An Imprompt Honing Session:

Earlier today, I knocked my razor off of a tissue box and it landed edge first on my bathroom countertop. I checked it and didn't see any damage but due to the way it landed, I pretty much knew that I was committed to doing a honing session as a result. But I didn't do my normal routine this time around because it wasn't needed. So lets get started:

First I started with the Naniwa Professional 600 and I did 40 seconds worth of half circles (Japanese style honing) on each side followed by 10 round trips to clean up the edge. I also did 10 round trips on the nylon webbing before going to the Norton 8K. On the Norton 8K I did 3 sessions of 40 half circles on each side and 10 round trips to clean up the edge with 10 round trips on the nylon webbing between each one and on the last session after doing 40 seconds worth of half circles, I did 20 round trips to clean up the edge a little more:

After I finished the 3rd session on the 8K I did a little tip that I learned from a friend before performing my full stropping routine. First I went ahead and did 10 round trips on the nylon webbing and 20 round trips on the scrub leather. Once that was done, I took the palm of my hand and rubbed the smooth leather side until it felt very warm to the touch. Once I got the smooth leather that warm I could definitely tell that it made a huge difference when I did my 40 round trips. It was effortless to strop while before I had some slight resistance:

The edge looks great under the Loupe and the true test will be tomorrow's shave. It took longer to photograph, write and post than it did to hone my Gold Dollar 209 using this technique.

Power Hammer & The 209:

Today's shave was pretty good. I went with Maria Arman's Through The Fire Fine Craft's "Power Hammer" scented soap which has an espresso & root beer scent to it. I may have to add a little bit of glycerin to the soap because it tends to dissipate on me a little bit during the shave. And to put the icing on the cake so to speak, I paired it with PAA's Chocolate Bourbon aftershave splash:

The 209 did great and I got a close shave in 2.5 passes. Unfortunately I have to re hone the razor due to an accident while I was cleaning up my shave cave. The razor fell off  of a box of facial tissues and landed edge down on my bathroom counter top. Didn't chip it or anything from what I could see under the loupe, but I am sure that it's no longer shave ready as a result. Dang it I says because I wasn't planning on doing any honing today.

That's Not Good:

Earlier tonight, I got switched to the new version of the Google+ without my knowledge which was very uncool. I switched back to the classic but later on yet again it switched me back to the new version. Then I saw a friends post about it and when I went to switch back to the classic, this message appeared that you see below:

Here's the look of the new version of Google + which is okay, but in my humble opinion it's harder to use and to find things on it. I prefer the classic version :

I went ahead and stayed on the new version because when I close the page after switching back to the classic, it'll switch me back to the newer version. I'm not happy about this at all.

Reflection & The Doc:

Today's shave was phenomenal. Soap Commander's "Reflection" delivered yet another top shelf performance. This soap has an Oakmoss & Sage scent to it and it pairs extremely well with both Skin Bracer and Barbasol Brisk aftershaves. I went with Barbasol Brisk:

The doc done extremely well, but I do need to find a blade that will last longer in it than the Feather DE blades do. I got a very nice post shave feel in just 3 passes but I can also tell that it's time to switch the blade out yet again. I'm more than confident that I can get 1 more shave out of it, but it wouldn't be comfortable.

Ikon's New Single Edge:

Earlier today Ikon Razors announced that their new single edge razor is currently under production. With Above The Tie's new SE, along with more versions of the Mongoose becoming available and RazoRock's Hawk which I was told last week that it would be released sometime in 3 to 4 weeks. I think it's now safe to say that this has been year of the Single Edge razor:

Apparently it will be called "El Jefe" and there's no word on what the price will be:

I also talked to the new owner of Classic Shaving via PM on Face Book and he has confirmed that they will be keeping the original SE that started it all which is the Cobra Classic. So there will no shortage of SE razors here pretty soon as the market gets more of these razors. Once I find out anymore information, I will let you guys know.

Jack Frost & The 209:

Today's shave was great. I decided to go with Steambath Factory's "Jack Frost" this morning after my shower which has a warm sugar, vanilla and light mint scent to it and I paired that with Aqua Velva classic ice blue aftershave for today's hot and muggy temps:

The Gold Dollar 209 did great. I managed to get a squeaky clean post shave feel in 3 passes which is just about normal with my current stone set up which I am working on. I'm more than certain that a Shapton M5 12,000 grit stone which you can get on Amazon for $50 dollars would be great and combined with the .5 chromium oxide crayon which is equal to 30K grit when applied to the nylon webbing of my strop will be more than enough. I could go with a .25 diamond spray but in my humble opinion, that would be over kill. The goal is get a nice sharp edge that's comfortable and removes the hair in less passes and NOT to get it so sharp that you dread going near it.

