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Ramblings of a MilkCrate

2018 Shave Count (DE: 213 SV: 8 SR: 5)

Pre Shave-
Warm water splash to shave.

Shave-
Three Ranners SR
Omega boar
Ben Franklin soap

Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Ben Franklin AS

So today I got in a lunch time shave. I kept the load time on the Omega to 25 seconds and whipped up another nice, slick lather. Man, that Omega is really working it. I did switch up the soap and AS, but suffered no ill effects.

Went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG, and have no drama to report. I also ran a pretty shallow angle on the blade again. I think I may increase the angle a bit tomorrow and see how I fare. I think I may have dreamed borderline DFS last night. Today I walked away with a solid CCS.

Wrapped up the shave with a splash of water and a quick towel dry. A splash of AS and everything was right as rain! Well ... except for the stench of cedar. I hate cedar, luckily it fades quickly. The shave, once again, settled down quickly for a very nice post shave feel. So with that, I am on my way to 100. Life is good!
 
dangerousdon said:
You will get that straight down in no time!
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Thanks Don! I hope so.
NurseDave said:
Agree, you seem to be making quick progress with the straights. And at home work? That's the best!
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Thanks Dave!

This home study is brutal. Real content heavy using PoeerShell.
Dagwoodz said:
The result might not have matched what you wanted, but feeling comfortable is the name of the game early on!
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You are right, I am getting more comfortable with it. I know my technique will get better with each shave. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
 
I have a stropping question. As long as my razor is cutting hair 1/8” above skin (say my arm) I am stropping ok, right?

Only weight of the razor, flip on spine, 20-30 passes.
 
In general, yes. The shave is the true test of the edge though.

I’d say minimum 30 passes (back and forth as 1 pass) on the strop prior to the shave and then again after.
 
GearNoir said:
In general, yes. The shave is the true test of the edge though.

I’d say minimum 30 passes (back and forth as 1 pass) on the strop prior to the shave and then again after.
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^^^^^^^^^^^^ All the above. And if you're feeling comfortable with your stropping, upping the number of laps to 50, or even 100, can further smooth and refine that edge.
 
Yeah, these guys pretty much nailed the answer. I'll add an additional test you can use, if you can find hair long enough.

So, the arm hair test is one method to testing an edge. Another is a hanging hair test (HHT). If your razor is popping hairs at 1/8" across the length of the blade, that's one way to tell that you have not rolled the edge.

The hanging hair test is when you take a hair from your head and, grabbing from the end of the hair, (not the follicle end), bring it down sharply against the edge. (just the hair, not your finger!)

These would be for a 1/4 hollow to full hollow ground razor:
Typically, if it splits the hair, but not cut through, that's an HHT1.
If you feel it catch on the edge, but cuts through and just doesn't feel like a clean cut, that's an HHT2
If it cuts through cleanly, but doesn't "pop" the hair off, that's HHT3. You'll typically hear a "ping"
Cuts cleanly through, the hair "pops" off, and you hear a ping is HHT4.
The silent "pop". Cuts through the hair, the end "pops" off, and you don't hear a thing...HHT5.

There are a couple of demonstrations on the tooob of youze showing it in practice. Just remember that hair is tapered from the root to the end, so as you get closer to the end, the hair is typically more fine and will not cut the same as sections closer to the follicle.

These just let me know round abouts where an edge is IRT sharpness...but the true test is in the shave, as pointed out above.

I typically do 50 laps on irish linen (old re-purposed firehose) and laps 100 on leather pre-shave and 12/25 or 25/50 post shave.
 
Dagwoodz said:
Yeah, these guys pretty much nailed the answer. I'll add an additional test you can use, if you can find hair long enough.

So, the arm hair test is one method to testing an edge. Another is a hanging hair test (HHT). If your razor is popping hairs at 1/8" across the length of the blade, that's one way to tell that you have not rolled the edge.

The hanging hair test is when you take a hair from your head and, grabbing from the end of the hair, (not the follicle end), bring it down sharply against the edge. (just the hair, not your finger!)

These would be for a 1/4 hollow to full hollow ground razor:
Typically, if it splits the hair, but not cut through, that's an HHT1.
If you feel it catch on the edge, but cuts through and just doesn't feel like a clean cut, that's an HHT2
If it cuts through cleanly, but doesn't "pop" the hair off, that's HHT3. You'll typically hear a "ping"
Cuts cleanly through, the hair "pops" off, and you hear a ping is HHT4.
The silent "pop". Cuts through the hair, the end "pops" off, and you don't hear a thing...HHT5.

There are a couple of demonstrations on the tooob of youze showing it in practice. Just remember that hair is tapered from the root to the end, so as you get closer to the end, the hair is typically more fine and will not cut the same as sections closer to the follicle.

These just let me know round abouts where an edge is IRT sharpness...but the true test is in the shave, as pointed out above.

I typically do 50 laps on irish linen (old re-purposed firehose) and laps 100 on leather pre-shave and 12/25 or 25/50 post shave.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Josh, I’ll check it out. I can still shave, so I don’t think I have rolled the edge just yet.
 


Shave mail:

Traded a couple of DE’s for this Dovo to have a second razor. Seller said it wasn’t shave ready, so I’ll have to get that fixed. Also scored an Illinois Razor Strop.
 
Nice new acquisitions. I look forward to seeing how you like the Illinois strop - I've always wondered about those.
 
2018 Shave Count (DE: 214 SV: 8 SR: 5)

Pre Shave-
Warm shower and splash to shave.

Shave-
Gillette Old Type

Astra SP (7)
Omega boar
Proraso Red soap

Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Proraso Red AS

So yesterday was an evening shave. The new Dovo wasn’t doing well on arm hair, but I wanted to give it a go. It tugged and skipped bad. Guess the seller was right when he said not shave ready. I’ll have to get this one honed. I should have grabbed the other SR, but I grabbed the Old Type.

I kept the load time on the Omega to 25ish seconds and whipped up an awesome lather. Running a wetter brush is really working for me.

Went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG, and have no drama to report. The Old Type was smooth and efficient, delivering a BBS for the win!

Wrapped up the shave with a splash of water, a quick towel dry and a splash of AS. Everything was right as rain! The shave settled down quickly for a great post shave feel. Life is good!
 
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