Just realized that this morning's shave was actually CCLI, not CLI. Duh.
This Roman numeral thing is more difficult that I thought it would be, lol.
This Roman numeral thing is more difficult that I thought it would be, lol.
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Kingfisher's open blade (straight razors and shavettes) journey
- Thread starter kingfisher
- Start date
CCLII this morning.
Back to the Sta-Sharp (aka "Mighty Mite") and back to Soapy Science in the Mint Mint scent. Great, great lather. For touch-ups, I put away the MMOC and binned the blade. Back to DE for the next little while. I searched around my box of DE heads and pulled out one I haven't used in forever. The iKon Shavecraft 101. Nice razor that I enjoyed so much I have two of them. They are a kind of aluminum and my concern was always that it's so easy to strip the threads on these. So I bought another one from a forum member. Interestingly, the two heads are identical as far as I can tell but the screw is much longer on one head than it is on the other. I wonder if he changed it because people were having problems with stripping the threads. Anyway, I chose the head with the longer threads and loaded it up with a fresh Polsilver SI.
First pass with the Mighty Mite went well. No problems at all.
I started the second pass with a terrible thought. As I held the razor to my right cheek for the pass I've been doing lately, but only for the past week or so, I remember thinking "I don't really know exactly the best way to do this pass." As that thought hit my brain, the blade hit my right cheek and dug in a bit, causing a small weeper. Note to self: Do not think self-defeating thoughts when shaving with a straight razor.
Anyway, after that the pass went fine. Clean-up with the 101 was interesting. I had forgotten how mild it is. But I adjusted my technique and got the job done.
So as I'm rinsing I found another small weeper, also on the right cheek. And that little cut I got on the left cheek I keep aggravating every day when I shave. Dang! It's like I've never used a straight before! I had gone literally dozens of shaves without so much as a weeper and now I look like a complete newb!
I may take a break from the SR for a few days, use the gentle 101, and then perhaps go back to my tried and true two-pass before I changed things up? I'm a bit frustrated right now with my SR shaves.
I dunno. I'll think it over. But I'm definitely going to lay off for a couple of days, anyway, and see how things go.
Hope y'all had a great day.
Back to the Sta-Sharp (aka "Mighty Mite") and back to Soapy Science in the Mint Mint scent. Great, great lather. For touch-ups, I put away the MMOC and binned the blade. Back to DE for the next little while. I searched around my box of DE heads and pulled out one I haven't used in forever. The iKon Shavecraft 101. Nice razor that I enjoyed so much I have two of them. They are a kind of aluminum and my concern was always that it's so easy to strip the threads on these. So I bought another one from a forum member. Interestingly, the two heads are identical as far as I can tell but the screw is much longer on one head than it is on the other. I wonder if he changed it because people were having problems with stripping the threads. Anyway, I chose the head with the longer threads and loaded it up with a fresh Polsilver SI.
First pass with the Mighty Mite went well. No problems at all.
I started the second pass with a terrible thought. As I held the razor to my right cheek for the pass I've been doing lately, but only for the past week or so, I remember thinking "I don't really know exactly the best way to do this pass." As that thought hit my brain, the blade hit my right cheek and dug in a bit, causing a small weeper. Note to self: Do not think self-defeating thoughts when shaving with a straight razor.
Anyway, after that the pass went fine. Clean-up with the 101 was interesting. I had forgotten how mild it is. But I adjusted my technique and got the job done.
So as I'm rinsing I found another small weeper, also on the right cheek. And that little cut I got on the left cheek I keep aggravating every day when I shave. Dang! It's like I've never used a straight before! I had gone literally dozens of shaves without so much as a weeper and now I look like a complete newb!
I may take a break from the SR for a few days, use the gentle 101, and then perhaps go back to my tried and true two-pass before I changed things up? I'm a bit frustrated right now with my SR shaves.
I dunno. I'll think it over. But I'm definitely going to lay off for a couple of days, anyway, and see how things go.
Hope y'all had a great day.
Thanks!
So, today was day 1 of the self-imposed non-straight razor shaving.
I chose the amazing and wonderful iKon shavecraft 101 dual comb loaded with a Polsilver SI on its second shave. For lather I chose Soapy Science in the Mint Mint scent, and I lathered it up with my Rubberset/Plissoft synthetic, quickly becoming my favorite brush, by the way.
Anyway, I made an awesome lather and proceeded with a simple 2-pass shave that left me CCS+/DFS- without any irritation at all. Just smooth and comfortable.
Now I remember why I bought an extra of this DE head. This is a really sweet shaver. Mild but efficient, very little blade feel. Just wonderful.
Post-shave I used Stirling lime balm (finally getting really cold here, decided I could use some hydration).
Great start to the day. I hope y'all had a great start, too!
Day 2 of non-straight razor shaving went just as well as the first. I stuck with the same equipment, too, except used a different brush.
I was CCS- after one pass; really getting to the sweet spot of the shavecraft 101. DFS after two passes, no irritation.
The iKon Shavecraft 101 has three flaws. The first is that the threads are aluminum, which means that it is painfully easy to strip them when attaching a handle.
The other two flaws I use to cancel each other out. One of said flaws is that it is a dual comb razor but the safety bar side is much more aggressive than the open comb side (counterintuitive, I know). The other is that because of the "peg" design, a blade can pretty easily be loaded unevenly.
I use these two flaws against each other and it works perfectly. I purposefully load the blade unevenly, with more exposure on the open comb side. When I do that, the aggressiveness of the two sides evens out. Once I get the blade loaded that way, I don't open up the razor at all until it's time to bin the blade, because I don't want to screw and unscrew the head any more than is absolutely necessary. I hope, in this way, to keep the head usable for many years.
Have a great weekend!
I was CCS- after one pass; really getting to the sweet spot of the shavecraft 101. DFS after two passes, no irritation.
The iKon Shavecraft 101 has three flaws. The first is that the threads are aluminum, which means that it is painfully easy to strip them when attaching a handle.
The other two flaws I use to cancel each other out. One of said flaws is that it is a dual comb razor but the safety bar side is much more aggressive than the open comb side (counterintuitive, I know). The other is that because of the "peg" design, a blade can pretty easily be loaded unevenly.
I use these two flaws against each other and it works perfectly. I purposefully load the blade unevenly, with more exposure on the open comb side. When I do that, the aggressiveness of the two sides evens out. Once I get the blade loaded that way, I don't open up the razor at all until it's time to bin the blade, because I don't want to screw and unscrew the head any more than is absolutely necessary. I hope, in this way, to keep the head usable for many years.
Have a great weekend!
No preference at all. I just shave with it as though the two sides weren't different. In other words, load up one side with lather, turn it over, load up the other side, then rinse and repeat.
If the blade is loaded perfectly evenly, the safety bar side is quite a bit more aggressive and the open comb side is too mild for me; but when I load the blade as far toward the open comb side as it will go, both sides shave great.
And the open combs are not pointy or sharp like the Deluxe OC; they are smooth and rounded; very comfortable on the face. This is really a great razor. It's too bad they don't make them anymore. And also that they didn't use brass or stainless for the threads.
I forgot to mention that the "safety bar" side of the Shavecraft 101 is actually kind of like the scalloped edge of the Timeless.
Used it again this morning, with AoS Lemon, for a quick two-pass shave before heading out to a large church conference meeting attended by about 1800 people. I conducted the choir for the service, which was fun. We did a total of 5 songs.
The weather here is terrible today, but could be worse. It's just cold, breezy, and rainy. But no snow and no ice.
Hope y'all have a great Sunday!
Used it again this morning, with AoS Lemon, for a quick two-pass shave before heading out to a large church conference meeting attended by about 1800 people. I conducted the choir for the service, which was fun. We did a total of 5 songs.
The weather here is terrible today, but could be worse. It's just cold, breezy, and rainy. But no snow and no ice.
Hope y'all have a great Sunday!
Yep, or thereabouts. It was a conference that unites 10 different congregations; that's why there were so many people there. We have these conferences twice a year.
CCLIII this morning.
Back up on the horse. Last night I took the Japanese shorty to the CrOx and FeOx for 20 laps each, and then stropped it about 90 laps (short little paddle strop).
This morning I lathered up Soapy Science Doc's Special Blend (awesome stuff!) with my Rubberset brush and went to town with the shorty.
Remember how I said the last two straight razor shaves it seemed like I had never shaved with a straight before? Well, this morning it was like I had never NOT shaved with a straight; in other words, it was like I had been shaving with a straight all my life.
Smooth and comfortable two passes, no problems at all. I went back to my old approach, though, with a straight WTG pass first and then a Chimensch-style mixed WTG/XTG cross-handed. Worked beautifully. Third pass was with the 101 DE again. Final result was almost DFS.
Finished off with the Stirling lime balm. It's cold here now, so I'll likely be sticking with a balm every day for a while to keep my skin from getting too dry.
Saints over the Eagles was nice (a bit too close for comfort, but a win is a win). I lived in New Orleans for 4 years, and the last of those years was the first time the Saints had made the playoffs. Football fever was rampant. I've been a fan of the Saints ever since. If you are an Eagles fan and you are reading this, sorry to bring up the game.
Hope y'all have a great day.
CCLIV today.
Kept the same razor (the Japanese shorty) and the same soap (Doc's Special Blend) as yesterday. I made a wetter lather than yesterday. I was pressed for time so I pushed the tempo a bit without being careless. Two passes with the shorty, one with the Shavecraft 101; good shave. CCS at least.
