Which straight razor did you use today?

[brothers]

Sunday morning - I used my laser sharp quarter-wedge Torrey with outstanding results due to the thorough reset of the edge Saturday evening.

[brothers]

I chose the Heljestrand Viking Stainless for today's SR shave. Good choice! This one's probably going to end up on my very short list of possible frequently used straight razors. It appears to be 1/2 to 1/4 quarter ground, just what I like. Modern-day Swedish steel that should hold a keen edge for quite a while and requiring only an occasional touch-up.

Heljestrand Viking razor 28July2019.jpg (178.59 KiB) Viewed 11055 times

[brothers]

Today's straight razor is the Boker King Cutter 7/8 full hollow.

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[brothers]

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[brothers]

The Puma INOX I used this morning did a pretty good job removing the heavy 2 day growth, but using it reminded me that I want to remove the super sharp (unnecessary) point. No nicks or cuts, but there were scratches on both sides of my neck down below the ear, where the lethal point almost brought blood in an area where I wasn't even shaving.

[brothers]

Rugby Silver Steel 172. I like the 3 pin scales. I tightened them and the razor feels good in the hand. It's a full hollow, and there's an embossed decoration on the blade, "Rugby - Silver Steel" and that's all it says on both sides of the tang, without identifying the manufacturer (if not Rugby), nor does it make reference to the location of the origin. It's old, and may have seen little or no usage before I bumped into it. It took an edge and the shave was just fine.

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[brothers]

Wednesday's straight razor

Hess FortyFour razor 28July2019.jpg (265.43 KiB) Viewed 10740 times

[brothers]

Hart 6/8. One of my best.

[brothers]

Yesterday's straight razor of the day was the Dubl Duck Special Number 1 6/8 razor. I made two or three careful with the grain passes and the final product was excellent.

[brothers]

Couldn't find the time to shave yesterday, causing me to wake up to a full 3 days of whiskers this morning. I used an old Wade & Butcher 6/8 full wedge and definitely took my time and paid full attention to the shave. I am OK to feel pretty good about the resulting shave due to the fact that it has been 12 full years of learning the art of sincerely maintaining and using straight razors. Twelve years! When the competently sharpened blade meets the whiskers the most important things to remember are taking the time and focusing full attention to the tiny little spot I'm looking at in the mirror at all times. Take all the time I want and focus, focus, focus. No fast moves and no diversions. I really like the wedges. The razor to which I am referring is the blonde handle one below.

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[brothers]

Red Imp Wedge. This little guy is turning out to be a dependable favorite.

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[brothers]

Today's straight razor was the white handled Torrey with the barber's notch, made in Worcester MA. USA. Result was tops.

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[brothers]

SSA straight razor (2).jpg (50.02 KiB) Viewed 9733 times

[brothers]

HartSteel round tip.

[brothers]

Decided in the spur of the moment to enjoy a straight razor this morning. Beautiful Puma INOX was more than ready for the job. Slowly and with a light touch the result was very satisfying. Good way to start the day.

[brothers]

Filarmonica 14 Novodur

Filarmonica Novodur 07122020.jpg (1.17 MiB) Viewed 7011 times

[brothers]

Reflecting on yesterday's Filarmonica 14 Novodur razor, there are a few criteria that occurred to me following my decision to reach back to a straight razor yesterday.

• It was about 6 months since I last shaved with a straight razor.

• Several months ago I never got around to shaving with this razor after I was able to give it the best edge ever - finishing on the jasper stone.

• I've regretted not including the Filarmonica when I picked my top 4 chosen few straight razors.

• Prior to using the Filarmonica I considered the fact that maybe I had become a tiny bit rusty since last time.

• I discovered that my muscle memory was just as sharp as ever, on my best day. The shave was a 10/10.

• It turns out the jasper finishing stone is simply outstanding, and the stones I used in tandem with the jasper were a good choice.

• A perfect straight razor shave requires the following: Keep the angle almost flat against the skin; Never let myself be distracted as
  I constantly keep my eyes on the exact place where the blade is moving across the skin; Keep the touch so light that it's close to being
  non-existent; Go slowly.

• The resulting post-shave face feel when touching the face is decidedly different than if it had been a safety razor and blade.

• All of the above successfully prevented any cuts or nicks.

• Even though it was 36 hours ago, I am still admiring how smooth it remains.

• I love my straight razors, hones, and skillset required.

• I am measurably eager and confident as I look forward to maintaining and shaving with this or any of the others.

• Hopefully I'll never again wait such a long time between straight razors in the future.

[brothers]

At the last minute before today's 3 day beard shave it occurred to me that I could use a straight razor instead of the General. The razor turned out to be the Hart Steel 6/8 round point, the perfect edge, most recently finished on the jasper stone. The result was just as fine as expected. No blood and no complaints.

[cutthroatclub]

My favourite razor has to be the Dovo Bismarck - Its my daily!

[brothers]

Anticipating this coming Monday's razor, I'm thinking about using the Joseph Rodgers & Sons to remove the 3-day whisker growth. It seems to me that there's something about a somewhat ample growth of whiskers that tends to be quite suited to being cut by straight razors. It's obvious that prior to the widespread use of safety razors most males - those who didn't favor the most popular full-face untamed beard - didn't enjoy their straight razor shaves on a daily schedule. More likely (I think) they employed open razors to shave weekly. I know for a fact that my maternal grandfather who was a farmer shaved only on every Sunday morning before taking his family to church in the tiny village down the road. He was probably just like all of the other men. One of my oldest memories of him is from when I was probably about 7 or 8 years old. He was standing in front of the mirror in his bedroom with a bowl of water on the dresser and a towel over his shoulder while wielding his straight razor. He was born in the 1880s and passed away in the 1960s.