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CBLindsay's brain droppings
- Thread starter CBLindsay
- Start date
Catching up Chris, Nice reads
Monday 4/23/18
Straight Shave #822
The weekend shaves were a mixed bag. Saturday's shave was harsh and resulted in a MFS/DFS at best. The culprit was the Montgomery Ward "Sweedish" blade, just not up to snuff. Sunday was much better, the Special A in easy aces scales had been touched up on my new black ark and performed admirably.
This mornings shave was pretty darned good (PDG) on the whole. I was testing my newest soap AND a new edge courtesy of the black ark. Fortunately both worked well together and yielded a BBS result with no signs of irritation. I finished with a dab of my ever-changing post shave balm and a small splash of Special Reserve. *The post shave balm was inspired by the balm XenoStr8Shaver and MRS Xeno but i have added so many random things to it over time that I really have no idea what this stuff is.
...Soap Stones-
As mentioned above, I made another test batch of soap this weekend. This one was based on the famed Martin De Candre but it was modified to have some additional face friendly oils. This is one that performs well enough now but should get better with some aging. I am torn at the moment as to whether I will make some mods to this batch or let it rest ...maybe I'll do both. The thing about MDC is it is super easy to use, lathering into a nice creamy lather with great ease, but MDC lacks a lot in terms of overall performance. After studying the web this weekend I am confident in saying the birth of the artisan shave soaps stemmed from an attempt to recreate either MDC or vintage Williams. Why not, if i could make a soap as slick as Williams and as easy to lather as MDC would i not be KING?
The secret is out. I decided to give in and buy another Arkansas stone. Dave and Walt have been having such great success with theirs so I figured I would bite the bullet and buy a BIG one. What I got is a 3x8 Surgical Black Ark, considered the hardest/densest of them all. The stone arrived well lapped and ready for action. Before I gave it a try I decided to lap all my Coti's so i could be certain everything I touch is dead flat. I also "burnished" my quarry using my Pete-Stone loaded with 0.5micron diamond paste. As i set out to test the SX Ark i could feel a kind of gritty feel under the blade but that seemed to fade a little after I used it more, clearly the burnishing didn't create a glassy smooth surface. I ended up honing a weeks worth of razors using the SX ark along with a couple of coti's. After experimenting a bit I think i prefer using glycerin to oil, i have a tendency to get heavy handed and the glycerin offers a little more protection than the oil. I also played with using the Ark along with a coticule slurry. I don't know if that is going to amount to much but the use of a slurry stone on the surface of the Ark seemed to mellow the surface even more.
I had intended to sell a couple of my Coticules but one of the two I identified to sell is so unique in character I think i am going to keep it. The other is very unique as well but it's size causes me pain when I try to use it. (CMH737 will recognize this one as the pink coti he recently tested). Still don't know if I am going to sell any...
Straight Shave #822
- Brush: WD 24mm Silvertip
- Soap: CBL "Sandalwood Rose" Soft soap beta
- Razor: Genco Easy Aces Shorty
- AS: Pinaud Special Reserve
- Notes: Razor retouched on SX Ark. Soap is a cream beta that isn't a cream just yet.
The weekend shaves were a mixed bag. Saturday's shave was harsh and resulted in a MFS/DFS at best. The culprit was the Montgomery Ward "Sweedish" blade, just not up to snuff. Sunday was much better, the Special A in easy aces scales had been touched up on my new black ark and performed admirably.
This mornings shave was pretty darned good (PDG) on the whole. I was testing my newest soap AND a new edge courtesy of the black ark. Fortunately both worked well together and yielded a BBS result with no signs of irritation. I finished with a dab of my ever-changing post shave balm and a small splash of Special Reserve. *The post shave balm was inspired by the balm XenoStr8Shaver and MRS Xeno but i have added so many random things to it over time that I really have no idea what this stuff is.
...Soap Stones-
As mentioned above, I made another test batch of soap this weekend. This one was based on the famed Martin De Candre but it was modified to have some additional face friendly oils. This is one that performs well enough now but should get better with some aging. I am torn at the moment as to whether I will make some mods to this batch or let it rest ...maybe I'll do both. The thing about MDC is it is super easy to use, lathering into a nice creamy lather with great ease, but MDC lacks a lot in terms of overall performance. After studying the web this weekend I am confident in saying the birth of the artisan shave soaps stemmed from an attempt to recreate either MDC or vintage Williams. Why not, if i could make a soap as slick as Williams and as easy to lather as MDC would i not be KING?
The secret is out. I decided to give in and buy another Arkansas stone. Dave and Walt have been having such great success with theirs so I figured I would bite the bullet and buy a BIG one. What I got is a 3x8 Surgical Black Ark, considered the hardest/densest of them all. The stone arrived well lapped and ready for action. Before I gave it a try I decided to lap all my Coti's so i could be certain everything I touch is dead flat. I also "burnished" my quarry using my Pete-Stone loaded with 0.5micron diamond paste. As i set out to test the SX Ark i could feel a kind of gritty feel under the blade but that seemed to fade a little after I used it more, clearly the burnishing didn't create a glassy smooth surface. I ended up honing a weeks worth of razors using the SX ark along with a couple of coti's. After experimenting a bit I think i prefer using glycerin to oil, i have a tendency to get heavy handed and the glycerin offers a little more protection than the oil. I also played with using the Ark along with a coticule slurry. I don't know if that is going to amount to much but the use of a slurry stone on the surface of the Ark seemed to mellow the surface even more.
