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Frangas non Flectes |
You won't regret it. I'm going to go ahead and order a large bottle of it and keep what's left of my sampler for travel. Today's shave was: Georgetown Pottery 20oz scuttle w/ hot water. Cremo cooling menthol Stirling Soap Wintergreen with menthol - smells like a Lifesaver Wint-O-Mint West Coast shaving 20mm silver tip badger brush 1920 Gillette open comb loaded with new Feather blade Alum block Clubman Lime Sec Fired up the scuttle for the first time in nearly a year, and got into the soaps for the first time in nearly just as long. I had been shaving in the shower all spring, summer and fall this year. Then I was trying to do the Novembeard thing this year but after 8 days, I couldn't handle it anymore and shaved it off. Scalding hot water in the scuttle chamber made for hot mentholated foam. The ratio of Cremo to soap was apparently perfect because it shaved super smooth without leaving a ton of residual slickness after it - rinsed clean real fast. Water on the razor was just enough to make it perfect. Three perfect passes and I finished up with plenty of Lime Sec. I feel like a million bucks and the sun is shining and I couldn't ask for more. Definitely going to start taking the time on the weekends to break out the scuttle and the badger brush. I got lazy with the Cremo in the shower, but the old ways are definitely still worth it if you can take the time and enjoy it.This message has been edited. Last edited by: P220 Smudge, ______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.” | |||
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Member |
Not really "Today's Shave" but rather from a couple days ago. I only shave once every week or two, so. First, a brand new Derby Premium blade. I've used a couple before and had pretty good shaves but this one was really good. Two passes on my head did the trick along w/ three on my face. Lathered up w/ a mini puck sampler of Mountain Man by Sterling Soap Co. The scent is nice. I think I like the scent of Executive Man better but I put performance above all else and the Mountain Man performed great. I finished w/ a little burn from the FINE Platinum AS as I really like it. As for the Clubman Lime Sec, I have to confess, it's not my favorite lime. It's a bit sweet to me. I'm more of a Saint Charles Shave "Bay Rum w/ a Twist" type lime, or Geo F. Trumper's "West Indian Extract of Limes". Having said that, I like to splash a little Lime Sec. on after a shower even when I don't shave. | |||
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| Blinded by the Sun  |
I don't use this brush to often, mostly because of it's size. At 26mm it big creates a ton of lather and slings soap everywhere.  ------------------------------ Smart is not something you are but something you get. Chi Chi, get the yayo | |||
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I need a scuttle. I have a dedicated ceramic soap dish with the swirly on the bottom to hold the soap. It never really does though. The other day I took my wife’s hairdryer and sorta melted the bottom of soap puck and “glued” it down. It’s working so far. Any better ways? | |||
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I've got a 16" beard, all white and I am sick of it but everyone loves it, can I just go my own way? Just hack it back to 3/4"? _________________________________________________ "Once abolish the God, and the Government becomes the God." --- G.K. Chesterton | |||
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Told cops where to go for over 29 years… |
I have one of Georgetown Pottery’s seconds. I like it, but I don’t leave the puck in it. Fill the brush then whip it up in the scuttle. https://www.georgetownpottery....duct/SHAV0002-2.html What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???  | |||
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Legalize the Constitution |
First I tried a three-blade from Costco. The handle was made in “CHI-nuh!,” but the blades were German. The blades felt papery on my face. I used them up, but had no desire to continue using this setup. For a week or so now I have been using a Merkur Futur DE razor. It takes some getting used to. The handle is short, the crown of the razor is substantial, and it’s heavy. It’s been a long time since I have shaved with a DE—I had an old Gillette Adjustable, but I was doing fine and rather liked my new razor. Until I cut my chin yesterday. I don’t miss that. Oh well, as I get back in the swing of things, that should be an infrequent occurrence. _______________________________________________________ despite them | |||
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TMats! I have, in my possession, one puck of Williams "vintage" shave soap. The old formula before they changed it. I obtained it from a very good friend of my father's who gifted me his Gillette 1930 "New" razor w/ a partial sleeve of William pucks, So I do not have the packaging for the puck as I already gifted to others. Since you are a fan of Williams, email me your address and I'll also include some blade packs for your Futur to try out. ETA: The Williams puck says "Tonsorial" so where it falls in line w/ Williams production, I think it has some efficacy. https://theshaveden.com/forums...illiams.26268/page-2 | |||
