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Ramblings of a MilkCrate
- Thread starter MilkCrate
- Start date
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
A better pic of that Black Walnut brush.
Mr, Graydog does handsome work!
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Yes he does.
Got WAY! Behind on your journal Tim. I guess I will just say...man you have a lot of brushes!
That is very handsome!A better pic of that Black Walnut brush.
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Probably not for long. I am keeping the 1520 and the misses will probably keep the 2 synths. The rest I will PIF.Got WAY! Behind on your journal Tim. I guess I will just say...man you have a lot of brushes!
My next and last brush will hopefully be a member brush from Eric. Just not sure when I’ll do that.
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Thanks Dave!
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
2018 Shave Count (DE: 223 SV: 8 SR: 19)
Pre Shave-
Warm shower and water splash to shave.
Shave-
Parker 87R
Astra SP
Graydog 26mm Synth
GTB soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
GTB AS
Winding down the week but mixed it up a bit yesterday. I had to try the PIF that came in yesterday while I was at work. So I ended that day with a shave. The razor is a Parker 87R in great shape. It looks great and has a good feel and heft. Moved the Astra over to this razor and will try the Feathers another day.
On to the brush. It also has some heft to it. It is Black Maple with a Maggards 26mm Plissoft Synth knot. Has a great finish on it and should last years. Not sure if it’s set deep, but it has firm backbone and good splay. I need to take a pic next to my 18mm Omega.
Loaded up the brush and away we go. The brush does very nice, building and holding a rally nice lather with a 20 sect load time. I did have to throw some water at it, but it’s all good. I went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG, and have no drama to report. The Parker was a nice, effortless shave and delivered a BBS for the win!
Wrapped up the shave with a splash of water and a quick towel dry. A splash of AS and everything was right as rain! Great way to wind down the day. Life is good!
Pre Shave-
Warm shower and water splash to shave.
Shave-
Parker 87R
Astra SP
Graydog 26mm Synth
GTB soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
GTB AS
Winding down the week but mixed it up a bit yesterday. I had to try the PIF that came in yesterday while I was at work. So I ended that day with a shave. The razor is a Parker 87R in great shape. It looks great and has a good feel and heft. Moved the Astra over to this razor and will try the Feathers another day.
On to the brush. It also has some heft to it. It is Black Maple with a Maggards 26mm Plissoft Synth knot. Has a great finish on it and should last years. Not sure if it’s set deep, but it has firm backbone and good splay. I need to take a pic next to my 18mm Omega.
Loaded up the brush and away we go. The brush does very nice, building and holding a rally nice lather with a 20 sect load time. I did have to throw some water at it, but it’s all good. I went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG, and have no drama to report. The Parker was a nice, effortless shave and delivered a BBS for the win!
Wrapped up the shave with a splash of water and a quick towel dry. A splash of AS and everything was right as rain! Great way to wind down the day. Life is good!
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Nice shave Tim and love the grain in the brush
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Thanks Dave!
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
2018 Shave Count (DE: 224 SV: 8 SR: 19)
Forget to post my Friday update. I used the same setup as Thursday and the results were the same. Ok that’s out of the way.
So Friday we got a bunch of rain. Today was the same and they are predicting rain for a solid week. What to do on a bad weather day? Hone a razor.
I recently picked up a pocket microscope that runs 60-100x, for about $14. So I went back and looked at my first hone job, the Solingen. It does shave but, I saw that it had a horrid edge. It didn’t have a mirror finish the length of the edge. Not only that, I still had sections with scratches and a bit of burr in a couple of spots also. Embarrassing! So I broke out the honing kit and redid it. Took my time and checked the edge after each progression. Then finished it up on the pasted balsa.
Friends and neighbors it is glorious! A mirror finish the length of the edge. And it treetops now. I did stop at the .1um because others say it’s smooth at that git.
That’s all for now, off to give it a test shave. Life is good
Hone kit in a box.
Forget to post my Friday update. I used the same setup as Thursday and the results were the same. Ok that’s out of the way.
So Friday we got a bunch of rain. Today was the same and they are predicting rain for a solid week. What to do on a bad weather day? Hone a razor.
I recently picked up a pocket microscope that runs 60-100x, for about $14. So I went back and looked at my first hone job, the Solingen. It does shave but, I saw that it had a horrid edge. It didn’t have a mirror finish the length of the edge. Not only that, I still had sections with scratches and a bit of burr in a couple of spots also. Embarrassing! So I broke out the honing kit and redid it. Took my time and checked the edge after each progression. Then finished it up on the pasted balsa.
Friends and neighbors it is glorious! A mirror finish the length of the edge. And it treetops now. I did stop at the .1um because others say it’s smooth at that git.
That’s all for now, off to give it a test shave. Life is good
Hone kit in a box.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Totally Awesome Tim. Enjoy the shave !!
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Thanks Dave! I was stoked that I got it right the second time.
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
2018 Shave Count (DE: 224 SV: 8 SR: 20)
Pre Shave-
Warm water splash to shave.
Shave-
Solingen SR
Vulfix Badger
Mudder Focker soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Mudder Focker AS
So I had to give this razor a test shave to see how my hone job was. Late afternoon/eary evening shave. I also included a pic for your viewing pleasure.
