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An Unexpected Journey: A Newbie's Walk In Wet Shaving
- Thread starter Blade-meister
- Start date
Hmmm, nope I had my usual DE blade angle not really close to touching my face with the head though. It took me a few strokes to figure out the angle but it was cutting well, I just think the blade reveal on it wasn't as much as with my Variant set at 4.5 or 5.0.
That's what I'm looking for! I hear SE's last longer too. I was worried about some problem bump areas getting mowed off, but the SE glided right over those areas with some care.
Thanks Kyle
This morning I decided to give the SE another go and play with angles a bit. MW Sandalwood Vanilla soap and a face lather got me ready. It didn't seem to matter which angle I put the GEM at, it seemed to not affect the cut only the comfort. Too steep of an angle and it was more or less dragging or feeling like it was dragging. When I shifted back to the angle the felt great it performed the same as yesterday. Not quite as smooth, probably in the BBS- spectrum due to my Variant needing a new blade. Is it possible the GEM is a mild razor set at a friendly angle? I know some DE's are more mild than others so I was wondering if the same is true for SE's. Who's the SE Yoda here on the cadre?
The last couple of weeks I've been working with using the SE GEM. I'm convinced the GEM push-button I have is a mild razor. It shaves really well and I have no complaints about the performance. So this morning I decided to break out another GEM, the GEM Junior fat handle. I compared it to the push button and it looks like a slightly more aggressive razor. On the first WTG pass it took about 30 seconds to find the sweet spot angle. I really liked the comb edge on the guard. It didn't take all the shaving soap so I felt my face stayed slicker and I could go back for extra passes if needed. I decided to give the Junior all 3 passes. It got me in the DFS / DFS+ level, but I still had to take out the Variant and do an extensive clean-up to get me to BBS / BBS+.
I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but I'm kinda disappointed with the SE's so far. I was expecting a closer shave, but my Variant on 4.5 or 5.0 really gives me a much closer shave. I will say this though, the lack of blade deflection does give me a different sort of cut of the stubble. I'm envisioning a cleaner and more even cut. The SE cut feels different for sure and I think it's just cutting the tough stubble and the weaker stubble at the same rate whereas maybe with the thinner DE blade the deflection on the tougher stubble is causing a more uneven shave. Since I can't know for sure, this is what I'm throwing out as a theory. Those with more knowledge can chime in and tell me more. One thing I'm wondering is how long the SE blades last. I know YMMV applies, but I'm think I should get well over a week out of a SE blade.
On the personal side, this past weekend I closed in the gable end of the cabin. It was a little tricky climbing the extension ladder with sheets of OSB, but I got it done. What a difference it made in how solid that wall is now after tying it in with the top wall plate & the last rafter. I fought a light rain the whole day, but it wasn't anything I couldn't deal with. This weekend I'll be closing up the other gable end. It will be a bit easier working off the loft to stud it up. I also have a window to frame up in the gable wall. If all goes well I might even get a new door in. At my last place of employment the guy in charge told me a building needed to be completely cleaned out & to chuck a prehung insulated metal door. Heck no, that came home with me instead of heading to the landfill. The boss said I could have anything that would be pitched in the dumpster. Putting the new door in will involve properly framing it out because the last guy who built the cabin just cut a hole leaving the cut-off studs just hanging from the top plate. For those that don't know about this stuff, that's a bad idea because the load of the roof in that area has no support to take the load down to the floor and then on down to the piers. If left like that, the wall and roof will eventually sag in that area - probably not a critical failure or anything but surly a bad plan long term. I think correcting these bad building practices has been the most frustrating part of this cabin move and rebuild.
I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but I'm kinda disappointed with the SE's so far. I was expecting a closer shave, but my Variant on 4.5 or 5.0 really gives me a much closer shave. I will say this though, the lack of blade deflection does give me a different sort of cut of the stubble. I'm envisioning a cleaner and more even cut. The SE cut feels different for sure and I think it's just cutting the tough stubble and the weaker stubble at the same rate whereas maybe with the thinner DE blade the deflection on the tougher stubble is causing a more uneven shave. Since I can't know for sure, this is what I'm throwing out as a theory. Those with more knowledge can chime in and tell me more. One thing I'm wondering is how long the SE blades last. I know YMMV applies, but I'm think I should get well over a week out of a SE blade.
On the personal side, this past weekend I closed in the gable end of the cabin. It was a little tricky climbing the extension ladder with sheets of OSB, but I got it done. What a difference it made in how solid that wall is now after tying it in with the top wall plate & the last rafter. I fought a light rain the whole day, but it wasn't anything I couldn't deal with. This weekend I'll be closing up the other gable end. It will be a bit easier working off the loft to stud it up. I also have a window to frame up in the gable wall. If all goes well I might even get a new door in. At my last place of employment the guy in charge told me a building needed to be completely cleaned out & to chuck a prehung insulated metal door. Heck no, that came home with me instead of heading to the landfill. The boss said I could have anything that would be pitched in the dumpster. Putting the new door in will involve properly framing it out because the last guy who built the cabin just cut a hole leaving the cut-off studs just hanging from the top plate. For those that don't know about this stuff, that's a bad idea because the load of the roof in that area has no support to take the load down to the floor and then on down to the piers. If left like that, the wall and roof will eventually sag in that area - probably not a critical failure or anything but surly a bad plan long term. I think correcting these bad building practices has been the most frustrating part of this cabin move and rebuild.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Nice stuff Mike. Yep, some jacks and king studs to support a header for any doors or windows 
Nice stuff Mike. Yep, some jacks and king studs to support a header for any doors or windows
Yup, that guy forgot all the royals when he built stuff. To his defense, he was building the thing in November last year during a cold snap but how hard is it to add the proper king, jack, & cripple studs. I'm actually going to use 4x4 posts for the header & kings and just 2 x4 's for the jacks for the door. I want to use extra long hardware with shear strength to make the door harder to kick-in for someone intent on skulduggery. I'll at least make it harder for them. I also want the thicker studs for the day when I build a proper cabin door with hand forged hinges & such. Might as well overbuild it and then if I never follow up with building the door it'll just be extra beefy.