C.O. Bigelow & The DE 89:

This morning's shave was great. I decided to go with C.O. Bigelow this morning and I paired it with Skin Bracer aftershave. For those not familiar with this fabulous shave cream, it was made for C.O. Bigelow by Proraso and it's their green formula which is Eucalyptus & Menthol scented cream and it's perfect for a hot summer day and it's also good for sinus troubles as well:

The Edwin Jagger DE 89 was great especially with an Astra green blade that's only on it's second shave. I got a squeaky clean post shave feel that resembles and feels like an ice rink which is a very good thing in 2 passes. The meet up is not definite but looking good so far. It will be my first meet up that I go to if my situation allows it.

Aftershave of The Day:

Since I decided NOT to shave this morning after my shower, I went with just an aftershave instead. I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's "The Beach". I planned on posting this sooner today, but I've been out and about looking in antique malls. Didn't find too much in the wild but what I did find wasn't worth the price they were asking at all.

The amount of money they wanted for what I found today was past being greedy. I could go on EBay and get the same things for a lot less and in much better condition than what I found today and yes that includes shipping.

Meet up is Possible:

Earlier today, I talked to my brother and aparently my dad wasn't completely honest to me about his current health situation. He has told me that on 9/16/2016, he's having a hip replacement surgery and he's also stated that he will try to come up from Florida and visit me within the next few weeks. Well my brother has informed me that they will NOT be doing the surgery until he stops smoking and considering that my brother told both myself and my mom that he goes through cigarettes like a kid goes through candy on Halloween, it's not happening anytime soon:

My brother also has said that when he visits my dad, he smokes even more than normal. 10 cigarettes in a row within an hour during his last visit. For those that don't smoke and don't know how much that is in terms of magnitude, that's half a pack in one hour. And keep in mind that he's smoked for 50 years, and has had half of a lung removed already due to lung cancer which they happened to catch just in time. They've also done put stints in both legs and put him on 2 kinds of blood thinners as a result of him continuing this bad habbit. Basically what I was told is that they can't put him under to do the surgery. And since he's on blood thinners as well, there won't be an epideral because he would bleed to death before they begin. So if I can swing it, I will try to make it to the meet up. I just wish my dad would be straight with me about what's going on. It's very frustrating to say the least. So he left out the "stop smoking" part of that situation.

Fougere' Santal & The doc:

This morning's shave was great. Reef Point Soaps are excellent and I went with their Fougere' Santal scent this morning and I decided to pair it with Brut aftershave splash:

The doc did great, but it's definitely time to switch the blade out. I also stretched the skin like I normally do with my straight razor and it helped some but not too much. I got a squeaky clean post shave feel after 2.5 passes instead of my usual 3 pass shave with the doc. There's also been a slight change of plans in terms of my next mail calls. Depending on what's restocked and/or released, I won't be getting a lot this time around. I was going for an entire set of stones, but I realized that it's really not needed considering that I have all of these lower grit stones and I really only need to get a finisher and I'm also getting the 1K stone that was recommended to me by Lynn Abrams over at straight razor designs. So we will see what's going on here pretty soon.

Kilted Tiki & The 209:

This morning's shave was good and very satisfying. I've been craving Tiki Bar and their Kilted Tiki soap for the last couple of days now which has a peat moss scent to it. Another unique thing about this soap is that scotch whiskey is used instead of ordinary distilled water to make this soap. And for a bit of extra refreshment, I paired it with Aqua Velva classic ice blue aftershave:

The 209 did really good after I took it across the Norton 8K under running water yesterday which I did NOT post in my blog. I managed to get a 3 pass clean shave. I also stuck with using a north to south or with the grain pass on my chin and moustache area which was more comfortable but I also didn't get that area too clean either. So that is where my doc razor will come into play. It's as if it was made specifically for that area because I have no issues with the doc in that area at all. So don't be surprised if you see the doc in with my straight razor.