I had intended to sell a couple of my Coticules but one of the two I identified to sell is so unique in character I think i am going to keep it. The other is very unique as well but it's size causes me pain when I try to use it. (CMH737 will recognize this one as the pink coti he recently tested). Still don't know if I am going to sell any...
The way i made this batch i don't think it will get that hard because i purposefully did things to make it softer, but it COULD be made to get that hard. MDC is beautiful they way it is poured into the container (I like the old glass jar), it is just so smooth and dense. I know WSP's original "rustic" was a pretty close clone but the way he did it it never looked so smooth and dense. I found some information from MDC that described (in french) how they do it, its really pretty easy but requires it to poured into the jar immediately then cured 3-6 months. If I translated the information correctly I think he/they actually pour the batter into the jars then cook it which totally explains the texture. One day i will give that a try.Cvargo said:
clyde72 said:
The Pete stone is a piece of vintage wool fabric glued to a glass tile and loaded with abrasive. I got the fabric from Pete (aka Labrax over at B&B) so i call this wonderful thing a Pete Stone.
Nice stuff Chris, try a bit of 2000 W/D and some super fine Steel Wool and a bit of Mothers believe it or not Monolithic smooth, LOL. Funny find the Black ark just a bit less of a complete finisher than the trans, but I too have succumbed and will be getting one as well, LOL
Most of the soaps i have sent out as samples have cured a month or 2 but some have been aged only a week or two. The recent cream samples that have been randomly disbursed had a week at best before they ended up in the mail. From the very first soap i made (attempting to duplicate vintage williams) i said i think "time" is an important ingredient. When soap is cooked they way most shave soaps are the need for curing to make it safe to use no longer applies, its safe the moment it is packaged. What happens as soaps age is pretty amazing on a micro/chemical level. Those changes don't technically change the fat profile but they do refine it more. I have tried a couple of different cooking/production methods trying to speed up or force the "refinement" and i like the results, i just can't help but think even those soaps will get better as they age. My Damascus soap was one that involved a long, tedious, process and it seems to perform very well in most cases.Dagwoodz said:
Armed with this information, it makes sense to have a rotation of several hundred soaps. With a large rotation you ensure your soaps will be allowed to age well between uses.
I did a little more work on the surface of the ark last night, its smoother to the touch and behaved differently under the razor but its far from fully conditioned. I thought about using mothers but stopped short of actually loading it up. I used a very hard Coticule slurry stone i recently acquired to work the surface then spent a long time rubbing the surface on the Pete Stone (wool fabric on glass) loaded with 0.5micron diamond. I will certainly try the fine steel wool and WD. I have some old carbon steel screw drivers with long shanks i could use to rub the surface but that just seems odd to me.Xenostr8shaver said:
Tuesday 4/24/18
Straight Shave 823
SV Artisan 2.0
L&L Chantilion Lux colaborative -Lavender
Japanese Frameback "tohri"
Fine Lavender pour l'hommes
Man O man is this a nice soap. The scent is a nice lavender blend and is super strong throughout the shave. The only problem with this soap is that is loads so well it is easy to over load and need more water, without the proper amount of water this soap can trap the blade like no other.
Speaking of the Blade, today's razor was the Japanese Tohri. I did a refresh on the new black ark ...then did more last night. I worked the surface of the ark a little more last night so i took this razor back to the running water until it stuck. It had stuck to the stone before i polished the surface but needed a good amount of time on the polished surface to once again stick. The difference in HHT was noticeably better so i think it was a good thing. The edge was certainly well honed but the shave didn't amaze me. It wasn't bad by any means but it fell short of being magical. Maybe it the razor, we will see with tomorrows shave.
Straight Shave 823
SV Artisan 2.0
L&L Chantilion Lux colaborative -Lavender
Japanese Frameback "tohri"
Fine Lavender pour l'hommes
Man O man is this a nice soap. The scent is a nice lavender blend and is super strong throughout the shave. The only problem with this soap is that is loads so well it is easy to over load and need more water, without the proper amount of water this soap can trap the blade like no other.
Speaking of the Blade, today's razor was the Japanese Tohri. I did a refresh on the new black ark ...then did more last night. I worked the surface of the ark a little more last night so i took this razor back to the running water until it stuck. It had stuck to the stone before i polished the surface but needed a good amount of time on the polished surface to once again stick. The difference in HHT was noticeably better so i think it was a good thing. The edge was certainly well honed but the shave didn't amaze me. It wasn't bad by any means but it fell short of being magical. Maybe it the razor, we will see with tomorrows shave.
I am going to say the pure lavender is NOT the same as this one. I say that because this one is supposed to be scented like one of the chantillon lux scents.Dagwoodz said:
My ark is a Dan's stone but i got it from a reseller looking to reduce stock. the price was onlu marginally better but it was enough of a savings to make me feel good. Still a new and original Dan's ark, i know better than to try unproven sources.cmh737 said: