Raymondmillbrae
Totally bogus
O-Tay, peeps, here is my review of the Carbon Works CX-316L razor. (Which is still a work in progress).
I was super excited to receive the CX-316L a day early. It arrived Thursday night.
I was pretty excited. So I said, “What the heck?”...and proceeded to lather-up with some Mitchell’s Wool Fat soap, inserted a fresh Kai razor blade, and went for it with the same gusto I usually use with my Merkur razor.
So here is where my first mistakes were made.
1) I live in a place with hard water. So I have not mastered my Lather-Fu with the MWF yet. And although I use distilled water, I am not “all that” with the MWF yet.
2) I am using a brand new razor. So to go with one of the sharpest blades on the market, and then it also being one of the (if not THE) widest blades...well...not too swift if me.
3) Overconfidence, without restraint, killed the cat.
I was using a Merkur 38C Barber Pole razor beforehand, with the same Kai blade. (It gives me my closest shaves, on line with the Feather blades).
Long story short, I ended-up with some serious razor burn.
Only two small nicks, but me thinks they were just pimples that happened to grow at the wrong place, and at the wrong time, in their short, bloody, little lives.
Potassium alum was brutal across my entire face. No spot was exempt from the burning.
Drats!
Lemme sleep and think on this overnight.
Everyone had said the CX-316L had a similar “blade gap” as the Merkur 38C I’ve been using. Maybe a bit more aggressive.
And that is exactly what I was looking for in this new blade.
So what happened?
Did I install the incorrectly?
Hmmm...
Then Friday morning I received the Captains Choice Sandalwood soap and balm.
Good timing if I say so myself.
So I got my second wind, and decided to shave my head with it today, Friday afternoon. (I wasn’t touching my face, as it was still sensitive from the razor burn from last night).
I was super careful, slow and methodical, and very conscious of the sound of my hair being shaved.
What the heck?!
Best head shave ever.
I could rub my hands on my crystal ball head and tell the future.
So what was the problem from last night?
Well, after reading a bunch of other stuff, I have realized that there is more than just “blade gap” that determines the quality of the shave.
It is the combination of the “blade exposure” (which I will talk about in a moment), the “angle of the blade,” and there is also the blade sharpness.
All these things, working in conjunction with each other, will determine the individuals shave. (If he has a coarse beard, fine head hair, sensitive areas on his face, etc...).
So I had to sit down and start with the basics.
Blades.
Hmmm...I could have swore I read something about Kai blades being wider than most.
And if that were true, it would mean that there would be more “blade exposure” than other blades, hence more aggressive.
So I got out my reloading calipers, and measured the width of all the blades I’ve been testing.
CLICK HERE FOR THE RESULTS
Sho Nuff...the Kai blades were super wide. Hence they were more aggressive.
So I took a few pictures of the same Kai blade on my Merkur 38C Barber Pole. Look at the pictures below to see how far the blade sticks out, and also look at the angle.
Now take a look at the same Kai blade inserted into the Carbon Shaving CX-316L.
Look how far out it protrudes (making it much more aggressive), and also look at the blade angle. It is nowhere near as angled like when placed in the Merkur 38C Barber Pole.
So as you can plainly tell, this CX-316L is MUCH MORE aggressive than the Merkur 38C...unlike what everyone had me thinking. (It’s actually no ones fault but my own. It’s my job to verify everything before investing in anything).
So now I understand that “blade gap” is not the only determining factor in a razors efficiency and smoothness.
Side note: I remember reading that in a Shaveologist’s article, he claimed that the Merkur blade gap was .71mm. And since my Carbon Shaving CX-316L was a .68mm blade gap, it should be very similar.
I was wrong.
Anyhoo...so now my search continues.
Realizing this, I went for a face and head shave today, Saturday, with the same Kai blade installed.
I had learned a few things in the last two days, so I was prepared with knowledge. I was cautious, and methodical.
Super nice shave this time around.
My face was totally fine after the shave, and there were no nicks.
So my current goal is go down in blade width, but still keep the sharpness.
I will be trying the Gillette Silver Blue (GSB) the next few days. And even going with a Personna Med Prep as well. (The latter being sharp, but also the narrowest).
This should give me a “less aggressive” shave, but also keeping the sharpness.
Another thing I learned was the blade angle. More specifically, how I hold the razor itself.
I found that giving it “more or less” angle, made the razor cut the whiskers either easier, or more audibly. The latter being less efficient in cutting the whiskers. (At least I believe so).
Anyhoo...I’m excited, as todays shave was pretty, darn, nice.
