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cmh737 Straight Venture Journal Continued

Great review of the Timeless/Aristocrat Chris. Enjoy the BD party, and I hope the GP is feeling better soon.
 
G Pigs are fantastic pets. Definitely social with plenty of character. Feed them the right food (no rabbit pellets) and treats and they will stay healthy. They are right up there with roosters as alarm clocks. If they are hungry and they sense movement they start squeeling.
 
Stay away from Guinea Pigs. Me and SWMBO got one that was supposed to be a male. Ended up it was Preggers when we got it so we ended up with 4. Gave 2 away and then it was preggers again and we had 5 more. Just saying

Well, keeping fingers crossed that we continue to have just two.

Budget friendly shave! Way to go! Nice mug, is it commemorative of something?

Thanks, Chris. And the mug is just one of those ubiquitous Avon mugs that can readily be found in the wild or online. Make sure you don't pay more than $5 for one.

Great review of the Timeless/Aristocrat Chris. Enjoy the BD party, and I hope the GP is feeling better soon.

Thanks, Walt. The BD party was a success. And the GP's are better already.

G Pigs are fantastic pets. Definitely social with plenty of character. Feed them the right food (no rabbit pellets) and treats and they will stay healthy. They are right up there with roosters as alarm clocks. If they are hungry and they sense movement they start squeeling.

Glad to hear this! Thanks, CBL!
 
SR Shave #633:

It's been a while since I used a straight razor, a couple of weeks, at least. Well, today it was time to break one out. The Robert Williams.

I gave it a complete re-hone last night. Oy, what a labor intensive project. It took a while to get the bevel set all the way from heal to toe on the Chosera 1K. Then moved to the Naniwa 3K for more work. Then to the little Les Lat coti for the rest.

Result: Grade C

I was able to achieve a DFS result in two passes, but it wasn't nearly as smooth, nor sharp for that matter, as I had hoped. I'm going to take it to the black ark for some refinement and see what I can get.

New soap for me! One of CBL's latest: "Carnation".

The scent is quite interesting, and nice and strong at about a 4/5 on the SOS scale. It's a sweet, floral scent that is rather unique; I've not tried a soap with this type scent before. I actually dig it! Trying to decide on an aftershave started off a challenge, however. At first, I thought it was going to be a no-brainer and just go with the ALPA Karnation. But nope, not the same, and it clashed. After much deliberation, I finally decided on something, and I must say that it proved to be an excellent pairing...........Pinaud Clubman Musk. Yes! Excellent combo!

And performance-wise? The Rudy Vey Finest whipped up some typical CBL awesomeness! Many thanks, Chris L!!!

 
Thanks, Chris. And the mug is just one of those ubiquitous Avon mugs that can readily be found in the wild or online. Make sure you don't pay more than $5 for one.
Thats the Iron Horse Mug, it came with a bottle of aftershave that fits inside the mug.
 
Nice shave Chris and a sharp looking razor even if not sharp enough for you yet

Thanks, Dave. Interestingly enough, several hours later now, and the shave was actually much better than I had thought. I'm optimistic that the black ark might turn the edge to something nice after all.
 
Thats the Iron Horse Mug, it came with a bottle of aftershave that fits inside the mug.

Interesting. I didn't realize that it came with a bottle of aftershave. Cool - thanks for the info on that one, KJ.

I almost bought one of those with a full bottle of leather inside it.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda.....I keep kicking myself for passing up a Williams soap mug that I saw in the wild. I thought to myself, because I was in a hurry, that I'll come back the next day and get it.....well, you know how that ended up. Sigh.

BTW, speaking of Williams....I've got a puck of vintage Williams en route to me. Along with it, a vintage puck of Colgate "Cup" soap.
 
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda.....I keep kicking myself for passing up a Williams soap mug that I saw in the wild. I thought to myself, because I was in a hurry, that I'll come back the next day and get it.....well, you know how that ended up. Sigh.

BTW, speaking of Williams....I've got a puck of vintage Williams en route to me. Along with it, a vintage puck of Colgate "Cup" soap.

Was it the milk glass mug or the metal bicentennial mug?

Have you used vintage Williams before? It's good stuff!
 
Well Chris my apologies I have fallen behind a bit. But I enjoyed the read. We did the hamster thing for awhile. It was a decent pet but the cat wanted to eat it lol. Now we do have a gecko lizard which is pretty fun.
 
Sorry for the honing woes Chris. As I have said before, The smile on that razor would definitely give me a challenge. Good luck with the Ark refinement.
 
Was it the milk glass mug or the metal bicentennial mug?

Have you used vintage Williams before? It's good stuff!

