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Shave #126:

Test Pilot Shave!



Today’s gear: GD66 SR, Prewar Fat Handled Tech, Rapira blade (7), RR Big Bruce, TOBS Sandalwood, and cut Pinaud Clubman decant to finish.

I had a member at another place PM me last week about having me test their honing edges. I said I wouldn’t mind, and so a honed GD66 showed up on my doorstep yesterday! It even came with instructions!



Har, har!

GD66s are some ugly hunks of metal and plastic. Big kudos to those that can rework them into pieces of art!

The shave went decently. I decided to only do 2 passes with the GD66 (hereby nicknamed “The Chinese Junker” as in the ship type). I then would do my final pass with the reliable Prewar Tech as a type of litmus test to the reduction of the first passes.

The edge did not have that harsh, hyper sharp feel (which I do not necessarily like), instead it felt like there was already a number of shaves on it and it was into a relaxed edge stage. I believe all the honing was done by balsa and pastes? There was definitely some reduction with each pass, but noticeably less so on the second pass. The edge did not feel tuggy, but did feel a little “scrape-y” on the XTG pass, like it was passing over the stubble, but having a hard time cutting. The Tech made quick work of what was left.

In comparing the naked-eye edges of the Junker and the Old Crow, there were noticeably more rough scratches on the Junker edge whereas the Old Crow was more solidly mirrored. Just an observation I thought to make.

In all, a decent shave.

In other things, today and tomorrow will be pretty uneventful at work besides the usual preparation for services Sunday. Next week VBS begins though, that’ll be fun but a little chaotic. We expect a few hundred participants I believe! I was in about a 45 minute meeting yesterday, going over all the details for simply for preparation. Should be an interesting week!

Happy Friday all!
 
GearNoir said:
The edge did not have that harsh, hyper sharp feel (which I do not necessarily like), instead it felt like there was already a number of shaves on it and it was into a relaxed edge stage.
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That reminds me of my business for after retirement. Selling one time used blades. For the shaver who wants only the best shaves they can get, I'll get the hit of that possibly scratchy first shave and send you blades with one shave on them. Now, I'll be slow only being able to put a shave on one blade a day, so once it takes off, I'll probably add in the legs and figure I can mellow out a good 4-5 blades on them every day.
 
cmh737 said:
Hope the upcoming week goes smoothly.
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Thanks Chris!

NurseDave said:
That reminds me of my business for after retirement. Selling one time used blades. For the shaver who wants only the best shaves they can get, I'll get the hit of that possibly scratchy first shave and send you blades with one shave on them. Now, I'll be slow only being able to put a shave on one blade a day, so once it takes off, I'll probably add in the legs and figure I can mellow out a good 4-5 blades on them every day.
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Lol, you may be on to something there!
 
NurseDave said:
That reminds me of my business for after retirement. Selling one time used blades. For the shaver who wants only the best shaves they can get, I'll get the hit of that possibly scratchy first shave and send you blades with one shave on them. Now, I'll be slow only being able to put a shave on one blade a day, so once it takes off, I'll probably add in the legs and figure I can mellow out a good 4-5 blades on them every day.
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Do I change his custom title now?
 
Good test shave...if he did all of that on balsa and pastes, that would have taken, as Craig pointed out, a VERY long time. Good on him if that's what he did. However, if you're seeing scratch patterns with your naked eye, I would guess that he used a larger grit pattern stone to cut the bevel then moved to the pastes to refine the edge. The problem with doing it that way, is getting the original scratch patterns out takes a long time, and sometimes just doesn't happen.
 
clyde72 said:
Great shave Chris!
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clyde72 said:
Wow that would take a long time, I think.
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Dagwoodz said:
Good test shave...if he did all of that on balsa and pastes, that would have taken, as Craig pointed out, a VERY long time. Good on him if that's what he did. However, if you're seeing scratch patterns with your naked eye, I would guess that he used a larger grit pattern stone to cut the bevel then moved to the pastes to refine the edge. The problem with doing it that way, is getting the original scratch patterns out takes a long time, and sometimes just doesn't happen.
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Yep, I was actually quite mistaken!

He did it mostly on films! ?
 
Open Blade Shave #127:

Same setup as yesterday: “Chinese Junker” GD66, Gillette Prewar Tech, Rapira blade (8), RR Big Bruce, TOBS Sandalwood, and RR The Stallion to close it out.

I gave the Chinese Junker another chance today, to be fair. Yesterday I felt the reduction on the second pass was not significant, so I did not take it for the final pass; but I wanted to be absolutely sure for feedback to the honer. So what’d I do today? I took it a full 3 passes of course!

