A Mach 3 High-Velocity Shave

If you have looked at my other blog you know that I have been on the road a lot. The TSA says safety razors are allowed as carry-on baggage. That, of course, should include double-edge and single-edge safety razors. And it does. In every airport except San Francisco it seems.

I have never been stopped for a DE at security in any airport except SFO. This week I accidentally carried two DE blades on the plane in my travel kit, and they didn't stop me at SFO. They didn't stop me in Philadelphia today either BTW.

Anyway, I got tired of being stopped, and switched back to a Mach 3 for my travel kit. I know a lot of people rave about how much better a sharp DE is than a Mach 3, but I can't say that I agree. Yesterday I loaded a new cartridge in my Mach 3, and it produced an easy, super smooth two-pass shave. As good or better than any two-pass DE shave I can produce. So, I have to give Mach 3 it's due.

Of course, the Mach 3 blades are still over priced. I use my DE at home for that reason. A DE is far better with a multi-day beard too. But if you have to travel out of SFO, they are a a very viable alternative.

Hey, if you read this far and are interested in one of my shaving brushes, I have a scoop for you. I plan to start making custom brushes again within the next few weeks. I don't have time for a lot of volume, but low-volume is better than no-volume. If you are on my mailing list, I will let you know when I get started again. It won't be long though... Maybe even this weekend.

I'm blogging...

Just not here.

The most I have been able to do with shaving these days has been to get my daily shave in. They have been good, but I can't get too excited about writing about it.

I have been blogging though. I have been trying to get my day-to-day photos uploaded regularly. If you are interested, you can check it out here: http://mymountaintrail.blogspot.com. Hope to see you there.

If you are wondering about my brush-making, I have not abandoned the craft. I have just been so busy with life and work, that I haven't had much time in the shop. And the time I have spent there has been devoted to meeting orders from earlier this year.

I finally got some time working the lathe to make some candlestick holders for our upcoming wedding. Keeping things in perspective here, that is clearly the right choice at the moment.

I have the materials to make HUNDREDS of brushes... I will be back one of these days. :-)

Long time no blog...

Hey, where has the time gone? It's been one month since I blogged last.

I have an excuse: I have been extremely busy. Busy with work (two weeks of travel out of the last four), busy with family obligations, and busy with brushes. I even stopped taking new brush orders!

The real problem was the travel though. I'm behind on everything except my job now. Sometimes that's the way it goes. Oh yeah, that also means I can still pay the rent and eat...

I have managed to finish a few brushes this week. The brush above is a slightly more slender version of Amyn's tulip. It is a 25mm brush in Macassar Ebony. The brush to the right is another variation of that design. This one is a 28mm in Macassar Ebony. It's an interesting variation, though it was a bit more difficult to finish for some reason.

Speaking of Macassar Ebony, I can't seem to find it anywhere anymore. Apparently the importers are having trouble getting it now. So, those of you with Macassar Ebony brushes, you may end up with a true rarity going forward. Let's hope not, but it could be.

I have an update on the Personna blade issue I blogged on last month. This week I decided to go back to my DE. When I removed the old Personna blade, two blades popped out! Apparently they were stuck together in the package when I changed the blade last time. I never exected that to happen, so I didn't look at the blade very hard. Well, two blades are obviously a lot worse than one, so it's no surprise that I was hating my shave! Now that I'm back to using one, sharp blade, life is good again!

c u l8r!

Lather up!

It's been hot here the last couple of days. For us, in Northern California, it's been real hot. We get about 10 hot days a year here. By our standard that means more than 80 degrees. They usually happen in the Spring and Fall, with about 2 days somewhere in July that are 100+ degrees. Every time we get one of those days we suffer. No A/C. No acclimation. No way we would want to live anywhere else!

Today I used a new brush. It's a pretty basic tulip style turning as you can see in the picture. I had it set on firm for soap. It's a very cool brush, and you can expect to hear more about it in the future.


My soap is in the Old Spice mug I commented on a few posts ago, with a 3" inside diameter. The brush handle is pretty large at the top at about 38mm. I mention this because I have a customer, Shaun, who noted that a large handle neck can be restrictive in a mug or bowl when lathering. I had never really thought about it, but he is right! This new brush lathers fine, but it's going to get some mileage on the sides of my mug!

