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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

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SOTD SATURDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 11, 2021

My wife and I are scheduled to have dinner with an old church friend and his wife. We recently learned she’s been diagnosed with Lewes Body Dementia, the same disease that killed Robin Williams. We thought at first it was Parkinson’s, like me, and given how long I’ve been living with the condition had the same expectations for her. She’s a lovely woman with 7 grandchildren, and my wife’s best friend. This will probably be our last meal together as she is deteriorating rapidly. As Kurt Vonnegut said, “and so it goes!”

My shave in preparation for the evening’s event this morning featured my favorite barber’s razor, the Tedalus Essence fitted with a Feather Super AC blade on its third use. This remarkable razor shaves exactly like my best straights. The shave angle, heft, feel and balance in hand requires a deft touch just as a well-honed straight would. The joy of this razor is the tacit understanding that it’s an actual benchmark for sharpness that I use with my straight razors. This morning’s two and a half pass mug shave did not disappoint, and left me glassine smooth.

I initially grabbed for my Eclipse Red Ring, on of the first adjustables, but instead decided on a Famex shave. Jeff Mudrick’s (@jmudrick) patent research revealed two initial French patents in 1929 and 1932 for the fourteen cage bar model, and a final patent in 1937 for the seven bar model seen here. Having never shaved with the fourteen bar model, I can only speak for my two Famex razors, both 7 bar. The razor is handle adjustable, and delivers on its most aggressive setting a very close shave as it did for my noggin this morning. Two ATG passes put the baby to bed leaving me happily velveteen from dome to shoulders.

RAZOR: Tedalus Essence (Mug), Famex (Dome)
BLADE: Feather Super AC (Mug), Feather DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: JR Boar
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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SOTD SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 12, 2021

Well, I acquired my first safety razor in almost a year and a half. It is an immaculate NOS 1911 Durham Duplex safety razor in the original Bakelite case which I happened across in my search for a stropping attachment for my folding handled version. The price was right, and it uses the same head as the folding handle version, although the blade attachment process differs. The UK Ever Ready Hair Trimmer blades fit perfectly.

I must admit that I really like the safety razor version for my dome shave even more than the folding handle version. The head is much wider than any of my other safety razors, and provides a very wide cut, that it takes only half as many ATG strokes to cover the same shave real estate on the flatter parts of the noggin. The shave was quite close, but not as close a my Barbasol Floating Head or Eclipse Red Ring, the two most efficient blade-holding shavers in my den.

But the belle of the ball was this amazing Smith Bros. of Boston rescaled blue steel 11/16 blade. According to the “Roadshow Collectibles Straight Razor Mfrs Directory”, Smith Brothers was actively importing blades and scaling and reselling them between 1860 and 1910. The original insect eaten horn scales would place this razor earlier in the manufacture. There was no evidence of gun bluing anywhere on the blade.

The extreme hardness of the blade reminded me of some of the Swedish steel I’ve honed. Given Boston’s role as a port city, along with the fact that trading with Japan had begun about the same time as Smith Brothers started in business, I’m going to go out on a limb and hypothesize that the blade is Japanese blue steel or ‘aogami’ which would have been a key export of the newly opened Japanese export market. It is a great edge holding steel alloyed with tungsten, vanadium and chromium.

Whether it is or not, the edge on this straight razor is amazingly sharp. Honing a razor can build up an accumulating burr, which if not removed will contribute to a perceived ‘harsh’ albeit sharp edge. Such an edge will pass the venerable HHT, but the resulting shave will be anything but pleasant. Howard Schlecter, a honemeister from the Boston area teaches his honing students to deburr by running the blade gently along the edge of the finishing stone on each side of the blade edge as part of the finishing process which, of course, seems counter intuitive.

However, 5 to 7 subsequent strokes on the finisher very quickly restore a buttery smooth quite sharp edge, which is then easily maintained well into the future with a graduated pasted strop regimen. Schlecter’s constroption has been just the ticket for me for maintaining all my straight razors. My two and a half pass mug shave this morning reinforced that this approach is just the ticket for me to achieve the lovely velveteen mug shaves with the buttery smooth edges that I enjoy so much!

RAZOR: Smith Bros. of Boston 11/16 (Mug), Durham Duplex Safety Razor (Dome)
BLADE: Ever Ready Hair Trimmer (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Osage Rub AS Splash.
 
jgreenepa said:
View attachment 69841
SOTD SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 12, 2021

Well, I acquired my first safety razor in almost a year and a half. It is an immaculate NOS 1911 Durham Duplex safety razor in the original Bakelite case which I happened across in my search for a stropping attachment for my folding handled version. The price was right, and it uses the same head as the folding handle version, although the blade attachment process differs. The UK Ever Ready Hair Trimmer blades fit perfectly.

I must admit that I really like the safety razor version for my dome shave even more than the folding handle version. The head is much wider than any of my other safety razors, and provides a very wide cut, that it takes only half as many ATG strokes to cover the same shave real estate on the flatter parts of the noggin. The shave was quite close, but not as close a my Barbasol Floating Head or Eclipse Red Ring, the two most efficient blade-holding shavers in my den.

But the belle of the ball was this amazing Smith Bros. of Boston rescaled blue steel 11/16 blade. According to the “Roadshow Collectibles Straight Razor Mfrs Directory”, Smith Brothers was actively importing blades and scaling and reselling them between 1860 and 1910. The original insect eaten horn scales would place this razor earlier in the manufacture. There was no evidence of gun bluing anywhere on the blade.

