Franken-nought-four

My first frankenrazor – or technically speaking, my first two.

First off, this is the Merkur 41C – also known as the 1904 – which is a razor with a good reputation, and one I don’t own:

I noticed that the head of the 1904 looks just like the heads on my Merkur 25C long handled open comb and my Merkur 985CL travel razor. It seems like the Merkur three piece OC’s all share the same style head…

As an interesting sidebar, I found while dredging the web for information on the 1904 and Merkur OC in general that they were actually intended to be adjustable… by loosening the handle 1/8 to 1/4 turn you can adjust the blade angle and gap, while the springiness of the blade should keep the mechanism tight. Needless to say I’m not too keen on trying it out… shaving with a loose head? Anyhow, back to the frankenrazor.

I also noticed that the nice handle of the 1904 looks very much like the handle of my cheap and cheerful Yuma – even if I do believe the Merkur handles are of a much, much better quality, finish and alloy than the cheap Yuma.

Cue wheels spinning…

Gentlemen, allow me to show you something:

This is the cheap and cheerful Yuma – which actually shaves rather well. Notice the handle.
This is the 985CL travel razor, which is a good shaver. Notice the head.

Drummroll please…

I present to you… the Franken-nought-four! The well shaving Merkur three piece OC head matched to the nice looking handle of the Yuma, creating a 1904 look-a-like razor.
The leftovers assemble into the Yuma travel razor… which I may never assemble again.

I could also have used the head from my Merkur 25C, in which case the leftovers would have given me a long handled Yuma. However there is a blade in that razor right now, and I’m not too keen on opening razors before it’s time to ditch the blade.

How the frankenrazors shave? I don’t know yet… but I am going to find out soon enough!

Shave of the day 16th July

Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap, liquid peppermint
Lather: Nieva Shave Cream
Brush: Body Shop syntetic brush
Razors: Merkur 985CL loaded with a fresh “Lord Platinum” blade
Post-shave: cold water rinse and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum

Sort of on the go, so using the GoBag – using my new folding cup to build the lather. Thanks to Krampert I can now enjoy his Finest A/S from a travel-sized bottle, which make shaving on the Go about 20% more awesome…

Shave of the day 13th July

Pre-shave: Pure glycerine soap
Lather: Arko Cool Mint shaving cream
Brush: Vie-Long 14033 mixed horse-badger brush
Razors: Merkur 25C open comb with a “Treet Platinum” blade, Racer Safety Razor with a “Racer Super Stainless” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Proraso Liquid Cream A/S

If you had told me three years ago that a DFS would be the norm and nothing to write about, I wouldn’t have believed you. But today I got a DFS as I usually do, and there isn’t much to say about it.

Pictures and quick review of the vintage Ever-Ready 1914

I am a very lucky guy for many reasons, but one of them is that I own an old razor that used belong to an old friend of the family that is – as far as I can tell – in near mint, unused condition. What better way to try SE shaving than with a razor that has a history attached?

Thanks to the friendly fellows at The Shave Nook I identified the razor as an Ever-Ready Model 1914, also known as the little lather catcher. Most of the guys who uses SE razors promised me that it was a wonderfully smooth and mild shave… more on that later

First we got to have pictures!

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Riches revealed; a SE razor and almost full packs of blades.
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Focusing on shiny objects is hard…
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Two packs of blades, one full, one missing one blade – which is in the razor.
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Everything out of the box.
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Just the razor – nice knurled grip, balance near the head.
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Closeup on the head – an interesting (to me) open comb with a bar. Not a spot of rust either, or even much dust.
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The head head-on. The lettering on either side says “LIFT HERE” in a non-serif font.
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The head opened, showing the blade that is in the razor. Two little tabs on each side holds it in place.
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The blade out of the razor. I’m not sure what “radio steel” is, but I know that back in the day radio was a buzz word much like digital was in the 90’s.
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A better view of the lettering on the blade.
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The head with no blade. It’s a little hard to see, but the text says “American Safety Razor Oo. Inc. New York”. Again, it’s practically spotless.
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The underside of the head, reading “Ever-ready” and “Patented March 24/14”
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Another view of the underside. Seems to be a very slight bow to the bar connecting the ends of the comb, but that might be the surface I photographed it on.
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One of the unopened blades. Compared to today’s packaging, this is pretty awesome.
    
This is the old, original blade. Notice how the solid sides lets the hooks on either side hold the blade in place easily.
    
Closing the lid though, it seems that the blade is pushed forward a bit and rests against two small bumps on the razor. The bear-trap lip seems to hold it securely in place too…

The only downside is… I can’t get it to give me a good shave. I can get a near BBS shave on my face with it in a single stroke, but once I get to my neck…. lets say I haven’t had this much razor burn and weepers since I started traditional wetshaving. I’m not sure if it’s the blade flexing – the original blades were certainly thicker and more rigid than the modern GEMs – or if it’s just me not being able to hold the EverReady at the right angle down low on my neck. At any rate it is a real shame, since I would really enjoy using this historic razor… but for now I’ll have to put it aside. Who knows, I might give it another go in a few months and see how I fare then?

