The Vie-Long brush shown was sold as a boar brush (the Bombito from Bullgoose Shaving), but it has always seemed like horsehair to me. I checked with Phil, and he told me that Vie-Long sold it as boar. So it’s boar at least by decree, and a very nice brush at that. I do like the octagonal handle shape.
I was sent the tub of Otoko Organics as an experiment. Some where having difficulty lathering it, and the vendor was wondering whether it was a bad batch. The tub fell under my chair and I just discovered it, so I am belatedly running the experiment. I had zero trouble in lathering the soap: instant lather, good lather, and lasting lather. It did everything a lather could do.
Today I decided to try one of the Rockwell blades, and I was surprised when I removed the Feather blade to see quite a bit of tea-staining in the razor: rust along the cap and on the blade. I don’t know whether it was dissimilar metals or what. It is just cosmetic, I believe, and I can probably removie it if I want with a soft toothbrush and mild abrasive (e.g., toothpaste), but I was surprised by it. iKon stainless razors also had a problem of mild rust—tea stains—and I think that is one reason he went to the B1 coating. I have no idea whether it’s specific to the Feather blade, but I didn’t notice it with the first blade I used.
UPDATE: I notified Rockwell of the issue and got an immediate response. I sent them a photo, which enabled them to see the source of the problem: the tea stains were only on the cap, not on the baseplate, and they wrote, “The caps are bead blasted in a different way than the plates (so they don’t get scratched), clearly there was a component in the beads that didn’t get fully washed out in finishing. A quick CLR bath and scrub will almost certainly permanently fix the problem. I’ve notified every level of our production team to ensure this doesn’t happen again.” Once again we see a thoughtful and problem-solving approach. I have a lot of respect and admiration for this company in how they work to resolve problems. Start-up hiccups are not uncommon; once properly addressed, they don’t recur. I continue to be pleased with the Rockwell and the Rockwell experience.
Once again a great shave fro this razor. The Rockwell blades are okay, but for me they are not so good as others, but blades, you know? A brand that’s excellent for one can be poor for another. And in any event, I had a very nice shave with a BBS result.
A good splash of Blenheim Bouquet, and I can see the weekend just over the horizon: hull-down, as Jack Aubrey would say.
Let me add: the price of the Rockwell 6S razor, with all three double-sided baseplates, will be increased by $20 on Saturday, going from $80 to $100. If you are thinking about buying this wonderful razor, for yourself or for a gift (e.g., a graduation gift this spring), buying it now will save $20. But you have to purchase today or tomorrow to get the $80 price.
Filed under: Shaving
