djundjila

Alright, it's been a minute since the last sub-exclusive hardware announcement, and it's time for a new project. We all have our sub-exclusive Moar Boars, and they're clamouring for a matching sub-exclusive razor. But it can't be just any razor. In sub-exclusive hardware tradition, it has to be the very best razor of its class at an affordable price.

Project Moarteen Organising Committee (PMOC/OCPM), what is this about?

I'm glad you asked! One of the best straight razor formats in the world is the 14. You know it, I know it, deep down even Pudding and Infernal with their paddles know it. There are lots of great razors, but the 14 stands out as universally loved: the big size makes it run calm like a near wedge, the extra hollow grind makes it flexible and gentle as a feather, the square point with the slightly rounded point makes it forgiving. It's the best of all worlds for beginners and aficionados alike.

Yes, PMOC, but 14s are super expensive, aren't they?

You're right, good modern 14s like the Böker 14er, Koraat 14-2.0 or River Razors 14 are pricey.

But could I not just buy a vintage 14? I hear those are great!

Yes, you could! But mint or NOS vintage 14s like the Filarmónica, the Henckels, the Iberia, the Frio, etc, cost a lot too, plus probably need to be honed.

That's terrible! How will we get 14 goodness to the masses?

I have an idea: 1) The Koraat Sparschweinchen is an excellent and very affordable straight razor with a roughly similar shape as the 14. It has a thicker grind and a round (yet surprisingly pointy) point, so it doesn't feel like a 14 at all. But 2) Ulrik, one of the artisans behind Koraat, also makes the Koraat 14-2.0, a highly acclaimed 14 razor.

🤔 1) + 2) = 💡

We could ask Ulrik of Koraat to make us a 14 razor with the finish of a Sparschweinchen!

PMOC?

Yes?

You already asked Ulrik, didn't you?

Yes, we did! And he's all in!

Ulrik agrees to make a sub-exclusive Moarteen version of the 14-2.0 with the following modifications:

• Instead of the 14-2.0 stamp, these will be stamped with lathersnoo, a simplified version of the Moar Boar logo to mark them as our sub-exclusive.
• The contours (spine, tang, tail), will have the raw forged finish like the Sparschweinchen.
• The scales will have a simpler, turned spacer to simplify assembly.
• The scales colour will be RAL 6035, i.e., the exact colour of the Moar Boar handle (in J33p's voice: matchy matchy 💅).

PMOC, that sounds like all of the points that make the 14 a great format are still there‽

Why yes! It's a real 14 razor. It's 15/16" wide, has a full hollow grind, thin belly, and square point with slightly rounded corner.

Oh, but how much will it cost?

This is the great part! In this configuration, Ulrik is willing to make them at the Sparschweinchen price, EUR 165 a piece, as long as we order no more than 50 razors.

That's a great price! How about shipping?

All shipping is handled by Ulrik, and he only sends tracked and insured parcels.

Prices are in three tiers:

1. EU: EUR 18, but EU group members will also have to pay 20% Austrian VAT.
2. Near EU (E.g., Switzerland, UK, Norway): EUR 17, no VAT.
3. Worldwide (excluding China and North Korea): EUR 25 - 30

That sounds fair, what's the timeline on this?

If we commit to an order in early October, Ulrik estimates that we'll have them in hand in Q1 2025.

How would we order this? Who would we pay?

It is a group buy, and we will reuse the Moar Boar infrastructure. If you commit to ordering a Moarteen, you will be asked to pay your part by Paypal to rwetshavingsubexclusives@gmail.com like last time. Our treasurer gcgallant will hound the stragglers.

Important: From experience with the Moar Boar, we should expect that there will be some people who change their mind and ghost us after having committed. Some of the organisers ended up a couple hundred EUR short (Ok, it was me). We would like to spread that risk among all of us this time by raising the price of each individual razor by 5% (or EUR 8.25). If no one flakes, we simply leave the extra cash in the paypal account for the next sub exclusive project, and if too many flake and the 5% turn out to be insufficient, gcgallant and I will carry that financial risk.

Ok, where do we go from here?

We will publish a sign-up post soon™, but we wanted to make this pre-announcement to get some feedback in case we overlooked a major detail and to answer questions you might have.

I had my mail held back during our vacation and I went to fetch it all this morning. My tub of No Scrub made it me 🎉.

I also got a pristine NOS Friodur 17 that I'm excited about, and finally a regular sized Tabac EdC and a comically large Tabac splash. If only it wasn't Austere August 😅

I see some honing and second luxury shaves in my near future.

