Shave of the Day - 1/31

Proraso Pre Shave
Williams
JR #257 Synthetic
Microbatic Bullet Tip
Personna Gem CS
Personna Pal CS
CWR
Thayer's Lemon WH
Florida Water

I started off with Proraso Pre Shave. The Ingram Shaving Cream face-lathered well with the JR #257 Synthetic brush. I did two passes with the Micromatic Bullet Tip Razor using a Personna Gem and Pal CS SE blades and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayer's Lemon WH and then Florida Water AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

Jayaruh #341

I forgot to take pictures of this brush after it was complete. Here is JR #341 with a horse synthetic knot from Maggard Razors.

Shave of the Day - 1/30

Proraso Pre Shave
Tabac
JR#257 Synthetic
Micromatic Clog Pruf
Personna Gem CS
Personna Pal CS
CWR
Thayer's Lemon WH
Florida Water

I started off with Proraso Pre Shave. The Ingram Shaving Cream face-lathered well with the JR #257 Synthetic brush. I did two passes with the Micromatic Clog Pruf Razor using a Personna Gem and Pal CS SE blades and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayer's Lemon WH and then Florida Water AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

Shave of the Day - 1/29

Proraso Pre Shave
Ingram
JR#226 Synthetic
Micromatic OC
Personna Gem CS
Personna Pal CS
CWR
Thayer's Lemon WH
Florida Water

I started off with Proraso Pre Shave. The Ingram Shaving Cream face-lathered well with the JR #226 Synthetic brush. I did two passes with the Micromatic OC Razor using a Personna Gem and Pal CS SE blades and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayer's Lemon WH and then Florida Water AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

The plan was to use the Gem CS blade for the first pass and then change over to the Pal CS for the second pass. That is exactly what I did. The GEM blade worked well on the first pass. It was more audible than the Pal probably because it was encountering thicker beard. I followed up with the Pal on the second pass. It did a great job of finishing off this excellent shave. I got no nicks, cuts or irritation from the blades. After rinsing the blades thoroughly and drying them off, I put them aside for tomorrows shave. I will reverse the order for that shave and use my Micromatic Clog-pruf.

Thanks, Andrew, for the opportunity to try these blades out.

Blade Testing - Gem and Pal Carbon Steel

Andrew of Andrew's Shave Shop was looking for testers for two blades he is carrying. I volunteered, and he sent me two of each to try out and give feed back. Both blades are by Personna, are 3-facet, and carbon steel.

This week I will be putting these blades to the test. My plan is to use one of each for each shave Monday through Friday. I will use one blade for the first pass, change blades, and use the other for the second pass. Then I will do the same next day reversing the order. I will be using my Micromatic Open Comb, Micromatic Clog-pruf, and Micromatic Bullet Tip razors for the tests.

Monday:

The plan was to use the Gem CS blade for the first pass and then change over to the Pal CS for the second pass. That is exactly what I did. The GEM blade worked well on the first pass. It was more audible than the Pal probably because it was encountering thicker beard. I followed up with the Pal on the second pass. It did a great job of finishing off this excellent shave. I got no nicks, cuts or irritation from the blades. After rinsing the blades thoroughly and drying them off, I put them aside for tomorrows shave. I will reverse the order for that shave and use my Micromatic Clog-pruf.

Thanks, Andrew, for the opportunity to try these blades out.

Shave of the Day - 1/28

Proraso Pre Shave

Derby Stick 

JR#217 Synthetic

Gem 1902 Lather Catcher

Original Gem Cutlery SE

CWR

Thayer's Lemon WH

Pinaud Clubman

I started off with Proraso Pre Shave. The Derby Stick Shave Soap face-lathered well with the JR #217 Synthetic brush. I did two passes with the Gem 1902 Lather Catcher Razor using an Original Gem Cutlery SE blade and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayer's Lemon WH and then Pinaud Clubman AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

Jayaruh #256

Jayaruh #244

Jayaruh #244 was one of the Louisville Slugger brushes. Jim at TSD and I collaborated on custom baseball brushes. This one Jim made as a Chicago Cubs brush.

