Success!

[Matt]

Dear Sirs,

I came back late on saturday with a strong decision that I will finish my Wapi (I wrote a little about it here: http://www.coticule.be/the-cafeteria/topic/352.html). As I wrote then, I was going to go with the Unicot. However, remembering bevel angle calculator, where the tape thickness was around o.3 mm I decided to put three layers of my tape which is only o.1 mm thick.

This time I decided to use my harder pinky, #14. Mainly for the nearly rectangular shape, but also because I had read several opinions on particular hardness of Wapis (which I took for granted), so I thought that could be good idea to use this stone. I did some 10 or 15 strokes on milky, thin slurry then I thought it might need a little diluting, so I added 3 or 4 drops of water and continued for another 20 or 30 strokes, diluting every, say, 10 strokes. I think I start to get a little feel of how steel works, of the slurry and so on - I no longer stick so carefully to the stroke count. Another ca. 50 strokes after rinsing, then HHT. Something around 3, but not uniform, some places were better than others - and then I reminded myself Ralfy's advice on violin edge - to work some more on plain water. I rubbed the stone under the tap, another 30 or 50 on plain water and at this point I was pretty sure that it's going in the right direction, so I went on with stropping, and HHT afterwards - the Wapi popped my thick hair all length, apart from the very end of the heel, which I decided to neglect.

Then the light shone, trumpets sounded and I got to the other side, where men shave with smile on their faces, razors pop hairs, and a continuous choir singing 'Keen and Smooth' is heard everywhere. : : : Woooooohoooooo! The shave was lovely smooth and effortless, BBS mostly, I think the best ever! :thumbup:, although ATG above the lip was still too much to demand. Well, Rome wasn't built in a day, either two... I wonder if it this still a matter of keenness, shaving skill, prep, or just my stubble sucks. So many things to nurture...

What I felt like: http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/A+New+Level/Js0wR. RIP, Dimebag.
Wonder who of you will dig the whole thing, in case you don't, just skip to 1:13.

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From this place I'd like to give my greatest thanks to all the helpful people around here. I couldn't do it without you! Also, a sincere piece of advice to all fellow beginners, today's or tomorrow's, let me yell it loudly, yet in the most friendly manner- stick your pride UP YOUR ARSE! : and forget about Dilucot, if you haven't done a single Unicot edge ever. I know there may be exceptions, but most opinions and experiences confirm it. I do mean it, I went through it as well during last three months and I'd save myself half of this time if I took this route from the beginning. Attempting Dilucot from the very start sets you on a pretty long path of acquainting with your hone, getting to know how steel and hone talk to each other, how slurry works and behaves, and so on. And during this entire voyage your edges will not provide you with the results you expect. You will learn nearly all this stuff working with Unicot, but the results will come faster, maybe even with less effort ([sup]experienced confirmation needed[/sup]). I personally will stick with Unicot for a while, until I feel perfectly comfortable with it. A month, two, four? Who knows. Then, when I have some more time, I will sit with my hone and try diluting the last possible keenness out of the slurry, knowing that if I'm still unable to do it, I can safely go back to Unicot, and save myself some frustration, as well as have a great shave all by myself.

This: http://mati.imagomedia.pl/foto/uni_edge_2.jpg and this is how it looks:

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Everybody: Fear not - the tape! Tape is - your friend! Hail - the - tape! : : :

Bart, for the gazillionth time special thanks go to you, for setting this all up, for sharing so much knowledge. You know who you are, and we know who you are. Standing ovation!

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sharp regards,
Matt

PS. I thought of Thanks! button again, heck, if I'm doomed already, but then it came to my mind that maybe I could be spared for such a nice post :thumbup: : . Is this still possible to abort the mission?

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Absolutely wonderful post Matt :thumbup:
But hey dont restrict yourself to unicot, every now and then go the full dilocut and if you dont like the result tape it up and 5 minutes later you know you will have a perfect unicot edge and whats more, one time you try the HHT will be Sooo close that you think "Sod it. Lets see if I can pull this sucker in, without tape" and BINGO!! Dilocut edge, performed perfectly, by your good self!

You know you will try it

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[Bart]

Reading your post, I caught myself regretting for a brief second that we don't have a «Post of the month». It was only a short mental weakness, because my aversion for forum frivolities that smell like Kindergarten, quickly kicked in.
But it's a lovely post, and for doing us the honor to write it, I solemnly thank you in a gentlemen's fashion, by taking some time to write a few words of acknowledgment, which I hope means more to you than a filthy click on a much too convenient button of the kind you won't find over here.

As I wrote then, I was going to go with the Unicot. However, remembering bevel angle calculator, where the tape thickness was around 0.3 mm I decided to put three layers of my tape which is only 0.1 mm thick.

I think there might be a bit of misunderstanding. My tape is 0.15mm. In the mathematical formula of the angle calculator it adds up to 0.3, because a layer of tape folds around *both* sides of the spine, thus beefing up the spine with twice the thickness of the tape used.

Then the light shone, trumpets sounded and I got to the other side, where men shave with smiles on their faces, razors pop hairs, and a continuous choir singing «~~Keen and Smooth~~» is heard everywhere.

Hahahaha. Excellent! Outstanding! Being a sucker for eloquent phrases, that sentence absolutely made my day! With your permission, I'm going to put it in my signature line for a while.

Woooooohoooooo! The shave was lovely smooth and effortless, BBS mostly, I think the best ever!, although ATG above the lip was still too much to demand. Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day, either two... I wonder if it this still a matter of keenness, shaving skill, prep, or just my stubble sucks. So many things to nurture...

