Old Sarge's Shaving Journey

I'm with you on arko, not a wow scent but decent lather and great bang for the buck!

I bought a stick back in '15, when I first started. It was thrown out of the shared bathroom before I could even lather with it! And if I would have kept it, I would have been tossed out too!

Moral of the story: Happy wife means less strife!

Festival of Feather Weights! (Day 7 of 7)
DE-less-cemBoar (Wchnu)

Cold Water Shave w/ Hot Water Lather
Pre - Hot Shower
Razor - Gem Gen. I Feather Weight
Blade - Gem SS PTFE (10th and Final Use)
Brush - Omega 66 Boar
Lather - Col. Conk (Bay Rum), Face Lathered
Post - Generic Reformed Alum Block, T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel, Aqua Velva Musk, Nivea Sensitive Skin & Stubble Balm


The Festival of Feather Weights ended spectacularly with a wonderful fireworks display! (fireworks emoji here) And, it also ended with the smoothest of the two pass shaves thus far with these razors. All I needed was some more experience and hopefully in the future I'll continue to remember the lessons I've learned this week.

For another inexpensive soap, I like using the Col. Conk Bay Rum. It produced a good lather and I like the smell.

A short report tonight after spending a good chunk of the day dealing with leaves. We've got rain coming and I wanted to get them up before they get matted down in the grass.

Hope everybody has a great week!

Menthol Micromatic Monday!
DE-less-cemBoar

Cold Water Shave w/ Hot Water Lather
Pre - Aloe Vera Glycerin Soap Face Wash, Noxzema Cream as Pre Shave
Razor - Gem Micromatic Open Comb
Blade - Personna Injector (2nd Use)
Brush - Semogue SOC Boar in Taj Resin
Lather - Stirling Soap Co. (Glacial Electric Sheep), Face Lathered
Post - Generic Reformed Alum Block, T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel, Jeris Osage Rub, Nivea Sensitive Cooling Balm

I gotta say that it felt a little bit strange not reaching for a Feather Weight today. Two passes with the MMOC and a Personna injector blade for the win! A bit of irritation taken care of by post shave routine. A wintery shave with all the menthol!

With all the recent talk about lather eating boars, I found it ironic my own culprit was on deck for today's shave. After soaking in hot water, I made sure to aggressively shake out all excess water and started with a relatively dry knot as I loaded the soap. While loading, I dipped my tips a couple of times and then got busy face lathering. I could tell right away that the soap was very dry as I painted it on. I've had issues in the past with this soap and not adding enough water which ended up with a dry lather clogging the razor. I started adding water right away, dipping my tips four times and painting the water on to each of the four quadrants one at a time. Followed that with an aggressive scrub with the splayed knot. I probably did 5-6 of these cycles before I got the later to where I wanted it. I also added a bit more water during the second pass, which really nailed the hydration level of the lather.

Got the backyards raked up just before the rain started, which should knock down the last of the stragglers.

Menthol Micromatic Monday!
DE-less-cemBoar

Cold Water Shave w/ Hot Water Lather
Pre - Aloe Vera Glycerin Soap Face Wash, Noxzema Cream as Pre Shave
Razor - Gem Micromatic Open Comb
Blade - Personna Injector (2nd Use)
Brush - Semogue SOC Boar in Taj Resin
Lather - Stirling Soap Co. (Glacial Electric Sheep), Face Lathered
Post - Generic Reformed Alum Block, T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel, Jeris Osage Rub, Nivea Sensitive Cooling Balm

I gotta say that it felt a little bit strange not reaching for a Feather Weight today. Two passes with the MMOC and a Personna injector blade for the win! A bit of irritation taken care of by post shave routine. A wintery shave with all the menthol!

With all the recent talk about lather eating boars, I found it ironic my own culprit was on deck for today's shave. After soaking in hot water, I made sure to aggressively shake out all excess water and started with a relatively dry knot as I loaded the soap. While loading, I dipped my tips a couple of times and then got busy face lathering. I could tell right away that the soap was very dry as I painted it on. I've had issues in the past with this soap and not adding enough water which ended up with a dry lather clogging the razor. I started adding water right away, dipping my tips four times and painting the water on to each of the four quadrants one at a time. Followed that with an aggressive scrub with the splayed knot. I probably did 5-6 of these cycles before I got the later to where I wanted it. I also added a bit more water during the second pass, which really nailed the hydration level of the lather.

Got the backyards raked up just before the rain started, which should knock down the last of the stragglers.

A nicely informative report, and fun to read. You put an injector blade in the MMOC? I haven't tried that!

I appreciated hearing about the boar. A few years ago, I would start with a dry synthetic, and do multiple dips and swirls. I will try some hybrid of these tomorrow and report back!

A nicely informative report, and fun to read. You put an injector blade in the MMOC? I haven't tried that!