It was the milk glass mug. I've been searching ever since then, but so far, no luck, at least at what I was willing to pay. I saw one on the bay about a year ago where this guy wanted about $50 for it. Nope, not this kid. And this will be the first time using some vintage Williams.

Well Chris my apologies I have fallen behind a bit. But I enjoyed the read. We did the hamster thing for awhile. It was a decent pet but the cat wanted to eat it lol. Now we do have a gecko lizard which is pretty fun.

I hope that the cat was unsuccessful!

Sorry for the honing woes Chris. As I have said before, The smile on that razor would definitely give me a challenge. Good luck with the Ark refinement.

Well, I'm not going to label this particular honing a "woe" just yet. Let me see how it does after the black ark.
 
Monday's shave:

I decided to give the GEM razor another go, now that I've got new blades. I did just one pass and it's CCS(+), which is good enough for today (even though I did pick up a couple of weepers). These razors are very efficient, but honestly, they're just not for me. This GEM and the Shovelhead that I have were PIF'd to me a few years back from our ole pal, Pete (I hope he's doing well). I've used them more than a few times, but I just can't seem to dig 'em. If anyone wants these razors, plus 199 Ted Paella blades, I'd be happy to PIF them to you.

The soap today was Vitos Extra Super. My goodness, how I dig the scent of this soap! I absolutely love it! It's the best smelling marzipan/almond scented shaving soap I've ever used, and I've used many of them. Performance-wise, it's a solid Tier 1 soap for me. On Chad's scale, I'd put it at Tier 1/Box 3 or 4. It's slick and protective, but it doesn't have much, if any, post shave moisturizing characteristics. BTW, the lather of this soap is best made with a boar brush, no question about it; and the Zenith boar was perfect for the task at hand today.

Post shave was Fine Platinum aftershave. Then some Sampson's unscented balm. Finished up with Creed Aventus EdP. Ah yes, walkin' tall.

 
Monday's shave:

I decided to give the GEM razor another go, now that I've got new blades. I did just one pass and it's CCS(+), which is good enough for today (even though I did pick up a couple of weepers). These razors are very efficient, but honestly, they're just not for me. This GEM and the Shovelhead that I have were PIF'd to me a few years back from our ole pal, Pete (I hope he's doing well). I've used them more than a few times, but I just can't seem to dig 'em. If anyone wants these razors, plus 199 Ted Paella blades, I'd be happy to PIF them to you.

The soap today was Vitos Extra Super. My goodness, how I dig the scent of this soap! I absolutely love it! It's the best smelling marzipan/almond scented shaving soap I've ever used, and I've used many of them. Performance-wise, it's a solid Tier 1 soap for me. On Chad's scale, I'd put it at Tier 1/Box 3 or 4. It's slick and protective, but it doesn't have much, if any, post shave moisturizing characteristics. BTW, the lather of this soap is best made with a boar brush, no question about it; and the Zenith boar was perfect for the task at hand today.

Post shave was Fine Platinum aftershave. Then some Sampson's unscented balm. Finished up with Creed Aventus EdP. Ah yes, walkin' tall.


Dude I have been looking for a 1912 GEM to try out. Very nice picture and very nice setup for the shave sorry it wasn't up to snuff.
 
Great shave Chris, sans Murphys of course.

Vitos is on my Italian must-buy list after the Cella runs out!

Are the vintage SEs aggressive or just require too much focus in comparison to other razors?
 
Great shave Chris, sans Murphys of course.

Vitos is on my Italian must-buy list after the Cella runs out!

Are the vintage SEs aggressive or just require too much focus in comparison to other razors?

Aggressive yes but not uncomfortable for me at least. And there is a concentration level that is different for me than other razors.
 
Dude I have been looking for a 1912 GEM to try out. Very nice picture and very nice setup for the shave sorry it wasn't up to snuff.

Thanks, TJ. And the razors and blades are yours. Do you think I should wait a week or so before mailing them, or is the mail running normally now?

Great shave Chris, sans Murphys of course.

Vitos is on my Italian must-buy list after the Cella runs out!

Are the vintage SEs aggressive or just require too much focus in comparison to other razors?

Thanks, Chris. And I bought a kilo brick of the Vitos and divided it up into smaller containers. I can send you one, or at least a sample, if your want.

And for me, the SE's are a different animal altogether.


Aggressive yes but not uncomfortable for me at least. And there is a concentration level that is different for me than other razors.

A "concentration level that is different" is a good way of explaining it. It requires an extremely light touch, for sure.
 
It was the milk glass mug. I've been searching ever since then, but so far, no luck, at least at what I was willing to pay. I saw one on the bay about a year ago where this guy wanted about $50 for it. Nope, not this kid. And this will be the first time using some vintage Williams.
Dang, that sucks. It's a rare one for sure. I lucked into one, with the box, at an estate sale.
 
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