Grail Shave Approaching?
Grail Shave Approaching?
For a long time I have thought that a single pass with the grain, that was close enough to last all day in a respectable fashion as far as appearance goes (not asking for all-day BBS here!) would be a desirable goal. Every time I have attempted it, I have been dissatisfied. The stubble comes back and annoys me, though I confess that if I could refrain from touching my face all might have been well.
Combining what I have noted about less than perfectly sharp straight razors and their ability to cut better with the grain than really well-honed examples, with Christian's M-factor, wherein a less sharp blade produces less prickly stubble, perhaps through frayed ends, and (this sentence will end one day) the fact that many straights with damaged edges shave nicely with the grain, I have tried an experiment. I took my Livi stainless damascus, which is a bear to get really sharp enough to shave against the grain with no tugging, and deliberately honed it only with a Spyderco UF (unlapped) and then stropped it with smooth hard leather. My usual progression would take me from that hone to a Shapton 15k and then a 30k and then a lapped Spyderco of unknown grit, but it adds to the 30k's edge, rather than detracting. The Livi often requires a touch of the American Swaty too. Then I shaved with the grain only. Very comfortable. The shave felt the way it does in the evening after a three pass morning shave with an Injector; there was stubble felt with fingers questing against the grain in my sideburn area, and just under the lower margin of my chin. But the stubble was not prickly sharp.
I did it again this morning, and now at five o'clock there is no visible stubble. On feeling for it, there is definitely stubble there, but it isn't prickly and I could certainly wait till morning before shaving again. Or I could have the pleasure of a second shave, and I assume it will not lead to irritation if it is only the second pass today! I may try this out using the Flexcut Gold paste referred to in the link above - a very coarse, fast cutting paste that eats up metal and leaves a serrated edge that would work well for this job. I have a couple of bars of it and a pasted balsa paddle somewhere with it on.
One swallow does not a summer make. But I do feel that I can shave this way and find it 'liveable.' It illustrates the fact that a razor can be too sharp, and that those little serrations on the edge can be your friend if they catch a hair and dig into it rather than the smooth edge gliding over it. I might try to kid myself that this was the secret of days gone by when all shaves were straight, with the grain and occasional, but I do know that the secret was that standards were lower and visible stubble was the norm. I want neither a macroscopic beard, nor even visible stubble, and this allows me to get what I want with tolerably good face-feel for the fingers. A warning to all you youngsters though, this shave has not yet been subjected to The Test Of The Inner Thigh. I may get lucky enough to try that out one of these days....
Chris
Combining what I have noted about less than perfectly sharp straight razors and their ability to cut better with the grain than really well-honed examples, with Christian's M-factor, wherein a less sharp blade produces less prickly stubble, perhaps through frayed ends, and (this sentence will end one day) the fact that many straights with damaged edges shave nicely with the grain, I have tried an experiment. I took my Livi stainless damascus, which is a bear to get really sharp enough to shave against the grain with no tugging, and deliberately honed it only with a Spyderco UF (unlapped) and then stropped it with smooth hard leather. My usual progression would take me from that hone to a Shapton 15k and then a 30k and then a lapped Spyderco of unknown grit, but it adds to the 30k's edge, rather than detracting. The Livi often requires a touch of the American Swaty too. Then I shaved with the grain only. Very comfortable. The shave felt the way it does in the evening after a three pass morning shave with an Injector; there was stubble felt with fingers questing against the grain in my sideburn area, and just under the lower margin of my chin. But the stubble was not prickly sharp.
I did it again this morning, and now at five o'clock there is no visible stubble. On feeling for it, there is definitely stubble there, but it isn't prickly and I could certainly wait till morning before shaving again. Or I could have the pleasure of a second shave, and I assume it will not lead to irritation if it is only the second pass today! I may try this out using the Flexcut Gold paste referred to in the link above - a very coarse, fast cutting paste that eats up metal and leaves a serrated edge that would work well for this job. I have a couple of bars of it and a pasted balsa paddle somewhere with it on.
One swallow does not a summer make. But I do feel that I can shave this way and find it 'liveable.' It illustrates the fact that a razor can be too sharp, and that those little serrations on the edge can be your friend if they catch a hair and dig into it rather than the smooth edge gliding over it. I might try to kid myself that this was the secret of days gone by when all shaves were straight, with the grain and occasional, but I do know that the secret was that standards were lower and visible stubble was the norm. I want neither a macroscopic beard, nor even visible stubble, and this allows me to get what I want with tolerably good face-feel for the fingers. A warning to all you youngsters though, this shave has not yet been subjected to The Test Of The Inner Thigh. I may get lucky enough to try that out one of these days....
Chris
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
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I've noticed this phenomenon myself and starting back in February I dialed back my sharpness to take advantage of it. I don't enjoy the shave as much because there's a bit of tugging, but my face prefers the end result. At least in my experience I haven't found teeth to have anything to do with it. I think all that matters is the razor is dull enough that you can use some pressure without skinning yourself, but not so dull that it won't shave well. I've also found that keeping the razor at the right level of sharpness is a lot easier with the linen than the hone; there's a point at about 6 weeks of use where the razor kind of settles into this level of sharpness, and needs only the occasional pass with the barber hone to stay there.
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- fallingwickets
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Re: Grail Shave Approaching?