Hoping to fine tune the blades to the razor, for excellent future shaves.
I’ll post more later.
And THAT’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
I was super excited to receive the CX-316L a day early. It arrived Thursday night.
I was pretty excited. So I said, “What the heck?”...and proceeded to lather-up with some Mitchell’s Wool Fat soap, inserted a fresh Kai razor blade, and went for it with the same gusto I usually use with my Merkur razor.
So here is where my first mistakes were made.
1) I live in a place with hard water. So I have not mastered my Lather-Fu with the MWF yet. And although I use distilled water, I am not “all that” with the MWF yet.
2) I am using a brand new razor. So to go with one of the sharpest blades on the market, and then it also being one of the (if not THE) widest blades...well...not too swift if me.
3) Overconfidence, without restraint, killed the cat.
I was using a Merkur 38C Barber Pole razor beforehand, with the same Kai blade. (It gives me my closest shaves, on line with the Feather blades).
Long story short, I ended-up with some serious razor burn.
Only two small nicks, but me thinks they were just pimples that happened to grow at the wrong place, and at the wrong time, in their short, bloody, little lives.
Potassium alum was brutal across my entire face. No spot was exempt from the burning.
Drats!
Lemme sleep and think on this overnight.
Everyone had said the CX-316L had a similar “blade gap” as the Merkur 38C I’ve been using. Maybe a bit more aggressive.
And that is exactly what I was looking for in this new blade.
So what happened?
Did I install the incorrectly?
Hmmm...
Then Friday morning I received the Captains Choice Sandalwood soap and balm.
Good timing if I say so myself.
So I got my second wind, and decided to shave my head with it today, Friday afternoon. (I wasn’t touching my face, as it was still sensitive from the razor burn from last night).
I was super careful, slow and methodical, and very conscious of the sound of my hair being shaved.
What the heck?!
Best head shave ever.
I could rub my hands on my crystal ball head and tell the future.
So what was the problem from last night?
Well, after reading a bunch of other stuff, I have realized that there is more than just “blade gap” that determines the quality of the shave.
It is the combination of the “blade exposure” (which I will talk about in a moment), the “angle of the blade,” and there is also the blade sharpness.
All these things, working in conjunction with each other, will determine the individuals shave. (If he has a coarse beard, fine head hair, sensitive areas on his face, etc...).
So I had to sit down and start with the basics.
Blades.
Hmmm...I could have swore I read something about Kai blades being wider than most.
And if that were true, it would mean that there would be more “blade exposure” than other blades, hence more aggressive.
So I got out my reloading calipers, and measured the width of all the blades I’ve been testing.
CLICK HERE FOR THE RESULTS
Sho Nuff...the Kai blades were super wide. Hence they were more aggressive.
So I took a few pictures of the same Kai blade on my Merkur 38C Barber Pole. Look at the pictures below to see how far the blade sticks out, and also look at the angle.
Now take a look at the same Kai blade inserted into the Carbon Shaving CX-316L.
Look how far out it protrudes (making it much more aggressive), and also look at the blade angle. It is nowhere near as angled like when placed in the Merkur 38C Barber Pole.
So as you can plainly tell, this CX-316L is MUCH MORE aggressive than the Merkur 38C...unlike what everyone had me thinking. (It’s actually no ones fault but my own. It’s my job to verify everything before investing in anything).
So now I understand that “blade gap” is not the only determining factor in a razors efficiency and smoothness.
Side note: I remember reading that in a Shaveologist’s article, he claimed that the Merkur blade gap was .71mm. And since my Carbon Shaving CX-316L was a .68mm blade gap, it should be very similar.
I was wrong.
Anyhoo...so now my search continues.
Realizing this, I went for a face and head shave today, Saturday, with the same Kai blade installed.
I had learned a few things in the last two days, so I was prepared with knowledge. I was cautious, and methodical.
Super nice shave this time around.
My face was totally fine after the shave, and there were no nicks.
So my current goal is go down in blade width, but still keep the sharpness.
I will be trying the Gillette Silver Blue (GSB) the next few days. And even going with a Personna Med Prep as well. (The latter being sharp, but also the narrowest).
This should give me a “less aggressive” shave, but also keeping the sharpness.
Another thing I learned was the blade angle. More specifically, how I hold the razor itself.
I found that giving it “more or less” angle, made the razor cut the whiskers either easier, or more audibly. The latter being less efficient in cutting the whiskers. (At least I believe so).
Anyhoo...I’m excited, as todays shave was pretty, darn, nice.
Hoping to fine tune the blades to the razor, for excellent future shaves.
I’ll post more later.
And THAT’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
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