Sought: Tools recommendation

[crfriend]

My old electric shaver is on its last legs (cutting heads being no longer available and the internal batteries no longer to hold an effective charge), so it's getting on towards time to get a new one. I've gotten about 15 years out of this one (which Sapphire bought for me -- and I owe her thanks for that!), so it certainly doesn't owe me very much.

So, to those of you who shave (faces and legs) what's a good one to get?

Many thanks in advance.

[JRMILLER]

Carl,
Shaving? You? Judging from you photos, I am surprised to learn you are shaving anything! My advice, let you leg hair grow back out, in fact, encourage them with a little hair growing tonic, then braid them. Imagine the look, you would never need fishnet hose if you were equipped thus. Truly a unique look!

[WSmac]

With my eyes (need reading glasses now-a-days) and poor flexibility there's NO WAY I could get close enough to my leg hairs to braid them!

Good luck on that CRFriend!


My facial hair grows out fast, thick and fairly course in the beginning.
I shave in the morning and have stubble appearing almost immediately afterwards.
A day later and my hair is long enough to grab with my fingernails.
I CAN'T STOP IT!

So.. here's what I've done to keep a relatively 'clean' face.

Here's the shavers I have owned within the last 20+ years...


My facial hair grows out fast, thick and fairly course in the beginning.
I shave in the morning and have stubble appearing almost immediately afterwards.
A day later and my hair is long enough to grab with my fingernails.
I CAN'T STOP IT!

So.. here's what I've done to keep a relatively 'clean' face.

Here's the shavers I have owned within the last 20+ years...

FACE:
Braun 3612... this has been a workhorse for me for around 5 yrs now I think. It charges and runs on batteries or off the cord.

Remington Titanium R-450s Washable... I purchased this one only a few months ago and the battery will no longer keep a charge AND it does not run off the cord! This is a triple-head. I wanted it for when my beard has been growing for two days or more since that length of growth can bog down my Braun. Now, this may normally be a good shaver and I just got the one with the bad battery.

When it did shave, it worked really well so I may go looking for another triple-head to replace it if I cannot get this thing to work.

LEGS:
Remington WDF3500... this is a really nice ladies shaver. It works well on my legs and my torso (when I'm into shaving down completely).
I have even tried it out on my face and it worked on two-day growth alright, but I'd rather shave that with a triple-head men's face shaver.

That's it!

When I have my full beard on and I'm taking it off, I use various tools...

Stihl 3/4h.p. gas trimmer - 1st stage
Corona hedge clippers - 2nd stage
VetAce Horse and Cow Clippers - 3rd stage
Fiskars Cut-Anything Hand Shears 4th stage



just kidding!

I do use my hair clippers to take off the bulk of the bears... I get a kick out of having this carpet of beard hair in my hands... I shave it carefully so it all stays together
Sometimes I think about gluing it all together to make a 'face wig' of sorts, LOL. Haven't tried it yet.

After that I may use scissors to cut closer or to get the hairs I missed with the clippers.

Then I go to the electric shavers. I don't like to use blades on my face because I lose too much blood that way... haven't required any transfusions yet, but I just don't want to risk it!

Sorry to hear you're old friend has 'bit the dust' CRFriend.

I think there are more than a few of us on this board who are old enough to remember when items were made BEFORE the rule of the Disposable Society came to be.

Glad to hear you got so much use out of that one shaver!
Please do not give it away to the Thrift Stores... they get so much over-used and beaten-up/broken items already...

Not that I really thought you would.. guess I just had to climb up on my soap box for a minute.

[crfriend]

Shaving? You? Judging from you photos, I am surprised to learn you are shaving anything!

The problem for me is that my leg hair is spotty and uneven. If I had a good Glencannon-like pelt I'd not worry about the matter, but the fact of it is that what grows on my legs looks like a weed-patch. I hated it long before I started wearing skirts, and now that my (otherwise reasonably shapely) legs stick out from underneath a garment, the splotchy hair just had to go.

And no, it's not long enough to braid. Wise-guy.

[crfriend]

With my eyes (need reading glasses now-a-days) and poor flexibility there's NO WAY I could get close enough to my leg hairs to braid them!

Join the club. I get to put up with giggles at work from the younger set who think it's just hilarious that I pull out half-moon reading glasses to see the fine print that seems to be on positively everything these days. It's comforting to know that the little buggers will get old someday.

Braun 3612... this has been a workhorse for me for around 5 yrs now I think. It charges and runs on batteries or off the cord.

That's one of the things I really like about my old Norelco -- I can use it when it's plugged into the wall. That makes it much easier when I discover that I managed to forget to recharge the batteries.

When I have my full beard on and I'm taking it off, I use various tools...

Stihl 3/4h.p. gas trimmer - 1st stage

That darned near had me spraying beer onto the CRT in front of me, and I'm still chuckling over it. Thanks!

Sorry to hear you're old friend has 'bit the dust' CRFriend.