I've often wondered about days gone by. The introduction of the young doctor character in Coopers The Pioneers talks about how he had no money, and his razor was dull. Clearly, he either did not own a hone, or had no facility with one. When he came into his position, he bought a new razor.drmoss_ca wrote: I might try to kid myself that this was the secret of days gone by when all shaves were straight, with the grain and occasional,
I think, if I could get a great shave with one WTG pass with a straight, that would be enticement enough for me to convert from DE to straight razor.
Give us the luxuries, and we will forgo the necessities.
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Set a man on fire, he'll be toasty for the rest of his life.
Dominic
Give a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire, he'll be toasty for the rest of his life.
Dominic
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- kaptain_zero
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Strange, I could have swore I read somewhere that the Chronik razor was made from an Unobtainium alloy rather than common steel?!?! Then again, it seems I can buy "rare earth" magnets in any quantity I wish from just about anywhere...... go figure.
Chris, interesting reading..... strangely enough, I seem to be on the same path as yourself. I obtained a series of Shapton glass hones some time ago and while I enjoyed the "New Sharpness" rather than the "Old Dullness" (Apologies to Will Smith, Men in Black), I had become somewhat disenchanted with the 3 pass BBS shaves I was getting. The problem was that there simply wasn't anything worth shaving 24 hrs later so I was finding myself going 2 days between shaves and THAT was intolerable. So I too began to experiment with 1 and 2 pass shaves but the stubble was anoyingly prickly so I've been experimenting with my Coticule and for me it turned out to be part of the answer. I cannot get by with a 1 pass but rather 1 pass and some ATG on the neck and cheeks seems to do the trick. I needn't lather for the ATG bits... just splashing a bit of water on the skin suffices. The Coticule has brought my edge back to where it indeed has begun to display the M-factor and I'm much more comfortable during the daytime as I can touch my face AND look forward to a daily shave again!
Regards
Christian
Chris, interesting reading..... strangely enough, I seem to be on the same path as yourself. I obtained a series of Shapton glass hones some time ago and while I enjoyed the "New Sharpness" rather than the "Old Dullness" (Apologies to Will Smith, Men in Black), I had become somewhat disenchanted with the 3 pass BBS shaves I was getting. The problem was that there simply wasn't anything worth shaving 24 hrs later so I was finding myself going 2 days between shaves and THAT was intolerable. So I too began to experiment with 1 and 2 pass shaves but the stubble was anoyingly prickly so I've been experimenting with my Coticule and for me it turned out to be part of the answer. I cannot get by with a 1 pass but rather 1 pass and some ATG on the neck and cheeks seems to do the trick. I needn't lather for the ATG bits... just splashing a bit of water on the skin suffices. The Coticule has brought my edge back to where it indeed has begun to display the M-factor and I'm much more comfortable during the daytime as I can touch my face AND look forward to a daily shave again!
Regards
Christian
Previously lost, on the way to the pasture. Now pasteurized.
- rustyblade
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- rustyblade
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Well, one nice thing about a post like this is it sets sharpness bar a little lower. I've been able to get a good shaving razor from using a coticule, not splitting atoms sharp, but good enough for a comfortable shave (with a little pulling against the grain). I'm comfortable with my mediocrity.
Richard
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no no, the point is you should be exultant in your mediocrity! Many life lessons in this thread.rustyblade wrote:Well, one nice thing about a post like this is it sets sharpness bar a little lower. I've been able to get a good shaving razor from using a coticule, not splitting atoms sharp, but good enough for a comfortable shave (with a little pulling against the grain). I'm comfortable with my mediocrity.
mparker makes an importnat point too, and I've often wondered if that very point was behind some claims of edge longevity. Derby DE blades go 100 shaves between uses in my experience, particuarly if you use a straight razor 100 times in a row!!
I used the Flexcut Gold paste on a balsa paddle to refinish my stainless damascus Livi. The initial shave was a little rough; this has deterred me from using Flexcut in the past as it is evident the blade is toothed after exposure to this unusual bar of aluminium oxide and titanium oxide. But a good stropping on an intermediate strop (the neat's foot oil treated Illinois 827) then my antique Fromm has given a spectacular shave! I got a no-stubble-against-the-grain shave in my left sideburn area, and slight against-the-grain stubble on the right (my hair grows slightly faster on the right side of my face - anyone else noticed this? Does it go with handedness?) with just a single downwards pass. That is what I mean by 'spectacular'!
Ever untrue to my principles, and losing sight entirely of the purpose of this exercise, I had to go across the grain. Very comfortable - none of the usual straight razor tugging. The result is still very nice eight and a half hours later with barely detectable stubble on the left sideburn, and definite but unobnoxious stubble on the right.
I guess my next experiment will be to try the same on my pair of TI Super Gnomes in their travelling case. I have no trips planned, but one has to be prepared!
Chris
Ever untrue to my principles, and losing sight entirely of the purpose of this exercise, I had to go across the grain. Very comfortable - none of the usual straight razor tugging. The result is still very nice eight and a half hours later with barely detectable stubble on the left sideburn, and definite but unobnoxious stubble on the right.
I guess my next experiment will be to try the same on my pair of TI Super Gnomes in their travelling case. I have no trips planned, but one has to be prepared!
Chris
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
Pierre-Simon de Laplace