This will be a bit of a slow burn thread, but starting early might help with a little feedback and keep my motivation going. I’ve been wanting to do this project for a while but limited time and supplies have been a bit of a challenge. I’ll be turning a replacement handle for one of my GEM Junior Bar lather catchers from bog wood/bog oak/morta wood. According to the supplier this block comes from a mill in Croatia that has dated their stocks to 5500 to 5600 years old. I’ve recently restocked my supply and decided to start with the block pictured below. It’s mostly black with very dark brown highlights, sometimes it’s an even dark, muddy black-brown depending on the light. If you’re not familiar with the wood it’s partially fossilized so it has a relatively high concentration of minerals resulting in an extremely hard, and brittle wood that, for me at least, has proven quite difficult to work with.
My main challenges will be keeping the piece whole throughout the turning process, settling on a suitable finish, and securing the threaded rod. In the past, small pieces with any amount of detail chip out so bad they end up as scrap. I’m not going to aim for a 1:1 recreation of the original handle, but I’d like to keep it in the same ball Park. Beside the tricky material, my sharpening skills are probably not up to par for the needs. I don’t think the pictures show it well but the wood is also quite porous. On the plus side, it is very resistant to rot, but I’m not completely sure how the bare wood will hold up to the water exposure a razor handle sees and all the pores are going to attract soap sum buildup like nothing else. I’m considering a decorative wax with a bronze or silver powder which will look nice and metallic in the pores followed with a light topcoat of some compatible sealer, or simply a non glossy sealant. As far as the threads, I don’t think there’s much I can do besides go slow and steady to drill out the hole for the rod to seat. The thin walls of the wood are going to chip off at the slightest provocation. If I can get at least one usable handle I’ll also attempt to make a decent ferrule on the mini lathe from either brass or aluminum.
   
   
I’ll have 4 chances for a handle from this block, I do have a few more if needed, but I also have some other projects slated where I’d like to just keep the losses to one block.
Any suggestions for how to approach this project, especially if they address any of my main concerns, will be appreciated.
Updates to this thread will come as they happen, likely not much movement for a while though as I work from a non heated garage and it’s still uncomfortably cold out with plenty of time for late winter/early spring blizzards to hit.

Monday March 8, 2021
Razor: Schick N1 Injector
Blade: Schick Twin (5)
Brush: Turn N Shave/Fanchurian
Soap: Strop Shoppe Russian Tea
AS 1: Humphrey's Alcoholado Maravilla 70
AS 2: Skin Bracer
Fragrance: Nuit D'Issey Noir Argent

Back to the N1 Injector with a Twin blade in it for shave 5. I will be grabbing this one fairly often as I am curious about the Twin Blade longevity and whether it will go (comfortably) the 20+ shaves it is said to be capable of. #5 was smooth, close and comfortable. Grabbed one of my favorite scents from an old time and now gone soap maker - Russian Tea from Strop Shoppe. Frank (Dragonsbeard), I know you have a ton of things going on in that brain of yours but if you could do a great Russian Tea with STRONG scent strength you would pull me from my "NO MORE SOAPS until I use some up" position. Topped off with some smelly stuff and ready to get out the door after some coffee and forum perusing. Have a Stellar Day everyone !!
   
   

Saturday March 6, 2021
Razor: Schick G "66"
Blade: Schick (?)
Brush: Saponificio Varesino Cocobolo
Soap: Palmolive
AS 1: Humphrey's Alcoholado Maravilla 70
AS 2: Palmolive Splash
Fragrance: Tom Ford Grey Vetiver

Continuing with my Vintage SE focus for the week and pulled my Schick G "66" razor which just gives a phenomenal shave. The Palmolive soap provide a nicely scent lather and the splash completed things except for the TF Grey Vetiver which was the cherry on the Sundae. Have a great day guys !!
   

One of my GEM Junior Bar razors was found with all but the very bottoms of the recesses between beads completely worn to bare wood, so every other year or so it gets a fresh coat of tung oil. Well, technically I think I have a “tung oil finish”, so all kinds of stuff with a drop or two of actual tung oil I guess. It’s that time again, where the wood had started absorbing some water in the more worn areas. This time I’m thinking about using Tru-Oil, marketed for gun stocks. I’ve used it before on other projects and think it would make a good finish, but curious what some of the other more knowledgeable members think. Any downsides you can think of, or better options to consider?
As a side note, I got a bunch of morta, also called bog oak, blocks in this week and I think once the weather warms up enough to spin up the lathe again I’m going to give a go to making a new handle with some of that. It’s pretty brittle stuff so I’m not completely confident I’ll be able to figure it all out, but I’ll update on progress if anyone’s interested.

Something for Fuzzy by his idea.

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I know several people have modified Enders blades to accept injector blades. It would be great if you can post here with pictures.

In the mean time I just designed up an adaptor that I will be printing up. proof of concept. I hope it will work.

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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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