2023 Shaving Acquisitions Thread

I'm a big fan of (what I consider to be) the very best synthetics, ie the AP G5C and Titanium 28mm knots, but they have spoilt my biggest brush for me, the 30mm Forgotten Art "Southern Skies" which came with a Snow Leopard knot. It now just feels squishy and uninteresting, though of course it lathers like a bomb. Even if I have to get out a comb now and then (I think I still have one somewhere) I can live with that. It was the first brush handle custom-made to my specifications, so I'm not just going to give it up.

I'm hoping @Phil Harmonica's endorsement of the horsey Boti knots works for me too. Does anyone know, is there any difference between mane and tail hair? (The horse's ass :LOL: ) Other than for violin bows of course...
 
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I'm a big fan of (what I consider to be) the very best synthetics, ie the AP G5C and Titanium 28mm knots, but they have spoilt my biggest brush for me, the 30mm Forgotten Art "Southern Skies" which came with a Snow Leopard knot. It now just feels squishy and uninteresting, though of course it lathers like a bomb. Even if I have to get out a comb now and then (I think I still have one somewhere) I can live with that. It was the first brush handle custom-made to my specifications, so I'm not just going to give it up.

I'm hoping @Phil Harmonica's endorsement of the horsey Boti knots works for me too. Does anyone know, is there any difference between mane and tail hair? (The horse's ass :LOL: ) Other than for violin bows of course...

Maine hair is generally softer than tail hair and each brush is filled with a % combo of both.. the zenith 50/50 has exactly that but the extra soft has no description, so I don't know what mix that has. Just gone by recommendations from the net. I didn't know @Phil Harmonica endorsed the bolti or I might of gone that way and got a brush made by Troy.. I reckon you will be right 👍

Apparently the quality of the hair will also depend on the horse breed.. this isn't a matter of fact just what I read
 
This one is going to need a repair. Maybe a little epoxy putty and some gold klnsugi/gold leaf.
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This one will need to have what looks like a nail removed from the pivot and a clean.

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All this one needs is a quick clean.
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Same for this one.
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Why these razors. i collect advertising razors. The Plum was retailed by Craig and Aitken of George St Sydney. The 2nd one it was about the maker and the location. The 3rd was Eight Brother Tobacco and the 4th I liked the silver bolsters and wanted the know how they are done (Wrap around or just on top)
 
Would love to see the finished results @Mastropiero, keep us posted?

I did a very light resto on the Hamburg Ring. I tend not to overdo thus things. I am never bothered by spots on the blade, as long as they are not active rust.

For this one, in order to give it a proper, shiny polish, or even a satin one, I would've had to cover the stamp, in case I wanted to protect the gold plating. It is something I have done, but it is a long and time-consuming process. This is something I will consider doing again once I make my workbench, in the near future, but I can't be arsed to do it the way my workshop is right now.

On top of that, I don't mind my restos showing the marks age has left on them.

In any case:


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A set of Mikawa Asano Nagura (Botan, Tenjyo, Mejiro) from Yahoo! Japan via Buyee. Unfortunately the Tenjyo had a large piece flake off in transit (30x20mm) although apparently well packed. Luckily the break didn't extend to the base of the stone so I epoxied it back on and then lacquered over it all to keep water out. Buyee is a forwarding site which integrates with Yahoo and makes purchasing pretty easy, but the freight is quite expensive; the freight cost more than the Nagura themselves. However I purchased directly from Sakamoto-san, the administrator of the Asano grading process so they were not expensive. See https://naturalwhetstones.com/natur...e-japanese-natural-stone-jnat-nagura-sellers/
 
These two horsehair knots arrived in pretty good time...

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...a project for sometime in the next couple of weeks. I have a couple of brushes with Snow Leopard knots that I'm now over.

they look real nice, really interested to hear how these go for you mate.. if they kick ass, no pun intended.. Might be time for me to add a white horse to the stable of soon be one black horse :)
 
yeah I know.. hanvt even started SR shaving yet and already sucked into the rabbit hole vortex

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got me a new GD66 to learn to set edges and sharpen my own blade and will be project new handle #2 :)

need a strop and ended up with this red/pink paste by mistake.. re-attempted original strop purchase and was successful the second time around its a paste. Hopefully the paste is ok
 
yeah I know.. hanvt even started SR shaving yet and already sucked into the rabbit hole vortex

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got me a new GD66 to learn to set edges and sharpen my own blade and will be project new handle #2 :)

need a strop and ended up with this red/pink paste by mistake.. re-attempted original strop purchase and was successful the second time around its a paste. Hopefully the paste is ok

@StratMan should have done more research because a GD may not be the best to learn on. The bevel can be so bad from the factory and geometry all out of whack that you need an expert to fix geometry and set bevel before attempting yourself hence why @Substance offers:
Razor 1st Hone 3/4 to full hollow $50 AUD:
This is to bring a New Razor with a factory only edge up to shave ready, meaning a full bevel set & progress to shave ready

If you are lucky and the geometry is OK then it might be a good starter. What's the term "first impressions never have a second chance"?
 
