Out with the old, in with the new

Time passes fast when one is doing something one enjoy, and yet another year has passed.

I still enjoy traditional wetshaving, so I’ll keep on doing that… and I also enjoy blogging about it and talking about it on my favourite shave forum, so I’ll keep on doing those things too.

My den haven’t grown by much the last year, but my technique keeps getting sharper – if y’all excuse the pun – and in the end it’s the shave that counts, not how many razors, brushes or soaps one has in rotation.

So in short, I wish you all a nice, peaceful and well shaven new year!

Til árs ok friðar!

Shave of the day 30th December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum Acadian Spice Shaving Soap
Brush: Omega #10048 Boar Bristle
Razor: Merkur 39C slant with a Shark Super Chrome
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum Aftershave
Beard care: Big Red Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

My SOTD setup

I don’t have a big bathroom with loads of counter space, so if I were to do the SOTD photos in the bathroom I would have to either balance everything on the sink or treat y’all to photos of the seat of my bog.

How about no?

I do however have a free shelf in the room next to the bathroom, so I set up a small area for photo shoots there. Nothing too fancy but then again I use my cell phone to take the pictures, so there is no reason to go overboard.

Two shelf brackets to give me a left and right limiter, a wooden board in the back, a bright lamp (originally halogen but switched to LED like almost every single lamp I own), and a recently added microfiber towel.

Crude, but functional.

Shave of the day 28th December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Proraso Eucalyptus & Menthol Soap
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B natural white pure horse
Razor: Merkur 39C slant with a fresh Shark Super Chrome
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest 80 Below
Beard care: Big Red Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shave of the day 26th December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Citrus Soap
Lather: Prairie Creations Walter
Brush: Turkish No6 ‘horse hair’
Razor: German Bakelite Slant with a Wilkinson Sword
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and BodyShop Maca Root Energetic Face Protection
Beard care: Big Red Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shave of the day 23rd December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Eucalyptus Soap
Lather: Crabtree and Evelyn Sandalwood
Brush: Semogue “The Shave Nook 2012 Limited Edition” mixed boar-badger
Razor: German Bakelite Slant with a Wilkinson Sword
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Myrsol Agua Balsamico
Beard care: Big Red Beard Oil and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Glass monoblock razor

From time to time someone patents glass razor blades.. in 1985 James Haythornthwaite did one better and filed a patent for a whole razor made out of glass.

A razor is formed entirely of an inexpensive glass material. In one embodiment the razor is formed as a single piece of material which includes a handle portion, a blade portion and an arcuate intermediate portion interconnecting the handle and blade portions, with the blade portion being provided with a sharp cutting edge. In another embodiment the razor includes a handle and an essentially cylindrical blade received between clamping jaws at one end of the handle, with the blade being provided with opposed cutting edges.

The idea has some good points – simple construction, only one material in use, long lasting edge. On the less good side is the fact that it’s essentially a section of straight-edge – having no safety bar – so the risk of cuts and nicks would be rather higher than Joe Average might be prepared for.

In genera, a razor in accordance with the invention comprises an elongated handle portion and a cutting blade portion having first and second surfaces which intersect to define at least one sharp cutting edge. The handle portion and the blade portion, including the one sharp cutting edge, all are formed entirely of a glass material.
More specifically, in one embodiment of the invention the handle portion and the blade portion are interconnected by an arcuate intermediate portion, with the handle portion, blade portion and arcuate intermediate portion all forming parts of a single integral body of glass material. Further, the handle portion and the blade portion of the razor extend essentially perpendicular to one another.
In another embodiment of the invention, the elongated handle portion includes a pair of arcuate opposed clamping jaws at one end thereof, the arcuate opposed clamping jaws being integral with the remainder of the handle portion and having spaced opposed ends. Further, the blade portion is of elongated essentially cylindrical construction and is formed with an axially extending gap between spaced opposed ends thereof to define elongated edge portions extending in spaced opposed parallel relationship for the length of the blade portion. The spaced opposed elongated edge portions have respective intersecting surfaces which define first and second opposed sharp cutting edges. The blade portion is removably and rotatably received in the arcuate clamping jaws of the handle portion with the opposed elongated portions and the sharp cutting edges of the blade portion projecting beyond the clamping jaws of the handle portion.

The second version described – the cylindrical glass blade – has the benefits of not just a rudimentary guard, but also the more questionable benefit of being able to shave on the opposite direction without changing the grip.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a first embodiment of a razor in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a view of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, as seen along the line 2–2 in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a handle member of a second embodiment of a razor in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a blade portion of a razor for use in the razor handle shown in FIG. 3; and
FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the handle and blade portion shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in assembled relationship.

Shave of the day 21st December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Col. Conk Bay Rum
Brush: Vie-Long #14033 mixed horse-badger
Razor: German Bakelite Slant with a fresh Wilkinson Sword
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum Aftershave
Beard care: Big Red Beard Oil and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shave of the day 18th December

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Wet Shaving Products pre-production soap
Brush: Wilkinson Sword Badger
Razor: Merkur 45C Bakelite with a Feather Hi-Stainless
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Thayers Original Witch Hazel with aloe vera
Beard care: Big Red Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb