Waterhouse custom razor passaround

Hey look. My checkering file has finally arrived!



I also took your advice and removed the thumb notch from this one.
 
... although for jimps, my personal preference would be for a short line where the thumb is to sit and smooth all the way along the top. That's a personal preference based on what I've used so far. I'd be open to trying it, though.
 
Don't know how difficult it would be - but if those lines were continued on both sides and bottom, it might look good. I'm basing this on an example I saw that was made from a file, the tang area was left partially unground, therefore the sides still has parts of the file showing - very distinctive and cool looking.
 
Right, second shave tonight and I caught myself ... right down low on my neck starting off an ATG slide up. Not quite stretched enough. It'll come up in a line overnight and be gone in tomorrow's shave ... neat patchouli tonight and moisturiser tomorrow.

Same drill, different soap ...

WTG, XTG/ATG ... and a good shave, more efficient than last night and both less and more frustrating. Less in that I know the drill and just went with it, more in that it did not quite feel right. My hand kept trying to creep around and grip it like a butter knife which is not good for any part of the shave. I do blame this on the thumb grip, which really wants to be held thumb upright against the heel.

Still, cracking shave and one of the better ones I've had with a straight.

I love the length and width of the the blade, love the heft, the thickness and really find that bang on for this kind of blade. The handle/handling does need finessing; I think you've got it in the latest version.

Now, I'm going to compare up against a Kamistyle which Rob made and I am sure he will not frown upon my comparison. I'm looking at shape and handling. First use with Rob's Kamistyle, crafted from a medical microtome I found the handle not quite right. In dimension, it is just like yours Mike up at the thumb/forefinger - just taller than wide. It tapers off more radically, but up front, at the working end it is very much the same and more so with your new cut.

These Western Kamisori shapes really do float my boat.

Mike - the new one does look like a big improvement. We would not have known from pictures of the first blade - it looked radical, but the thumb cut out does seem to have split us.
 
UKRob said:
Don't know how difficult it would be - but if those lines were continued on both sides and bottom, it might look good. I'm basing this on an example I saw that was made from a file, the tang area was left partially unground, therefore the sides still has parts of the file showing - very distinctive and cool looking.
Click to expand...

It could certainly be done but my jimping rate is £20 per hour :D

I guess we could carry this on indefinitely making minor adjustments here and there but I doubt we would ever reach a consensus :)

I think in summary, the blade is about right, the shorter length compared to 'western' razors seems to have gone down well. The thumb notch was mostly a thumbs down and the overall dimensions are about right.

Overall, for me anyway, this thread has stimulated good debate about ergonomics and shaving technique and highlighted the fact that we like what we like :) vive la différence!

Thank you to everyone who took part.

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