Found a Kriss Kross razor on ebay at a very reasonable price and thought I would try it out. I read in a couple of different places that it would take a Schick injector blade like the Christy razors. Unlike the Christy (and most other razors), it had a pivoting handle. Prior to it arriving, I seeked out [MENTION=107383]efsk[/MENTION] who I consider to be an expert on slants. Was surprised to find out that there was a difference between a slant razor and a diagonal razor and even though he did not have a Kirss Kross (yet), he said it was a diagonal razor because the head tilted, as opposed to the blade itself being torqued by the shape of the head. He did tell me that for a diagonal razor, the tilt should be closer to 5 - 15 degrees and not 45 - 50 and like slants, I should not change my stroke.
It arrived today in pretty good condition and so only a couple of hours soaking in Dawn was sufficient. Loading the blade was not an easy thing. First I had to learn how to open it. The top cap did not flip open like the Gems nor did the base plate slide out like the Christy. Finally I figured out that you had to press the big C shape piece in the back of the head just at the right spot to have it open the front of the head just enough to be able to slide a blade in. The good news was that it was the right width to fit an injector blade in it. The bad news was that there weren't any hook at either end to lock the blade in place (unlike the MMOC using an injector blade). There were two nubs, but these were rounded and the blade could slip past it if opened too widely. After a couple of tries, I was able to align the blade properly.
Next step was to try out the pivoting mechanism. To pivot the head to "kamisori" style, there was a notch that locked the handle in place, however to move the handle to a diagonal positon, it was just a large clip that held the handle at whatever position you put it at by friction and nothing to click it in place like in the "kamisori" mode. I guess the good thing is that you weren't limited to only certain angles. The bad thing is that I wasn't sure if the head would stay in place while shaving.
Okay so only thing left to do was to shave. First pass was WTG and I started out with the head in the diagonal setting. I was surprised how mild the shave was, but apparently something was being done. I adjusted the angle and got a little more efficient. Unlike the Gem types, following the shape of the head was not the optimal angle. I found that I had to use an angle slightly shallower than the shape of the head. The other side of my face using the T angle went better but because I found the correct angle.
Second pass was ATG and this went better. I found halfway through the diagonal side that there was no major difference in the shave and so switched it to the T angle for the rest of the shave. Again, the shave was very mild and at some point, I realized it was too mild and so checked the blade. I had to reseat the blade as it got pushed back probably while I was adjusting the handle angle.
I decided that for my touch up, I was going to switch to "kamisori" mode and that was an absolute mistake as there was no way I could judge the angle and it just did not do any cutting. After rinsing off, I found that there was a lot of stubble left and so I had to finish off with my Gillette Guard.
Not the best of shaves, however I already have a rematch planned. I got the idea from the other thread in this Forum about using half DE blades in an SE razor. I took a used DE from my razor bank and snapped it in half and fit it in. Will report back if and when the rematch happens.
If all else fails, look for the razor in next year's Saint Sue's auction.
It arrived today in pretty good condition and so only a couple of hours soaking in Dawn was sufficient. Loading the blade was not an easy thing. First I had to learn how to open it. The top cap did not flip open like the Gems nor did the base plate slide out like the Christy. Finally I figured out that you had to press the big C shape piece in the back of the head just at the right spot to have it open the front of the head just enough to be able to slide a blade in. The good news was that it was the right width to fit an injector blade in it. The bad news was that there weren't any hook at either end to lock the blade in place (unlike the MMOC using an injector blade). There were two nubs, but these were rounded and the blade could slip past it if opened too widely. After a couple of tries, I was able to align the blade properly.
Next step was to try out the pivoting mechanism. To pivot the head to "kamisori" style, there was a notch that locked the handle in place, however to move the handle to a diagonal positon, it was just a large clip that held the handle at whatever position you put it at by friction and nothing to click it in place like in the "kamisori" mode. I guess the good thing is that you weren't limited to only certain angles. The bad thing is that I wasn't sure if the head would stay in place while shaving.
Okay so only thing left to do was to shave. First pass was WTG and I started out with the head in the diagonal setting. I was surprised how mild the shave was, but apparently something was being done. I adjusted the angle and got a little more efficient. Unlike the Gem types, following the shape of the head was not the optimal angle. I found that I had to use an angle slightly shallower than the shape of the head. The other side of my face using the T angle went better but because I found the correct angle.
Second pass was ATG and this went better. I found halfway through the diagonal side that there was no major difference in the shave and so switched it to the T angle for the rest of the shave. Again, the shave was very mild and at some point, I realized it was too mild and so checked the blade. I had to reseat the blade as it got pushed back probably while I was adjusting the handle angle.
I decided that for my touch up, I was going to switch to "kamisori" mode and that was an absolute mistake as there was no way I could judge the angle and it just did not do any cutting. After rinsing off, I found that there was a lot of stubble left and so I had to finish off with my Gillette Guard.
Not the best of shaves, however I already have a rematch planned. I got the idea from the other thread in this Forum about using half DE blades in an SE razor. I took a used DE from my razor bank and snapped it in half and fit it in. Will report back if and when the rematch happens.
If all else fails, look for the razor in next year's Saint Sue's auction.
