[Nicolas]

Originally Posted by Nicolas

Sure you have a shave ready razor?

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

Its a feather

Let me rephrase that then: sure you have a shave ready blade?

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Originally Posted by Nicolas

Let me rephrase that then: sure you have a shave ready blade?

I have no idea.....maybe.
Maybe 4 or 5 shaves is all I am going to get out those blades, which will be a pain in the @$$.

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Hmmmmmm Did you guys know there is such a thing as too much prep?

Perhaps it goes back to the other gentleman's thread about cold vs hot shaving but heres today's results.

No hot towel, shave straight from shower, soaked brush for about 1 minute.

I used cavendish black again a TGQ soap (makes you wonder if Collen sponsors me eh) seriously I don't know what it is, but I love her soaps. I may try MWF again, shouldn't disregard it after only one use I guess.

I used hot water for the brush today, didn't soak it long, gave it a few pumps to force the water into bristles and built up my best lather to date. Thick creamy and not one patch dried out during the first pass. After the first pass I rinsed my face with warm water, re-lathered and discovered my face really doesn't appreciate soap being put on a 2nd time but....... Here's the thing it burned for maybe 2 -3 mins then it was fine, the 2nd pass was good too, also not using the hot towel, I didn't do the hot towel thing between passes like I had read.
I was too chicken to push for a third pass. At the end of my shave I rinsed my face with warm water again, then got my towel and this time I soaked it in cold water and put that to my face rather than a hot towel like Lynn does on the dvd.

I would rate todays shave 7/10 much better than yesterday's. I didn't rate yesterday's in my post but I would have give it 2.5/10.

Here is a wee story since you like to follow my adventure. I scanned my face yesterday, cheeks and upper & lower lips and chin. I did this so I could have a decent face shape to work with and draw in the directions of growth that I had worked out a while ago. Interestingly though, looking in the mirror you couldn't see any stubble, you could feel it there but thats all. Well the scan seemed to have magnified the stubble and I was not happy with what I saw. When I tried to feel for growth direction and drew a rough sketch, it was miles off, my whisker directions are completely fed. They literally grow in all directions, N.E.S.W and all the other directions in between and no I don't have curly hair .
I don't know how my neck looks though, I was sure the whiskers all grow to the east but that's probably not right either.


Anyways thats it from me today, otherwise you'll be here all day.

[OLD_SCHOOL]

I used leatherneck soap today, nice lather again, I actually think I can get a great lather from TGQ soaps now. So I think I shall break out MWF and give that a spin see if I get better results this time.

Today I tried to do W and XTG but since I don't know which way the grain is.....

6/10 for todays shave, might just replace the blade again tomorrow.

[dave5225]

Sounds like you've got a really tough beard , buddy . I wonder if you can strop those blades , and get a little more life out of them .

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Originally Posted by dave5225

Sounds like you've got a really tough beard , buddy . I wonder if you can strop those blades , and get a little more life out of them .

According to Lynn I possibly could. But first I'd need to invest in a strop, can't see that happening.

I did start a thread a while ago trying to find out what people do with their used feather blades but got no reply, I asked for 2 reasons 1) to see if anyone does strop theirs and 2) we throw the blades away because they become dull, but really they are just dull to shave with but they are still sharp. (this sentence is unrelated to your observation )

My beard, well I can do the cheeks relatively ok, my neck I have difficulty maneuvering the blade around because the hair grows sideways to the right and trying to shave sideways . The most difficult spot and the probably most damaging to any razor is where I grew a goatee, it is fierce and even on Thursdays shave, I had to go over a patch with my cartridge but I still had the dark outline of where my goatee once grew. It grabs and pulls the most here, and my neck area I have only ever got BBS a handful of times. I have Micro fleeces where the turtle neck collar thing is literally wearing out from my neck whiskers.

T.M.I, I know but hey its gotta be entertaining for you eh?