It seems I spoke too soon. I did a little bit of rummaging around on the 'Net this morning and found that replacement cutting-heads are still available, albeit from Philips. This may obviate the need for getting an entirely new device.

I've swapped the battery-pack once before (it's not difficult, one just needs a soldering-iron and mechanical aptitude to do so), so that's trivial. I think I'll go for another rebuild than an outright replacement.

I think there are more than a few of us on this board who are old enough to remember when items were made BEFORE the rule of the Disposable Society came to be.

I heartily agree! The notion of "Throw it away and get a new one" just does not sit well with me, and never has, That may be why I still use 30-year-old computers from time to time.

[SkirtDude]

DEleted.

[earth_man]

Since you're a Scottsman and the Scotts are cheap, buy some replacement batteries and replace them. You do have a pentode vacuum tube for your avatar so you do know how to wield a soldering iron.

[crfriend]

Since you're a Scottsman and the Scotts are cheap, buy some replacement batteries and replace them.

Actually, by lineage I'm more German than anything else, and I don't believe I have any Scot in me at all. But, you are right about me being a bit of a cheapskate.

You do have a pentode vacuum tube for your avatar so you do know how to wield a soldering iron.

I'll not deny that either. In fact, I've already replaced the batteries once in the shaver in question. Sadly, there are no firebottles inside it; only an LCD display.

[sapphire]

Oh groan.....

That means *I* get to go to Wal-Mart to buy the new shaver heads.

[WSmac]

Oh groan.....

That means *I* get to go to Wal-Mart to buy the new shaver heads.

sorry but that made me chuckle.

About changing the batteries... GREAT IDEA!
I mean... for my dead razor.

Who do you buy your battery packs from?

[crfriend]

About changing the batteries... GREAT IDEA!
I mean... for my dead razor.

Who do you buy your battery packs from?

The internal batteries in this shaver are of the "AA" form-factor (many, many things are if one digs deeply enough), I bought a pair of Ni-Cad batteries at a local Radio Shack with solderable connections and fashioned my own pack. It was quite simple, really, and the current one has lasted about 5 years or so (since I started shaving my legs).

I almost always prefer to repair than to replace; just pitching something because it's got a simple fault and buying a new one just doesn't sit well with me.

[SkirtDude]

Deleted.

[WSmac]

The internal batteries in this shaver are of the "AA" form-factor (many, many things are if one digs deeply enough), I bought a pair of Ni-Cad batteries at a local Radio Shack with solderable connections and fashioned my own pack. It was quite simple, really, and the current one has lasted about 5 years or so (since I started shaving my legs).

I almost always prefer to repair than to replace; just pitching something because it's got a simple fault and buying a new one just doesn't sit well with me.

I have opened up objects and discovered that these battery packs are nothing more than AA cells tied together... in some cases that is.

I'll have to take out the pack in my dead razor and check them out first, then if they are the problem I'll head down to our local Radio Shack.
Thanks for the info!


I have kept alive and resurrected many electronic or mechanical items in my life.

The ones that come to mind currently are:

- My former wife's Braun Coffee grinder... replaced the cord, the brushes and blade. Kept it going for the whole 17 years we were together and she had it before she met me!

- iPod gadgets that were designed for the 1st generation but the 2nd gen would not fit because of the 1/8" plug hole being moved over slightly.
I have been able to open up these things and move things enough to get them to work with my daughter's 2nd Gen iPod.

- a John Deere riding lawnmower someone was throwing out... just had to get some pages from the tech manual, and some steering linkage parts and I rode that thing around for a while longer.

I've got a stash of parts from items to be thrown away that I scavenged down to the tiny screws and washers... someday I just know I'll need those pieces for something important!


I really wish I was better educated in electronics. I could be doing so much more!

But... something I'm REALLY PROUD of!... I taught my daughter to solder around the age of 12. She's already put those skills to use on one project!

I love the fact that she understands that it is possible to repair things and not just throw them away...OR WORSE... dump them off at the local thrift stores... they wind up paying too much money in landfill costs because too many people use thrift stores, like the Salvation Army, as a place to drop off the worn out and broken things they no longer want and are too cheap to pay to have disposed of properly!

[WSmac]

When we lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, the local borough ( like a county or parish in the other states) decided they needed to stop all the dumpster divers!

Fairbanks puts out a bunch of dumpsters for the folks who live outside of town. This is where you drop off your garbage.

Anyway.. we always had plenty of folks who would dumpster dive and come out with some pretty good items... I know I did a time or two

After many meetings, one local guy came up with an idea that the North Star Borough decided to use...

A deck was built and anyone could place items there they thought someone else might be able to fix or just plain use... a recycle deck.
The items would be left there for one week.

I was really happy to see them do this... recycling!
They also installed boxes for people to drop off their batteries.. as in .. their snowmachine, motorcycle, auto, and marine batteries.

[tooslowprius]

Too be honest I use a gillette fusion to shave my legs with and becuase I get such bad shaving bummps on my face when I shave I use a fusion power. I find these razors work really good for the legs since they have five blades and don't miss a thing, and the blades last a long time.