Interestingly, I remember the first time I used an AC razor (it was the original Cobra classic, on a passaround) I thought the main problem with the format was that the blade was too wide. I really wished the blade could be the same width as a DE blade.
Also, when I was first learning how to shave with a straight razor, I remember lamenting that the straight razor blade was too wide, wishing I could have a shorty, and sure that a shorty would solve all my woes.
But now, after shaving with regular width straights for almost a year, whenever I shave with the shorty I am thinking to myself, "this would be an awesome razor if only the blade were wider." It's funny how my thinking has changed. The shorty is maybe more versatile, but once you get used to the wide blades, it's kind of weird to use a shorter blade. Mind you, even the shorty is wider than an AC blade.
Have a great day, everybody.
Kept the same razor (the Japanese shorty) and the same soap (Doc's Special Blend) as yesterday. I made a wetter lather than yesterday. I was pressed for time so I pushed the tempo a bit without being careless. Two passes with the shorty, one with the Shavecraft 101; good shave. CCS at least.
Interestingly, I remember the first time I used an AC razor (it was the original Cobra classic, on a passaround) I thought the main problem with the format was that the blade was too wide. I really wished the blade could be the same width as a DE blade.
Also, when I was first learning how to shave with a straight razor, I remember lamenting that the straight razor blade was too wide, wishing I could have a shorty, and sure that a shorty would solve all my woes.
But now, after shaving with regular width straights for almost a year, whenever I shave with the shorty I am thinking to myself, "this would be an awesome razor if only the blade were wider." It's funny how my thinking has changed. The shorty is maybe more versatile, but once you get used to the wide blades, it's kind of weird to use a shorter blade. Mind you, even the shorty is wider than an AC blade.
Have a great day, everybody.
CCLV this morning.
Same exact set-up, three days in a row! Except that I switched back to the Rubberset, now officially my favorite brush.
Two passes did fine but were not as efficient as I expected. Third pass was with the Shavecraft 101. Final result was CCS+. One tiny area of irritation on the left cheek (a very unexpected place for irritation, and I have no idea what happened).
Got a phone call early this morning. There is an elderly gentleman who lives in a nursing home with his wife. My wife and I have gone over there several times on Sunday afternoons to visit with them. This morning Sarah passed away. This was not the kind of news I wanted or expected to hear today. John will probably be very sad. We will get over there soon to be with him.
Have a good day, gents.
Same exact set-up, three days in a row! Except that I switched back to the Rubberset, now officially my favorite brush.
Two passes did fine but were not as efficient as I expected. Third pass was with the Shavecraft 101. Final result was CCS+. One tiny area of irritation on the left cheek (a very unexpected place for irritation, and I have no idea what happened).
Got a phone call early this morning. There is an elderly gentleman who lives in a nursing home with his wife. My wife and I have gone over there several times on Sunday afternoons to visit with them. This morning Sarah passed away. This was not the kind of news I wanted or expected to hear today. John will probably be very sad. We will get over there soon to be with him.
Have a good day, gents.
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Randall doing an unofficial 3017?
Sorry to to hear about the death. It’s a bit selfish, but I think the husband usually expects to go before the wife, I know I do. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself otherwise. I hope your visit brings some solace to him today.
Sorry to to hear about the death. It’s a bit selfish, but I think the husband usually expects to go before the wife, I know I do. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself otherwise. I hope your visit brings some solace to him today.
Thanks. Yeah. I had a good chat with him. Overall he seemed to be doing pretty well under the circumstances. It was really sad to see the empty bed in his room; the sheets had all been removed so it was just that pathetic, dark-blue plastic mattress.Randall doing an unofficial 3017?
Sorry to to hear about the death. It’s a bit selfish, but I think the husband usually expects to go before the wife, I know I do. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself otherwise. I hope your visit brings some solace to him today.
While I was there two of his nephews came to visit, which was nice.
Oh, and I'm not doing a 3017. Switched it up this morning (see below).
CCLVI this morning.
Some excitement this morning, and also an error. The excitement was that I had a new piece of hardware to try out. A beautiful CVH that I purchased from Georgia Tech Chris. It came in yesterday afternoon's mail. It's gorgeous and in perfect condition, as you might imagine. Black scales. Very narrow blade, even narrower than the Mighty Mite (maybe a 4/8? I didn't measure it). Off-white wedge. Just very pretty. Sharp point, which comes into play in a little bit.
So, anyway, I switched it up to the Lollipop Citrus scent of Soapy Science. Got a wonderful lather. I love Soapy Science soaps, as if you didn't know that already.
Anyway, so after I lathered up and took this new blade to my face. Wow! This is the most buttery smooth edge I have ever tried (granted, I only started straight razor shaving in February of 2018, but still!). Very sharp but without a hint of harshness. The first pass was amazing, except that on the toughest spot just below the right jaw it felt a tiny bit not right, but no pain, so I moved on. As I was rinsing between passes, I see that there is a little cut and weeper there. Lathered up for the second pass and it appeared to have stopped. Must've been the tiniest catch of the tip.
So the second pass goes smoothly and comfortably. I'm loving it. I see no blood at the jawline where I had seen it before.
So I do a third pass with the Shavecraft 101, and I'm just zipping happily along, and thinking to myself, "It would be impossible to cut myself with this razor!" and then I take an extremely reckless swipe along that jawline and I feel it catch. Now there is a fair bit of blood there.
After rinsing I see the cut. I stopped the bleeding with a styptic, but it's a nice, maybe 0.5 cm linear cut there. I think what happened is that I caught the prior tiny cut with the blade of the DE and just widened it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
But it's not huge and it stopped bleeding easily with the styptic. I used Myrsol F./Extra because of the cut; no stinging at all anywhere else.
So, tonight I'm going to dull the point of the Swedish blade on the mirror, and tomorrow I'm going to be really careful where I messed up so I don't make it worse.
After all that talk about the cut, which was mostly made with the DE, I have to remind you that I couldn't be happier with the CVH razor. Wow. What a beauty and what an edge! I know people often praise Swedish steel. I don't know if it is the steel or the honing job that was done on it, but it was mighty fine.
Oh, and for the price I got it for, it's more like "Swedish steal." Maybe that's what I'll call her from now on.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Nice read. Sorry for the cut but congrats on a great acquisition.
Thanks!
Chris said it was honed by Derrick. I'm not sure who that is, but he really knows how to hone a razor. I've been told that the CVH razors hold their edge really well, too, so I am looking forward to many great shaves with this blade.
CCLVII today. Second go with the Swedish steal. Lathered up Mint Mint this morning with the Rubberset. Changed out the clean-up tool, too. Was going to get my RFB NEW, but while looking into my box of DE heads, I saw the aluminum version of the iKon SBS, which I purchased and only used a handful of times. (I have the original brass SBS, which I felt was a better head.) But this morning, I thought to myself, "Why not?" and I loaded it up with a fresh Polsilver SI.
For the uninitiated, the original SBS was all brass, and was supposed to be "4 razors in one," by means of a dual comb and a flippable baseplate, one of which was supposed to increase the blade gap. With the original SBS, I could never really tell a difference with the baseplate fllipped, and the open comb and safety bar sides also felt very similar to me. But it is a good razor head and I really enjoy shaving with it. The brass SBS was made in very small numbers (nobody will say exactly how many) and for a while at least was highly sought after by collectors. I don't know if it still is or not.
The follow-up SBS is made of the same type of aluminum alloy that Greg uses for the Shavecraft series of razors. It's much heavier than you would expect pure aluminum to be. There has been all kinds of speculation about exactly what type of metal these heads are made of, but that's neither here nor there. With this iteration, there is a clear difference when the head is flipped; you can see the difference just looking at the base plate by itself. There is also a bit more difference between the open comb and safety bar sides, but I don't really have a preference between them.
So, I made a nice, wetter lather with the Mint Mint and went at it with the Swedish steal. Again, buttery smooth and sharp. And, just like yesterday, I got another cut; this time on my ear lobe as I was going down the right cheek and moving toward the area just below the jawline. There was a ton of lather on the blade and I couldn't see the point. It's apparently still pretty sharp. But it was a tiny little nick that stopped bleeding within a few seconds, so no biggie.
The rest of both the first and second passes went swimmingly. This edge is particularly amazing on the neck area and through thick, coarse stubble. Like buttah.
Third pass was with the aforementioned second-generation SBS. I accidentally assembled it in the aggressive baseplate position, and, of course, the blade was fresh. So there was more blade feel than I prefer. But I used a light touch and it shaved just fine. If I use that head again tomorrow I will flip it the other way.
I hope y'all have a great day.
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
The iKon El Jefe material, to my knowledge, has never been pinned down either. Moderately weighty, more than aluminum for sure; not injected stainless, seemingly not machined, but doesn’t feel like zamac either. I wonder if it’s the same mixture as your SBS?
yeah Pretty sure it's made of the same mystery metal. I suspect it's a variant of ZAMAC with a higher aluminum content, but I don't really know.
CCLVIII today. Saturday with no real responsibilities so just a two pass shave.
Mint mint, Swedish steal for pass one, went Chimensch. No trouble.
Second pass with the RFB NEW head on a UFO handle.
Called it quits after two passes. CCS. Washed a lot of good lather down the drain today, but it's all good.
Practiced the organ in the afternoon. Playing for tomorrow's service.
Have a good weekend, all.