Razor Clean Up:

This was so easy that it was pathetic and it was also a pure joy to do. After my Steampunk Genco wedge arrived it looked pretty rough with spots of rust and some patina to it. So after soaking it in CLR for about 15 minutes and then Barbicide for about the same amount after rinsing it, I whipped out the sanding disc, wire brush and the polish that came with my Dremel kit and went to work. it went extremely well and I cooled the razor with cold running water between attachments and I also ground down the toe to keep it from digging into my skin:

Here's the results of my clean up process which came out pretty good:

And here's after I did numerous polishing sessions with the Mother's Aluminum and Mag polish:

Up next I pulled out my Naniwa Professional 600 grit and did Japanese style honing of 40/40, 20/20, 10/10, 5/5, seconds on each side and I followed that up with 10 "X" strokes. It wasn't quite enough to take the chip out so I went ahead and killed the edge and did 40 seconds worth of circles on both sides, followed by 10 "X" strokes with pressure. After that I did the same thing with no pressure which pretty much took care of it:

Here's how it has came out so far:

I'm thinking that a little bit of time with 220 grit dry sandpaper and a little rubbing compound will make it look really nice in terms of the scratches and with a couple more polishing sessions, it will have a very nice shine to it. Not bad for $15.00 dollars shipped is it? And it sets extremely nice on the stones. Now I know why people like doing this with vintage razors. Now it's on to honing and stropping it now that the edge has been repaired.

Mail Call:

Today's mail call is my EBay purchase and it's 2 days early which is a good thing. This is my Steampunk Wedge by Genco from NY, NY. I forget what year it was made but it's in a little bit worse shape than expected. The sanding disc on my Dremel will come in handy after I get through cleaning it up. The hard part will be getting that chip out:

It was sealed for nuclear war. I like to have never gotten it open:

Here's a closer look at the damage towards the heel:

First to help knock down some of that rust, I soaked it in CLR:

Then it got a bath in my usual barbicide to disinfect the razor:

I'm hoping I can clean this razor up just enough to get it going but if not, I will wait until I get paid and send it to Straight Razor Designs and have them clean it up for me as well as re hone it. So we will see how things go.

"Play It Again Sam" & The DE 89:

Today's shave was incredible. I went with Through The Fire Fine Craft by Maria Arman and her "Play it again Sam" scented soap which has a ginger, lime, and tobacco scent. To my nose it kindly smells like Ginger Ale with tobacco instead of lemon which is extremely nice. To finish off this shave, I paired it with Walmart branded witch hazel. It stinks some but it's very soothing and the scent doesn't last which is a good thing. This stuff is also good for treating acne as well:

The DE 89 did great, but I believe I got a bad blade because I did 2.5 passes and still have some left over. So I will switching back to my old reliable Perma-Sharp blades. These Polsilvers are great but my beard is pretty tough and it grows fast. Those specific blades worked great for me.

Kilted Tiki & The DE 89:

Today's shave was just great. After a nice hot relaxing shower, I went with good old Tiki Bar and their Kilted Tiki scented soap. The scent of this soap is peat moss and scotch whiskey and they use real scotch whiskey to make this soap. They take the scotch and boil it down to remove the alcohol and use what's left over in place of lye water to make the soap. And to add a little more freshness to this shave, I paired it with good old Aqua Velva ice blue aftershave:

The DE 89 was exceptional this morning. Between the smooth comfortable nature of it and the fact tat the Polsilvers are one of the most comfortable blades you can use, I got a squeaky clean post shave that resembles an "ice rink" in only 2.5 passes. It will be a little while before I get paid again but I have 2 straight razors coming. My Steampunk wedge that I bought off EBay and I just heard from my friend Craig that a razor he ordered for me has arrived and that he's in the process of cleaning it up and honing it for me on an Arkansas surgical black oil stone. He sneaked and ordered a JR. Torrey near wedge with a barber's notch for me.

Last 209 Honing Session:

Well today I decided re hone the 209 and after spending some more time this is indeed it. I can't keep wasting time on this razor. Today's honing session was indeed an "eye opener". So let me inform you of what I did and why I feel that this specific razor was a waste of time:

Today I went with my Soft Arkansas oil stone and I stuck with my old routine that I use to use all of the time. As you can see, I worked up a really good slurry but it wasn't enough. After I did several sessions on it, the razor failed my thumbnail test. Normally after that kind of honing session on my other stones, the razor would somewhat bite into my thumbnail and struggle to go across it. But not the 209. So I must retire the razor:

After spending all that time and getting disappointed, I went back to my Professional 600 grit. I did my old routine and it still wouldn't dig into my thumbnail like I would want or need it to:

I went ahead and stropped in on the smooth leather:

This razor was a disappointment to me and even harder to hone than my Gold Monkey was. There won't be another shave with this razor and I'm deadly serious about it this time around because there's no way I will shave off of just a 600 grit edge. Out of all the straight razors I've owned this specific one wouldn't take an edge or hold one hardly at all. Even my old Gold Monkey Triple 6 took and held an edge better than the 209 did and it took a really long time to hone it. My 208 and both of the 66's I owned had no issues of taking or holding an edge either.

A Little Polishing Session:

Earlier today, I bought some Mother's Metal Polish, some red shop rags and a bottle of Witch hazel at Walmart. And I decided to go ahead and polish the 209 up to at least make it look better. So lets get started. I felt like I was wasting some of my time:

This is before I polished it:

First I killed the edge. It wasn't any count anyway and I would have to re hone the razor. More on that in another blog post here in a little bit:

I took a tiny bit of polish and rubbed it onto the razor until it turned black and then I wiped it off and I repeated this 3 times:

After the 3rd time, I grabbed my microfiber towel and wiped it down to give it some shine to it. Out of all the Gold Dollar razors I've owned, this one has been the toughest to hone and maintain:

Thank goodness I have a Vintage coming because this one specific razor simply won't hold an edge. It also won't hardly take an edge either. So here after I post my honing session on it, I'll have to toss it. I hate to do that but hey if won't take an edge or hold one, what choice do I have.

Purpose, Old Spice & The 209:

Today's shave ended up being great. More on that in a couple of moments. I decided to "Take Charge" today with Soap Commander and their bay rum scented soap which is called "purpose". Sadly this soap has long since been discontinued but that's okay because there's several other bay rum soaps out there. To finish off the shave I paired it with both the matching aftershave balm and Old Spice aftershave splash which kindly turns this into a spiced bay rum scented shave:

The 209 didn't do good at all on the first pass and it definitely needs to be re honed yet again. It was like I was shaving with a butter and just upsetting my beard. So after the 1st pass I wiped the blade off and put it away and finished the shave with a Bic twin blade disposable. Surprisingly I got a squeaky clean post shave feel after just 2 passes. In terms of hair being removed it was an ice rink, but I had some serious razor burn as a result. Soap Commander's matching aftershave balm quickly took care of the razor burn and the splash really burned as well.