Latha Limon & The DE 89:

This morning's shave was excellent. Good old Barrister & Mann has always delivered a top shelf shave and their "Latha Limon" is no exception. The scent is lemon, orange and rose and you would think that they don't go together, but the orange and rose really make the lemon pop. And I decided to add a bit of a cooling touch and paired it with Aqua Velva classic ice blue aftershave:

The DE 89 with a fresh Astra green blade was exceptional. And here lately, I've been getting better shaves with a DE safety razor than I have with my straight razor. But I've also been showering before shaving for the past week and the shaves have been much better than they normally have in general. But the Edwin Jagger DE 89 has been the best safety razor as of late. I'm also looking at slants and the single edges that use the Feather Artist Club blades too. So my next mail calls will be determined if the Alimigoose is restocked and/or the Hawk by RazoRock is released which I'm on the waiting list for both. PAA has a Bakelite slant coming out sometime this fall and RazoRock currently has a German 37 slant out. I'm "eyeballing" both these razors.

Fortitude & The 209:

This morning's shave was great. I decided to go with Soap Commander and their "Fortitude" scented soap which has an aged hay, aged tobacco and dark rum scent which brings back some childhood memories of when my late grandfather use to raise tobacco and cattle. Even though I don't drink by choice, I've always loved the sweet pungent smell of rum, so I paired this soap with their "Purpose" scented aftershave balm which has a Bay Rum scent:

The 209 was perfect this morning. And after just 2 passes, I got a squeaky clean post shave. I did have to do one touch up one area which is to the right of my Adam's apple which is normal. UVA used a trokar type device when I was put into a coma nearly 5 years ago. Even though it healed up, it left a dent that makes shaving that area difficult even with a cartridge. So I often have to go back in that specific area and pinch the skin to get it cleaned out. That's where the doc comes in handy along with my moustache area.

Honing Time:

After my last shave with the Gold Dollar 209, I could definitely tell that it needed to taken to the stones again. And normally when it comes to re honing a razor, I would start with the 8K stone and go from there. But I wanted to test my full progression and see how well it does. Okay let's get started and do the entire progression:

First I checked the edge out to see what I was dealing with and I could tell that it definitely needed some work. No chips or anything but it looked slightly dented from where I closed it:

Next I killed the edge. Until today, I've NEVER killed the edge on this razor mainly because it was finished on a Jnat by Anthony Esposito several months ago:

First stone up was the Naniwa Professional 600 grit which I reset the bevel and started over from scratch. I got slurry every where. I did my Usual Routine which is 40/40, 20/20, 10/10, 5/5, then 10 round trips to clean up the edge. But it still wasn't quite enough so I went back and did 20/20, 10/10, 5/5, and then 10 more round trips which got the job done in terms of resetting the bevel. With the premium razors such as Dovo, Boker, Ralph Aust, Ti and some of your custom razors, the amount of time on the stone would go way down because the bevel is pretty much set from the factory and I would start at the 3K or higher :

And of course I hit the Nylon webbing of my strop for 10 round trips between each stone:

Next up is my Suehiro 1/3K mighty mini combo stone and I started with the 1K side first and did 60 "X" strokes. Can't do the usual routine on this stone because it's smaller than my 6 by 2 inch diamond plate which should tell you how small this stone is:

Then I went with the 3K side of my Suehiro and did 60 "X" strokes as well:

Next up I did 2 sessions of my usual routine on my Norton 8k stone or what's left of it:

Then I did my full stropping routine:

And here's my stones and diamond plate after I cleaned everything up:

Like I stated earlier, I normally wouldn't start with the 600 grit stone unless I was doing some slight repair work or starting with a factory edged Gold Dollar, Gold Monkey or ZY razor. And I'm still trying to decide on which line of Shapton to go with at the moment. My budget is saying Professional at the moment despite the fact I would love to get both the 16K and the 30K. The 30K stone costs $10 dollars more than my truck payment does.

Pumpkin 3.14 & The Doc:

This morning's shave was great. Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's delivers yet another top shelf performance. I went with their Pumpkin 3.14 scented soap which smells like a hearty pumpkin pie with notes of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. To to finish off the shave I went with their Autumn Factory aftershave which is the sweeter pumpkin custard pie and it burns so good. It's perfect for a cool autumn day:

And since I used the doc, I don't have to tell you what kind of post shave I got. But I can tell you that it took 3.5 passes to get the shave I got this morning and I had a fresh Feather DE blade in there. I believe my beard has gotten even tougher this past year.