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Had a great shave w/ an old friend, Mama Bear. Started in the shower washing my head and face w/ Sterling Soap co. Bay Rum shampoo soap bar. While I'm pretty much bald, I still use shampoo or mild soap on my head in the shower. Shampoo bars are great for this. I continued w/ the used Gillette Blue Silver already in my EJ. Two passes on the head and three on the face lathered w/ Mama Bear's Spellbound Woods shave soap. I find Mama Bear soaps to be great for non-tallow soaps. It's been too long since I lathered one. My face craves a little bite in splash form so I finished w/ Proraso green AS. My music for the shave and shower was provided by Dream Theater, A Saucer Full of Floyd. | |||
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| Member |
Been awhile since I used my Parker Variant so I loaded up a Russian Gillette Silver Blue at a setting of 1.5 out of 5 and got an excellent shave on head and face. Shave Soap- Proraso Green After Shave- Proraso Green. | |||
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| Frangas non Flectes |
Bumping a favorite tonight. I decided that as much as I like my red tip Superspeed, I wanted to see what the adjustable thing was all about. So, I watched ebay for a week or two, and priced out Gillette "fat boys" and Slim Adjustables. Decided I didn't want to pay the prices a decent fat boy seemed to demand, so I found a slim adjustable in nice condition for a decent price and snagged it. It came in today. I hit it with the Scrubbing Bubbles and inspected it, and was pleased to find that of all the vintage razors I own, it's in the nicest shape of all of them, hands down. Loaded it with a fresh Feather blade and filled the Georgetown Pottery 20oz with piping hot water and got a West Coast shaving extra fine badger soaking. Lathered up some Stirling Lime and went two passes, trying it from 7-9. Got lots of feebdback from the alum bar afterwards, and finished with a splash of Lime Sec, and then some Nivea cooling balm. Two passes at that end of the scale was plenty to get super smooth. Wow. It definitely gets more aggressive than the red tip. I think around 7 is pretty equivalent, and going up past that starts to catch a bit. The shape of the head is a little different as well and will take some getting used to. I'll also need try the "dial up" and "dial down" techniques and see if that's worth it, or if this is maybe a way to get a decent shave with some of the other blades I bought that I found less impressive than the Feathers. I'll need some time with it to really get the feel for it. I'm happy with my purchase so far. I think I want to snag a slant of some sort at some point, and then I'll have tried most of the major types of DE and SE razors. I'll upload some pics in a bit. ______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.” | |||
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| Frangas non Flectes |
 Some really minor plating loss here and there, but not enough to bother me. ______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.” | |||
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| Member |
^^ Nice score of a classic! I only have one adjustable, a Parker Variant and it can be pretty aggressive. When I think I'm pretty good, I find I have to tell myself to dial it down a bit for next time. | |||
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| Legalize the Constitution |
It takes awhile to go through a new shaving soap puck, and it happens that I had just changed the soap in my mug before Dave sent me puck of “Williams Tonsorial” Shaving Soap, a unicorn that hasn’t been in production for at least 25 years. I’ve been using Williams for a long, long time. It’s great to catch the mild, but distinctive smell of vintage William’s, the shaving soap being sold for many years now is essentially odorless. Thanks again, Dave! I guess by now I’ve tried most of the brands of DE blades. Most are indistinguishable to me, a Wilkinson (which I favor slightly), is a Feather, is a Personna, is a Gillette. The only blade, thus far that I really dislike is a Kai, a Japanese blade that feels dull right out of the box. I think the blade I actually like the best is the Merkur that came with my razor. I think that’s what I’ll order after I run through these samplers I have. _______________________________________________________ despite them | |||
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| Little ray of sunshine  |
