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CBLindsay's brain droppings
- Thread starter CBLindsay
- Start date
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
No, you definitely earned that one. I bought this one when I got the one I did for you. I have had this one sitting here waiting for me to work on but I am quite lazy. I just spent an hour grinding some of the wedge away. Once I finish a few more honey-do’s I’ll see if the diamond plates can do the rest. My heart won’t be broken if I don’t get it done in time.Nice, I can't wait to see the video. You could have let me know about the axe though, and I could have sent the one you honed for me back.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
No you need to get this done and a pic of each of you on mugs at Zazzle with the tag Axe Shavers Club. Bet they sell, or shirts or something
Or at least "Elvis" style! That's what I had back in high school.
Wednesday December 19, 2018
Sitting at 900 straight shaves.
Over the last two weeks I have pretty much split my shaves between straight razors and a DE razor. The DE of choice is/was the Gillette Red Tip loaded with a vintage Gillette Super Blue blade. The blade dates back to about 1960 but works just as good as pretty much any other blade I've used. I have 5 shaves on the blade and today's shave was one of the closest of the 5 this blade was used for. I've used a variety of soaps recently but the last two shaves were with an old hunk of Valobra menthol. Valobra has been around a long time and they have several versions/scents of shave soap. It goes without saying this soap is excellent in so many ways, easy to lather, plenty slick and nice face feel.
My journal entry's have been a bit sparse of late and will probably remain so until the new year. I am accustomed to multitasking while in the office, skimming posts now and then is easy to fit in but putting together an organized entry requires more time than I have had. Adding to the work load are the "honey-do's" that this time of year brings, by the time I sit down in the evening I am hardly able to keep my eyes open.
As the year nears its end I have been reflecting on the year behind me and looking ahead to the year to come. 2018 has been quite eventful on many levels. Looking ahead I see 2019 being another eventful year. As I mature (get old) I am beginning to recognize a great many things, one of which is the importance of friends, colleagues and supporters. I am also much more able to accept that no person is perfect in every way, there will be good with the bad and bad with the good. I think I have also figured out that I am right and everyone else is wrong ...but nobody cares. I count as one of my biggest achievements of the year the things I did NOT post on facebook or twitter.
Sitting at 900 straight shaves.
Over the last two weeks I have pretty much split my shaves between straight razors and a DE razor. The DE of choice is/was the Gillette Red Tip loaded with a vintage Gillette Super Blue blade. The blade dates back to about 1960 but works just as good as pretty much any other blade I've used. I have 5 shaves on the blade and today's shave was one of the closest of the 5 this blade was used for. I've used a variety of soaps recently but the last two shaves were with an old hunk of Valobra menthol. Valobra has been around a long time and they have several versions/scents of shave soap. It goes without saying this soap is excellent in so many ways, easy to lather, plenty slick and nice face feel.
My journal entry's have been a bit sparse of late and will probably remain so until the new year. I am accustomed to multitasking while in the office, skimming posts now and then is easy to fit in but putting together an organized entry requires more time than I have had. Adding to the work load are the "honey-do's" that this time of year brings, by the time I sit down in the evening I am hardly able to keep my eyes open.
As the year nears its end I have been reflecting on the year behind me and looking ahead to the year to come. 2018 has been quite eventful on many levels. Looking ahead I see 2019 being another eventful year. As I mature (get old) I am beginning to recognize a great many things, one of which is the importance of friends, colleagues and supporters. I am also much more able to accept that no person is perfect in every way, there will be good with the bad and bad with the good. I think I have also figured out that I am right and everyone else is wrong ...but nobody cares. I count as one of my biggest achievements of the year the things I did NOT post on facebook or twitter.