Beginner's Stone Progression:

There's 2 questions I get asked often when it comes honing straight razors. The first is "Where do I begin?" Basically there's many different paths as to where you should begin but if you are and/or have just bought your first stone, then this progression will be perfect for you. As you become more expereinced, then you can look at other progressions and/or techniques. The second question I get asked a lot is "What stones do I get or do you recommend?" That will be a answered later in this post because it too can vary due to both experience and other factors. Now I must tell you that this is my current set up and I'm in the process of changing it. Okey lets get started:

Stone #1: Naniwa Professional 600 grit (bevel setter/repair stone):

In terms of both bevel setting and minor repairs, you can't beat this stone. Especially if you are honing razors that require a lot of metal to be removed to set the bevel and if you want to complete minor repairs such as small dents, chips and nicks in the blade's edge along with some slight pitting. This stone will get all of that done rather quickly without much effort and excessive spine wear. I personally consider this my pre bevel setter/repair stone which is a must have if you are going to be honing others and/or are a vintage razor collector and it won't dish and wear out on you either:

Stone #2: Suehiro 1K side:

I got this mighty mini combo stone off Amazon for around $21 bucks shipped. And for beginners, you do NOT leave this side of the stone until the bevel is set. To check if the bevel is set you simply wet your thumbnail with water and using the weight of the blade only, gently drag the razor across your thumbnail. If the razor struggles to go across your thumbnail and feels like it's trying to dig into and split your thumbnail wide open from heel to toe, then congrats you have set your first bevel. The best 1K stone is the Naniwa Professional 1K stone. Both the professional 600 and 1K are known as the New Chosera line which is the same stone minus the wooden base and is not quite as long and only .75 inches thick instead of being 1 inch thick but they'll last a lifetime:

Stone #3: Suehiro 3K side:

Next up in your progression is the 3K side of the Suehiro 1/3K combo stone. This is where your mid range work usually starts and where some more experienced people start depending on their philosphy and what kind of situation they're dealing with. But for beginners this should be your mid range stone until you become more experienced. There's other stones you can use which are well suited for this. They are Naniwa Specialty 3K, Shapton glass 4K, Naniwa Specialty 5K, Shapton Professional 3K and 5K. The Shapton glass 6K is more of a polishing stone in my humble opinion than a mid range stone and Norton 4K along with the 4K side of of the combo stone. Be warned about the Norton combo stones and full size stones. They tend to dish really bad and usually have to be bought once a year, so I don't recommend them. In fact I regret buying my Norton combo:

Stone #4: Norton 8K :

This would be considered your polishing and/or finishing stone if you don't have any higher grit stones. I like to do a minimum 2 sessions on this stone to finish a razor off. The first time around would be a polishing while the second time around would be your finishing session and should more than shave ready at this point and you would follow that up with a full stropping routine. Once again, try to avoid Norton's combo stones and full size stones. They dish very badly and apart from the 8K, 1 year is about all you will get out of them:

Now this is what I currently use. If you need a reference guide in terms of grit just remember to start with either a 1K, 4K, 8K, 12K or you can start with a 1K, 3K, 5K, 8K, 12K until you get the basics down and are more comfortable about your edges. Once you get roughly around about 4 to 6 months of honing experience in, you can start experimenting with various other techniques and progressions. I've still not quite decided on what I want to use just yet but Shapton is looking really good to me at the moment. I'll have to see what I can find that doesn't hurt the budget too much. I've heard that both Naniwa's specialty line and the super stone lines dish really bad but I've not experienced or seen this yet so I really don't know for sure. That's simply what I've heard. Now I've not seen or heard a single complaint about either of Shapton's, Suehiro's, and King's product lines at all. Quite the opposite in fact. I've been told that King's stone lines are extremely thirsty but otherwise a great stone. So my guess is to get what you can afford that doesn't get any complaints. Any way I hope this helps someone out.

C.O. Bigelow & The DE 89:

This morning's shave was just what the doctor ordered and then some. C.O. Bigelow menthol is really good. I got a very nice cooling effect during my shave this morning and it's also good for people with a cold as well. Here in Virginia it's started to cool off significantly and the leaves are starting to turn color and it's been effecting my sinuses so this menthol and eucalytpus was definitely helpful. And to add an even stronger cooling effect, I paired it with Skin Bracer:

The DE 89 did an excellent job as usual. I got a nice clean shave after only 2 passes but I could tell that it was the last shave on this blade so I put my last Astra green blade in there. That was also the last of my Perma-Sharps which are an extremely comfortable blade. I'm getting dangerously low on DE blades. I'm also looking at RazoRock's DE safety razors to. I was told that the Hawk SE will be available in about 3 to 4 weeks.

