Aha! I knew it! I had this trepidation when I sold this one https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/748289303255129698 especially because they also took this very similar one https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/748289996039802817 …and I guess it’s probably for the best I abandon the foolish notions I had when I listed this https://imgur.com/a/mardor-z12y8cw and it was especially foolhardy to have ever considered parting with https://imgur.com/a/chassaigne-k0Fy4tt 🤔

But it’s also satisfying to set a new bevel, just not the same if it was already shaving fine (not to mention wasteful). And honing as a service seems less relaxing for myriad reasons. So compromises must be made. Thankfully(?) I’ve slowed a fair bit since the initial burst when I was getting into it, settling into a bit of an equilibrium with a handful in and out each year.

My honing enthusiasm provided too much rationalisation for razor acquisition and so I have …several. The winnowing process is ongoing and I’m proud to have sold 5 x 5/8 last week.

6/8 is harder because I like them more. Lately I’m wondering: Do I really need two 6/8 hollow-but-stiff round point French blades?

I’m partial to the Grelot. I do appreciate that it’s a bit more hollow and as a Canadian I enjoy the etch. Plus it’s my only nice Grelot and there’s some cachet there. And it’s in better shape. But there’s just something to the TI and it’s similarly my best TI and the pitting isn’t anywhere important so just sorta adds character. And it’s more towards a quarter hollow so …sort of a different thing altogether?

Inconclusive. More study required. Luckily they don’t take a lot of space.

Also: I’m always curious to see the grind toe-on every time I see a picture of a straight razor and that shot should somehow always be included in the metadata or something :)

Coooooool. Thanks for sharing.

This seems like a really nice size, good compromise between heft/lather handling and agility. Plus I like the jimping on it. Somehow I suspect you’ll hang on to this one.

And ya, wow, did you stumble onto a hidden cache of underappreciated and underpriced blades or did you set out to expand your collection like this?

I often see people wedging injector blades into things eg. Ender’s, Ronson, etc. but haven’t given it enough thought to guess if there’s a reasonable way to do that here.

You might also consider vintage razors, a lot of them are brass and they’ve stood the test of time to get this far.

Alternatively, if what you really want is machined stainless you can probably get it for that price from dscosmetic or yaqi on AliExpress. They have many models so it’d be worth searching out some reviews.

I’m unsurprised to see an overlap between meditation and straight razor appreciation. After all, using, honing and stropping my straights are some of my favourite meditations though I still try to keep a more formal practice.