Ah, so I'm using the lower end SE. I'm glad you put your white hard hat on and set me straight
So, what SE's would you suggest I try that would give me the truer picture of the SE capability? I knew I was missing something when I wasn't impressed with the GEM's.
I have a Hawk that was my first SE and made me see the light. Might be a good one to start with to see what AC blades are all about. Happy to send it out.Ah, so I'm using the lower end SE. I'm glad you put your white hard hat on and set me straight
I had a great shave on Sunday morning after skipping shaving Saturday. I really appreciated the way the SE GEM blade plowed right through the 2 day growth. My DE would have complained a little. It felt like a Bay Rum type of morning with fine mammoth painting to top it all off. BBS+ for sure.
One thing on mammoth painting. I find it's a good way to combine scents. For instance....when I finish off with my Caribbean themed shaves I use Sandalwood Coconut MW soap and do a good mammoth painting. Then I follow up with some small dabs of Bay Rum AS. The two scents combine just enough so you get coconut & bay rum. The benefit with mammoth painting is that the scent lingers on the chest hair all day so it has some real staying power. I've also found that say I go out to work at the cabin and am really working hard the heat releases the scent from the mammoth painting. So......let's say it's Christmas and you go with a pine scented soap, if you mammoth paint with it and follow up with something peppermint in the AS department you'd be all set. I think it opens up more possibilities and just combining AS's or a balm with an AS.
On the personal side of things, I made some progress on the cabin this weekend and it's finally closed in. I didn't get the window in the loft because I lacked the right caulking and foam sealant so I opted to wait.
Here's the finished loft side minus the window.
Here's the other gable end that I finished last weekend
Here's a rare picture of me actually working on the cabin. Usually I'm the one taking pictures after I'm done working.
One thing on mammoth painting. I find it's a good way to combine scents. For instance....when I finish off with my Caribbean themed shaves I use Sandalwood Coconut MW soap and do a good mammoth painting. Then I follow up with some small dabs of Bay Rum AS. The two scents combine just enough so you get coconut & bay rum. The benefit with mammoth painting is that the scent lingers on the chest hair all day so it has some real staying power. I've also found that say I go out to work at the cabin and am really working hard the heat releases the scent from the mammoth painting. So......let's say it's Christmas and you go with a pine scented soap, if you mammoth paint with it and follow up with something peppermint in the AS department you'd be all set. I think it opens up more possibilities and just combining AS's or a balm with an AS.
On the personal side of things, I made some progress on the cabin this weekend and it's finally closed in. I didn't get the window in the loft because I lacked the right caulking and foam sealant so I opted to wait.
Here's the finished loft side minus the window.
Here's the other gable end that I finished last weekend
Here's a rare picture of me actually working on the cabin. Usually I'm the one taking pictures after I'm done working.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Probably a better place for this question than the hobbyist thread 
Mike, I'll need a step by step explanation of the mammoth painting process as I'm considering it soon?
Mike, I'll need a step by step explanation of the mammoth painting process as I'm considering it soon?
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Scratch that, I went back to the beginning and got my answer. You paint on left over. Let sit and then rinse. I wondered if you left it on or rinsed it off 
Probably a better place for this question than the hobbyist thread
Mike, I'll need a step by step explanation of the mammoth painting process as I'm considering it soon?
Here's my process for mammoth painting:
After my last pass, I take my soap filled brush and paint the chest hairs with a nice lathering. Really work it in. I leave it there while I clean up my shaving bowl and razor and put gel in my hair. Then I take COLD water and lightly rinse off the lather from the chest. Not a squeaky clean rinse as you want some of that soap to stay in there but not enough to be visible. A light dry and you have scent that lasts all day. In fact, I've gotten in the shower the following day finding the hot water releasing the soap scent from the last shave. If you do work that makes you sweat, the scent releases too. If you face lather, you can also use the mammoth painting as a "pallet" of sorts for going in for more product during your shaves. This involves early mammoth painting say after the 2nd pass. You won't need a lathering bowl by using this technique!
One thing I've noticed is that not all soaps have equal staying power in the mammoth painting department. Mystic Water works really well for me. I think the tallow based soaps work the best, but I've also gotten some non-tallow soaps to work well too.
Give it a try is all I ever say. Some are chest hair challenged and that's for sure going to impact mammoth painting. One word of caution though, you have to clean your razors up and put them away so that you won't be tempted to do some "trimming" up and wind up like Jerry Seinfeld in the episode where he shaves his old chest after just intending to even some spots up.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Nice progress on the cabin. Shame there is no overhang on the sides.
Your cabin is really coming together, Mike. Looking good!
I agree. I could have build ladders on it when I replaced the rafters, but I'm glad I didn't. It's so much darker in the woods that long overhangs would shade the windows making it pretty dark inside the cabin. It's already pretty dark in there. A lot of the old New England houses don't have much of an overhang in these parts. I'm told it's a carry-over from English building influences.
