Adjustable for a Double Edge Newbie?

[Desmodromic]

All went well with my first couple shaves with the AS-D2, as expected. No major issues, just reinforcing that it's more sensitive to angle than my technique is currently delivering in a consistent way. ☺ Got a couple great shaves with it and working to improve my part of the picture to make it even better.

 

[Desmodromic]

Proraso with a Fusion? Was that a joke?
On a serious note though. My advice: Don't buy a second DE razor! Don't! You don't know if a DE razor will work with you. And you bought a very expensive razor. Just use it for 6-7 months with different blades.

Haha! No joke, it was actually quite effective when I treated the Fusion like a DE - Two pass with little or no pressure and it does a surprisingly good job. Doing the prep and using Proraso with a brush vs using my old gel alone made a substantial improvement in shave quality, even with the Fusion.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

All went well with my first couple shaves with the AS-D2, as expected. No major issues, just reinforcing that it's more sensitive to angle than my technique is currently delivering in a consistent way. ☺ Got a couple great shaves with it and working to improve my part of the picture to make it even better.

‘Great shaves’ .... sounds like a winner. Congrats!!

 

[Desmodromic]

It’s also true that with any adjustable you will usually eventually find your favorite setting and rarely, if ever, change it.

I'll definitely check out the Merkur as well. My primary question or interest in an adjustable was for exactly that reason. I didn't have any expectation that I'd be changing the setting frequently, but that I could experiment with more aggressive settings and maybe find something that works even better. And maybe move to a "fixed" head based on that favorite setting.

All good advice, again appreciate the input. I'm a gear junkie in other hobbies as well so I'll probably add a Slim when I come across one, even if just for the nostalgia.

 

[Desmodromic]

‘Great shaves’ .... sounds like a winner. Congrats!!

Indeed! Thank you Dan!
-Mark

 

[cryhavoc]

All went well with my first couple shaves with the AS-D2, as expected. No major issues, just reinforcing that it's more sensitive to angle than my technique is currently delivering in a consistent way. ☺ Got a couple great shaves with it and working to improve my part of the picture to make it even better.

Congrats on the shaves!

 

[Retroman1969]

I didn't have any expectation that I'd be changing the setting frequently, but that I could experiment with more aggressive settings and maybe find something that works even better. And maybe move to a "fixed" head based on that favorite setting.

It's funny you mention that, as I'm doing something similar at the moment
Good luck and have fun with it!

 

[ivan_101]

With all due respect, a 3-piece razors with multiple plates is not an adjustable, even if Rockwell advertises it as such.

+1

 

[fmueller]

I believe you are correct. My wording in my earlier post was a bit sloppy.

However, I understand Bakelite was commonly used on the knobs of some upscale German cars back in the day. To me, it's very fitting for a 1950's German razor such as the Merkur Progress and for the 1930's Schick Injector handles.

I don't necessarily like all plastics, though some are fine and clearly seem more durable than others. Bakelite has a certain nostalgia from yesteryear and I've never personally had the experience of Bakelite failing.

Good to hear from you, brother fmueller. Thanx for the clarification and the reminder.

Bakelite was considered super upmarket back in the day. You have to keep in mind that polymers - a term without the negative connotations of plastic - were brand new at the time. Nobody had seen anything like it!

Bakelite is super hard, but very brittle. I like to cook and I had a fancy Bakelite mixing bowl at some stage. You can scrape around in that thing as long as you like with a metal object and never see a scratch. But drop it and it will break into pieces like glass. You can also see it with vintage boxes for razors that are often made from Bakelite. Hard to find one without a piece missing. That's why Bakelite has fallen out of favor except for specialized applications - like fancy mixing bowls.

If you drop a Progress and it falls on that knob, I bet it will shatter. If it hits the ground with anything else first, the knob will be the last thing to be damaged.

So I agree it's fitting, it's upmarket, and it's durable, but I still don't like the design of the Progress. I rarely ever like the design of anything German made. The stuff is fitting, upmarket, and durable - but it's as ugly as can be. And I am German, so I can say that!

 

[santamariasteve]

Bakelite was considered super upmarket back in the day. You have to keep in mind that polymers - a term without the negative connotations of plastic - were brand new at the time. Nobody had seen anything like it!

Bakelite is super hard, but very brittle. I like to cook and I had a fancy Bakelite mixing bowl at some stage. You can scrape around in that thing as long as you like with a metal object and never see a scratch. But drop it and it will break into pieces like glass. You can also see it with vintage boxes for razors that are often made from Bakelite. Hard to find one without a piece missing. That's why Bakelite has fallen out of favor except for specialized applications - like fancy mixing bowls.

If you drop a Progress and it falls on that knob, I bet it will shatter. If it hits the ground with anything else first, the knob will be the last thing to be damaged.

So I agree it's fitting, it's upmarket, and it's durable, but I still don't like the design of the Progress. I rarely ever like the design of anything German made. The stuff is fitting, upmarket, and durable - but it's as ugly as can be. And I am German, so I can say that!