I recently got a Karve razor, and have been experimenting with which Karve plate will be the right one. I am currently using their solid bar D plate, and it seems to be working well for me. Their solid bar B plate was too mild, and an open comb D plate was for too aggressive. Karve makes a nice razor. They are machined in a very small (maybe one man) shop in Canada. He makes them in brass, aluminum, stainless (much more expensive as the stainless is harder to mill), and occaisonaly copper. Mine is brass. This morning I used Citron soap from Stirling. My brush is a homemade 3 stripe fan-shaped badger. I used a Gillette Nacet blade in the Karve. I finish with Duke Cannon's balm and a splash of good, old-fashioned Aqua Velva. The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything. | |||
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| Member |
The least I could do as I've been so enamored w/ some of the newer soap makers, I knew the old stuff belonged w/ someone who could appreciate it. Since it's so old, I don't know if it takes a couple uses to bring it back to life. Don't judge it by the first couple uses. And I think those old formulas are very hard soaps that need a good hot soak before hitting w/ a stiff brush. As for the sampler blades, the whole idea was to get you AWAY from the Merkur blades (  ) as ,even though I'm a hypocrite and have not tried them, most everything I've read, they are over priced for their performance. But then, I'm also indifferent on the Kai blades and lots of people love them. At the very least, we get exposed to other options before making bulk purchases. Gotta do what works for you.  Tonight I'm trying a new first, a synthetic brush, from Sterling Soap Co. I keep reading good things about these synthetic brushes and for the price I had to throw one in my basket. I think I might use it on their Iced Pineapple shave soap. | |||
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| Told cops where to go for over 29 years… |
Nice score! Date code? Have you gone down the rabbit hole on vintage Gillette razors? I still yearn for a Fat Boy but have too many razors as it is. Same issue as you, finding one in good shape for a decent price. Between the Slim Adjustable and my 1930’s Rhodium Tech (replated) and 1940’s Gold Tech I have plenty though. Wish I had picked up a Delta Echo refinished Fat Boy before they went dark. Here is a shot of my Slim Adjustable with the same date code as me “I 1” - first quarter 1963. 58 year old man shaving with a 58 year old razor.  I also have a Russian knock off of the Slim Adjustable. It doesn’t give anywhere near as good of a shave though, backside is plastic.  What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand??? | |||
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| Little ray of sunshine |
I also have a Slim Adjustable with a date code the same as mine - third quarter of 1962. To be honest, I am not crazy about the razor as a shaver. It is cool to have one that is as old as me, though. The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything. | |||
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| Frangas non Flectes |
Thanks! N1, first quarter of '68, final year of production. Got my second shave with it today. Three passes with progressively higher settings, 7, 8, and then 9. Comfortable, and smooth.
I have. I'll post some pics later, but I've got a half dozen or so. Hard to tell how old the oldest is, I think I dated it to 1912. The Slim Adjustable is the "newest" one I own.
Yeah, I'm easily into that category. Most of them, I don't even use. I should thin the herd a bit.
I looked, but it looks like Gillette was making garbage by 1983, so I didn't feel compelled to find one from my birth year. Ok, I'm sure some people feel the Atra wasn't garbage, but I want DE's and not something I need to source cartridges for. ______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.” | |||
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| Told cops where to go for over 29 years… |
I’ve been back and forth about trying to get a Gillette Fat Boy adjustable in good shape. Prices are crazy for a decent one and at one point I was going to pay even more to have it refinished. Fast forward and I saw a “Vikings Blade Emperor Meiji” adjustable razor on Amazon that looks very similar to the Fat Boy. At $60 bucks, It is less than half what you can expect to pay for a good condition Fat Boy on eBay. So I ordered one to check out. Had my first shave with it the other day and I like it. Very similar dimensions to the Fat Boy, nice finish, and a good heft to it. It is asymmetrical with one side having a comb and the other smooth. The side with the comb is a touch more aggressive than the smooth side and an adjustable collar similar to the Gillette design. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XB717WL For it’s inaugural shave I chose: Georgetown Pottery G20 Scuttle Maggards Razors Limes and Bergamot soap supercharged with Cremo Menthol Semogue 620 Boar Bristle Brush Personna Red blade Ca-train’s Choice Lime Aftershave  A great shave was had! What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand??? | |||
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