Open razors - the chosen few

Use a straight. You know it makes sense.
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Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

Too many choices blurs my objectivity when all I want to do is pick up any one of just a small handful of straight razors and enjoy a great shave every time.

With brand names intentionally ignored I'll grab about 10 blades I admire the most and lavish them with my full straight razor attention until it becomes clear which - if any of the first 10 I picked out - can be trusted to perform up to my expectations.

Those chosen few will be used occasionally but exclusively while all of the rest will stay with me (because I do love them all) but most likely never again be used for shaving.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

Picked out 9. Gave each one a generated random number 1 - 9 to supercede brands. Random generated razor 4 to start my search. Used #4 today and am not disappointed. This is a razor I will use in perpetuity with common sense edge maintenance. If any of the others fit the bill as well as #4 I will consider myself very fortunate.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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fallingwickets
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by fallingwickets »

im lost .....is there a list of the 10 somewhere on the www that we can use to follow your journey?
de gustibus non est disputandum
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

Good question Clive. As far as I know, none of the enterprises that made any of my razors is still in business. In the past, I've become conditioned to feel like I should judge straight razors by the words embossed on the tang. In practice, that has been quite confusing, even misleading. My idea was to pick 'em up and shave with 'em and see which ones I like the best, and then using the good ones exclusively, when the mood to shave with a straight razor strikes me from time to time.

That's what I did with my aftershave, brushes, safety razors, and blades. I found what works best for me and will continue to do so for as long as I continue to enjoy shaving myself. I am ignoring the words on the tang or scales and assign random numbers for identification. It's my attempt to emasculate and evaluate my razors in a sort of a blind comparison. Of course I know the obsolete brands, but at the end of the search I'll know for sure which ones work for me and which ones don't, regardless of the names.

If I get hold of one that doesn't shave very well, I'll do what I can to try again to create the best edge I'm capable of putting on a blade and then I'll give it at least one more chance to get itself chosen and brand-be-d***d. If it fails, then what do I care who made it or when? There ain't nobody else going to be sharpening my razors for me, and if I can't get a good shave out of it, then that's one less candidate to be chosen. Razors I can't use for shaving will remain just that.

The only list right now is this:
acceptable = #4;
unacceptable = 0;
remaining to be evaluated = 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9;
not to be evaluated and probably never used again = all the rest (about 20 old razors that I intend to keep for sentimental reasons).
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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fallingwickets
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by fallingwickets »

thanks for the clarification....enjoy your journey

clive
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by drmoss_ca »

I think Clive is right, though, in that our vicarious enjoyment of Gary's journey will be limited by the 'veil of ignorance'* introduced by having no identifiable brands of razor. If razor #4 is, say, a Wade & Butcher, I may say to myself, 'oh, yes, I agree, it does behave that way' and travel alongside Gary. But razor #4 induces enthusiasm like Airstrip One promotes patriotism.
You must do it your way Gary, but the very nature of a shared enthusiasm is that we can put ourselves in the other guy's shoes. But if I don't know if I'm climbing into some old Wellington boots or a pair of red-sequinned dancing pumps....

C.

*not an insult to anyone, but a reference to John Rawls philosophical concept.
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

The random number of the day turned out to be #9. I had a 3-day beard, which means it's very visible and the straight razor will be hard pressed to cut it off. A failure is going to be immediately obvious. Either there are whiskers or there are no whiskers from the git-go. Well, congratulations to the most recent chosen razor - #9! I was really hoping for a positive result, and that's what I got today.

acceptable = #4; #9;
unacceptable = 0;
remaining to be evaluated = 1,2,3,5,6,7,8

Chris, I was aware that the absence of reference to the brand would be somewhat lacking in enthusiasm among the onlookers. I think I should consider revealing the brands of the chosen blades as they occur. Watch this space. If I was in the frame of mind to name names of failures, The most glaring example would be a fellow who held himself out as a maker of custom razors and his razor was/is a piece of crap. I've still got it and the beautiful wooden case he made for it, but nobody can ever shave with it due to his expensive incompetence.

PS: I served alongside a brother in combat by the name of Jim Rawls, but that was a long time ago. As with many others, unfortunately, he's passed on. I'm not aware of the gent you have referenced.

Edit: after considering the listing of brand names, I've decided to post the list of names. This will appear in a separate post in the next few days.
After the few have been chosen, I will also post photos of the blades.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by CMur12 »

Hi Gary -

I speak from ignorance, but I thought that an open razor would have no problem with long whiskers, as there is no risk of clogging like in the case of a safety razor.

- Murray
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

CMur12 wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 4:03 pm Hi Gary -

I speak from ignorance, but I thought that an open razor would have no problem with long whiskers, as there is no risk of clogging like in the case of a safety razor.

