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Steve's Journal: The Saga Continues....

Shave Time!

Christmas Eve
Razor: Red Tip Super Speed
Blade: Feather
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
Soap: RR Santal Royale
AS: Stirling Gentleman

Christmas
Razor: RR GC .84
Blade: Feather
Brush: Mystery Badger
Soap: WSP Mahogany
AS: WSP Mahogany

Couple of really good shaves! Both combos really delivered. Today I used one of my Christmas gifts from Erica, a WSP mahogany set. It also included a bottle of pre shave oil, but I skipped that. This scent is just awesome. Very manly is the only way I can describe it lol.

Willie World:
Extra Christmas treats and a trip to see both grandmoms and grandpops? Today is a good day.
In Other News...
Merry Christmas everyone! Keeping this post short because I’m writing it while at the in-laws lol. I’m sure I’ll have a better update later!
 
Shave Time!

Razors: Dubl Duck/ RR GC .84 (SR Shave #4)
Blade: Feather
Brush: Stirling Boar
Soap: WSP Mahogany
AS: WSP Mahogany
EE503F28-D78E-48B3-A062-CA5FBE859EDF.jpegThis WSP Mahogany smells so good it got a repeat shave! I’m loving the scent and the performance is great too.

Today marks SR shave #4 and the second since starting @BarberDave ’s curriculum. First pass WTG using a DE, then 2 passes WTG using the SR. I then did one ATG pass using the DE just to get a little closer.

I’m already becoming more comfortable utilizing the straight. Right handed I have no hesitation and left handed is becoming a little smoother and more second nature. Now to really nail that angle...at times I feel I’m too shallow and not cutting. Not sure how to counteract that other than practice, so that’s what I’ll do! All in all the shave was a victory. No strawberry lather and walked away DFS, maybe DFS+.

Willie World:
After a long exciting day yesterday, Willie spent most of the morning snoozing...until momma came home with some new bones from the pet store! He’s a happy boy today!

In Other News...
I think its time to organize the den. I’ll start working on that in just a minute...have to figure out what stays in the bathroom and what gets moved to the bedroom stash!
 
Sounds like a darn good day!
SteveChuckFrank said:
Willie World:
After a long exciting day yesterday, Willie spent most of the morning snoozing...until momma came home with some new bones from the pet store! He’s a happy boy today!
Click to expand...
Our dachshund went to town on her brand new bone, that was about the size of her head, the second she smelled it coming out of the package...gone in 5 minutes 😂
 
woodpusher said:
Glad that the straight is starting to feel more normal in your hands. The various grips will become routine to you in short order. (y)
Click to expand...
It’s definitely starting to feel more natural and less awkward. Which in turn makes it less scary 😂😂😂.

I did notice on one stroke that I had no audible feedback and I just felt like I was clearing the lather and not actually shaving anything. I adjusted slightly on the next stroke and got the audible feedback again, but still didn’t really feel the blade at all. I’m assuming this would be the sweet spot?
 
A lot of time, audible feedback will depend on the grind. A wedge is near silent and an extra hollow can be hard "scraping toast" miles away. Not feeling the sharpness of the blade is where it should be. You know if your stroke's angle is right by having stubble in the gathered lather. Once a certain spot is smooth, your sounds should be nearly gone. But hey, I like to use an injector, so what do I know? :rolleyes:
 
I also forgot to tell you guys about my Christmas haul. I already mentioned the WSP Mahogany set (soap, AS, pre shave oil). The wife also tried to get me a Tony Miller Plain Vanilla strop, but Tony isn’t taking any orders until January. So, not having any knowledge of strops or what to look for, she took to Amazon...she gets an A for effort, but I’m not sure I should even use this haha:

image.jpg
The handle seems to be leather, but the strop itself is suede. Might make for cool decor though. She also told me to contact Tony in January and get the real deal lol.
 
Go ahead and use it. I had a strop I made from a leg of an old pair of jeans.

The good news is, that if you forget to flip your blade, you've nicked this strop rather than the good TM one. Stropping requires practice until you learn muscle memory; nicking/slicing a strop WILL happen.
 
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woodpusher said:
Go ahead and use it. I had a strop I made from a leg of an old pair of jeans.

The good news is, that if you forget to flip your blade, you've nicked this strop rather than the good TM one. Stropping requires practice until you learn muscle memory; nicking/slicing a strip WILL happen.
Click to expand...
@BarberDave recommends the denim strop in his SR tutorial. I’ve just never seen a suede strop before so it struck me as odd haha. I’ll give it a shot and see how it goes. I’ve been doing well stropping using a nice leather/nylon strop that @MilkCrate sent me. No nicks so far 🤞. I’ve only used it 3 times though haha.
 
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