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Sunday SOTD Thread - October 20th, 2024 (#497) in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

Aha! I knew it! I had this trepidation when I sold this one https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/748289303255129698 especially because they also took this very similar one https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/748289996039802817 ...and I guess it's probably for the best I abandon the foolish notions I had when I listed this https://imgur.com/a/mardor-z12y8cw and it was especially foolhardy to have ever considered parting with https://imgur.com/a/chassaigne-k0Fy4tt 🤔

But it's also satisfying to set a new bevel, just not the same if it was already shaving fine (not to mention wasteful). And honing as a service seems less relaxing for myriad reasons. So compromises must be made. Thankfully(?) I've slowed a fair bit since the initial burst when I was getting into it, settling into a bit of an equilibrium with a handful in and out each year.

Sunday SOTD Thread - October 20th, 2024 (#497) in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago (2 children)

My honing enthusiasm provided too much rationalisation for razor acquisition and so I have ...several. The winnowing process is ongoing and I'm proud to have sold 5 x 5/8 last week.

6/8 is harder because I like them more. Lately I'm wondering: Do I really need two 6/8 hollow-but-stiff round point French blades?

I'm partial to the Grelot. I do appreciate that it's a bit more hollow and as a Canadian I enjoy the etch. Plus it's my only nice Grelot and there's some cachet there. And it's in better shape. But there's just something to the TI and it's similarly my best TI and the pitting isn't anywhere important so just sorta adds character. And it's more towards a quarter hollow so ...sort of a different thing altogether?

Inconclusive. More study required. Luckily they don't take a lot of space.

Also: I'm always curious to see the grind toe-on every time I see a picture of a straight razor and that shot should somehow always be included in the metadata or something :)

Mailcall! Fancy, mysterious and a bit creepy Friodur 50 in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Coooooool. Thanks for sharing.

[Mail Call] Ed Wüsthof 220 Barber's King in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

This seems like a really nice size, good compromise between heft/lather handling and agility. Plus I like the jimping on it. Somehow I suspect you'll hang on to this one.

And ya, wow, did you stumble onto a hidden cache of underappreciated and underpriced blades or did you set out to expand your collection like this?

The other new arrival: a Christy razor in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I often see people wedging injector blades into things eg. Ender's, Ronson, etc. but haven't given it enough thought to guess if there's a reasonable way to do that here.

Any durable double edged razors at the sub £50 mark? in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

You might also consider vintage razors, a lot of them are brass and they've stood the test of time to get this far.

Alternatively, if what you really want is machined stainless you can probably get it for that price from dscosmetic or yaqi on AliExpress. They have many models so it'd be worth searching out some reviews.

Weekend Off-topic thread in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I'm unsurprised to see an overlap between meditation and straight razor appreciation. After all, using, honing and stropping my straights are some of my favourite meditations though I still try to keep a more formal practice.

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I wish I tried straights sooner, they really got me into shaving. But especially into having more straight razors: (sub.wetshaving.social)
 

I think two straights is quite justifiable, you might use up an edge and need to shave before you have time to hone. And two identical ones is a good way to compare hones--same razor, different edge. I have a pair I use like that.

More? Well, you'll find there is quite a big difference in how a wedge shaves from how a hollow shaves. And there are many grinds in between. Plus there are framebacks! Some framebacks are thin like a hollow but don't quite have the same flex, others shave pretty much like a wedge. Not to mention interestingly shaped tapered blades, lancets, monkey tails...

And maybe you have a 6/8 and wonder how an 4/8 or 8/8+ width would be? They're certainly going to be different and it's very subjective which is better! But then maybe you like a wide hollow and a narrow wedge? The reverse? Only one way to tell...

Perhaps you wonder how American, English, French, Swedish, German and Japanese razors differ? I sure did...

Maybe you were curious what they were like in the 1920s vs. the 1960s. Or the 1800s. Or the 1700s.

Or you'd like scales made from bone or ivory or tortoise or mother-of-pearl? Or something cool etched on the blade? Or a modern custom from Koraat or HG or Artrazor or Gipson or Ali's Blade or any of hundreds of worthy artisans keeping this craft going?

I've always been a minimalist. I've never felt the appeal of collecting anything. It started out as trying to find which one works best for me so I could get a really good one of those, but I kinda liked them all. I ...think I collect straight razors now? It just sorta happened 🤷‍♂️

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How bad is pitting really? (sub.wetshaving.social)
 

So, typically, I try to hone through any pitting to get a clean edge. I might tolerate some on the bevel, but not right near the edge where the stresses of shaving and stropping might cause it to collapse and break that nice clean line.

However...

I have this one razor. I used it today. I quite like it: it has very little wear and was well ground so it has a very thin bevel. It shaves well and it holds an edge. Indeed, it's one of the few edges I've put a dozen shaves on. But I have a confession: I left a tiny pit at the edge. Because there was probably going to be another and another and... well, usually I'd just take some metal off until we were in reasonable steel. I didn't want to this time, so I left all this (which you can only see at all on one side):

...and while I had a mostly clean edge, it did have a small pit at the edge. But nothing major, it's not a serrated knife or anything. So I went with it to see what happened. Every shave I made a point to see if the heel was giving me more irritation than elsewhere on the blade or anything like that and ...nah. It's fine.

Which reminded me of this post at Science of Sharp where you can see, based on the scale, how very much bigger a hair is than a razor edge. And I think my skin is at least as thick as a hair or I'd be bleeding way more often. A quick search confirms even the thinnest skin (eyelids apparently) has something like 50 microns of epidermis.

So maybe I shouldn't be so surprised that I can't notice a difference from some tiny pit on the edge? Maybe I should more often err on the side of leaving steel on a nice blade even if it's not so great?

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A treatise on razors: in which the weight, shape, and temper of a razor, the means of keeping it in order, and the manner of using it, are particularly considered (archive.org)