Episode link

The last 9 days ~~up nort'~~ of the 10th annual Lather Games have come and passed and you must be eagerly awaiting your dose of of gossip, shenanigans, rankings, champions taking victory laps, and inside baseball.

Come join Chief Podcast Djustice OnionMiasma as he guides the honourable Lather Games and side contest djudges through this retrospective and celebration.

So, there is some contradictory information about Friodur razors floating around the interwebs. For instance, according to the text of German Wikipedia (English Wikipedia, the ice-hardening process for hardening stainless steel was invented in 1939 and patented in 1951, but according to the time table in the same article, it was patented in 1939 but the name Friodur was only introduced with the first ice-hardened blades in 1951.

But then I saw a mysterious 7/8 Friodur 50 on eBay with a patent stamp D. R. PAT 41-DL4678.

Now I can't find that patent document, but it seems to be a patent stamp from the patent office of the German Reich (presumably of the third kind given that the Friodur name appeared in at the earliest 1939 and the Reich Patent Office was dissolved after the allied victory). So it seems that this is a 1941 Friodur model.

It's also the only Friodur I've ever seen to have etchings on both sides of the blade. Here's the usually blank back side with a big sweeping Friodur logo:

It seems like the early Friodurs made a really big deal of being Friodurs. Must have been expensive razors.

The front side has the typical shank markings of earlier carbon steel Henckels straights (Later Friodurs have the swirly Friodur logo in addition to the Zwilling (twin) logo):

But the really interesting part is the decoration etched into the front face of the blade. First, there's what looks like the double-headed eagle of the Scottish rite of Freemasonry.

A big Eye of Providence:

A Freemason's Star (apparently not really a star of David, but a geometric regularization of the square-and-compass symbol of the Freemasons

And finally this image I couldn't find information on that doesn't make me want to put on a tinfoil hat. Supposedly a scythe and a winged hourglass symbolising time as the destroyer of humankind's institutions. I will not link to my fishy sources.

Here's the whole thing! I'm not sure yet whether I think it's pretty, but it's sure interesting!

I'm going to hone this puppy to get it ready for Austere August, $FriodomRiders, and $Honemeisterschaft

Has anyone tried this new AYLM scent? I'm curious to hear opinions

Are you a straight shaver? Do you hate rust? Do you like great razors? This is for you!

This is about leveraging the only meaningful innovation in straight razor manufacture in the last 75 years for a relaxed Austere August without worrying about your precious razor rusting while you enjoy your summer.

This is about Friodom! (from rust)

TL/DR:

1. Get yourself a Friodur, Inox, Eisgehärtet, Edelstahl (or any differently named stainless steel) straight razor.
2. Participate in AA with it.
3. Profit!

What do I need?

A stainless steel razor (If you don't have one and are tempted by this challenge, I strongly suggest getting a Friodur 5/8 or larger, they are all very good, and typically in can be found in great condition on eBay).

Can I combine $FriodomRiders with other challenges?

Yes! $FriodomRiders is compatible with $headless, $RawHoggin, $Honemeisterschaft and all the software challenges.

How do I participate?

Include the character string "$FriodomRiders" in your SOTD posts. (Yes, that's a Dollar sign $, not a hashtag #. If I never have to talk about hashtags in SOTD posts again, it's still too soon 😅)

What do I get?

The honour of displaying the 🗽FriodomRider🏇 flair.

Backstory

The heyday of straight razors is the late 19th century, and a 130 year old full hollow ground Böker looks exactly like one made this year. Even modern razors who try new design languages are typically made exactly like a century ago: A blank of carbon steel is forged, tempered, ground, and scaled.

After an initial learning curve, a good straight razor delivers fantastic shaves for a lifetime if properly cared for, and here lies the rub. Most straight razors rust. You need to keep them dry and oiled between uses, or they will turn into expensive red powder.

We're not really used to things rusting any more in our lives. Our cutlery, pots, pans, and most kitchen knives are made from stainless steel, so why aren't razors?

The first stainless steel knives appeared in 1914, and they weren't a success, but known as "the knife that would not cut". The ice-hardening process for quality blades in stainless steel was only invented in 1939 and patented by Zwilling in 1951 under the name Friodur (pseudo latin for cold-hard). This means that good stainless steel came about only after the straight razors fell out of fashion.

Zwilling (Friodur), Weltmeister (eisgehärtet), Thiers Issard and Dovo (Inox), Ralf Aust (Edelstahl) all produced or still produce stainless steel razors.