A Classic Returns:

Earlier today, I paid Bath & Body Works visit whom has moved out of the local mall and into a larger location. A lot of good resulted from it because they now carry C.O. Bigelow at this specific location which is cool. Before when they were in the mall, they didn't have it at that location and I was pretty much committed to ordering online. So now I can drive to pick it up instead of ordering it online. This was the travel size tube which will still last quite a while because it doesn't take much. Roughly about the size of an almond give or take:

I didn't pay much for it at all which is really cool. The full size is $10 dollars and the travel size is only $5 dollars. They also had the matching aftershave which I didn't need:

I also just checked the ingredients list and compared it to Proraso green and I can say that they are identical. I was hoping it would be Proraso's old formula instead of their current but you know how that goes. Proraso green was one of the very first creams I ever used with a traditional shaving brush. Even when I was still using Gillette's cartridges back in the day, I stilled picked Proraso green over the Gillette Foamy and Barbasol canned foam. That was the reason behind this purchase.

Refreshment & The 209:

This morning's shave was good. I went with Soap Commander and their refreshment scented soap which is one of their current limited edition scents. This soap has a classic sweet tea with lemon scent to it and since I don't have the matching aftershave balm, I paired it with my unscented integrity balm which is also incredible:

The 209 did great but I can tell that it's time to hit the stones again. I did 3 passes and still didn't get the results I wanted and when I did the money pass in my moustache area, it made my eyes water. So it's definitely time to hit the stones again. I have decided to get a Mongoose razor from Straight Razor Designs but if they're not available come pay day, then I'll be getting a Shapton stone instead along with a couple of other things.

Logo Removal 101:

One of the drawbacks to the Gold Dollar and Gold Monkey straight razors is the logo. The ZY straight razors are much better in that regard because their logo is laser etched. It's also annoying when you go to hone the Gold Dollar and Gold monkey razors, the logo starts to flake off. So when I noticed that my 209 razor's gold wash started to flake off during the last honing session, I got extremely annoyed and I went to Walmart and got a bottle of Acetone for around $5 dollars and removed the logo as soon as I got home:

Before I removed the logo:

After I removed the logo. It looks like they just went half way with it because the gold part of the logo wiped clean off and 1 swipe:

So if I get anymore Gold Dollar, Gold Monkey and/or ZY Razors, I will be doing this to remove the logo. But other than having to trim the heel and the toe of the razors and removing the logo, they're not bad at all in terms of honing if you start with a 600 grit stone to set the bevel. That's one of many things that I like about the premium razors. The bevel is already set from the factory and 9 times out of 10 the logo on the face of the blade if any, is laser etched. I do NOT have to put in anywhere near the effort in the premium razors such as Ralf Aust, Boker, Thiers Issard and Dovo like I do with these razors even though it takes no time to do with the right gear.

Knee High 2 a Grape & The DE 89:

This morning's shave was great. I decided to give Catie's Bubbles another shot now that I'm a more seasoned wet shaver and I'm glad that I did because this soap was really good this morning. And I got a bit of a surprise from it too. This soap has been sitting a drawer for over a year now and when I opened it up, the scent was still there and quite pronounced which is a good thing. For those wondering, this soap has a grape soda scent. And since I don't have a matching aftershave for it, I paired it with my usual Aqua Velva classic ice blue splash which was really nice:

The DE 89 done great as usual. But I did have to hit my neck area again after 2 passes to get that squeaky clean post shave feel and result that I wanted. I'm waiting on my next pay day which will be early this time around due to the 3rd being on a Saturday and the following Monday is Labor Day which is a national holiday here in the U.S. Straight Razor Designs will be loving me over the next few months or so. They've got A LOT of good stuff that I want.

