What I got in the post today!

hitemfrank

Would the lightness of the plastic slant not make you more prone to using too much pressure when shaving?

Amalgam

Yes.. I've had that problem with the Merkur Bakelite and the, 'Knockout' razor. Particularly the Knockout, it feels like shaving with a bird's feather.. You tend to dig in.. then leave the house with razor burn that would make a flamingo blush.

jpb1974

hitemfrank

I've seen a few pictures of thoses brushes. They look great - probably the best looking current Simpsons brush.

jpb1974

£50 postage & packaging included... and a free tube of Simpsons aftershave balm thrown in too.

hitemfrank

Is that all? That seems like a pretty good deal. What grade of badger hair is it?

That's what Simpsons should be doing more of, not adding £40 to prices of current brushes for 'brand exclusivity'.

jpb1974

Best badger. It's comparable to a Duke 3 which retails for about £90 ex. postage.

I believe there's some controversy associated with the brush over at the forum where it was commissioned. I believe there was a falling out between the forum owner and a chap called Gary Young, a forum member & descendant of the Simpsons family, over the named 'Phyl' used on the brush which is apparently short for Phyllis, his grandmother's name. I wasn't around to witness what went down, I just jumped on the bandwagon and ordered the brush.

It was a nice give back to the community by Vulfix/Simpsons.

hitemfrank

Haha, that doesn't surprise me with Gary Young. He is the great nephew of the founder of 'A. Simpson Brushes'. He had a falling out with the owner of Badger and Blade over something fairly innocuous too.

He should stay away from social media really.

jpb1974

Aye.. not sure what all the fuss was about, but the guy that now runs Simpsons mustn't have had much of a problem with it.

hitemfrank

I had two pieces of the finest cheap razors arrive from the Peoples Republic of China this morning....

Two of these beauties



The scales on these are really awful, but what do you expect for under £7 delivered

Insect Overlord

I'm hoping to treat myself to something similar in the spring. Where's the best place to order an affordable, shave ready straight?

hitemfrank

To avoid this thread getting clogged up, I'll try answer in the straght razor thread.

It will also give that thread a nice bump which may catch a few peoples interest

hitemfrank

A couple of months ago I held a Muhle synthetic brush and it got me interested in trying out a synthetic. So this morning this arrived



A 23mm Frank Shave Pur Tech synthetic brush. I used it for my shave today and I'm quite impressed. The tips are super soft and there is a surprising amount of backbone to the fibres. I feared it would be a really floppy brush but it's not at all.

I'll use it for a week and see what I really think then, but so far for 27 quid, the first impressions are good.

Insect Overlord

hitemfrank wrote: »

To avoid this thread getting clogged up, I'll try answer in the straght razor thread.

It will also give that thread a nice bump which may catch a few peoples interest

It finally arrived! \o/

https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1618413_10152596845119251_543816222_n.jpg

Now to figure out how to use the thing. :pac:

hitemfrank

That should serve ya well to find out if straights are for you or not. Who is the maker of that razor?

Insect Overlord

hitemfrank wrote: »

That should serve ya well to find out if straights are for you or not. Who is the maker of that razor?

Took me an hour to clear 2 months of growth. No nicks or cuts. Probably a little bit of burn. Not as close as a good DE shave, but that'll come after a month or so. There's nothing on the razor to point towards a maker. I can see where a sticker/badge used to be but that's no use!

hitemfrank

Sounds like you're off to a good start anyway.

Dramatik

My next little restoration project, sorry about the pic, it's the picture from the ebay listing. Not in the best condition but it was €15 + postage so I couldn't resist.

hitemfrank

I've been tempted to pick up one of those old razors before. Looks like honing them is a right pain though.

Cabaal

Over a years supply of shaving soap

hitemfrank

I had 2 yards of 5mm wide, 2mm thick leather cord finally arrive from Hong Kong this morning. After water proofing it with some Nikwax and ditching my original plan, as it wouldn't work, I was able to wrap the handle of my Henkotsu kamisori. It all came together quite quickly and I'm happy with how it looks. I just have to try it out tomorrow.




I had originally hoped to get a traditional handle for it but wasn't able to find one, unfortunately.

hitemfrank

I was in the city centre today with a little bit of time to kill so I took a walk to Knights Barber Shop. Well, I was actually heading to Brown Thomas to see how much Penhaligons Sartorial is, and was passing by Stephens Green so dropped into Knights.

I wasn't planning to buy anything, just have a sniff of some GFT colognes, but I came away with a lime scented version of How To Grow a Moustache. The lime scent is very muted and it mainly smells of cocoa butter.

It's 8oz and comes in very a wide tin for easy loading. When I say wide I mean wide (not my picture below)

Gran Hermano

This week's new arrivals

beardybrewer

hitemfrank wrote: »

I was in the city centre today with a little bit of time to kill so I took a walk to Knights Barber Shop.

I may have to check that shop out next time I'm in Dublin. I wouldn't have expected good for Synergy in Ireland. I have their bay rum on order from Italianbarber. Read some great reviews. Would love to hear yours.

hitemfrank

I'll try get a review up early next week. I've heard some good things about it too.

Dramatik

hitemfrank wrote: »

I've been tempted to pick up one of those old razors before. Looks like honing them is a right pain though.

Yeah they can be very problematic, an accurate rolling x-stroke is essential for getting these types of razor sharp. Also you need a good bit of experience diagnosing problems with the edge, that said, they are very good for progressing your honing technique's and you can learn a lot from these types of razor.

They definiately require a lot more time and effort to get shaving sharp but well worth the struggle if you can manage it and they give a great sense of acomplishment if you succeed. For instance it's taken 4+ hours of honing to get that particular razor to pass the HHT and I feel it's still not quite where I want it yet but very close. Working slowly and with care usually wins the race with these types, as it can be a real challenge to keep the bevel even.

I had a lot of problems trying to form the bevel near the heal of the razor as the shape of the blade frowns in this spot and it was causing excess hone-wear further up the blade when I tried to hit this spot using the usual methods. To solve this I had to do mini-circles with the blade flat at a 45 degree angle across the corner of the hone to avoid unwanted hone-wear further up on the blade. Once I was happy I then blended it back into the rest of the bevel with a combination of heal forward x-strokes and rolling x-strokes. Also to hit the toe of these razors you often have roll pretty high off the hone which feels really unnatural and is quite difficult to do accurately each stroke due to the unnatural feel.

Another problem I had was the width of the blade, I think when I mesured it, it was 3/8 at the widest point which ment that a strip of tape would actually reach the point where the bevel was so I had to manually cut each strip in half which was a pain and something I have never had to do before.

These just some examples of the types of problems you will face with a razor of this age but by all means don't let all this put you off as you will learn something new with each razor and the sense of acomplishment when you've finally got it to where you want it is far greater then spending a half hour honing up a hollow ground razor. So I would say if you can find one of at a good price and you feel like a bit of a challenge then go for it.

jpb1974

Couple o' Dapper Dragon soaps

Amalgam

Lovely complex scent, without being overpowering.

hitemfrank

I've heard good stuff about C&E soaps. I really need to finish some stuff and buy some.

hitemfrank

I guess this is the best place fot this.

For anyone nearby, TKMaxx in Stephens Green shopping centre have a few Penhaligons English Fern shave soap for €13 which is under half price I believe.

It's not the tallow version however.