Here's a small personal confession. As you might know, I sport a mustache. It's the mustache I got by he age of 14 and I defend it with my life. However, the last two New Years Eves, out of shear frivolity I trimmed it to a very narrow "David Niven" model pencil mustache. Rest assured that I used a keen and smooth razor. One that shaves the face without any disagreeable sensation. But not my - when it comes to being shaven - virginal upper lip. Furthermore, each time I shave the lower lip area after a prolongued period of sporting a soul patch, I experience the same. The skin really needs 2 or 3 shaves to fully adapt.

What I felt like: http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/A+New+Level/Js0wR. RIP,Dimebag.
Wonder who of you will dig the whole thing, in case you don’t, just skip to 1:13.20

Horrid. Absolutely horrid. :cry:

Everybody: Fear not - the tape! Tape is - your friend! Hail - the - tape!

Absolutely spot on. Tripple cheers! Somebody, give this man a cigar!:thumbup:
If I ever grow tired of honing, may the gods forbid, I shall just do Unicot for the rest of my shaving days, and never look back.

PS. I thought of Thanks! button again, heck, if I’m doomed already, but then it came to my mind that maybe I could be spared for such a nice post. Is this still possible to abort the mission?

Since your the keeper of the gloves at the moment (remember your hundredths post), you can do the honors yourself.
The picture of proof maybe send to Ralfson, who keeps records of our penalty system.

Kind regards,
Bart.

 

[Matt]

Reading your post, I caught myself regretting for a brief second that we don't have a «Post of the month». It was only a short mental weakness, because my aversion for forum frivolities that smell like Kindergarten, quickly kicked in.
But it's a lovely post, and for doing us the honor to write it, I solemnly thank you in a gentlemen's fashion, by taking some time to write a few words of acknowledgment, which I hope means more to you than a filthy click on a much too convenient button of the kind you won't find over here.

Thank you! Then I will pride myself on the unofficial title . Indeed, your time taken definitely means much more. Big thanks for clarifying the tape issue, too!

Hahahaha. Excellent! Outstanding! Being a sucker for eloquent phrases, that sentence absolutely made my day! With your permission, I'm going to put it in my signature line for a while.

Be my guest, it will be an honour.

Since your the keeper of the gloves at the moment (remember your hundredths post), you can do the honors yourself.

[sup]ha...[/sup] ha... HA... mwaaahahahahhahahah!!! <most evilish laughter ever uttered> Okay, so who's next in line? :

kind regards,
Matt

 

[Matt]

But hey dont restrict yourself to unicot, every now and then go the full dilocut and if you dont like the result tape it up and 5 minutes later you know you will have a perfect unicot edge and whats more, one time you try the HHT will be Sooo close that you think "Sod it. Lets see if I can pull this sucker in, without tape" and BINGO!! Dilocut edge, performed perfectly, by your good self!

You know you will try it

I have. Quite inadvertently. I took all my shaving and honing gear with me for a family Easter trip to the seaside where my grandma and part of the family lives. I took everything but the tape. I took a full hollow Schutze Kiebitz with me (recently I got to know that it was my grand-grandfather who was using it, not just his son as I had thought) - why not my super-Unicot Wapi? - my damn cat managed to throw it down from the very top shelf in the bathroom, and it suffered a tiny edge bite near the heel. :cry: Boris wasn't harmed during this accident.

So I was forced to try a Dilucot during Easter weekend, as it wasn't so easy to get the tape during holiday. After the first attempt, I didn't get anything, even violin, the 'shave' was absolutely terrible - all I did was scratchy WTG and put the razor away. Next day I spent, hmm, at least 40 minutes or maybe an hour, diluting carefully, step by step. I lost the count but it was surely more than 10 dilutions (Funny thing, my sister gave a remark: 'It's like meditation, isn't it?' ). Result: NO-THING. :| HHT 0 and this time I didn't bother to try it on my face. After I came back home I unicotted this oldie, instant improvement.

D'oh!

kind regards,
Matt

 

[Smythe]

Hey man, nothing beat a failure but a try, though I wouldn't exactly call it a failure because something changed and you only have to adjust something one way or the other to get that edge... Don't you just love Dilucot?.

I usually feel for a slight "drag" on the razor then I add water to the slurry to dilute (as opposed to just keeping the slurry “fluid”). Another thing I do… when the slurry gets black I will rinse the hone and dry with a paper towel (no lint), then flood the surface with water, then rub the slurry stone very lightly to make a small amount of fresh slurry, not much… the water is still clear (it is as if you simply washed of the dried slurry form the rubbing stone into the water on the surface of the hone) so there is just a few grits in the water to start the cutting. Then hone the razor… keep adding water as needed. The water may not turn gray, but instead black specks from the steel floating around. At some point the drag may come back again, and then I do the HHT... it usually improve… and so should the shave.

Now my stone does not give up slurry with water alone, however, your stone may be different and it may give up slurry when using with water alone so this technique may or may not work in that case… or you may adjust the dilution to fit your stone.

Another thing, I live in NY and the humidity here changes at the drop of a hat. On a humid day I may go 50 to 70 laps without needing to add water, however on a dry day I may need to add water after every ten laps… and it gets complicated when the humidity is somewhere in between, so as I hone the blade I watch for a change in the complexion and texture of the slurry to know when to add water or renew the slurry (another reason I don’t count laps).

Hope this helps my friend

 

[Bart]

http://www.coticule.be/the-cafeteria/topic/425.html

Has most likely obsoleted the "old" Dilucot procedure. I find the improved procedure as easy as Unicot, on most razors.

Kind regards,
Bart.

 

[tat2Ralfy]

http://www.coticule.be/the-cafeteria/topic/425.html

Has most likely obsoleted the "old" Dilucot procedure. I find the improved procedure as easy as Unicot, on most razors.

Kind regards,
Bart.

Now that is a bold statement!! :thumbup: