Tag Archives: Thoughts while shaving

Review of Pereira Shavery metal multi-utility beard comb

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Bottom line up front: A good choice for a daily carry comb. Handy size, indestructible and useful for more than just combing the beard.

A few weeks ago I got a package from Pereira Shavery that – along with other nice things – contained a metal beard comb of the general size and shape of a credit card. Ever since it’s lived in a pocket of my work clothes, begin pulled out and used every time I need to get my somewhat unruly goatee under control. So what have made this comb my daily carry?

Firstly, the handy size. It sits comfortable in a pocket, in a vallet, a credit card holder, or in the back of my cell phone holster (careful not to scratch the cell phone though). That means it’s always there when I need it for combing or other tasks.

Secondly, it’s metal and easily survives daily carry. In the past I’ve bent plastic combs and broken wooden ones. This metal combs just takes the abuse and keeps going… and the form factor makes it more resistant to bending than most other combs I’ve used.

Thirdly, it got a few handy other uses. The built in bottle opener works well, the little flat head screwdriver in one corner have come in handy on a couple of occasions (sometimes the right tool is the tool at hand), the so called can opener on the end have come in handy as a letter opener as well as lifting the ring on the end of soda cans… I’ve not yet got to try the spanner (wrench) yet, since every time I’ve had to unbolt something I’ve had better tools at hand, and I’m not entirely certain what purpose the elongated hole between the spanner and comb is supposed to have.

The most important part is off course the comb, and the comb works very well for me and my curly beard hairs. It can get hung up on tangles, off course, but nothing a bit of care can’t work trough.

Can I recommend the metal multi-utility comb from Pereira Shavery? For a daily carry comb, yes. I’ve carried it and used it daily since I received mine, to the point where I’ve managed to wear of the markings on the back.
For a comb that lives in your bathroom or shave den? It’ll work just as well there, but Pereira also offers some better options in wood for that purpose.

Shaving vs “smoothing”

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Safety razor companies realised early on that by only marketing to men, they shut themselves out from about half the potential market – after all; if they could also sell to the ladies, they could sell at least two razors to every household.
However… shaving was seen as a masculine activity. In order to appear more ladylike, King Gillette’s  early advertisements for women did not to use the word ‘shaving’ but the word ‘smoothing’ instead. ‘Shaving’ was an activity men engaged in; ‘smoothing’ was more feminine.

I finally got myself a proper lathe!

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For those who remember, I cobbled together a home made “lathe” a couple of years ago. This summer I bought myself a real one for my birthday (best presents are the one you buy for yourself) and over the last few days the bits and pieces have arrived.. the lathe itself, a chuck set, some carbide cutters, odds and ends. Lacking piles of proper blanks, I’ve been reducing two-by-fours and other pieces of scrap wood to wood dust over the last few days. Tonight I made my second attempt at a hollowed out form, from a blank I glued together from two offcuts of two-by-four. And while not beautiful or well proportioned by any stretch of the imagination, I am pleased with it.

Sanded up to 180 grit (since that is the finest sandpaper I have in stock) and with a mineral oil finish. The lines around it is in part to help hide the glue-joint.
The bottom of the piece. It stands on a lip instead of the entire base, meaning I didn’t have to be dead on straight across the bottom.
To make a hollowform, simply remove all the wood that isn’t part of the finished product… i.e.: a lot of wood chips and dust.
And off course, don’t forget to pack everything away when play time is over.

A little teaser

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A little something from my meagre collection that I’m slowly building information on for a later post… emphasis on little. I know a little of the back story on this particular one. Did I mention little?

Interview With Phil Of Bullgoose Shaving

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Over at Sharpelogist. Well worth a read, and expanded on what I already knew about BullGoose and Phil 🙂

Shaving with a semi-disposable DE

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The sharp eyed observer probably saw yesterday that I shaved with the interesting injection moulded DE I mentioned last week. And the verdict is… not bad at all, all things considering.

Yes, it feels flimsy and the balance is off with most of the weight in the head.
Yes, it’s really sensitive about getting the angle just right.
Yes, it’s plenty aggressive and with an unknown blade that’s not the sharpest.

But once I got the angle dialed in, it chomped through several days worth of stubble with ease and left me with a DFS in two passes.

Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t get our high end (or even mid-range) razors and enjoy them to their full potential. But I am saying that we shouldn’t stick our noses up at the low end razors, because some of them can be surprisingly nice to shave with. By the end of the week I’ll put this razor – along with a good blade – in my locker at work, for those emergency shaves that sometimes crop up.

The Ubiquitous and Omnipresent Blade!

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Razor blades – be it DE or SE – are ubiquitous and omnipresent, they are everywhere and can be adopted for almost anything; from laboratory equipment, DIY project, surgery, cutting hair, and even shaving! If you’re building a tool or device that requires a very sharp and replaceable cutting surface, it’s often easier to make something that incorporates a razor blade than to come up with your own blade. Part of the reason is off course that you can tap into an existing logistic supply line and not having to set up your own.

Just a few examples of what this tiny sliver of honed steel can be used for:

Cutting specimens into slivers when preparing slides for your microscope!
Make a REALLY SCARY immersion water heater!
Make a foxhole radio!
Scrape paint!
Plane wood!
Makes flies for fly fishing!
Make an improvised scalpel for those pesky DIY surgeries!
Trim your hair!
Shave your face!
uhm… lets try that one again:
Shave your face!
And much, much more!

All day shave – a 1953 shaving cream commercial –

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Old Gillette advertisments

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How much for a blade?

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Five cents in 1924?

Twenty-five cents in 1967?

Or just under five cents per blade (bottom left corner) in 1948?

For the record, for my preferred all-round blade I’ll happily pay about 13 cents each when buying in bulk… which is dirt cheap compared to what blades used to cost when adjusted for inflation.