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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

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SOTD TUESDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 19, 2021

I do love vintage razors. My son urged me to acquire this Smith Bros. of Boston straight razor (1860-1910) when we came across it in an antique mall. The blade was tarnished black. Since I was buying a costly piece of commercial stoneware, the dealer tossed it in for nothing. Some elbow grease, cleaned up most of the blade, but the original horn scales were insect eaten. The steel was quite hard, so it took a while to set a decent bevel, and that first shave was quite good with it. My friend Bill honed it to his liking, and also commented on how much he liked the shave.

I decided to keep it, and sent it off to the well-known Sandpoint, ID beauty spa for a makeover, and boy do I like the result. Glen Mercurio took a sow’s ear and created a silk purse. The blade was totally cleaned up, and the new scales fit the razor much better IMO, and really do make a difference, not just aesthetically, but also balance-wise. The razor delivered a fabulous three pass mug shave, and just glided through the slick MWF lather generated by the Tuxedo synth knotted, Rearden Razor 1lb 316L SS brush.

For my noggin shave I grabbed the Christopher Bradley razor from Karve Shaving fitted with an OC baseplate and wide body top cap which encloses the blade tabs. This safety razor was my first non-vintage purchase several years ago. The original cap didn’t enclose the blade tabs. As a result, I ended up unintentionally nicking my early on. The newer wide body top cap made a great difference. This morning’s OC October two pass ATG shave left me velveteen smooth from dome to shoulders.

RAZOR: Smith Bros. 6/8 (Mug), Karve w/ OC E Plate (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Rearden Razor 316L SS Handle with Tuxedo Synth Knot
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with PAA Frost Byte AS Splash.
 
MarkB said:
Beautiful result on that straight! 🤩
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Thanks, Mark! Glen is a master of his craft! He’s restored several razors for me, and they‘re all great improvements over the original. He always makes them look better, but he also takes into account the way they balance in hand. He’s restored several razors for me over the years, and even better, I now count him as a friend as well.
 
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SOTD THURSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 21, 2021

Today’s shave featured the CV Heljestrand Model 29 4/8. I’m really enjoying these little Swedish 4/8 razors. This particular razor dates from the 1920s, and upholds the brand’s reputation for holding a great edge. Two mug passes followed by som buffing and final flatblading leave my neck very smooth. Flatblading definitely dulls the edge, but I’ve found that my old Swaty barber’s hone with a few drops of Smith’s honing oil restores the edge nicely on all my straights after each shave. The follow-on with the four-sided pasted constroption is icing on the cake.

The Gillette New LC swept through my noggin stubble in two very close and efficient ATG passes leaving me smooth from dome to shoulders. When I was a young man back in the 60’s, and was pursuing my first wife, I used Canoe as my aftershave. These days I suppose it pales in the shadow of more modern scents by Dior, Creed and Tom Ford, but I really like it for sentimental reasons. I lost my girl in 2012 to metastatic cancer. We would have been married for 51 years. I’ve found myself thinking about her since this past Saturday was our anniversary. Thus my use of Canoe this morning.

RAZOR: CV Heljestrand Model 29 (Mug), Gillette New LC
BLADE: Rapira Platinum
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE LE Aluminum Handle SynBad Knot #005
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Canoe EdT.
 
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SOTD WOOL FAT FRIDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 22, 2021

The shave this morning featured two razors I’ve been neglecting lately. The Simmons hardware 4/8 is a great little mug shaver that my new touch up regimen has really brought to life. The razor is about 120 yrs old, and had been a satisfactory shaver. Just out of curiousity, I ran it across the Swaty hone instead of the Naniwa 12k for its touchup, and I was very pleasantly surprised.

Following the Swaty came the four sided constroption, 10 strokes per side. The resulting shave was far better than any earlier shaves with this razor. Two passes left me incredibly smooth. The third and final pass focused only on my troublesome neck whiskers on either side of the Adam’s Apple which my flatblading technique smoothed right out.

The Ever Ready Streamline is the one Gem bladed razor I can always count on. My noggin shaves with this little beauty never fail to please. Of course, the wonderful MWF lather spread by the MrEE LE Knurled Aluminum Handle #007 Hybrid knot that provided the slick shave surface definitely enhanced the process. Two ATG feather light passes left yours truly velveteen smooth from noggin to shoulders.

RAZOR: Simmons Hardware 4/8 (Mug), Ever Ready Streamline (Dome)
BLADE: Pella PTFE Gem
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE LE Knurled Aluminum Handle Hybrid Knot #007
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Krampert’s Frostbite AS Splash.
 
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