The Shaving Cadre

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CBLindsay checking in...

CBLindsay

I Blame Dave
Owner
Legacy
My name is Chris, I go by the forum name CBLindsay.

So who is this CBLindsay guy? Well, I am a husband, a father and a small businessman. I split my time and energy three ways; my family, my business and my community involvement. I am deeply involved in my regions non-profit/social service sector and have been for more than a dozen years. My goal in life is to leave a mark and make a difference. Whether it is through my work as a professional wealth manager/financial adviser or my work in philanthropy, I spend each day working to improve the lives of others.

I have always been interested in the more traditional methods of shaving but never really understood how to do it right. About 3 years ago I set out to learn to use proper shave soap and a brush, then quickly fell down the Vintage DE rabbit hole. Soon I was collecting DE razors, buying more and more soaps and learning the ways of the brush. I came to the hobby in search of those barbershop smells I remembered from my youth ...but I stayed for the brotherhood.

With 800 documented straight razor shaves I now consider myself a "straight razor shaver". I am proficient with most DE razors and appreciate the unique qualities a good single edge razor brings to the table. I now understand the way of the blade, the importance of a good brush and slick lather and am able to achieve the highly sought after Baby Butt Smooth face. Sure, I have some bad days here and there but they are few and far between.

Over the years I have branched into other areas of the hobby including basic restoration, modification, honing, scale making and even soap making. I have a rather large collection of vintage DE, SE and straight razors and enjoy being able to use a different razor each day for the better part of a year (should i want to). With a background in science and laboratory I found making soaps very interesting. Now, with some trial and error behind me I think my soaps are as good as any of the better soaps available. My downfall is the ability to make my soaps smell good, fragrance is an art and a skill I do not posses. ...Although I make a mean Clubman and Lilac Vegetol scented soap.

I am one of the three gentlemen who came together to started this forum. Together we turned a fierce sense of comradery and loyalty into a forum for gentlemen (and ladies) with shared interest to speak freely and openly. It is our hope that members of The Shaving Cadre will find enjoyment here and foster new and lasting friendships.

Welcome
 
Nice introduction, Chris...

If I haven't said so before, thank you to you, Dave and Chad for getting this platform going!
 
Nice introduction Chris. proud to know you and appreciate you and Dave and Chad coming together to give us this place.
 
It is indeed a pleasure to get to know You, Dave, and Chad during our spool up. It is a blast working with you to get this platform up and running. Thanks for the opportunity to help. I look forward to our first scheduled 'meet up' in the the future.
 
Hi Chris!

Great Intro!

I'm happy and honored to have been included in this founding group!
 
(At Cvargo’s request, I have copied a story from my 2017 journal ...some other classics might find their way here too)
The Laundry Room Incident of 2017


I forgot to mention in my journal post what happened to me immediately after completing the oil purchase.

I was getting ready to get up and get a drink when I heard a "thud" from what sounded like the back yard. Because I knew my kids and animals were all inside I was slow to go inspect. When I did approach the back door I realized the thud was the large container of laundry soap being chucked onto the ground. With nearly all of the tile floor in the small laundry room covered in a thick layer of liquid soap, I wished I was faster to react. I grabbed a spatula and a cup and began scraping up small amounts at a time and pouring it back it the container. As I did this the puddle spread further out, eventually swallowing me. Ok, I wasn't swallowed but my bare feet were surrounded by soap. My wife had come in to "help" but hadn't really decided what could be done to help get the stuff off the floor. As she was deciding to use a bunch of wash cloths to sop up the soap (so she could throw the soaked rag(s) into the washer in the future), I found my ability to keep my feet firmly planted was greatly diminished. I had been bent over with my feet spread to avoid the puddle which now covered the entire floor. When I tried to stand up a bit I found my feet spreading further and further apart. I had only one hope, the door handle on the door across from me. But to reach that handle I needed my wife to swing the door my direction. Once she realized the peril I was in she began to chuckle. Her chuckle became a belly laugh which she could not control. Her laughter didn't bother me much because I too found my situation a LITTLE funny ... but she still had not swung the door close to me to facilitate my rescue. Left with nothing to hold my feet kept slipping from under me. Soon, the distance of spread was SO great as to qualify as "the splits"...which forced my wife to begin laughing even harder. Somehow she found the sight of a 250 pound, 5 foot 4 inch (I round up) man doing the impossible FUNNY. Gentlemen (and lady), I had reached a point of no return, I was not in control of the direction my feet were sliding. What was worse was that my hands were covered in the same slick solution so when my wife finally threw me a lifeline I couldn't hold onto it. Never mind that my wife had towels in her hand, she wasn't thinking clearing enough to hand me a towel to improve my grip (the laughter has caused her to nearly pass out form lack of proper oxygen). As I 'stood' there grasping the door handle with two very slippery hands, my feet further apart than I am tall and my groin about to tear in half, I had no idea how to handle the situation. What happened next is a bit of a blur, in fact I suspect had the happenings been on video my movements would have actually been blurred. I know there was more slipping, a good measure of sliding and a whole lot of flopping. I wont bore y'all with how we eventually got things cleaned up (she decided to use a towel ...which would have been VERY useful while I was facing the possibility of being ripped in half ). What I will say is this- if you EVER find yourself covered in laundry soap, DON'T assume that once it has been wiped from your feet and is dry, that you are in the clear. You are NOT! Later, after I had recovered, I decided to hop in the shower for a quick rinse and cool down. Once my feet hit the wet floor of the shower the soap residue on my feet rehydrated and formed the slickest surface you can imagine. What happened in that shower next left it (and me)looking as if I had just attempted to bathe my cat.
On the bright side, my feet feel pretty soft now. ...AND I already have the parts to fix the shower door.
 