I completely deleted my facebook account. I have no social media platform now (not counting this site, of course) other than email, texts, and good ole fashioned phone calls. The best outcome I can see with social media is "neutral" - that's it. But there is enormous downsides to it. I just don't see where it's beneficial when weighed against the all the potential negative outcomes.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
I say I'm "Anti-Social" as far as media goes. Only account I have that I check occasionally is Paladin Round table cause I was huntg a particular brush, but only post a picture once in awhile there. My FB page is empty of content. I appreciate your words of reflection Chris. Nice thoughts ?
Monday January 7 2019
Straight Razor Shave #915
SV artisan 2.0
CBL Fresh Vetiver (tester)
Blue Steel razor
CBL WH splash
Ence Noir
I've not made it a point to document much here in my journal lately and I have made it even less of a point to detail the gear. I may change both as the year progresses but I can't promise anything yet.
I am in the process of identifying which of my razors I will be returning to the wild. The process is not an easy one for me, many of these razors were picked up cheap because they needed some repair and significant honing ...now I feel attached. The only thing making it any easier is how little I have been rotating my razors, the ones I have picked so far have not been used in 6-12 months despite having been honed or touched up within that time frame. Today's razor is one that is in the ? pile. The razor is nothing special to look at but it is a rare find, one of two "blue steel" blades I have. The blades are obviously a higher carbon and they hone as if they are uber hard but they aint blue. The edge on this one was done quickly but I find it smooth and capable, I am sure it would be an excellent specimen with a little more time on the hone. I have used this one two days in a row and can't complain about it at all. I may offer it to my son and include it in my "to go" pile if he doesn't want it. As unique and "rare" as it is it just isn't one I will use often enough...maybe.
The shaves lately have been good, some have been great. I am however noticing that even the super sharp blades produce a feel (or perception) that the blade is not easily cutting whiskers. My natural reaction is to try to force the blade using more pressure, but when I consciously reduce pressure the blade yields a great result (proving the edge was having no trouble cutting to begin with. I attribute this new issue to two possible reasons. One being that I did not shave for a month and when I did return to shaving I used a variety of DE/SE and shavette types of razors more than a traditional straight. The other being that I have gained and lost (and gained and not lost) several pounds through the season of plump, causing my skin to require more or less stretching.
One of my new years goals is to achieve the 1000 straight shave mile stone. I see no difficulty in reaching this mile stone by Easter so this one is in the bag. I don't intend to stop using the straight razor after that milestone but I will not focus on counting them at that point.
Straight Razor Shave #915
SV artisan 2.0
CBL Fresh Vetiver (tester)
Blue Steel razor
CBL WH splash
Ence Noir
I've not made it a point to document much here in my journal lately and I have made it even less of a point to detail the gear. I may change both as the year progresses but I can't promise anything yet.
I am in the process of identifying which of my razors I will be returning to the wild. The process is not an easy one for me, many of these razors were picked up cheap because they needed some repair and significant honing ...now I feel attached. The only thing making it any easier is how little I have been rotating my razors, the ones I have picked so far have not been used in 6-12 months despite having been honed or touched up within that time frame. Today's razor is one that is in the ? pile. The razor is nothing special to look at but it is a rare find, one of two "blue steel" blades I have. The blades are obviously a higher carbon and they hone as if they are uber hard but they aint blue. The edge on this one was done quickly but I find it smooth and capable, I am sure it would be an excellent specimen with a little more time on the hone. I have used this one two days in a row and can't complain about it at all. I may offer it to my son and include it in my "to go" pile if he doesn't want it. As unique and "rare" as it is it just isn't one I will use often enough...maybe.
The shaves lately have been good, some have been great. I am however noticing that even the super sharp blades produce a feel (or perception) that the blade is not easily cutting whiskers. My natural reaction is to try to force the blade using more pressure, but when I consciously reduce pressure the blade yields a great result (proving the edge was having no trouble cutting to begin with. I attribute this new issue to two possible reasons. One being that I did not shave for a month and when I did return to shaving I used a variety of DE/SE and shavette types of razors more than a traditional straight. The other being that I have gained and lost (and gained and not lost) several pounds through the season of plump, causing my skin to require more or less stretching.