I changed up the soap/AS combo for the weekend random shave. Now that I think about it ... I changed everything. So I hit the MF soap for 15 seconds, dropping down from my normal 20. I also shook out more water and added as I went. Built a really nice lather and think I had a nice consistency. I may try this approach on my other soaps and see how they do.
Grabbed the razor for the moment of truth. I went with my standard three; WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. Today I walked away with a mixed bag. I was DFS on my cheeks and real close on my neck. I hope I can duplicate that again.
Wrapped everything up with a splash of water and a quick towel dry. A slash of the AS and ... oh snap! Guess I was too aggressive below part of my jawline. In spite of that, everything was right as rain! Overall a good shave, but I’m not sure what I think of the AS. There is a note in it that I don’t smell in the soap. Not sure what it is and not sure I care for it either. Oh well, we’ll see. If not I’ll get rid of it. Life is good!
Pre Shave-
Warm water splash to shave.
Shave-
Solingen SR
Vulfix Badger
Mudder Focker soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Mudder Focker AS
So I had to give this razor a test shave to see how my hone job was. Late afternoon/eary evening shave. I also included a pic for your viewing pleasure.
I changed up the soap/AS combo for the weekend random shave. Now that I think about it ... I changed everything. So I hit the MF soap for 15 seconds, dropping down from my normal 20. I also shook out more water and added as I went. Built a really nice lather and think I had a nice consistency. I may try this approach on my other soaps and see how they do.
Grabbed the razor for the moment of truth. I went with my standard three; WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. Today I walked away with a mixed bag. I was DFS on my cheeks and real close on my neck. I hope I can duplicate that again.
Wrapped everything up with a splash of water and a quick towel dry. A slash of the AS and ... oh snap! Guess I was too aggressive below part of my jawline. In spite of that, everything was right as rain! Overall a good shave, but I’m not sure what I think of the AS. There is a note in it that I don’t smell in the soap. Not sure what it is and not sure I care for it either. Oh well, we’ll see. If not I’ll get rid of it. Life is good!
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
Thanks Chris! It was pretty cool to shave with a razor that I put an edge on. I know there’s no mojo in lapping film but I’m trying to build my shaving and honing techniques. That and not fall too far down the rabbit hole.?
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
2018 Shave Count (DE: 224 SV: 8 SR: 21)
Pre Shave-
Warm water splash to shave.
Shave-
Three Ranners SR
Graydog Synth
Proraso Green soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Proraso Green AS
So today was a late morning shave and a grudge match. Earlier this week I started a few shaves with this razor and quit it on the first pass. Grabbed a DE and ran my shave. Today I was not going to quit it.
As you can tell, I switched up all my gear again. Gave the synth a healthy shake to free up some water and loaded the Proraso for 15 seconds. This brush is nice and soft, but it doesn’t want to spay at all. You can give it a mash and get a workable splay. Had a good lather going and started my shave.
I went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. I didn’t rinse my face between the first and second passes, I just relathered. Between the second and last pass I did rinse. This thinned out the lather but I was able to work it back up to usable. Today I walked away with a low CCS, but I’ll call this a win. The only reason for this call was because I didn’t quit it. Not sure if I was running too shallow of an angle or if my learning to strop has pulled some of the edge off. I’ll try an angle adjustment on my next shave and if it’s the same, I’ll run it across the balsa to freshen it up.
Wrapped up the the shave with a splash of water and a quick towel dry. A splash of the AS and everything was right as rain! Except for the stubble that was left, grrr. Anyway, that’s what we’re working with today. Life is good!
Pre Shave-
Warm water splash to shave.
Shave-
Three Ranners SR
Graydog Synth
Proraso Green soap
Post Shave-
Warm water splash
Proraso Green AS
So today was a late morning shave and a grudge match. Earlier this week I started a few shaves with this razor and quit it on the first pass. Grabbed a DE and ran my shave. Today I was not going to quit it.
As you can tell, I switched up all my gear again. Gave the synth a healthy shake to free up some water and loaded the Proraso for 15 seconds. This brush is nice and soft, but it doesn’t want to spay at all. You can give it a mash and get a workable splay. Had a good lather going and started my shave.
I went with my standard three passes: WTG, XTG and ATG and have no drama to report. I didn’t rinse my face between the first and second passes, I just relathered. Between the second and last pass I did rinse. This thinned out the lather but I was able to work it back up to usable. Today I walked away with a low CCS, but I’ll call this a win. The only reason for this call was because I didn’t quit it. Not sure if I was running too shallow of an angle or if my learning to strop has pulled some of the edge off. I’ll try an angle adjustment on my next shave and if it’s the same, I’ll run it across the balsa to freshen it up.
Wrapped up the the shave with a splash of water and a quick towel dry. A splash of the AS and everything was right as rain! Except for the stubble that was left, grrr. Anyway, that’s what we’re working with today. Life is good!
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Stubble shmubble.................at least you're not a quiter
MilkCrate
"I am a Milk Crate with Dreams"
I was earlier this week, so this shave was payback.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
No, you were regrouping for another attack ?