The Shaving Cadre
Welcome to The Shaving Cadre, a forum dedicated to gentlemanly discourse about wet shaving and other topics of common interests. Membership is always free so register today and join in the fun
Kingfisher's open blade (straight razors and shavettes) journey
- Thread starter kingfisher
- Start date
QC is fair. These razors aren't meticulously crafted, but they are also cheap. You have to be sure the blade lines up properly when you load it. Also, it is a much more aggressive shaver than the name would make you think.
Thanks. Me, too.
I hope so. I worry about what the labor cost is going to be when they give me my car back and tell me that they couldn't find anything wrong with it, which is what I think is going to happen.
Now on to the shave. 145/182 today. Stropped up the Noonan last night, but stuck with the Mike's. I may even 3017 the rest of the Mike's. I love it but it is down to the dregs and I'm excited about putting the MW Rosalimone into the rotation. I haven't fully committed to the 3017, but I think I will. I suspect it only has maybe 4 more shaves in it.
Shave went well. First pass reduction was just fair, but after three passes I was smooth and ready for the day. For clean-up I switched to an SE, and chose the Clog-Pruf for the job. It shaves great. I used a brand new blade, which I palm stropped last night.
I think the new SE blades are a bit harsh for a shave or two if you don't palm strop them first. If you give them about 10-15 strops on either side, they seem to be pretty smooth right from the get-go. If you use an SE and don't palm strop the blades before the first use, give it a try. I think you'll be pleased.
Have a great day, gents.
Thanks, Craig.
146/183 this morning. As promised, I used Mike's again. I got a fantastic lather this morning, better than yesterday's. Post-shave face feel was especially good.
I used the Noonan with clean-up provided by the Clog-Pruf. Three passes to shave nirvana, smooth and comfortable with no irritation or weepers.
Now, the "rest of the story" with my car, which I think you'll find amusing. They kept the car for two days, trying to figure out what was wrong with it. It was clear to them that the car hadn't overheated, and it didn't overheat when they test drove it. "Everything checks out," they told me. "We don't know what might have happened, but your car seems fine, so we don't think it will happen again."
With that, I took the keys and proceeded to attempt to drive it home. It was 96 degrees and humid. The car had been sitting outside in direct sunlight for hours, so it was like an oven when I got in. No trouble, I think to myself, the AC will kick in soon enough.
So I drive it off the lot and proceed toward home. The "AC" is blowing hot air. Extremely hot air. Hotter than the outside air. So I roll the windows down and keep hoping that the cooler air will start flowing sometime soon.
Ummmm....nope. Nothing but hot air, probably well over 120 degrees, in fact, coming out of the vents, even with it set to maximum AC. A-ha! I think I figured out what happened.
So I drive it back to the dealership and tell them that the AC must've leaked all its coolant out onto the exhaust, causing all the steam I saw when I thought the engine was overheating. Hence, there's no AC. It all made perfect sense.
Why they couldn't have figured that out, I have no idea.
I can tell you this, though. I was seriously overheated by the time I got back to the dealership. I must've been red like a beet. When I walked through the door one of the salespeople looked at me and said, "Are you OK?" "Do you need some water?" Heck yeah I needed water. I haven't been that overheated since I did Army training in the Texas desert in the middle of August some 30 years ago.
Anyway, long story short, I hope they get the darn thing fixed today.
Good read and hopefully you get AC pumping soon! Very much needed in your climate for sure.
Army Training? Should you have a Veteran badge? If so we can get that on there for you.
Army Training? Should you have a Veteran badge? If so we can get that on there for you.
Man, I hope they get it fixed for you also. No one should have to go through what you have.
Which post? I was stationed at Ft. Hood two different times.
Yep. Really hot here.
Didn't know their was a veteran badge, but I would love to have one.
Right? They said they don't run the AC when they test drive because they have the windows open and are listening for engine noises.
They will definitely fix it. For a price (see below).
Thanks.
I think they should give me a discount, for sure, but they probably won't.
I honestly can't remember which post. We were out in the middle of the desert. Ft. Hood may have been the closest post, but I don't know.
147/184 today. I had today off, so I started by mowing the lawn. By the time I finished that, I was exhausted and overheated again. So I chose Soapy Science in the Doc's Special Blend because it has a cooling effect, and I lathered it with cold water.
I started the shave with the Noonan, but then attempted to use the new Japanese shorty for the second pass. It shaves, but it is not quite sharp enough. I put it away and used the Noonan for the third pass. Cleaned up with a Bullet-tip Gem.
Got one small weeper in the mustache area with the straight razor, and one in the chin area with the Gem. Not my best shave, but not my worst, either. No irritation elsewhere, and the end result was CCS+.
I'm discouraged that the Japanese razor needs to be honed. I will have to wait a while before sending it off. Too much debt right now to justify paying for a honing of a razor that I don't really need to have in the rotation (it's not like I don't have any other razors).
Overall, though, doing OK.
The car, on the other hand, is problematic. The condenser was shot. So I need a new condenser, new freon, and the system has to be charged. The condenser alone is about $800. Total price will be about $1100. Just what I needed financially when I just sunk several thousand into my son's wedding, travel for the wedding, catering the open house, etc. Yikes.
On the plus side, a friend of mine signed me up for a nice little 9-hole two-man scramble (all par 3s between 50 and 150 yards in length) for this evening. So I'm looking forward to that.
Have a great day.
Sorry about the car troubles. Oscar Wilde wrote a piece of commentary about property owning us as we are slaves to it when we have to maintain and improve. And he didn't even have a car!
Hope the scramble gets your mind off of things!
Hope the scramble gets your mind off of things!
Thanks, Chad. Unfortunately it rained really hard in the early afternoon, leaving standing water on a lot of the fairways, and they had to call off the tournament.
Fortunately, they gave me a free bucket of range balls because they were sorry they couldn't get the word out in time to stop me from driving over there. So I had a pretty good time anyway. Putted for a while and then hit a bucket without having to pay a penny.
Oh, and I really wish they had had the tournament, because my short irons were on point in my range session.
Oscar was right. And see above about the scramble, sigh.
Thanks, Chris, but see above. :-(
Amen, brother. Came out slightly less than the $1100 I was quoted, but still over a thousand. Ouch.
Tell me about it.
148/185 today.
OK, so here's a story for you. Yesterday my wife saw me stropping my razor before I shaved. She says to me, "I thought I saw you stropping your razor very recently," to which I replied, "Of course you did. The razor has to be stropped between every shave."
She scoffed. "C'mon," she said. "I'm sure it would be fine for two shaves without a stropping in between."
So I asked her who should I believe? Guys who have been shaving with straight razors for as long as 35 years, or her? She said her, because she is never wrong.
So, today I decided to find out who is right. I lathered up the dregs of my Mike's soap and went to it with the Noonan, without a stropping in between shaves (except for maybe 20 laps right after the last shave to make sure it was dry before I put it away).
Well, what do you know? She was right, as usual. No problem at all for a nice 2-pass Saturday shave to CCS+ with a bit of clean-up with the bullet tip Gem.
Finally got my car back. AC works. Runs great. Oil was changed. They rotated my tires for free. I hope it runs great for a long time without any need for further repair. I need to get a cabin air filter and install it, but that won't cost too much.
Hope you had a great day.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Glad all's well with the car again. I get my cabin air filters online cheapest and replace myself.