Brother Mueller,

I'm German too. My last name is RIEHLE, in English pronounced "Really."

I tend to like and to enjoy German razors. I'm thinking of names like Apollo, Merkur, and Muhle. They tend to be heavy if not too heavy, well designed if not overly designed, and well made. The bugaboo is the Zamak that some of them possess. I consider the non-consistent calibration of the Merkur Progress to be outrageously sad and unnecessary. Otherwise I LOVE the Merkur Progress. Keep in mind it first came on the market in 1955. How many other safety razors world wide have had that long of a market run? Sixty-five years and counting!

 

[Haiku]

Welcome to B&B.
My first reaction is don't buy another razor till you have established a good technique with the AS-D2. It is a mild razor but capable of giving you a good shave. Get a blade sampler pack to find which are your preferred blades. Good lather and preparation also helps achieve a good shave so don't understimate those aspects of the shave. Enjoy your shaves and take your time.
Don't change things all the time. The process is gradual stubble reduction so expect to do a number of passes for a very close shave.
The Shave Wiki has some useful information to assist you; ShaveWiki | Badger & Blade . Changing from a cartridge to a DE means using a different tool and blade angle is important. This will help you understand the difference; Blade Angle | Badger & Blade
A Gillette Slim Adjustable in good condition, if you don't mind a secondhand razor, could be worth looking out for when you eventually move to adjustables. The search may take some time but they do come up regularly for sale.

All good advice. When I returned to DE shaving after decades of using electrics and cartridge razors, I was a bit nervous but that ended almost immediately. I tried one razor after another looking for the best most suitable razor and I also went down the road of adjustables. I have a few Gillette 195 (fatboys), a "Mergress" (which is a Merkur Progress with a custom knob) a very rare Rythmic and at one time I had one or two Gillette Slims and a Toggle. I also have a Karve with three plates which is a type of adjustable.

I wouldn't spend a great deal of money or effort looking for the Holy Grail at this point. Use the AS-DE until you feel really confident in your technique. Technique is vastly more important that hardware. The AS-DE is a fabulous razor. It really is. I tried one for something like two weeks on a pass-around and it really is a hard-to-beat piece of fine engineering.

If I were to recommend an adjustable, I always fall back on recommending the Gillette 195 fatboy. Otherwise, a Merkur Progress is a fine adjustable to try out.

You also won't go wrong with a Karve. The fit and finish is comparable to the AS-DE. It's a beautiful made-in-Canada in a small shop by a razor fanatic perfectionist. I find the "B" plate with a Feather blade reminds me of the shave of the AS-DE. So if you want to try a more aggressive razor, you could try a Karve with a few plates such as a "B" "C" and "D" and see what you like best.

Welcome to the journey!

 

[Haiku]

The more posts I read, the more I realize how many advanced shavers prefer a high quality mild razor with a sharp blade. That's the setup so many of us settle down with after a period of experimentation. You seem to be starting out with that!

I mean, this is a hobby after all. Do what you feel like you need to do. Just understand that your first razor is just the sort of thing a lot of us end up sticking with!

That is absolutely the road I've gone down! I find a mild razor with a sharp blade to delivery shaving nirvana.

My Gillette 195 lived for years at "7". It's now paired with a Feather blade at "3" and I couldn't be happier with it. My Rocket HD 500 with a Feather is top notch and when I want something more aggressive an Aristocrat Jr. with a Feather blade is the ticket.

If I had a Feather AS-D2, I could see myself using ith with a Feather blade and not even remembering that I own a trainload of other razors.

 

[Peterv1]

I've been using my EJ89 and Merkur 34C for a while now and both are excellent but I definitely need something for taking down 3/4 days of growth some say get an open comb but I think an adjustable would be more versatile I've been looking at several ones but I'm still undecided I dont like big chunky razors so that basically rules the futur out maybe the Merkur progress? or maybe the Viking blade adjustable? decisions to make

 

[jagc1967]

I've been using my EJ89 and Merkur 34C for a while now and both are excellent but I definitely need something for taking down 3/4 days of growth some say get an open comb but I think an adjustable would be more versatile I've been looking at several ones but I'm still undecided I dont like big chunky razors so that basically rules the futur out [emoji3] maybe the Merkur progress? or maybe the Viking blade adjustable? decisions to make

Hello from Portugal,
I'm a fan of german machines, for me they work very well, but is my personal like.
Anyway consider the muhle r41.
To me is a great safety razor.
[emoji123][emoji123][emoji123]
The merkur progress, is a great machine but that knob in plastic...
I prefer the Mergress ...
To all have a great saturday.
Sorry my english[emoji4][emoji4][emoji4]


Enviado do meu SM-G955F através do Tapatalk

 

[marktyers]

If you are new to DE shaving an excellent choice would be a vintage Gillette tech which can be picked up for very little and were often included in shaving sets that are cheap to buy. My first adjustable was a Gillette slim and this worked well for me.


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