all my chest hair, but not so. I've bought some old knives and I'm even in the process of making a sheath that has some rattlesnake skin on the front. When I bought a Kukri online, there was a problem and I ended up getting a 1950's Utica Sportsman knife as part of the deal. I had my eye on that knife, so I'm pleased to own it. It's a good work knife that can be carried openly, used for hunting, and yes is big enough to make a statement to protect yourself. I thought it needed a special sheath, so here's some pictures of it in the works. I haven't sewed it up yet or figured out if I want a retention strap or not. This knife shows a story that it was used extensively and was someone's favorite go-to knife. It could be classified as a small Bowie knife given it's design.
Here's the sheath in progress. The snake skin came from a rattler I killed with my bare hands while mowing the lawn...............just kidding, I had this piece of rattlesnake skin hanging around the shop for years so it finally is going to be put to good use. The leather is part of my very first flintknapping lap pad, so it has that worn look to match the knife. I coated the snake skin with spray satin Polyethylene and then glued it to the leather with hide glue. I set a heavy piece of granite on top of it with plastic in between and left it for a few hours. That worked perfectly. I've never worked with snake skin before, so that was satisfying to have it do exactly what I wanted it to do.
I still have to even up the edges and sew the whole affair together. I haven't decided rather to go rustic and do a side stitch or do it saddle stitch style. One day when finished I'll post a picture. I'll be open carrying this baby a lot once done.
I still haven't fired up the forge and it's almost been a year since moving. I miss it, but soon I expect to remedy that.
Now onto manly affairs. It seems like since I moved I just lost all my chest hair, but not so. I've bought some old knives and I'm even in the process of making a sheath that has some rattlesnake skin on the front. When I bought a Kukri online, there was a problem and I ended up getting a 1950's Utica Sportsman knife as part of the deal. I had my eye on that knife, so I'm pleased to own it. It's a good work knife that can be carried openly, used for hunting, and yes is big enough to make a statement to protect yourself. I thought it needed a special sheath, so here's some pictures of it in the works. I haven't sewed it up yet or figured out if I want a retention strap or not. This knife shows a story that it was used extensively and was someone's favorite go-to knife. It could be classified as a small Bowie knife given it's design.
Here's the sheath in progress. The snake skin came from a rattler I killed with my bare hands while mowing the lawn...............just kidding, I had this piece of rattlesnake skin hanging around the shop for years so it finally is going to be put to good use. The leather is part of my very first flintknapping lap pad, so it has that worn look to match the knife. I coated the snake skin with spray satin Polyethylene and then glued it to the leather with hide glue. I set a heavy piece of granite on top of it with plastic in between and left it for a few hours. That worked perfectly. I've never worked with snake skin before, so that was satisfying to have it do exactly what I wanted it to do.
I still have to even up the edges and sew the whole affair together. I haven't decided rather to go rustic and do a side stitch or do it saddle stitch style. One day when finished I'll post a picture. I'll be open carrying this baby a lot once done.
I still haven't fired up the forge and it's almost been a year since moving. I miss it, but soon I expect to remedy that.
We would have believed you, Mike!
I finally got around to finishing this knife sheath. My sewing could use more practice and I seemed to sew in the profile of the knife for some reason. I've never saddle stitched before so that was a first. I decided to finish it off giving it an antique look like it's been used and old so it fits right in with the knife it holds. I used a lot of new tools and leather working processes that were new to me, so it was a learning experience. Sewing through snakeskin is also a bit of a challenge too. The materials were all free, and so was the knife, so it's nice not to have anything into a project except my time. Overall, I was happy with it and will be carrying it whenever possible.
