Picked this one up in a trade with both the V1 and V2 bottom plates along with the Maggards handle.  

My setup for the first shave:
ATT G1 razor
GEM stainless steel blade
Burma Shave Boar brush
Soap Mashup in the HIS shaving bowl
Old Spice aftershave

I decided to use the V1 plate on the right and the V2 plate on the left side of my face this morning.  The V1 plate produced a nice comfortable shave with very little blade feel.  The V2 plate has more blade feel, but not overly much, and ended up giving a slightly closer shave.  All in all I find it is a great razor regardless of the plate you choose to use.

   
   
   
   

Excited to have my first Valet Autostrop shave. Got one from ebay last year and was assuming it only take a Feather FHS10 blade which I have ordered a 100 of and are on a boat to India.

Meanwhile saw a Shaving With Fuzzy video where he shows how to modify a gem blade for earlier models.

Dug out my Valet AS and realised it can take Gem blades too. (Owe you one Fuzzy for that video)
Cleaned, sanitized, despined and clipped a Gemblade blade and it fit perfectly in place.
Picked up a VDH boar - i like its stiff backbone  modern Williams and had a go !

First shave I had with a Gem blade which was silent. There was no "scrapping burnt toast" sound- more like an injector shave.

I could feel the teeth prominently and the blade was held at some distance (snug in the tabs)so it wasn't a shave with lots of blade feel and aggressive.

Shallow angle riding the cap worked best. Again no audio feedback but I could sense it was cutting.
Mild DFS to BBS shave. Skin feels soft and smooth post shave.

Excited to join the Valet Autostrop club of all you fine gentlemen here.

Thursday March 4, 2021
Razor: Valet Autostrop
Blade: Gem (?)
Brush: Rubberset 400/Cashmere
Soap: Hub City Friday Night Lights
AS 1: Humphrey's Alcoholado Maravilla 70
AS 2: Avon Deep Woods
Fragrance: Azzaro Visit

New to me soap scent and maker had been sitting awhile and wanted to try it. I picked up 2 scents, the other one I had a sample of and used so I picked this to use first. Here's what it says on the site about it:
This namesake is often referred to as the glowing lights that emanate across darkened skies on Friday nights during high school football season. However, this scent doesn't involve the gridiron. We're talking the lights after the lights. The countless bonfires where friends gather to celebrate victory and swap stories of fame, glory, and friendship. I give you Friday Night Lights! This scent includes notes of charred woods (cedar, birch, pine), sandalwood, heliotrope, amber, patchouli, leather, musk, and a touch of sweetness of vanilla, coconut, and marshmallow.

I loaded WAY too much as it loads easy. So after taking the pasty stuff to my face and adding water while working up the lather on my face I was given a shimmering finish to the lather and went to work with the razor (AMAZING shave with it) I did feel it was giving me everything I want in a lather except slickness. I felt some drag with the razor and was thinking the blade may be nearing it's end. 2nd pass after rinsing had a little more slickness due to the additional water added. By 3rd pass lathering I decided although it was a shiny lather, could it possibly take some more water? YES it did and I have to say that I had a glassy shine that I've never seen before with a soap and I've used between 200 and 300 different soaps. The slickness was very improved. Not the best I've ever had but where I like it and finished the shave really chasing a smoothness on the face to match. Just and incredible shave. The scent is strong enough to enjoy and while I am not able to discern the different notes individually, I will say as I read down the list, I can sense each one would be in the well blended scent that is a winner for me. I could use a touch more smokiness but it is enough to appreciate. Decided to add some gas to the fire with the Avon Pump of Deep Woods and topped off with some Visit from Azzaro which is a cheap fragrance that punches way above it's price point. May need to spray a bit more on but it's cheap enough that you can. Have a stellar day everyone !!
   

(03-03-2021, 12:16 PM)Dave in KY Wrote: Nice haul Fuzzy. I had no luck with old Enders blades. Too tuggy. I grind/file a few mm's off the end and they act as a hold/shim for an injector blade which is what most use. You may already know that though 

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(03-02-2021, 03:08 AM)twhite Wrote: Actually printing a Triceratops right now. Cap is done had to re do the handle. I will see what I can-do for you once I get it dialed in.

Saw you're SOTD and it came out nice, congrats on the new to you toy tool 

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White Star soap is created for those of us who enjoy Williams and others like it for its cost and properties, but also enjoy dabbling in the artisan market as well.  Pete Hendrix of Hendrix Classics & Co. created it and it is sold through his eBay store.  He asked that I review it and sent me a cake of the Barber Shop scent. 