Shave of the day 11th July

Pre-shave: Pure glycerine soap
Lather: RazoRock XXX
Brush: Turkish No7 horse hair
Razors: Merkur 25C open comb with a “Treet Platinum” blade, Racer Safety Razor with a “Racer Super Stainless” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Experimental Menthol

On a whim tried a cold water shave today. Used a block of what was intended as a melt-and-pour from the local hobby store for the face wash, built up a good lather from the RozoRock and went to town. The cheap Racer razor keeps impressing me. Cold water rinse and Krampert’s Menthol was a cooling end to a damn fine cool shave. Worth doing again on a summer day!

How to introduce traditional shaves to the cartridge generation?

I really, really enjoy shaving in the old fashioned way; soap, brush and double edged blade. I enjoy it so much I rather go for the cave man look than having to use a cartridge or electric razor – in fact, I enjoy it so much I want to share the enjoyment with the world!

There are several reasons for wanting to share. At the very core, I find it to quite simply to give a much superior shave and a much, much more enjoyable experience in the bathroom. Then you have the enjoyment of trawling the various online shops in the various corners of the world – from Turkey to Brooklyn NY, from Spain to the UK. And not to forget, the fun of talking to like minded shavers from even further abroad online.

Which off course leaves the question of how to properly introduce others to this all too absorbing hobby of mine… without coming across as a weirdo or worse. Not an easy one to answer, that is for sure.

One thing I have considered is assembling a Pay It Forward Starter Kit – PIFSK – and hand out as gifts. A quick look around shows me that I can assemble a decent one for less than 10 USD, meaning no one will be heartbroken if the recipient finds that old fashioned shaving isn’t for him (or her, for that matter).

Such a kit would most likely consist of a Turkish No6 brush, a stick/tube of Arko soap/cream, some good blades and a cheap but good razor – right now the choices are between the Yuma and Racer razors; neither of which can be said to be expensive razors. Add to that a card with some quick instructions*, some links to places online to learn more and perhaps some pointers on brush and razor care… printed out on nice, thick paper.

I have gotten both a Yuma and a Racer from turkey, and both actually shave remarkable well. I just need to find out what bades do and don’t work with them, which off course would mean trying them with several blades I consider good to find the best match… or maybe two best matches.

Then it’s “just” a matter of creating a presentable box and find out who the recipient will be… and that might be the hardest part of it all.

*) Wash face. Rub shave stick over stubble. Use wetted brush to build lather directly on face. Shave with short, controlled strokes while maintaining proper angle. Rinse face. Apply more lather. Shave again. Rinse well. Apply aftershave or balm of your choice.

Shave of the day 9th July

Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap, Lavender
Lather: Mike’s Unscented Soap
Brush: Vie-Long mixed horse-badger #14033
Razors: Merkur 25C open comb with a fresh “Treet Platinum” blade, Racer Safety Razor with a fresh “Racer Super Stainless” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Experimental Menthol

First shave in quite a few days – being ill is no fun – and the first outing of two new razors. The 25C performed excellent as expected, having the same head as my 985CL travel razor. The Racer was a pleasant surprise, being a gentle-yet-aggressive razor performing better than the 3.75USD I paid for it would indicate.
Krampert’s Menthol – which I do sincerely hope he’ll be able to offer for sale when my sample bottle is used up – rounded off a really nice Monday shave on a muggy summer morning.

Shave of the day 4th July

Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap, Orange
Lather: Proraso eucalyptus and menthol soap
Brush: Turkish No6 horse hair brush
Razors: Vintage EverReady Model 1914 with a GEM, Feather Popular with a “Feather Hi Stainless”
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest EXPERIMENTAL Menthol

I was still very excited about trying my vintage, but… had to switch to a regular DE for the second pass. Got a decent shave on my cheeks, but anything but on my neck. Seems like me and SE is just not meant to be.

Quick review: Proraso eucalyptus and menthol soap

The Proraso in the green tub was one of the first soaps I bought after getting into traditional wetshaving, and still one of my fall backs if nothing else appeal to me in the morning.

The Proraso eucalyptus and menthol soap makes a great lather which not only cushions great but stays fluffy for quite a long time, which is good if you like me sometimes spends a bit of time fuzzing over which razor to use. It also smells good, which is always a good thing.

It can be a little picky about the brush – I seem to get the best result using a short lofted brush with lots of backbone. YMMV off course, but when I’m using a soft brush on this soap loading seems to take forever.

Overall a good soft soap that I can recommend to anyone who likes menthol in the morning.

Shave of the day 2nd July

Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap, Lavender
Lather:C&E Sandalwood soao
Brush: Omega #10048 boar brush
Razors: Vintage EverReady Model 1914 with a fresh GEM
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum

Very excited about trying my vintage, but… lovely lather, not so lovely shave. A bit of shave burn, a few weepers on my neck. As far as I can tell there is nothing wrong with the razor – logically the fault must be in my technique…