The 3 pass went better than expected, but I ran into the same issues as yesterday and the last pass was a bit harsh. There was actually significant, I don’t know what else to call it, “pilling” of the skin (kind of like a blanket pills after long use) from around my follicles on the cheeks, meaning the blade was lifting and cutting hair, but also some skin even with the blade almost flat on my face. My care areas also did not get reduced to my accustomed level, so the Tech had some clean up to do.

I had to finish with alum before my AS splash to help tighten up the skin a bit and take care of the irritation from the last pass. It gave off a good medium burn as did my AS.

The shave result was good overall, not bad, just an uncomfortable finish. It was for a good cause though...shave science!

So glad today is Saturday (my Friday)! I get to go in a bit early, thus close a bit early, and sooner to start my weekend! Y’all enjoy your day!
 
Great read Chris!

Some good feed back to the honer. As McVeyMac (Walt) stated edges are somewhat of a YMMV, what is a great edge to you, maybe too harsh for me. Kinda like DE blades I guess. However sharp is sharp IMHO.
 
sorry to hear that you experienced the irritation Chris...sounds like the edge geometry might be off a little. (meaning he took too much off of the spine or edge in relation to the other)

Good to hear that the post shave routine helped with that however!
 
clyde72 said:
Great read Chris!

Some good feed back to the honer. As McVeyMac (Walt) stated edges are somewhat of a YMMV, what is a great edge to you, maybe too harsh for me. Kinda like DE blades I guess. However sharp is sharp IMHO.
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Dagwoodz said:
sorry to hear that you experienced the irritation Chris...sounds like the edge geometry might be off a little. (meaning he took too much off of the spine or edge in relation to the other)

Good to hear that the post shave routine helped with that however!
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Thank you Craig and Josh! Do you guys ever experience what I mentioned about the “pilling” of the skin near the follicles? I’m fairly certain it shouldn’t be that way right?

Dave in KY said:
Chris, sounds like you gave it, it's chance. Have a great day
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Thanks Dave! I did indeed.
 
GearNoir said:
Thank you Craig and Josh! Do you guys ever experience what I mentioned about the “pilling” of the skin near the follicles? I’m fairly certain it shouldn’t be that way right?
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Can't say that I have. If I'm understanding what you are talking about. Kind of a blade stall but not quite?
 
clyde72 said:
Can't say that I have. If I'm understanding what you are talking about. Kind of a blade stall but not quite?
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It only happened for the most part on the ATG. Sort of a stall because, I’m surmising, the edge lifted up the hair and part of the skin around it, cutting both instead of just a clean cut of the hair. The skin kind of clumps up around the hair because of it (kind of like what you might see if you’re washing your self after a sunburn is peeling, but on a very small scale level), sometimes requiring a touch up pass to remove it and the rest of the hair. I did have to apply a small bit of pressure with the stroke to complete it.

Ill have to take a picture of it if I ever remember and gross you guys out.
 
Honestly, it sounds like a couple of issues. 1) the blade isn't quite keen enough and 2) if you aren't, you need to be stretching the skin a bit more. If there is skin that is "pilling" up or getting pulled by the blade when it attempts to cut the hair, there is too much slack in the skin. If you aren't careful, it's very easy to get a nasty cut with a straight razor like that.

I really think it's a combination of those two issues. The first one is going to cause you to use more pressure than should be necessary. Issue two, when combined with that can end very poorly.
 
Shave #128:

I’ve come to cherish my non-TOBS days, as much as I’ve dialed in and enjoy TOBS, lol.

Gear: Feather AC SS, Pro blade (3), Prewar Fat Handled Tech, Rapira blade (9), RR Big Bruce, Cella, CC Venture to finish.

Fantastic Sunday shave today. KJ has got me dropping a few drops of water on my picks and loading all my soaps heavy now...at least I’ll get through them a tad more quickly! So I luxuriated in a nice, slick, Cella lather this morning.

I did the full triple pass, 2 with the Feather and final with the Tech. I’m at like 98% BBS only because I didn’t want to chase. Seriously, pull out your Tech folks, take them for a spin once in a while!

The Feather took a pass and a half to readjust to after two days with a regular SR. I look forward to the day I can put out for a nice DX. It was all smooth sailing though, no cuts, nicks, weepers, and almost no irritation.

Minimal plans for the day - church, a ministry meeting, bible study, yard watering, and chillin!

Happy Sunday folks!
 
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