Right out of the shipping bag I noticed the simple packaging, great smell, and the added note with ingredients and company information.  The soap is on the soft side so I decided to press it into a vintage jelly jar.  The smell, to me, is a nice clean fresh scent.

I performed my normal routine of loading, which ended up providing enough lather for at least 3 maybe even 4 passes.  I proceeded to face lather and found that it quickly built into a very slick and cushioning lather.  It provides the slickness that has made my razors glide like they are sliding across the ice.  The soap left my face feeling nice and soft with a slight lingering scent.

I have used this soap a handful of times and highly I recommend it as an affordable and quality product.

Here is the link to the eBay store for anyone who is interested:  https://www.ebay.com/str/whitestarshaving

I used a brush and shaving cream all my life. Started shaving before 25 years ago, with a brush, some bulgarian cream (I am from Bulgaria) and an unmentionable razor.
On my graduation of high school my aunt gifted me the new then Gillette Sensor Excell, which was something very modern with pivoting head and cartrige heads. Unfortunately I never liked this razor. It was too expensive to replace blades and I just put the handle in the trash when I used all cartriges.

Before about 14 years, I found my dad's old double edge razor (soviet copy of Super Speed). Got some blades from the store and tried it. I was bit scared, because I knew, he doesn't liked that razor for reason. But I was suprised of quality of shave. Then I found shavemyface forum...

There was a lot of good people, who helped me with adviced how to improve my shave. I got some real Gillette vintage razors and the worked much better, but after all these years till now, I always suffered from one bad spot on my neck. It was real pain every time, when I shave this area with 1-2 bloody spots or irritation.

Last year a friend of mine from LA send me Captain's choice ceramic lather bowl. To be honest I tried using bowls for lather in the beginning, but never got result, which I like, so, I stayed face latherer. Big mistake.
This bowl is magical. It let me to create thick dense and slick lather from almost any cream or soap which I use (except MWF). In the past I always wondered why sometimes I get better shave with canned goo than shaving cream, which should be opposite. Now I know. The quality of lather.
All these years I missed 1 important thing - preparation. I don't know is this the reason or not, but now my shaves are constantly free of irritation, burning, cuts or other issues. My skin is sensitive, and lather from bowl is not that strong smell than from directly on face. It is more easy to find the right proportion of cream:water. Even cheap creams works well for me.

My daily razor is (unmentioned) (usually on 3 or 4). Allowing to use different types of blades. Lowest profile head (compared to others) is better for me.

Long story short : we learning whole life

Monday March 1, 2021
Razor: Gem Micromatic
Blade: Gem (?)
Brush: Dragonsbeard  
Soap: Dragonsbeard V1
AS 1: Humphrey's Alcoholado Maravilla 70
AS 2: Dragonsbeard
Fragrance: Prada Luna Rossa Black

So pulling my Micromatic out and dusting it off. This was a gift that I'm ashamed to admit I forget where it came from but I think is may have been John DeepSea  My file system works fine but the retrieval system has been getting rusty. Anywho I was pulling it out to join some others using one today. I had an amazing shave with it that had me chasing the baby hard and it was caught. The Humphrey's Maravilla 70 let me know for sure I over reached in a few spots but no blood was spilled and I'm eel like slippery smooth for my efforts. This scent is one of if not my GOAT. I don't have the EDP but it pairs VERY well with the Prada Luna Rossa Black. I hit the EDP HARD and I am definitely "That Guy" today. Hey, everyone I come into contact with today......as DangerousDon would say, "YOU'RE WELCOME" !!!!  Have a stupid Fun Day Everyone !!!
   

Title says it all, an “everyday” type shave for me while I talk a little about my routine and why it is. The goal is not to persuade anyone to do the things I do, but to encourage thought about why you do the things you do. I don’t think I expressed that goal very well, but that’s the way it goes 
I’m still working on tweaking both audio and video, but I made a few microphone changes that I think are for the better so any constructive criticism on video and/or audio is appreciated.

Ok guys, I'm going to go down this road now. 
I really want to like Schick, I want a good shave from them, I want to join the fan club, but I just can't. 

Last 3 razors I've had, I haven't gotten good shaves from them, even after doing the 30 day challenge using them. It just never happened. 
I went slow, made sure I did it right, and just can't seem to make it work. 

I'm ready to admit it may just be me. But it might have also been the razor, I don't know. 
Y'all convince me to buy one and try it again.

I've been a happy user of Personna Gem PTFE coated blades.

I hear that Carbon blades are smoother.

Like to hear about brands you folks use, number of shaves and online vendors where I can get them for bargain prices

Thank you for all your inputs!