A Seven-Day Kit

Sarge,

I've been looking at those boxes. I got a similar box for $1 at goodwill, but it only has 6 slots. I've got some other razors in it now. The 8/8 is too big to fit in the box though.

Kamagong,

Don't repeat what I type here or I will be surely branded as a heretic. I don't think straight razors shave that close. Certainly not as close as those abominations that use multiple blades to pull your hairs out and then snick them off below skin level. (where they then try to burrow through flesh to find their way back to the surface, and sometimes fail and grow the wrong direction.)

I shave every morning. I like to hear the sound of the razor cutting hairs. I can get closer on the cheeks by making multiple passes with the razor in different directions. On my neck I usually make just one pass and leave it a little longer, as I experience minimal irritation that way.

My beard is dark and my skin is light, so I have a 5 o-clock shadow right after I shave. It just gets darker as the day goes on. There's always enough the next morning for me to once again enjoy the unique auditory sensations of another straight razor shave.
 
Howard,

You say that the straight isn't shaving that close? Give it time, I used to say the same thing. I don't know if it was practice, better prep, a sharper razor or a combination of the above, but my shaves are a lot closer now than when I first started.

I love the whole experience of straight razor shaving. I love the sound of the razor on the strop and the snikt-snikt as the razor glides through the hairs. I love the smell of the sandalwood soap I use as well as the feeling of the brush when I apply it to my skin. I even putting on the shave balm afterwards.

I do have a confession though. No matter what I do, I cannot figure out a way to shave my mustache area as close as I can do the rest of my face. I give it a pass with the grain, and then finish up with a Sensor Excel.
 
kamagong said:
I do have a confession though. No matter what I do, I cannot figure out a way to shave my mustache area as close as I can do the rest of my face. I give it a pass with the grain, and then finish up with a Sensor Excel.
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That's why God invented moustaches. God also invented goatees because the chin whiskers are tougher, and dimples are hard to shave without blood. God's a Smart Guy.

BTW, I agree that over time, imperceptibly, your shaves will get closer. Little tricks you pick up give a 1% improvement here, another 1% improvement there ... then one day you wake up and you're 20% better than a while ago.
 
You guys are right. I can see how my skills have been developing so far and expect them to continue increasing.

I'm not after a perfectly close shave. My ideal is comfort. I continue to find tricks, like different number of passes in different areas, that contribute to the shave the way I like it.

I was trying all different types of shaving soaps. First classic shaving, then Colonel Conk, then Williams, then Pear (not marketed as shaving soap), then a no-brand shaving soap from the drug store. I liked them all, but life was getting too complicated with all those soaps. This morning I stacked all the animal/based ones in my large mug, poped the glycerine-based ones in the microwave and melted them, and then poured them into the mug. Now I have a big mug solidly full of soap and I don't have to worry about soap for a while.
 
Well I'm still using the Trac II with the solid brass Avon blade carrier one of our daughter's got me for X-mas several years ago. I've got a couple of straights that may be okay to shave with but I'm just not steady enough to try. I do have a nice brush and a mug full of Burma Shave soap for the days I want to do it the old way. And I don't shave but every third day or so, being an ndn does have some neat advantages.:thumbup: ;) :D
And if I'm being really, really, lazy there is always the Norelco, takes me twice as long and doesn't shave nearly as close but I can shave setting down and without a mirror.:D :o
 
Yvsa said:
I do have a nice brush and a mug full of Burma Shave soap for the days I want to do it the old way.
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Ah yes .........

When Super-shaved
Remember, pard
You'll still get slapped
But not so hard
Burma-Shave

A whiskery kiss
For the one
You adore
May not make her mad
But her face will be sore
Burma-Shave

Doesn't
Kiss you
Like she useter?
Perhaps she's seen
A smoother rooster!!
Burma-Shave

My job is
Keeping faces clean
And nobody knows
De stubble
I've seen
Burma-Shave

No use
Knowing
How to pick 'em
If your half-shaved Whiskers stick 'em
Burma-Shave

To kiss
A mug
That's like a cactus
Takes more nerve
Than it does practice
Burma-Shave
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I'm finding these razor discussions fascinating. There is a lot of information and history to the topic that I never knew existed. I have a lot of reading to do.

