SOTD Saturday 3rd October to Friday 9th October 2015

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fancontroller said:
Tabac-omatic Friday​
Prep: Hot shower
Pre: Murdock Avalon pre-shave oil
Soap: Tabac
Bowl: Woodhead Pedestal
Brush: Vie-Long Horse Hair 13061M
Razor: PAL Injecto-matic
Blade: Personna (1)
After: WH, Tabac AS, Tabac ASB

First time using a PAL Injecto-matic. It's very nimble and super grippy - it's got lines all over the place. For my maiden voyage I used a personna blade from Connaught's. I'd been advised that a Chinese Schick blade is best suited to this razor but I gotta find out how it performs with all my injector blades, so I started with the cheapest. The shave felt a little scratchy but not uncomfortable. Very difficult to judge how much pressure and at what angle but I found it pretty intuitive.
The result was a DFS, almost BBS with only very minor irritation. I reckon once I get used to this razor it will become very easy to handle. This shows a lot of promise and I'm especially looking forward to using it with different blades.

Hope you're having a great Tabac-Friday too.

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Hows that vie-long?
 
Oomer said:
Hows that vie-long?
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It's one of my favourites, above my badgers and my boars and about level with my synthetics.
The handle has a great feel to it, slightly too short but, even so, an easy comfortable grip. Looks fab.
They don't kill the horses to get the stuff which is a bonus for me; unlike those Chinese dusters they have to kill for synthetic brushes ;). It does shed a few hairs but nothing to be worried about.
According to Gifts&Care it's 35% mane hair; 65% tail hair, although I'm not completely sure of this, as I did a lot of research also into 50% mane/50% tail and can't remember if I saw this brush described as 50/50. Anyhow it's the perfect backbone & softness for me, so whatever it is, I like it.

Horse hair gets a lot of neigh-sayers (joke, sorry) about stinking and tangling etc. but I haven't experienced this really. Stink went very quickly after a shampoo and first use, no different to badger or boar. It definitely feels different in use. At first it's a bit stritchy/tickly but in a good way when brushing circles on the face then when painting on it's really soft. Splay is perfect and backbone firm without "poking" at you. The knot is quite dense which I think improves this brush against other horse hair brushes.

Hope that's enough description. As with all things shaving, YMMV so you'll never really know unless you try it yourself but at just over 30 euros from G&C so not a massive expense. Personally I think it's worth a lot more than that but that's just me.
 
Bechet said:
Mine has just arrived. You gotta be kinding! If it were bigger I'd use it to sweep the yard! Seriously - it lathers soap??
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It ain't that big, just a decent gentlemanly size and yes, it lathers soap like a greyhound after a rabbit. Just the right size for face lathering for me, knot-wise, although I do prefer a larger handle.

Here's my hand-carved boar with the same knot set to a lower loft sat next to a 20102 and my old Simpsons Colonel:

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Aha! there's the thing, right there - a lower loft! Agreed, it lathers - and then some. Gave it a five minute soak and then washed it out. Next question is whether to dry it out before attacking those tips with a ball-pein hammer or do it now while they are still wet.
Oh! that's the second question - where did I leave my anvil?

Blow drier, indeed, what was Mike on?

You remind me, sir, about the little matter of a handle in yew. Yon centre brush looks great!
 
Bechet said:
You remind me, sir, about the little matter of a handle in yew. Yon centre brush looks great!
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Aye, Yew handle......:oops::oops::oops:

Erm, could be a while and then some as with my domestic situation having been drastically altered, I've nowhere to do any carving in the style I do. I need to re-develop a piece of Mater's garden which she is letting me use for working in, bless her. However, that means relocating around a tonne of gravel, planting a new Yew (how ironic) hedge, replacing said gravel with bark,, removing a small fence and gate, finish making my portable four-legged chopping block, servicing all my tools and getting my shave horse and basic work benches up. I might even rig a canvas tarp for that authentic yet practical Chiltern Bodgers' hovel look.

She may even have donated the Yew to her Dad's fire but rest assured, given time, I'll make you summat from the best wood I can find/scrounge/steal.....;)
 
How does death by a thousand high pitched shrieks sound? And as for Faither.....Crikey, ye can't let a biscuit crumb drop round here without he's on yer case! Shut that door, switch that light off.....

I wouldn't mind but I don't eat biscuits these days and am fully domesticated (almost) unlike the rabid teenager of yesteryear. I love them to bits but by 'eck, they've memories like elephants for remembering your past sins and mine, t'would seem, were plentiful! :rolleyes:

Bless 'em....
 
Bechet said:
Mine has just arrived. You gotta be kinding! If it were bigger I'd use it to sweep the yard! Seriously - it lathers soap??
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Well, I gotta eat my words! After having washed and let it air dry, I was surprised at the softness of the tips. I was furter surprised this morning when it loaded easily and readily and then whipped up a lather storm! It was a thirsty mix as I'd over-loaded a tad - all to the good - so I had constantly to hydrate the lather. It was also a new soap that lacks residual slip and so needed to be kept wet. Funny old brush - long distance lathering but - and a big but - the lather didn't get down to the handle, which stayed dry.

Especially considering the price, this brush gets 10/10 from me. Thanks to Graeme for bringing it to my attention!

PS - get your Faither to do the maths on a 60W light bulb left on for an hour.
 
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Gairdner said:
It ain't that big, just a decent gentlemanly size and yes, it lathers soap like a greyhound after a rabbit. Just the right size for face lathering for me, knot-wise, although I do prefer a larger handle.

Here's my hand-carved boar with the same knot set to a lower loft sat next to a 20102 and my old Simpsons Colonel:

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Is it the same knot that is in the 49?
 
Yep, it is. From the off, they are halfway to broken in so you can imagine how good my Ash-handled, American style boar is after 2+ years. For boar brushes, yon big Omega knot is huge value for money and the 20102 gives you more than the 49 in terms of aesthetics. Carl will tell you that the bottom section is real turned beechwood and although the black middle section is plain old cast ABS plastic, that shiny ring at the top is real metal not chromoplastic ala the 48. If you have a black handled razor in your collection like an EJ DE86, Muehle, yon Merkur jobbie or even better, a Super Adjustable, then they make a great stylistic pair for not much cash.

Surely Omega are due me a cheque by now...? :D

P.S. you can improve the looks of the brush no end by losing the daft sticker.....;)
 
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