IBC Shavette first impressions

[jasonb8736]

I ordered this razor online by contacting "Ricky" at IBC via email. He gave me my delivery options and voilà! The razor arrived in Ontario, Canada within a couple of weeks.

I paid $69 for the razor, plus $20 for delivery (all USD). The razor arrived well packaged and in a neat little pine box/coffin. It is a rustic coffin, not varnished or finished beyond sanding and I like it that way.

The razor is solid, well built and innovative. I threw a Feather ProGuard in it and had a very pleasant first shave with this razor. I didn't really have any issues with the polished metal slipping in my hand, but that will likely be a problem for other shavers. I don't think I'll ever use the half DE blade option, but it is nice to have if that's your deal.

My one criticism is that putting the feather artist club (FAC) blades in the razor is far more of a pain than when using the actual FAC razor. With the FAC razor, you simply pinch the receiving piece, drop the blade in the designated space, shake it until it is flat and true and you're ready to go. It literally takes seconds.

With the IBC razor, the blade gets laid onto the open part of the receiving piece and is supposed to stay put due to the small magnets attached to this receiver piece. I found that when putting the razor into ready position to tighten the screw, the blade shifts and has to be fiddled with to make it straight and true. I also found that since the receiver piece is held together using a screw, it will move if touched and does not have a "snap in" position that prevents the receiver piece from moving, thus affecting the trueness of the blade edge.

After a few minutes, I got it where it should be and had a pleasant shave. I noted to myself that I spent more time trying to get the blade properly centred than it would have taken me to put a blade in the FAC razor and complete a first pass.

For now, I'll chalk this up to learning how to use a new tool…but part of me thinks the simplicity of the FAC razor wins the day in that regard. Either way, I like this IBC razor and suspect I will figure out how to get the razor up and running far more efficiently as time goes on.

 

[Snuff-Belgium]

Brandy and Black are available, waiting on a answer to get one.

 

[Rdefreitas]

Just received the black one a few days ago. Great razor!! First couple of shaves was rough. But after lighter touch today, so much better.

 

[Snuff-Belgium]

The red one should arrive this week.

 

[Rschan]

When I heard its made out of zamak my interest faded away. Still its a very nice looking razor!!

 

[Rdefreitas]

Why no interest in zamac??

 

[mjclark]

The recommendation of the OP prompted me to get an IBC - I know that Snuff loves his DX so if he likes the IBC then it's got to be worth a go [emoji3]

My nickel scaled version arrived today (from Switzerland!)
I'm in UK so I contacted the IBC main man Ricky Toon about shipping.
He is courteous, helpful and quick to respond and he suggested using one of their European outlets.

Currently that's Tallo in Spain and Candy Rebelz in Switzerland.

The Tallo website uses google translate for each individual page and I couldn't find the IBC on there so I went with Candy Rebelz, which must be the coolest boutique in Europe (their logo is some neon lollipops with skulls on!)
The Candy Rebelz site is only in French or German and I did enough French in school to make a priority shipping order.
And here it is, with a nice pouch and a supercool Candy Rebelz sticker too:

I went for a Feather Pro Super blade - the magnets and blade stop work for perfect alignment but I had an initial concern that with the thumbscrew fully tightened there was still a bit of play in the blade holder, exactly the same concern as jasonb8736 mentioned earlier in this thread.

But then I read elsewhere that, counterintuitively, the nubs that keep the two halves of the the head aligned only engage properly if the screw is slightly slack: PROBLEM SOLVED!
If I tighten the screw as far as it will go, there's some wiggle in the head but if I slacken it off a little it aligns perfectly!

And I love the fact that the whole razor can be disassembled by hand and that spare parts can be bought direct.

Next stop, the shave...

 

[mjclark]

... And a bit more about blade loading:
The three small circular lugs that the blade sits on and the stop at the end of the head seat the blade perfectly and in this position the magnets hold it very securely.

The three small circular lugs snap into three corresponding circular holes on the inside of the other half of the head (the side with the thumbscrew), and it really helps to hold the head with the lugs already pressed into the recesses before tightening the thumb screw.
Doing it like this ensures that the two halves of the head match up and stay aligned with no extra play, but this is a much more careful and thoughtful process than the product video might suggest.

And it was easy to tighten the scales by testing them upright on the a table and having a small screwdriver in the slot on one side and the end of a kitchen knife in the slot on the other side and twisting them against each other.

This mechanical aspect of the IBC is brilliant - the springs in the Artist Club razors and the latch on the Cobra Classic all look like they could fail irrevocably someday, but all the parts of the IBC are replaceable.