That set is very cool, Howard. I don't even know how to use a razor and I wouldn't mind owning something like that.
 
Sniff! Sorry, just wiping a tear from my eye! Sarge's generous offer to take that Henckels off your hands just touched me. What a guy! Now that you have your fancy ivory 7 day set that old thing will just be sitting around gathering dust. ;) :D

Howard, thanks to you and Sarge I have been doing a lot of internet browsing lately on these. Were I working I would have probably bought a couple of razors by now. I saw several of these 7 day sets, and none I saw were nearly in this good a shape. You really did well for yourself and $35 a razor with those handles is a steal in my uninformed opinion.

I have an ancient cracked mug and brush my wife gave me 20 years ago. Not very thick, its been dropped twice and broken. The last time I carefully pieced it together bit by bit with two ton epoxy, and then sealed the outside of the cracks with more so it wouldn't leak. It now looks like a cup that Frankenstein's monster would use, but it has definite character! It also could probably be dropped 10 feet onto concrete and survive. :D

I did see one of those fancy heavy white shaving mugs online with the knob handle and was tempted to stray, but I guess I'll stick with the old beast.

Also have an excellent quality large badger brush bought at the same time, but it hasn't been working so well lately. I read online that over a period of years they can get build up and need to be cleaned, and they sell a cleaning agent for them. I may have to do that.

Question: do you need to strop every day before shaving? Or is it a once a week kind of thing?

Finally: one advantage to those cheap Bics is you can hang one in the shower and shave in the hot shower. Does a better job there. I take it that it's not a good idea to get these razors completely wet? I would assume that horn or ivory or wood would be ruined in time by that.

Thanks,

Norm
 
Svashtar said:
I have an ancient cracked mug and brush my wife gave me 20 years ago. Not very thick, its been dropped twice and broken. The last time I carefully pieced it together bit by bit with two ton epozy, and then sealed the outside of the cracks with more so it wouldn't leak. It now looks like a cup that frankenstein's monster would use, but it has definite character! It also could probably be dropped 10 feet onto concrete and survive. :D

I did see one of those fancy heavy white shaving mugs online with the knob handle and was tempted to stray, but I guess I'll stick with the old beast.
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You and your mug have been through a lot. You can't buy a mug like that!

Svashtar said:
Question: do you need to strop every day before shaving? Or is it a once a week kind of thing?
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I like to strop every day but I don't have to. I gave my strop to my son a week ago, and my new one hasn't come yet. Everything is still going fine, but I do miss the stropping ritual.

Svashtar said:
Finally: one advantage to those cheap Bics is you can hang one in the shower and shave in the hot shower. Does a better job there. I take it that it's not a good idea to get these razors completely wet? I would assume that horn or ivory or wood would be ruined in time by that.
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Razors get wet. I wouldn't worry about that so much as dropping it from slippery hands and lopping off something important.
 
Yvsa said:
And if I'm being really, really, lazy there is always the Norelco. . . . . . .
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I used to keep a battery powered electric razor in my rucksack. On those mornings in the field when you wake up to a tent covered with icicles, it's handy to have something you can shave with while still inside your sleeping bag. Mystifies the "kids" too when they see you walking around clean shaven, squared away, and sipping on a canteen cup of coffee as you kick 'em bleary eyed out of their fartsacks. ;)

Sarge
 
I have a braun electric. It does come in handy sometimes. Like when traveling with just a carry-on. I don't want the TSA guys going home with my good straight razors in their pockets.
 
Howard Wallace said:
I have a braun electric. It does come in handy sometimes. Like when traveling with just a carry-on. I don't want the TSA guys going home with my good straight razors in their pockets.
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Yeah, they have everything else, no sense in giving them that! Although they probably wouldn't know what it was.

I have a Braun as well and it's good for trimming and touching up.

Thanks for all the good info.

Norm
 
To see if the scales are ivory, check the end of the slabs. If they have a herringbone pattern in the "grain" ir is probably ivory. BTW thanks for the hot needle tip for celluloid.
 
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