@StratMan should have done more research because a GD may not be the best to learn on. The bevel can be so bad from the factory and geometry all out of whack that you need an expert to fix geometry and set bevel before attempting yourself hence why @Substance offers:
Razor 1st Hone 3/4 to full hollow $50 AUD:
This is to bring a New Razor with a factory only edge up to shave ready, meaning a full bevel set & progress to shave ready

If you are lucky and the geometry is OK then it might be a good starter. What's the term "first impressions never have a second chance"?

I hear ya mate but that's the whole reason I got it, to learn. I'm getting a GD66 in the mail soon as a loaner so I'll def know what's right and aim for that
 
@Holiday, the newer batch of GD66s are much improved over what what was produced just a year or so ago. I am finding no geometry problems that require correction and they have almost done away with the stabilisers.

Your observations may be based on previous GD66 batches and, with them, I concur.

The GD66 that @StratMan is receiving from me is hone to shave-ready by me finishing on diamond pasted balsa. I had no geometry problems with it while honing. Hopefully the second GD66 ordered by @StratMan is from the modern batch.

I find that almost no new SR comes truly shave-ready (to my requirements) directly from the factor. They all need to be honed. Most also have a double-faceted bevel that I need to hone out with the bevel set.
 
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@StratMan good luck with it and I hope for your sake it is as @rbscebu suggests and there is no issue with new batch.
I am still relatively new to honing and love it when everything comes together and achieve a good edge but it is one of the most frustrating tasks when you think that you have mastered it and follow the same process on another razor and cannot achieve a decent edge.
Fortunately these are the minority but so damn frustrating and instead of honing your skills (see what I did there) you end up doubting your learned knowledge and accumulated experience
If the factory razor is a dud don't be disheartened you will have @rbscebu edge for comparison
The pot luck of cheap vintage straight razors is a bit of a gamble too.

Best of luck with your new rabbit hole. May I suggest a couple of Fili's, some Germans, Sheffields, Japanese and definitely a couple of Proserpine razors and keep an eye out for 2023 charity auction (The Hole is Deep)

Good Luck and Happy Shaves!
 
@Holiday, I can almost guarantee that a factory finished SR as received will be a dud. Out of the 80 or so new factory edged SR that I have bought over the years, only one was truly shave-ready for me. That was a Titan ACRM-2 that was probably just a fluke.

As for self honing results, I have and still do experience the same problem as you with a few of my honing jobs. What I have found is that blades can be different, even the same models from the same manufacturer from the same batch. I shave test every honing. With the ones that fail, I just find that I need to approach their honing in a different way until the desired result can be achieved.

There is no one honing technique that suits all blades (although I would love that to be the case).
 
@StratMan good luck with it and I hope for your sake it is as @rbscebu suggests and there is no issue with new batch.
I am still relatively new to honing and love it when everything comes together and achieve a good edge but it is one of the most frustrating tasks when you think that you have mastered it and follow the same process on another razor and cannot achieve a decent edge.
Fortunately these are the minority but so damn frustrating and instead of honing your skills (see what I did there) you end up doubting your learned knowledge and accumulated experience
If the factory razor is a dud don't be disheartened you will have @rbscebu edge for comparison
The pot luck of cheap vintage straight razors is a bit of a gamble too.

Best of luck with your new rabbit hole. May I suggest a couple of Fili's, some Germans, Sheffields, Japanese and definitely a couple of Proserpine razors and keep an eye out for 2023 charity auction (The Hole is Deep)

Good Luck and Happy Shaves!

cheers mate.. at the end of the day, its only $10 delivered so how wrong can I go?

There is a better than average chance I will buy @rbscebu GD66 loaner. The only thing stopping this is a complete catastrophe. Other than that i will have a well honed ready to shave SR to see what its all about

The new SR will be used to practice my honing skills and compared to the ready hones SR so I know what I need to achieve. Once I have learnt to hone and sharpen properly AND I still enjoy SR shaving then I'll fork out for something nice.

In the meantime i can get a feel of what it is all about and learn with cheap razors that do the job and wont break the bank.
 
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