Today is changeover day for my blade. I don't know what will come out of the cabinet tomorrow, but it better be sharp!

I finished a bunch more brushes in the last few days. They are at the bottom of the pile (so dig deep) in my flickr brush set, here, if you are interested. Okay, here's another pic of a 25mm spalted maple brush to whet your appetite...




Good night for now!

Eye Candy

A quick post this morning to show you a bit of eye candy. I made this 28mm brush for a customer, but he decided he wanted a different look in the wood. This wood is maple burl. Looks good to me! I guess I'll just have to sell it off of my website.

Hey, it's cool to see that LeisureGuy dropped by and commented on the Gem g-bar. LeisureGuy, aka Michael Ham, is a prolific and very interesting blogger on shaving topics. He blogs on many other topics too. Being a shaving connoisseur, he even wrote a book about shaving! I haven't read it, but I read much of what must be in this book on his blog entries about wet shaving basics. I'm sure it's a very good read. If you are trying to get wet shaving figured out, this would be a great place to start - so go buy it.
Maybe I'll post more later, but I need to get out to the shop...

Gems and Wildflowers

I've been wanting to blog for days, but have been very busy. Work, play, work, play... No chance to slot a blog in there. My brush backlog is getting so long I'm going to have to take a couple of days off to start working it down. Fortunately, I have the time at the moment to do that.


A couple of posts ago I said that I had a rough shave with my red IP. Well, it smoothed out a little, but not as much as I would have liked. Thinking about alternatives, I decided to break out my freebie Gem G-bar. I bought it as part of an ebay auction for an Old Spice mug like my old navy-days mug. I got the mug and a few razors for $9 or so. I sold the other razors for $10.50 and walked away with my mug and this Gem.

I liked the looks of it, and it didn't seem to be very valuable on ebay. After a little looking around, I found that many people don't like the Gems but a few do. I found that it works great with the right technique, and really hacks you for a pretty bad shave with anything else. Fortunately, the right technique is a matter of keeping the razor almost flat on your face. If you do that, it's as easy as any mindless single edge (except of course the straight kind) out there.


So anyway, I've been using the Gem of late with my Ted Pella brick of PTFE blades, and life is good again. I will go back to the red IPs but I needed some refresher time with the ol' g-bar.



One of the play things I've been up to was a triathlon training weekend at Lake San Antonio near Lockwood, CA. We had time for some family photography, and now you get to enjoy it. The triathlon my fiance, Lori, is training for is called "Wildflower". You can see why in the pic. We had a great time, and it was a beautiful weekend. c u later!

The picture says it all. Yet it also raises a bunch of questions.

First of all, I've been busy. You don't create a beauty like the one in the back of my truck without some effort. This project has been a bit of an undercover operation for the last few months. One of the local high-tech-struck-it-rich wet shavers around here wanted a brush like no other. Guys like that go big, and I wasn't going to let him down. This beautiful cocobolo silvertip badger brush is the result.

So that's the answer, what about the questions you ask?
Well, first of all, that looks like quite a load for a '69 Ford pickup. Are you sure it can handle it? It turns out my good ol' F100 comes with factory installed heavy duty springs in back, so the weight was manageable. I just had to tie the load down to be sure it didn't sway too much on the winding trip down the mountain.

Second, where do you get badgers for a brush like that? Most people don't realize that the planet Chiena has supersized resort badgers available for your average 1000 lb., medium firm, 90cm silvertip badger brush. The brush-commissioner ordered the brush for me on his interplanet network and the Space Shuttle (I'm not kidding) picked it up last time they were at the space station --that's why they had such a long mission last trip.

What about the cocobolo tree? They don't come that large! Oh, come on, you know those high tech wizards get whatever they want. He said "make it happen", and the forest complied. Simple.

And finally, how did you get it loaded and unloaded in that very cool truck? I've been spending lots of time with my personal trainer. Fortunately, she is my fiance, so I could afford it. Note though, I am obligated to fix dinner on command until 2020. Works for me. I'd have done that for her anyway!!!

So don't get too jealous of the haves here. I have no idea how to lather this thing up. I'm thinking scuba gear may be required to survive the process. Having that kind of money is more trouble than I would know how to handle. My 28mm works just fine for me!

I hope your April has started as well as mine! ;-)

More very impressive pics tomorrow...