[gugi]

he-he, you got hooked on tgq soap, nothing to worry, there are many of us in the same boat

not sure about feather blades, but if you want to try stropping them i don't think you need a tony miller strop. you must have some belt with a nice leather. the only problem is that the angle may be too steep, but i've never used a feather. there's nothing to loose anyways - if you'll be throwing the blade anyways, might as well give it a try on the leather. who, knows may be razorlast was right after all

sometime soon i shall try some more colleen soaps on the spicy/leathery side, fortunately for us living in usa usps rates are quite decent

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Originally Posted by gugi

he-he, you got hooked on tgq soap, nothing to worry, there are many of us in the same boat

not sure about feather blades, but if you want to try stropping them i don't think you need a tony miller strop. you must have some belt with a nice leather. the only problem is that the angle may be too steep, but i've never used a feather. there's nothing to loose anyways - if you'll be throwing the blade anyways, might as well give it a try on the leather. who, knows may be razorlast was right after all

sometime soon i shall try some more colleen soaps on the spicy/leathery side, fortunately for us living in usa usps rates are quite decent

Oh yes, Colleen's soaps are the best so far. I doubt they will be knocked off the charts ever. I am still uncertain about the honeybee soaps and MB ones, are on my blacklist for now, will I give them a second chance? probably not, well definitely not the beau brummel one.

TGQ favourites are, Dessert Ironwood, Leatherneck and Cavendish black, so far, oh and Bay rum was interesting, I will use that again.

I do have a good leather belt but um er ah, yeah that holds up my trousers so might present a tiny problem if I put a nick in it, which I doubt I would.

Shipping costs are a b!tch but hey what can ya do? Much cheaper than the costs here. I sent some photos to my mum a few weeks ago, the envelope weighed 65g and I was charged $4 may not sound like much but compared with NZ I think its expensive.

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Originally Posted by dave5225

Sounds like you've got a really tough beard .

Actually I had to quote you again because I haven't told you all my adventures with an electric razor.
Years ago I bought a Phillips cool shave which at the time was the top of the line electric shaver available, cost me $300. Shaving with that was a b!tch out of hell and I only had it about 2 weeks when the blades started making a grinding noise. I took it back to the shop and they were like, oh these are being recalled to have parts replaced, so I had to go back to the mock3 for awhile. When my shaver finally got returned, the guys were questioning me about the blades coz apparently they were "too" shagged for only 2 weeks of shaving. All I could say was I don't know how long they are supposed to last and I was just using it normally. I think it was just a sh!t shaver right from the beginning and it has been collecting dust ever since. Biggest waste of $300 on a product ever.

[dave5225]

I had a Remington micro-screen electric . I think I used it for a month , it sucked . The nice thing about using a real straight is that your blade is always sharp , because you strop it before you shave , and you can also strop it during the shave . I have tough chin wiskers , and lately I've been shaving my chin last on my first pass , then re-stropping before I do my second pass (ATG) . This has improved my shaves . Unfortunetly , with a Feather , unless you can strop it somehow , you would have to change blades midshave .

[Milton Man]

Wow! Sorry to hear about your beard being so tough, and growing in all directions; I think that may account for your irritated skin.
I was trolling some of the other boards a while ago before I committed to a straight, and noticed that a lot of guys will only ever do one pass with the feather because it is so hard on the skin. I don't know if this will be feasible for your and your beard, but just something to think about.

Best of luck, and keep us posted,

Mark

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Originally Posted by Milton Man

Wow! Sorry to hear about your beard being so tough, and growing in all directions; I think that may account for your irritated skin.
I was trolling some of the other boards a while ago before I committed to a straight, and noticed that a lot of guys will only ever do one pass with the feather because it is so hard on the skin. I don't know if this will be feasible for your and your beard, but just something to think about.

Best of luck, and keep us posted,

Mark

I have been managing 2 passes, just I can't tell you which direction of the grain they went It's a tad better but you know when I have the days where I think to myself "sh!t theres no difference between shaving with a feather and a multi bladed shave system" that kinda p!sses me off just a bit, but as I have said in the past, I am a stubborn person and just won't quit.

Actually I need a shave today

[zepplin]

OLD_SCHOOL,

Give this a try:

Buy yourself a DE & some "Derby" blades. "Derby" are excellent and are a little less harsh than the "Freather" (considered the sharpest of the DE blades) blades. FYI, I have found that the old 3 piece gold Gillettes (found on Ebay) are wonderful shavers, IMO. Yes, there are other great DE shavers out there, Gillette Fat Boy adj., any Gillette TTO (twist to open), Mercur HC Slant, Mercur "Futur", etc., etc.. Myself, I just love the 3 piece Gillettes + they look very cool, besides being good shavers.