One of my new years goals is to achieve the 1000 straight shave mile stone. I see no difficulty in reaching this mile stone by Easter so this one is in the bag. I don't intend to stop using the straight razor after that milestone but I will not focus on counting them at that point.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Nice read Chris, just don't get the dreaded 1000 shave doldrums
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
You can't have your brush back !!! ?
Monday 1/14/2019
Straight Shave #921
SV Artisan 2.0
Jeeves of Hudson Street (Turkish Bath)
Henckels 5/8 hollow
I used the same razor yesterday along with Stirling Bay rhum and got one of the most amazing shaves ever so I grabbed the same razor and another good soap for today's shave. The blade felt smooth as butter and left my face with that perfectly BBS feel with no effort at all. This edge is the kind of Coticule edge you just dream of. Today's shave was great too but not the same as yesterday.
Straight Shave #921
SV Artisan 2.0
Jeeves of Hudson Street (Turkish Bath)
Henckels 5/8 hollow
I used the same razor yesterday along with Stirling Bay rhum and got one of the most amazing shaves ever so I grabbed the same razor and another good soap for today's shave. The blade felt smooth as butter and left my face with that perfectly BBS feel with no effort at all. This edge is the kind of Coticule edge you just dream of. Today's shave was great too but not the same as yesterday.
Monday 2/4/2019
Straight shave 935
Today's gear included an Omega Boar brush, CBL Alpine and the straight razor I learned to shave with (a custom "vorpal" blade crafted from the bones of a Chinese gold dollar). The Omega boar is quite the beast, bull of bristles that are quite long. This was just the second time I have used this brush, I definitely prefer badger but this is a very nice example of a boar brush.
The Vorpal blade is an exaggerated spanish point...very, very pointy. at least 45 of my first 50-60 straight shaves were with this blade. I figured I will participate in the one-blade-february by using only this blade the whole month. I will maintain the blade as I did when I was still new at this, using a diamond pasted balsa strop to keep a keen edge and lots of stropping to keep it smooth. The shaves so far this month have been quite wonderful, Friday (2-1-19) was one of the best shaves I've had in months. The combination of solid prep and a comfortable blade made for a very enjoyable shave with results that can not be beat.
In other news....
I am officially helplessly behind in most areas of the forum. Between my regular day job and some TSC projects I have had little time to read and comment in the forum and even less time to devote to the CBL Soap business. I won't go into detail other than to say I think the things I (and Chad & Dave) have been working on behind the scenes are worth my being less involved for now.
I do know about my being tagged in the 3 soaps one bowl and I plan to do my own video soon. I also have a few other "instructional" or Demo videos in the works.
Straight shave 935
Today's gear included an Omega Boar brush, CBL Alpine and the straight razor I learned to shave with (a custom "vorpal" blade crafted from the bones of a Chinese gold dollar). The Omega boar is quite the beast, bull of bristles that are quite long. This was just the second time I have used this brush, I definitely prefer badger but this is a very nice example of a boar brush.
The Vorpal blade is an exaggerated spanish point...very, very pointy. at least 45 of my first 50-60 straight shaves were with this blade. I figured I will participate in the one-blade-february by using only this blade the whole month. I will maintain the blade as I did when I was still new at this, using a diamond pasted balsa strop to keep a keen edge and lots of stropping to keep it smooth. The shaves so far this month have been quite wonderful, Friday (2-1-19) was one of the best shaves I've had in months. The combination of solid prep and a comfortable blade made for a very enjoyable shave with results that can not be beat.
In other news....
I am officially helplessly behind in most areas of the forum. Between my regular day job and some TSC projects I have had little time to read and comment in the forum and even less time to devote to the CBL Soap business. I won't go into detail other than to say I think the things I (and Chad & Dave) have been working on behind the scenes are worth my being less involved for now.
I do know about my being tagged in the 3 soaps one bowl and I plan to do my own video soon. I also have a few other "instructional" or Demo videos in the works.