Barbercide Restocked:

Last month, I ran out of Barbicide. That's about how long I go before making a fresh jar of it since I'm the only one who uses it. And since I have no plans of starting a honing service and the fact that I don't work in a barbershop, this small bottle will probably last me rest of the year. The mixing ratio is 1 U.S. quart of boiling water to 2 U.S. Fluid Ounces of Barbicide and it shines and cleans a razor up better than anything I've seen. And all you do after a 10 minute soak is rinse with ordinary tap water and wipe off what ever you were soaking with a towel or cloth of some kind:

I pat the razor blades dry to keep from getting cut but this stuff does an excellent job at removing the wax/glue spots from DE blades as well.

Volcano & The Doc:

This morning's shave was excellent. Sorry for the late posting ladies and gentlemen, I've been busy since this morning. But Tiki Bar's Volcano scented soap was excellent this morning. It has a semi sweet freshly sliced tropical fruit scent to it and I paired it with their Walk The Plank aftershave balm which has a sweet coconut and salt water scent to it:

The doc did great this morning as well. I ended up getting a squeaky clean post shave feel with only 3 passes but I could definitely tell that it's time to switch out the blade. Speaking of blades, this coming pay day I will be getting the alumigoose and some blades if it's in stock by then. While I enjoy the DE blades and safety razors, I prefer the straight razors and specifically the Feather Artist Club blades. They had no trouble going through my beard and unlike DE blades (apart from the Astra greens of course), they last longer. I've got a friend who has gotten 20 shaves out of 1 blade. So please don't be surprised if the Alumigoose becomes my go to razor once I get it.

Meet Up is Out:

I regret to inform you ladies and gentlemen that I will NOT be able to attend the Dirty South Shavers Face Book group meet up. Even though I want to be there and see all of you that are attending, I simply can't due to my dad's health situation. What would normally be a simple hip replacment surgery, has now turned into a high risk situation due to my dad's 50 years of smoking. A cardio specialist has already put it off once due to my dad's oxygen being too low to be put under for surgery and said that he wouldn't survive it. So they scheduled it for 9/16/2017 which is the day before the meet up. My dad had bronchitis and is still a heavy smoker despite already having half of a lung removed and bing on oxygen due to lung cancer:

It's no longer an option in terms of my dad putting off the surgery. His hip simply won't support him anymore and has fallen numerous times because of it. So that is the main reason why I have to cancel going to the meet up. I've got to stay near by so I can be reached just in case something goes wrong which I am hoping and praying nothing does. If I didn't have this along with some other stuff going on, I would definitely be there for sure.

On Borrowed Time:

I normally do NOT like making permanent decisions like this mainly because I like to make sure everything gets a fair chance. But in this case, I've given too much of a fair chance and have decided to go with strictly Shapton water stones. So these 2 stones are on borrowed time. Once I get the other stones that I want, these will be retired and put into storage:

First my Soft Arkansas oil stone. While I love the high polished edge it produces and the fact that it costs almost nothing, it cuts too slow. It's nearly a 4 to 1 ratio in terms of cutting speed compared to water stones. And if you saw my earlier post, you will know that I have to buy more 3 in One oil to restock what I lost from that leaky oil can earlier. If these cut faster than they do, I would have already had an entire set by now:

Next on the list is this piece of crap known as the Norton 4/8K combo stone or what's left of it. 1st problem is that it dishes really bad and has to be flattened and/or lapped after every use. And if I'm going to pay $88 dollars for something, I want it to last. This is basically a once a year stone and even though they have a full sized version of all 4 grits, I wouldn't buy any of them again:

So why Shapton? Shapton has 2 varieties of water stones and both are fast cutters from what I've seen so far and both leave clean and highly polished edges. And they have the highest grit rating in the industry which my beard requires now. 8K is no longer enough by itself for me to remove my beard without having to make 3 passes and that's after doing 3 honing sessions on the 8K. So I will be going with Shapton instead.

Oil Can = Junk:

There's a really good reason why this oil can is sitting on the micro fiber towel and why it got tossed earlier tonight. This little oil can which I got for $5 U.S. Dollars at Kmart leaks quite a bit. Don't get me wrong it's NOT pouring out but it's more than enough to notice:

I did have a shade under a full bottle but I have lost this much 3 in One oil which thankfully is dirt cheap and I can get here locally at Walmart:

^ If that had been the Norton honing oil which costs about $9 U.S. Dollars + shipping (depending on what size you get of course), upset would be an understatement:

^ Now that I've got my new spray bottle, I am good to go and don't have to buy another container to store oil and/or water in for my stones. And more blog posts are coming along with a major decision which I've been thinking about for quite some time now.