The extreme hardness of the blade reminded me of some of the Swedish steel I’ve honed. Given Boston’s role as a port city, along with the fact that trading with Japan had begun about the same time as Smith Brothers started in business, I’m going to go out on a limb and hypothesize that the blade is Japanese blue steel or ‘aogami’ which would have been a key export of the newly opened Japanese export market. It is a great edge holding steel alloyed with tungsten, vanadium and chromium.

Whether it is or not, the edge on this straight razor is amazingly sharp. Honing a razor can build up an accumulating burr, which if not removed will contribute to a perceived ‘harsh’ albeit sharp edge. Such an edge will pass the venerable HHT, but the resulting shave will be anything but pleasant. Howard Schlecter, a honemeister from the Boston area teaches his honing students to deburr by running the blade gently along the edge of the finishing stone on each side of the blade edge as part of the finishing process which, of course, seems counter intuitive.

However, 5 to 7 subsequent strokes on the finisher very quickly restore a buttery smooth quite sharp edge, which is then easily maintained well into the future with a graduated pasted strop regimen. Schlecter’s constroption has been just the ticket for me for maintaining all my straight razors. My two and a half pass mug shave this morning reinforced that this approach is just the ticket for me to achieve the lovely velveteen mug shaves with the buttery smooth edges that I enjoy so much!

RAZOR: Smith Bros. of Boston 11/16 (Mug), Durham Duplex Safety Razor (Dome)
BLADE: Ever Ready Hair Trimmer (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Omega Pro48 Boar
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Osage Rub AS Splash.
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Beautiful acquisition!
 
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SOTD TUESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 14, 2021

I apologize for missing yesterday's shave, but my 18 yr old cat, Pewter, has been slowly fading away. He stopped eating about four days ago, and stopped drinking yesterday. I never really cared much for cats. They were my wife’s thing. We have three cats, all rescues, and two dachshunds. When my current wife and I married 5 years ago, my two dogs slowly adjusted to the three cats, with Pewter emerging as the alpha of the menagerie.

Pewter at his best was a 20-25 lb tom who felt it was his job to maintain order in the menagerie. He’s down to less than 8 lbs and is all bones. He doesn’t appear to be in pain, but does like to lay on my lap, and my youngest doxie and the rest of the menagerie have been keeping him company as he fades away. I caught my youngest doxie, Gromit, grooming Pewter as he lay on the couch yesterday. It’s always sad to say good-bye to a dear animal friend. And Pewter has certainly been that, as he slowly and patiently taught me the way of cats over the last 5 years of his life.

He was our gentle feline giant, whom my stepson named as feline super hero. Three years ago, our female cat, Cassie, was attacked by a fox in our fenced in backyard. As I opened the back door a grey streak shot by my legs, vaulted off our deck and tore into the fox about 20 feet away, freeing Cassie, and chasing it out of our yard until it vaulted over our fence and literally limped away. Pewter required sutures, but otherwise, our feline sheriff came away ok. Thanks to Pewter, I’ve grown closer to our other two cats. I suspect today is his last day.

I’ve always admired Bartmann razors from afar, but most of the ones in the condition I like were priced into the stratosphere, well above some of the nicest Filly’s. According to the information I’ve been able to obtain, Bartmann razors are a relatively new brand, in production in Solingen, Germany between 1948 and 1998 when production ceased. For whatever reason, pricing has come down recently, and I was able to obtain this immaculate Bartmann 86 11/16 for an excellent price by making an offer after watching it for several weeks on the big auction site.

It arrived yesterday. Like my Filly, this razor was flat as a pancake. It possessed a gold washed tang and spine along with an existing bevel that was quite dull and required a touch up. The 9 Ball slate with a final burnish on the jasper and finish on the constroption led to a successful styrofoam test and an absolutely magnificent mug shave. Two and a half passes put the baby to bed leaving yours truly glassine smooth.

And yes, I shaved my dome again with my new-to-me Durham Duplex safety razor. I truly believe that this safety razor’s design makes it quite difficult to nick oneself. Despite having the largest head length of any of my vintage safety razors, this well-balanced little 1911 beauty still remembered how to do her job. The UK Ever Ready Trimmer blades are quite sharp and easily reduced my dome stubble in two ATG passes that left me with a very smooth noggin. Practice does make perfect, as today’s shave was definitely velveteen, unlike the shave with this razor two days ago.

RAZOR: Bartmann 11/16 (Mug), Durham Duplex Safety Razor (Dome)
BLADE: Ever Ready Trimmer Blade (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Rooney Ebony Pure Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm.
 
Clint64 said:
Pewter sounds like a fantastic companion. Pets add so much to our lives. It’s always sad to have such a good friend pass. My thoughts are with you and your family Jeff. Take care.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Thanks, Clint! Never thought I‘d care for a cat. Pewter changed all that. He truly Cared for his humans and even canine companions. They’ve all been taking turns sitting with him. He appears in no pain, but like many cats at the end of their lives, stopped eating and drinking. I have him next to an electric heater as he drifts away.
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jgreenepa said:
Thanks, Clint! Never thought I‘d care for a cat. Pewter changed all that. He truly Cared for his humans and even canine companions. They’ve all been taking turns sitting with him. He appears in no pain, but like many cats at the end of their lives, stopped eating and drinking. I have him next to an electric heater as he drifts away.
View attachment 70089
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That is a very loving picture. It really shows how much the pups care for the cat. Pewter does sound like the perfect cat. Many times they are just confirmed loners. It is much nicer when they like the companionship and return the love given. Take care today.
 
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