Oh, and the shave is brilliant:

Snuff is right on the money about this being somewhere between the AC SS and the DX - the IBC is a very smooth easy shave like the SS but with the clean efficient geometry of the DX.

And, unlike the French point style of the Artist Clubs, the IBC has a nice relaxed round point which makes for comfortable shaving in the tricky spots.

The grip and balance are good but, a bit like the Cobra Classic, this razor feels slippy and I found myself wondering if I was going to drop it.
This is just an illusion though, it's just a matter of gaining confidence with the smooth grip. Jimps would be more reassuring but in practice unnecessary.

And for some reason with the IBC I've got absolutely no irritation from the Pro Super blade. In the Artist Clubs these blades often leave me with a brief sting but with the IBC it's comfortable all the way.

So all we need now is a UK distributor...

 

[Rdefreitas]

Does the blade holder move on you if you push on it a little when it's closed??

 

[mjclark]

Does the blade holder move on you if you push on it a little when it's closed??

This was the problem, but by holding the head snapped together in place with one hand whilst tightening the thumbscrew with the other hand, this problem is eliminated.

It does take a bit of care to get the two halves of the head snapped together properly though.

 

[Rdefreitas]

I cannot seem to get them fully aligned I guess. Always has some wiggle. It doesn't truly affect the shave but since not putting pressure to shave but just annoys me.

 

[mjclark]

I cannot seem to get them fully aligned I guess. Always has some wiggle. It doesn't truly affect the shave but since not putting pressure to shave but just annoys me.

What blade are you using? The thicker Feather Pro Supers are the most difficult because they leave the least width of lug exposed to fit into the circular recesses.
And it is a very precise job to find the correct position for the lugs to fully snap in.

 

[Rdefreitas]

Pro supers

 

[mjclark]

Pro supers

Me too! Shaves nice with the Super - a lot more relaxed than my CJB...

 

[pigmypuncher]

Interesting... Is it big enough to fit the Dovo long blades?

 

[Rdefreitas]

Interesting... Is it big enough to fit the Dovo long blades?

I do not think so It doesn't say that it can nor do I have any to try out I have a dovo shavette and it seems a little bigger than the IBC, reach out to Irving barber they really helpful.

 

[mjclark]

Oh dear, as well as the problem of the play between the two halves of the head, the Feather Pro blade makes contact with the bottom of the scales when the razor is closed.
Grim indeed - this isn't the case with the standard injector and DE blades but it's a serious issue nonetheless.

I guess barbers would remove the blade before putting the razor away, but I'd like to be able to close the IBC at home without damaging the blade edge.

 

[jasonb8736]

I went for a Feather Pro Super blade - the magnets and blade stop work for perfect alignment but I had an initial concern that with the thumbscrew fully tightened there was still a bit of play in the blade holder, exactly the same concern as jasonb8736 mentioned earlier in this thread.

But then I read elsewhere that, counterintuitively, the nubs that keep the two halves of the the head aligned only engage properly if the screw is slightly slack: PROBLEM SOLVED!
If I tighten the screw as far as it will go, there's some wiggle in the head but if I slacken it off a little it aligns perfectly!

Interesting. I'll have to revisit this razor as I had grown irritated with this issue. Thanks for posting .

 

[mjclark]

Interesting. I'll have to revisit this razor as I had grown irritated with this issue. Thanks for posting .

Yes - by not over tightening, and holding the head in place whilst doing up the screw the problem is minimised but it will still misalign if you push it hard enough, which IS irritating!
And now there's the issue of the Feather blades contacting the scales too...hmmm.

 

[mjclark]

With standard injector blades, the IBC is perfect. The play in the head is gone and the blade folds into the scales without making contact.
And the standard injector blades are rigid and powerful but much kinder than the Feather Pros:

This feels like a Sextoblade or Monsieur Charles shave but they have square points.
The round point of the IBC makes for a really comfortable and relaxed shave and the geometry is superb!
Hats off to Ricky Toone!

I contacted him about the issues of play in the head and the Feather Pros contacting the scales.
He explained that as a barber he wouldn't keep the blade in the razor between shaves so hadn't realised but was going to look into and address the issue of the blade contact.
And significantly, he also explained that the thumbscrew is positioned to centre on the standard injector and DE blades, so for these there's no problem with doing the head up tight.

It's really looking like the blades of choice for the IBC are the standard injectors and I guess there will be mechanical revisions to make it ideal for the Feather Pros too (it still works pretty good with them already anyway).
Because of the way that the IBC can be disassembled it's going to be easy to upgrade individual components without having to replace the whole razor.

And again I'm struck by how brilliant the geometry is - this is much more relaxed than the Artist Clubs and Sextoblade, but just as efficient and irritation free. Superb!