I appreciated hearing about the boar. A few years ago, I would start with a dry synthetic, and do multiple dips and swirls. I will try some hybrid of these tomorrow and report back!

I had no idea that an injector blade could be used in the Micromatics until a member in another neighborhood did. When I asked about it, he provided excellent photos and a description. This is only my second time and I was a lot less nervous than the first. If you hold the MM upside down, you can lay the blade on the bottom of the top cap, so that it rests against the two tabs on either side. That's the point where you need to adjust the blade so it is sitting even and then slowly crank the TTO closed. I was warned not to over tighten the TTO, as you can push the blade into the stops.

A nicely informative report, and fun to read. You put an injector blade in the MMOC? I haven't tried that!

I appreciated hearing about the boar. A few years ago, I would start with a dry synthetic, and do multiple dips and swirls. I will try some hybrid of these tomorrow and report back!

I had no idea that an injector blade could be used in the Micromatics until a member in another neighborhood did. When I asked about it, he provided excellent photos and a description. This is only my second time and I was a lot less nervous than the first. If you hold the MM upside down, you can lay the blade on the bottom of the top cap, so that it rests against the two tabs on either side. That's the point where you need to adjust the blade so it is sitting even and then slowly crank the TTO closed. I was warned not to over tighten the TTO, as you can push the blade into the stops.

Any benefits to using the injector blade?

A nicely informative report, and fun to read. You put an injector blade in the MMOC? I haven't tried that!

I appreciated hearing about the boar. A few years ago, I would start with a dry synthetic, and do multiple dips and swirls. I will try some hybrid of these tomorrow and report back!

I had no idea that an injector blade could be used in the Micromatics until a member in another neighborhood did. When I asked about it, he provided excellent photos and a description. This is only my second time and I was a lot less nervous than the first. If you hold the MM upside down, you can lay the blade on the bottom of the top cap, so that it rests against the two tabs on either side. That's the point where you need to adjust the blade so it is sitting even and then slowly crank the TTO closed. I was warned not to over tighten the TTO, as you can push the blade into the stops.

Any benefits to using the injector blade?

Other than the coolness factor? Probably not. 

However, at the time, I had a dispenser of injector blades and no injector razor. And now that I've got a used injector blade "on the loose", I'll occasionally throw it into the MMOC or MMFW and take it for a ride!

I have two MMOC's, the second of which I picked up expressly to try with a Schick blade.  Why, you might ask?  Well, if you don't know already, I'll tell you so you can avoid the mistakes I made.

Both MMOC's have a post in the center.  With the first one, the blade barely clears the post, lies flat, and - for reasons I later figured out - does not stay quite immobile.  With the second, the blade barely does not clear the post, but it is so close that an immense amount of fiddling is required.  

At some point later on, I recalled that there is an ever so slight difference in the corner dimensions of the Japanese Schick Proline B-20s vs the Chinese Schicks.  The B-20s, which I was using, are smaller, and if the difference is not in the corners, it shows up there anyway.  That difference did me in on both MMOCs.  When I tried a Chinese Schick, the tiny difference in size made a huge difference in the result. The blade lays just perfectly against the post, angled slightly down, and snug as a bug in a rug.  There is no problem closing the cap tightly

Somewhere along the line, I heard it said that the angle makes the difference.  IMO it is very plausible that the angle makes a difference, but whatever the reasons, I think it is worth trying.  Obviously, I'd suggest a Chinese Schick if you have one.   

For either Mike or Bryan, is there an advantage to using an injector blade instead of the GEM blade? Sounds like a lot of chances to slice my finger!

I have two MMOC's, the second of which I picked up expressly to try with a Schick blade.  Why, you might ask?  Well, if you don't know already, I'll tell you so you can avoid the mistakes I made.

Both MMOC's have a post in the center.  With the first one, the blade barely clears the post, lies flat, and - for reasons I later figured out - does not stay quite immobile.  With the second, the blade barely does not clear the post, but it is so close that an immense amount of fiddling is required.  

At some point later on, I recalled that there is an ever so slight difference in the corner dimensions of the Japanese Schick Proline B-20s vs the Chinese Schicks.  The B-20s, which I was using, are smaller, and if the difference is not in the corners, it shows up there anyway.  That difference did me in on both MMOCs.  When I tried a Chinese Schick, the tiny difference in size made a huge difference in the result. The blade lays just perfectly against the post, angled slightly down, and snug as a bug in a rug.  There is no problem closing the cap tightly

Somewhere along the line, I heard it said that the angle makes the difference.  IMO it is very plausible that the angle makes a difference, but whatever the reasons, I think it is worth trying.  Obviously, I'd suggest a Chinese Schick if you have one.   

Today when I was cleaning up I noticed exactly what you are speaking of. There was some lather/whiskers between the blade and the base plate, so when I twisted the TTO to raise the cap...the blade didn't fall out on the counter as I expected. This is when I noticed as you say the blade being angled downward due to the center post.