Shave of the Day - 1/27

Proraso Pre Shave

Derby Stick 

JR#217 Synthetic

H. Böker 5/8

CWR

Thayer's Lemon WH

Pinaud Clubman

I started off with Proraso Pre Shave. The Derby Stick Shave Soap face-lathered well with the JR #217 Synthetic brush. I did two passes with the H. Böker 5/8 and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayer's Lemon WH and then Pinaud Clubman AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

New Cholula Boar Brush

I finished off a bottle of Cholula hot sauce at a restaurant and asked if I could keep the lid. They said sure. It was the large bottle. I had never seen the big one before. I have made several travel  brushes with the small lids, but I wanted to make a brush with the big lid.

Some brushes I made
with small lids.

I had a boar knot that I had harvested from an Omega 1065 brush.

I bored out the cap to accept the knot. I stained it a dark walnut and finished it with polycrylic finish.

Shave of the Day - 1/26

Proraso Pre Shave

Derby Stick 

JR#217 Synthetic

J.A. Henckels Rapide

J.A. Henckels  wedge

CWR

Thayer's Lemon WH

Pinaud Clubman

I started off with Proraso Pre Shave. The Derby Stick Shave Soap face-lathered well with the JR #217 Synthetic brush. I did two passes with the J.A. Henckels Rapide razor with a J.A. Henckels wedge blade and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayer's Lemon WH and then Pinaud Clubman AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

Shave of the Day - 1/25

Proraso Pre Shave

Derby Stick 

JR#217 Synthetic

J.A. Henckels Rapide

J.A. Henckels  wedge

CWR

Thayer's Lemon WH

Pinaud Clubman

I started off with Proraso Pre Shave. The Derby Stick Shave Soap face-lathered well with the JR #217 Synthetic brush. I did two passes with the J.A. Henckels Rapide razor with a J.A. Henckels wedge blade and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayer's Lemon WH and then Pinaud Clubman AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

Shave of the Day - 1/24

Proraso Pre Shave

Williams Mug

JR#217 Synthetic

J.A. Henckels Rapide

J.A. Henckels  wedge

CWR

Thayer's Lemon WH

Pinaud Clubman

I started off with Proraso Pre Shave. The Williams Mug Shave Soap face-lathered well with the JR #217 Synthetic brush. I did two passes with the J.A. Henckels Rapide razor with a J.A. Henckels wedge blade and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayer's Lemon WH and then Pinaud Clubman AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

Shave of the Day - 1/23

Proraso Pre Shave

Tabac

JR#217 Synthetic

J.A. Henckels Rapide

J.A. Henckels  wedge

CWR

Thayer's Lemon WH

Pinaud Clubman

I started off with Proraso Pre Shave. The Tabac Shave Soap face-lathered well with the JR #217 Synthetic brush. I did two passes with the J.A. Henckels Rapide razor with a J.A. Henckels wedge blade and ended up with a close, comfortable shave. After a cold water rinse, I finished off with Thayer's Lemon WH and then Pinaud Clubman AS. I am clean, smooth, and refreshed...

Busy Day Today

Today was a busy day. I made two 400 type brush handles, one with spalted tamarind and one with Louisiana cypress.

I made a 3 inch handle for a lather catcher.

Ferrules came in from Tom, and I fitted them to the small lather catcher handles along with the #8 stainless steel screws.

Finally, I made a lid for an Old Spice mug from cedar.

For right now, they are all in process. I will be finishing them up over the next day or so.

Update:

JR#256
I dry fit the blonde synthetic for the picture.

JR#257

I dry set the Maggard synthetic for the picture.

The Lather Catcher 3-inch handle on my Gem 1905 Lather Catcher.

The Lid