Back to the basics

Use a straight. You know it makes sense.
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Very good shave today with the Eagle and Castle Forbes Limes cream. I needed something refreshing to lift me out of the Winter doldrums and this delivered.

Followed with a splash of Royall Limes and everything was looking up.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Yesterday's shave with the Eagle was good but I could feel the edge was starting to tug. The tell tale sign it needed honing was a pinhole weeper under the chin that was not felt when acquired.

Today she was honed and tomorrow will reveal how I did.

For today's shave I brought obscure French blade out of storage, wiped off the Vaseline and went to town. So keen and so smooth a light touch got it all in two passes. If the Eagle delivers tomorrow it will be back in storage for obscure French blade. When done well (most times) the Eagle is just such a smooth, mild and close shave it seems to out-class everything else.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

I did quite well on honing the Eagle as it delivered an excellent shave today.

As an aside I only used two drops of oil on the slip stone to do this. I realize it may seem like only a little bit but it cut fast and easy. It seems to demonstrate that you don't need a lot to get the job done (for anyone interested).

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Today the Eagle gave a good shave but it was tugging a bit so it was the end of that edge. Took it back to the hone and it is on deck for tomorrow.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Most excellent shave today. It pays to heed one's instincts.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Great shaves thus far with the Eagle. Yesterday, though, it seemed a tad harsh and I suspected the edge may be dying. Well, I didn't have time to hone it and decided this morning to take it to a vintage strop whose linen was treated only at the factory many, many decades ago and was more of a waxy type. It's an NOS strop that is near identical with Magic Strop. The "near" meaning it has the almost all same markings and logo but not the same leather color or linen texture. (as an aside I recently wondered if Magic Strop's leather may have been treated with a jeweler's rouge back in the '60's and the residual is what gives it it's properties but that's neither here nor there and for another thread).

I stropped on it Finnegan style and then went to the old Dovo wide I have (just seems to really polish an edge up). The shave was smooth, mild and excellent. No trace of harshness. Perhaps too much stropping on a new Dovo white pasted linen can be overhoning? It could be a fluke as well, who knows. I'll keep going with this to see how it works out.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
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Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

It was a fluke. Yesterday's shave was good but had too much tugging. Off to the hone went the Eagle.

Today's shave was superb.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

All week I enjoyed fantastic shaves off the Eagle. Today was very good but slightly tugging so off to the hone it went.

I was honing for others anyway so I just threw it in behind everyone else's. Came out superb according to my tests. Tomorrow will tell.

These translucent Arkansas hones seem to get finer and finer with each use. They seemingly remove so little steel and also seem easy to tell when you've set the edge (swarf starts forming faster). I feel like I've come full circle with my first steps into straight shaving those decades ago.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Great shave today. I did well on honing.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Still going with excellent shaves.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Didn't shave yesterday due to the snowstorm coupled with the pain of an abscessed tooth. No dentist offices open during a snow storm you see. Well today I had to get clean shaven to get an emergency root canal (for the second first-time - see my thread in the Gentlemen's Parlour). Note to all to whom it may concern, never shave a cheek with a cube of ice held in your mouth at the same time.

A note on the blade's performance was that it was not stropped as well as it should have been coupled with the fact that it's the end of the week and it was pulling like the Dickens on the first pass. Stropping more diligently on the second pass produced much better results. To the hone it will go either tomorrow or Sunday for the new working week's shave.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
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Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Chose the Heinrich Klein (Chronik) for today's shave. Superb and very mild. I perceive it was not as close as the Thiers Issard Eagle though it passed through the whiskers like a hot knife through soft butter. This may be due to the more obtuse angle of the blade given it's extra wide spine? Who knows. I could get on with it but it ain't a Thiers Issard in the performance category.

The Eagle got honed today and is up on deck for tomorrow's shave.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
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Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

I skipped shaving today since I slept so late. Caught up on the sleep I lost the night of the abscessed tooth.

Tomorrow will be up at the usual time adjusted for DST and back to the daily routine. Should be a good reset.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
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Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

I was up and at 'em today even with the time adjustment. The shave was wonderful and comfortable with the Eagle.

I am beginning to actually prefer the time setting for DST and wish we could just leave it this way all year round.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Another great shave today.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Today, the Eagle seemed to run a tad harsh. Some of this harshness, I perceive, may be from inadequate lather as the current cake of Taylor's is down to nearly paper-thin slivers on the bottom of the wooden bowl. I'm thinking that any of it's hard water mitigation properties are completely gone as it is soaked through almost constantly and being so thin. Yesterday I used my slightly used years-old D.R. Harris Arlington and it performed near flawlessly (always some very minor post shave irritation as something in it doesn't entirely agree with my skin - and that was really quite minimal this time). It really showed the difference in lather between a spent cake and a new one. The properties of the Taylor's displayed these same good-lather traits just a few days ago as part of continuous performance since it was installed. Wednesday and today it seemed like it just wouldn't lather or foam like it always did leading me to believe it was spent. Seemed like a lot of the protection and slickness were gone as well, which are very prominent traits of the Taylor's and traits I enjoy very much.

I pitched the slivers of Taylor's, declared it done and installed a new cake of Taylor's - ready for another year. Tomorrow I'll shave with the Queen of Hearts (Heinrich Klein/Chronik) razor and the new cake of Taylor's. I'll also hone the Eagle for the coming week.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

The new cake of Taylor's performed near flawless. It just takes a bit of adjustment to get back to a fully lathering cake - it always does.

The Queen of Hearts did an admirable job today. Still not as close nor as smooth as a well honed Thiers Issard but it was fine. I could see this as a staple low-end working class razor for Germans in the immediate post WWII era. It's well designed but the steel just doesn't seem all that great for some reason. I should probably get it Rockwell tested just to see if I'm perceiving things right.

The Eagle got honed today and I learned a lesson - Arkansas hones can become so fine that they remove almost no metal during honing. Reading around I gleaned that roughing it up with an 8K diamond plate was acceptable to get it removing steel like it used to but also giving fine results. I did so and the results were dramatic. The edge came up pretty quick but seemingly not too quick. The whole procedure reminded me of Dr. Moss's adventures with a Spiderco Ultra Fine stone.

Anyway it honed up a treat and we'll see how much of a treat after tomorrow's shave.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

It was a d@mn fine treat today with the Eagle. Clean, close, and comfortable shave with the dialed in unctuous lather from the new cake of Taylor's.

I'm thinking this is an excellent maintenance routine for razors - once a week on a good hone for an extremely fine edge while only removing microns of steel. Even directly off the hone and straight off a plain strop the edge was slicing hairs quite acceptably. Taking it to the Crox strop for final polishing was just icing on the cake.

More to come.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

Here we are a week later and the Eagle is still delivering clean, close, comfortable shaves. I'm willing to take it as far as it will go, so let's see.

Could roughing up the Arkansas stone with an 8k diamond plate have imparted a more lasting keen edge? Who knows. I doubt it but let's see how long it lasts.

Chris
EL Alamein
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm

Re: Back to the basics

Post by EL Alamein »

So today in mid-shave the blade went rake on me and now we know. Seems like a week is about all I can get out of a keen edge before it goes off.

Came home today and honed the Eagle - only took a few minutes - and it was filleting hairs. Let's see how long it lasts.

More to come.

Chris
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