I'm convinced that good stainless steal razors are on par with good carbon steel razors, and they have an undeservedly bad reputation. Join me in shining light on the best straight razors ever made.

Are you a honemeister? A casual honer? A honeapprentice? Interested in learning to hone? This is for you!

This is not your typical tough guy AA challenge. No Ultra Nightmare Mode, no tuggy blades, just 31 good shaves.

Straight razor maintenance is a very accessible and satisfying skill to learn, but it can feel daunting at the beginning. The goal is to create small welcoming AA community for those curious about getting into straight razor maintenance, perfecting their technique, or talking shop with fellow straight razor maintainers.

This challenge is about straight razor appreciation and lowering the entry hurdle to straight razor maintenance.

TL/DR:

1. You start with a shave-ready straight razor of your choice
2. you use it daily with the same soap and brush to keep the number of variables to a minimum
3. If you're new to honing, you read up on honing straight razors (I also recommend watching these videos by @gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social), and ask questions about honing.
   If you have experience in honing straight razors, you answer questions of the newbies. Feel free to share videos, meet for voice calls on discord or matrix. Get a conversation going.
4. On the weekend of August 17/18, we all refresh the edge on our straights, to experience, discuss, and share the effect of a refreshed edge.
5. Profit!

What do I need?

A shave ready straight, a finishing stone, a strop, a brush, a soap, styrofoam packing peanuts.

If you need a finishing stone, Naniwa 10k or Naniwa 12k water stones are widely recognised a as good value. You can get one here for instance.

Can I combine $Honemeisterschaft with other challenges?

Mostly yes. $Honemeisterschaft is compatible with $FriodomRiders, $RawHoggin, and all the software challenges, but it is incompatible with the no-honing rule of $headless.

What if my edge is bad? Do I have to wait for the 17th?

No, this is about having a good experience with your favourite straight. If the shave-ready edge turned out to be less than, or you have a stropping mishap, or you have the world's toughest beard and softest razor, whatever, refresh your edge, that's what the hone is for.

It is recommended to start with a good edge and wait for the 17th, so as to make the effect of the refresh noticeable. If you keep refreshing your edge, the effect of maintenance is hidden.

How do I participate?

Include the character string "$Honemeisterschaft" in your SOTD posts. (Yes, that's a Dollar sign $, not a hashtag #. If I never have to talk about hashtags in SOTD posts again, it's still too soon 😅)

What do I get?

The honour of displaying the 🗡Honemeister🔨 flair.

Episode link

The third week of the 10th annual Lather Games has come and passed and you must be eagerly awaiting your dose of of gossip, shenanigans, ditch shittings, miscarriages of djustice, and inside baseball. You're probably also looking to glean intel about your fierce competitors.

Come join Chief Podcast Djustice OnionMiasma as he guides hon. Merikus and djundjila through this retrospective and definitely doesn't forget to edit some parts out.

Also, tell us when you're doing the challenge, please and thank you.

This Moar Boar of a sub member was loosing a lot of bristles. They were done with it and let me have it.

I was surprised how hard it is to cut off all the bristles of a boar knot!

It was so hard that I was convinced I was cutting into the glue bump and had finally figured out its shape:

But the actual glue came a few mm deeper.

I was worried at first that the tiny hand mill wouldn't be up to the task and that I'd need to find a 32 mm Forstner bit and figure out a way to grip the handle strong enough to withstand the torque of the Forstner bit on a drill press without ruining it, but as it turns out, it was quite easy and quick to get the hole deep enough:

I've set the handle with a 30 mm Maggard Silvertip knot, and I'm looking forward to trying the most exclusive of all subbrooshes, the Moar Badger soon.

The second week of the 10th annual Lather Games has come and passed and you must be eagerly awaiting your dose of of gossip, shenanigans, Osma poisonings, and inside baseball. You're probably also looking to glean intel about your fierce competitors.

Come join Chief Podcast Djustice OnionMiasma as he guides hon. VisceralWatch, J33pGuy13, and RedMosquitoMM through this retrospective and definitely doesn't forget to edit some parts out.

Also, get your spelling right, please and thank you.

The first week of the 10th annual Lather Games has come and passed and you must be eagerly awaiting your dose of of gossip, shenanigans, Osma poisonings, and inside baseball. You're probably also looking to glean intel about your fierce competitors.

Come join Chief Podcast Djustice OnionMiasma as he guides hon. VisceralWatch, J33pGuy13, RedMosquitoMM, Wallygator88, and djundjila through this retrospective.

Also, get your formatting right, please and thank you.

Share your shave of the day!