Make just one careful pass with your "Feather", WTG (only), and your second , or more , with the DE - go gently, don't push. Those damn Mach3's have a tendancy to promote pushing. Just allow the DE to glide lightly over your skin. I really think this could work well for you -

Regards,

Steve

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Well I tried MWF again today and I still am not impressed with its lathering properties. I will continue its use for a week or until the sample runs out whichever comes first.
Wasn't too bad a shave, I had tried stropping the blade on my belt, don't think it made any difference really. No biggie.

On a more interesting note, when I was in the city with my wife, I went past a knife shop and decided to go in to see if he sells Tosuke or where I might acquire one further down the line. Well he said he has never heard of Tosuke so I was thinking to myself "Sh!t am I going to have the same trouble as I did when getting my feather?"
Then as we are about to leave the store with shear disappointment on my face, the old guy says we do have this type of Japanese style straight though, and he proceeds to pull out a box and open it. I said to my wife "sh!t that handle is exactly the same as on the Tosuke ones" she has a look and starts giggling then says to the old guy, "on the handle it says Tosuke" The old guy looked a bit confused and asked what my wife was talking about so she showed him.
Because Tosuke was written in English rather than Japanese characters the guy said that, it must just be for when foreigners wish to buy it.
Well that makes sense and I told him that I saw it on this website first. I know there is another Japanese straight but can't recall the name.

Anyways the Tosuke looked like a tiny friggin meat cleaver, so even if my wife said I could have it, I wouldn't buy one until I can use a straight flawlessly.

[gugi]

you sure seem to go the opposite way to most of us
normally we'd start with a regular straight and after a while, i think, one would ponder 'hmm i wonder what these weird feathers and japanese razors can do?'
aren't these tosuke's really expensive? or it was the other ones w/o the blue handle (i like those better, but if i ever use one it'll be at least a year from now)

did you get skin problems with mwf today?

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Originally Posted by gugi

you sure seem to go the opposite way to most of us
normally we'd start with a regular straight and after a while, i think, one would ponder 'hmm i wonder what these weird feathers and japanese razors can do?'
aren't these tosuke's really expensive? or it was the other ones w/o the blue handle (i like those better, but if i ever use one it'll be at least a year from now)

did you get skin problems with mwf today?

LOL yeah thats coz I was taught that the easy way is always mined, so I do things the hard way. I would say its somewhat expensive but I imagine it may be slightly cheaper than you would get off the internet. But I don't know what they normally go for outside of Japan, so can't really compare.

Skin problems not so much just don't like the fact it dries up fast, I actually gave it more of a whipping than I do TGQ soaps, but the lather seemed unstable.
Definitely will use a fresh blade tomorrow. I was meant to go pick up some super pro blades but got so excited after having such immediate success finding a Tosuke. I mean that looks 10x more dangerous than a feather, yet you need "know" a specialist to get a feather here at least that was my experience.

[sebell]

MWF is a thirsty soap! Give it lots of water. Fortunately it
doesn't flake up like some inferior soaps/creams, but you
do need to be sure to make a sufficiently moist lather.

- Scott

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Originally Posted by sebell

MWF is a thirsty soap! Give it lots of water. Fortunately it
doesn't flake up like some inferior soaps/creams, but you
do need to be sure to make a sufficiently moist lather.

- Scott

Hmm a thirsty soap eh
If I remember correctly, my first use of MWF was a flakey one.
More water it is then.... from tomorrow.

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Well todays shave seemed to be very good, new blade did seem to make the difference. I guess 7 or more shaves from 1 blade is out the question, which doesn't surprise me considering if it were a real straight, I would need to strop it every day. Had a few weepers, but thats to be expected from feathers eh.
My right cheek is BBS, my left, I missed a patch. My neck feels slightly better than when using a cartridge which suggests my technique is improving. Upper lip, very close to BBS and my chin is still a b@stard to shave with the feather, no matter which direction you go in.
I would be generous enough to give todays shave a 7/10.
Still not having luck with MWF, so will try more water tomorrow, but my senses tell me that more water = soap wearing down fast. But that don't bother me because as I said before, I see absolutely no point to spend 18$ on that. Even when I needed to improve my lather building skills, I got a great lather from the 1$ soap Williams mug soap and a relatively good shave (because I was in my first days)