- Murray
Murray, the issue I'm talking about is a straight razor failing to cut whiskers adequately in fulfillment of my expectations and perceptions. I mentioned the heavier growth of my beard after 2 or 3 days because it's more noticeable when I can immediately see whether the razor is cutting or not by just looking closely in the mirror, as opposed to merely feeling of the face after the razor's finished. Of course, if a straight razor isn't shaving (regardless of the length of the whiskers I'm wanting to disappear) then there's a problem regardless. I hope this makes sense.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by CMur12 »

That makes sense, Gary.

- Murray
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

Razor #8 came up this morning. I took a good look at the edge with the loupe first thing, and could see it needed the stones. Following that, I could see the edge was pristine, so I shaved with it and the results seem to be borderline, but I want to see how many others like this start showing up. #8 is a very old razor and when I chose it for the project I had some doubts about it. I'm not going to mark it accepted or rejected for the time being. Coming off the stones it's sharp enough to butcher a hog, but it just wasn't as comfortable as I had hoped. Also, I have no intention to have to completely re-hone every razor before shaving with it. That would be "less than prudent". I'll have to add a new category for pending razors. Those among us who are curious about such things :D will see that I'm adding the obsolete brand names for those razors who've passed the test. I won't name any names who haven't been selected for sampling and/or sampled and not chosen. In this project, I want to get the stars, not the wanna-be maybe. That's my entire objective.

acceptable = #4 Torrey; #9 Rodgers & Sons;
unacceptable = 0;
pending after trial = #8;
remaining to be evaluated = 1,2,3,5,6,7
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by CMur12 »

Gary, I would be curious to know which razors are of stainless steel and which are of carbon steel.

- Murray
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

CMur12 wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 12:54 pm Gary, I would be curious to know which razors are of stainless steel and which are of carbon steel.

- Murray
Duly noted!
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

Today's candidate for the chosen few razors turned out to be #5. I was happy to see it come up because it is one of my personal favorites and one of the first of the 9 that I picked out. The edge looked pretty good and I decided to refresh it on a finishing stone before the shave. The shave was acceptable. Based on this blade's performance, I compared it to #8 and have decided to accept both #5 and #8, with a newly adopted decision that I reserve the right to add, de-select or substitute any razor in the chosen few at any time, when or if I choose to do so for any or no reason whatsoever. :lol:

acceptable = #4 Torrey; #5 Red Imp Wedge; #8 King; #9 Rodgers & Sons;
unacceptable = 0;
pending after trial = 0;
remaining to be evaluated = 1,2,3,6,7
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

CMur12 wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 12:54 pm Gary, I would be curious to know which razors are of stainless steel and which are of carbon steel.

- Murray
Murray, one of the remaining 5 candidates is stainless. I have 3 others that aren't participating in the project.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by CMur12 »

Gary, I'm a fan of carbon steel cutlery, so I'm watching to see if your experience with carbon steel razors (ease of sharpening and keenness of edge) is better than with the stainless models.

- Murray
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

A dense 3 day growth of whiskers kicked off today's straight razor shave. The random number told me that it was time for candidate #2 to do the honors. I took this razor through the stones a couple of months ago, and haven't used it since then. This was a no-brainer choice for the chosen few, at the time I was looking for the best candidates. It's the Hart Steel 6/8 round tip ground by the craftsman BG about 10 years ago or so. Removing the heavy beard was going to be a genuine test of the razor's edge, and I took my time removing the 3 day growth. The result was outstanding, and not surprising. Of course it's a pick for the small group.

acceptable = #2 Hart; #4 Torrey; #5 Red Imp Wedge; #8 King; #9 Rodgers & Sons;
unacceptable = 0;
pending after trial = 0;
remaining to be evaluated = 1,3,6,7
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

Today's razor #3 Rodgers & Sons Sheffield barber's notch provided an adequate shave to merit inclusion on the current list of possible finalists.

acceptable = #2 Hart; #3 Rodgers & Sons #4 Torrey; #5 Red Imp Wedge; #8 King; #9 Rodgers & Sons;
unacceptable = 0;
pending after trial = 0;
remaining to be evaluated = 1,6,7
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by brothers »

Thursday, and the razor OTD was #7, SSA made in Heljestrand. Swiss razor, 6/8, and quarter or half hollow ground. One of the early picks for the trial, and I'd place it in the lower half of the 7 razors I've used in the course of trying to come up with maybe 2 or 3 that I can use alongside each other and the General safety razor. So far, I've learned that there are great shaving straight razors, and there are Great! straight razors. Of those tested so far, as mentioned above, they've all been OK. However, there seem to be two groups forming. After the next two candidates have come and gone, I'll have a very good idea which ones should be chosen and which ones will go back into the drawer.

acceptable = #2 Hart; #3 Rodgers & Sons #4 Torrey; #5 Red Imp Wedge; #7 SSA Heljestrand; #8 King; #9 Rodgers & Sons;
unacceptable = 0;
pending after trial = 0;
remaining to be evaluated = 1,6
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Re: Open razors - the chosen few

Post by CMur12 »

Gary, which razors are of carbon steel and which are stainless?

Thanks.

- Murray
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