By far the best story lol. Still makes me laugh
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LOL I remember that!!!

Thanks for the laugh!

Now wasn't there a CA incident preceding this?
 
clyde72 said:
LOL I remember that!!!

Thanks for the laugh!

Now wasn't there a CA incident preceding this?
thanks for reminding me. I still have flashbacks of that event, I may never be the same.
 
The May 2017 Super Glue Incident ... the day my life changed forever (as did the shape of my goatee)

In other news:
My new belt sander arrived last night, I got it set up but didn't get a chance to try it out. My wife asked me to fix a broken plastic ring (hula hoop for an American Girl doll, a gift for my daughter's B-day coming up) so I broke out the large bottle of super glue. Since I had the bottle out I decided I would start the finish on a Barbershop Wooden Handle brush restore I have been meaning it make progress on. Who would have thought fixing a cracked piece of plastic could go SO wrong.
Someone really should warn a guy about the dangers of using CA glue from a bulk container. I THOUGHT getting the bulk CA was a smart thing to do...now I am rethinking the whole idea. The bottle is great for the workshop, it has a plug insert under the screw on nozzle to keep the whole thing from becoming a mess. Apparently my bottle didn't get the "keep the whole thing from becoming a mess" message. You know how it goes, you get just a little CA on your finger and next thing you know your fingers are stuck together. Or maybe you end up with a little dab on your arm and when you lean against the workbench your arm sticks to the surface. My problems were a little bigger than that and they started when I had to use a pair of channel locks to open the container and pull the plug. The threads had a crusty chunk of CA making it hard to open and close so i used the pliers to break away the chunk. While breaking the chunk away I learned the most valuable lesson(s) a man can learn...about what 8 ounces of pure INSTANT bonding power is capable of. Yup, the channel locks slipped and I was bathed in CA. Did you know that stuff gets hot as it forms a permanent bond? The good news is the eye protection I had donned did its job ...bad news, I became permanently bonded to said eye wear ...And my shirt to my chest hair, my lips to one another, my mustache to my lip...and my nose, my goatee to my cheek, hand and chest and neck. I am still finding parts of my body glued to other parts of my body. I also learned that Acetone really doesn't do much when you are covered in that much CA. Oh, and as this stuff forms its bond it gives off waves of fumes that threaten your very existence. Pretty intense stuff. My poor goatee looks like I glued a hair piece made from hair clippings to my face. My lip has this cool "snarl" look at the corner where the 'stache has grabbed hold of it ...I kinda look like dirty Harry. You thought honer's mange was an odd sight? My arm hairs are a mix of dreadlock like snarls, booger wads and bald spots. I ended up fixing the broken plastic ring sometime after I was able to pry it off the back of my right forearm. And the Barber handle looks pretty good but it needs a few more coats, I might just hold off on that though.
Some things really shouldn't be made available in such large quantities.

...the drama continues.

Two reasons there are no pics. First and most importantly, fingers covered in CA don't activate the buttons on the touch screen, and there is no way I was able to use the fingerprint ID. Second is...do you think I am stupid? My wife was actually gone when this happened and only returned home long enough to grab a hot dog before heading out again. By the time she was home my lips were parted, the various plastic things had been detached and I had managed to get the goatee off my cheek (or cheek of the goatee). Although my face had a very unnatural look when she arrived, I was able to move most things independently again. I was in the process of trying to free my fingers and hands from the grip of the glue and was devising a plan to remove the shirt without removing the chest hair at the same time (HINT: not possible). She definitely thought it was funny. This morning's shave seemed to have doen a good job removing much of the remaining glue from my cheek but I definitely don't need any mustache wax to hold things in place for awhile.
I am just REALLY happy I was standing close to the workbench and all of the splashing hit from the belly button up.
 
OMG...I'm crying. Thanks for re-posting these Chris...what a way to start the day!
 
LOLOLOLOLOL!!! I hadn't read the glue one before. Those are awesome stories (for us). I would be happy if you could avoid the hot soap making related story called, Why my Groin Smells Like Russian Tea.
 
NurseDave said:
LOLOLOLOLOL!!! I hadn't read the glue one before. Those are awesome stories (for us). I would be happy if you could avoid the hot soap making related story called, Why my Groin Smells Like Russian Tea.
I had a hot soap incident last week that resulted in a VERY clean stove. I was making a large batch and all was going well...then it didn't. I was checking the temp with my laser and it was about 1 or 2 degrees more than where it needed to be, those 1-2 degrees are all it takes for a volcano of soap to erupt. The whole thing was reminiscent of an I love Lucy episode. I cleaned everything up nice but the next day my wife found soap chunks in places all over the kitchen, guess the volcano was more powerful than i expected.
 
CBLindsay said:
I had a hot soap incident last week that resulted in a VERY clean stove. I was making a large batch and all was going well...then it didn't. I was checking the temp with my laser and it was about 1 or 2 degrees more than where it needed to be, those 1-2 degrees are all it takes for a volcano of soap to erupt. The whole thing was reminiscent of an I love Lucy episode. I cleaned everything up nice but the next day my wife found soap chunks in places all over the kitchen, guess the volcano was more powerful than i expected.

Uh oh! Be careful man. I did some time in a burn unit and review all our burn patient charts. Those are the crazy types of stories I see all the time.
 
Man! can you ever write a story! I don't even want to imagine if the CA had flowed south of the equator!
 
Great stories Chris. For future reference, warm apple cider dissolves super glue.
 
Lol I remember the super glue story. It had me cringing every time I opened a CA container for the next month.
 
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