A rant about uneven blade exposure...

[Rivers23]

After about a year of active wetshaving, I feel mad and discouraged. I have bought several razors and they all had uneven blade exposure.

Let's start with the biggest offender:
the Fatip Piccolo - it's embarrassing they produce it in this state. The blade can move 3 millimeters in every possible direction after you put it on the cap, you're pretty much eyeing the exposure yourself. I binned it after 3 days.

Wilkinson Sword classic - came with a bent safety bar right out of the box
Parker 97R - uneven blade exposure, different feedback sound, different feel on skin on each side

And the most disappointing offender: the Rockwell 6C. The cap is fine, the plates are uneven. Again, clear differences in blade feel and different audio feedback. I thought when I bought this razor that it's the only one I will ever need. Now it's basically a matter of days before I decide to bin it.

Currently, I'm shaving with the 5 dollar Lord L5 and I'm a happy camper, and an English Tech is on its way. I feel so mad that I wasted so much money for absolutely nothing. How is it possible that in this day and age razor producers can't get blade exposure right? It's just silly. I mean, wetshaving is still infinitely cheaper than cartridges, but I wasted money for nothing. I know those are cheap razors, but do I really need to pay 100 dollars?

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you've had better experiences

 

[nlife]

I guess there's a few factors playing a role in this. There will always be differences in tolerances from one razor to the next and that can lead to different blade exposure. The other side is the blade itself. These are hammered out by the thousands and I'm not sure what the tolerances are in those.

I've tried to eliminate some of the variations by going with both a Henson AL13 and the RR Gamechanger - .68 and .84. These are CNC machined and held to very tight tolerances. Despite this, I had a pretty poor experience with a single side of a Treet Platinum blade when it was in my Henson. One side was the expected, drama free, CCS, but the other side did exactly as you described. Different blade feel, different audible sound, different shave. I finished my shave on the good side, then threw the blade in the garbage and put in a new one.

Neither of these razors are over $100 and the quality you get for the price is exceptional. Granted, you don't need to drop this kind of money on a razor since many people get great shaves out of just about anything.

Hopefully you find a good one and enjoy the nirvana of a drama free shave!

 

[emwolf]

I would recommend a Timeless. It's not terribly expensive and I've had quality shaves with it. However, I do prefer the titanium over the steel or bronze. An English Tech, depending on what era, should be quite good too.

 

[firebox]

I am assuming we're taliking DE's. Merkur Slant and Feather Hi-Stainless blades are about the best I've found. That said, one single blade, AKA, straight is always a good option. Once its sharp, It is depencable and predictable. Just my $.02 worth.

 

[Calyshaver]

I definitely see this exposure issue with my Gillette Tech and Fatip Piccolo to different degrees, but it does not concern me as long as the edges are parallel to the safety bar. This issue may contribute to different feelings of the shaving passes, but I cannot discern any differences. If something does not feel right, I just flip to the other side.

As others stated, you do not have to spend $100 as there are good options for under that price benchmark, or just deal with uneven blade exposures as "par for the course". Good luck in your journey!

 

[musicman1951]

While it would certainly be wonderful if every manufacturer of every product put out a high quality, it's not the reality. Razors in use here go from $5 to $725, so while I agree that a $50 razor should be a great product it's still quite a bit on the lower end of the spectrum. There are plenty of good razors out there below $50, but it's a bit of a crap shoot. You need to get a little lucky. Your $5 Lord razor proves it's possible.

 

[DEgeezer]

Perfect blade alignment is one of several reasons why my Rex Envoy has become the razor I use 95% of the time.

 

[know1special]

One of my absolute favorite heads is the RazoRock Mentor which goes by several other aliases incl V3A from Maggard.

I absolutely love the shave from this head despite the fact that it is notorious for having spotty blade alignment.

It is something that I have grown accustomed to and have adjusted my expectations accordingly. Especially as I paid $7.99 for it.

I know when I load a blade in the Mentor it's guaranteed to be off. So, I just pull the blade all the way over to one side and clamp so at least it's not in a skewed position. If I'm not happy with one of the sides during the shave I just spin to the other one and keep on truckin'.

Obviously, this is not a perfect situation but it's a tolerable quirk of a razor that is otherwise ideal for me.

 

[Filudo]

At least you have found one that works well.....that's good. The others, you could try selling.......and then try something else....

 

[Eric_75]

Perfect blade alignment is one of several reasons why my Rex Envoy has become the razor I use 95% of the time.

I've kicked around the idea of getting one a few times.

 

[bonbon]

While it would certainly be wonderful if every manufacturer of every product put out a high quality, it's not the reality. Razors in use here go from $5 to $725, so while I agree that a $50 razor should be a great product it's still quite a bit on the lower end of the spectrum. There are plenty of good razors out there below $50, but it's a bit of a crap shoot. You need to get a little lucky. Your $5 Lord razor proves it's possible.

$50 isn’t on the lower end of the spectrum. That’s exactly where most of the modern quality razors should sit. Somewhere between $40-100
$750 razors are just out outliers.
We can’t say that the average price of a DE razor today is (5+750)/2=$377.5

 

[Dnallehekaj]

I felt the same frustration with blade alignment issues!

Forum members recommended Razorock specifically for the blade alignment, so I tried out a scrarch & dent Mamba 70. I hated the razor, but alignment was perfect, so I moved on to a Lupo 72 and still love it.

I'm surprised you had issues with the Rockwell. I haven't used one, but I had considered them before. What a bummer!

 

[FarmerTan]

I've had EXCELLENT alignment with old Gillette razors. They figgered it out a hundred years ago.

 

[Old Navy_1]

I don't really know, but given CNC machined razors are kept to very tight tolerances, as you stated. Isn't it more likely the razor blades are the culprit? I would think the potential for variation in dimensions would be greater with the blades, rather then the razor itself? As I said, 'IDK'.

b/r

ON_1

 

[FarmerTan]

I don't really know, but given CNC machined razors are kept to very tight tolerances, as you stated. Isn't it more likely the razor blades are the culprit? I would think the potential for variation in dimensions would be greater with the blades, rather then the razor itself? As I said, 'IDK'.

b/r

ON_1

I know that the two CNC created razors that I was gifted have tolerances that are tighter than a thumb up a pig's nose. Both are Timeless brand, one a bronze and the other a titanium. I prefer the bronze, after I dialed it in. I can't see how any manufacturer could improve on its design.

What amazes me is how good Gillette got it over a century ago. Mind blowing actually. The ol' King deserved his fortune doggone!

But..... I'd imagine the best computer designs in today's werld wouldn't fix a bad concept, and that is what I think happens. There is a guy that I think is a member on Badger and Blade that twists/torques old Gillette razors and makes them into a slant razor. THAT to me is the kind of genius that Thomas Edison was. He probably had some trial and error I would imagine, something that the current generation of design specialist probably doesn't have to do. Just run a simulation....but that doesn't drive the experience into your BONES, the way trial and MOSTLY error does.

A computer can't FEEL the blade on the face.

 

[cakaguna]

The Rockwell can get the blade a little more to one side or the other - personally, I think the posts should be a bit larger diameter, that could help.… but maybe that would interfere with some brands of blades.

If I load the blade with the cap upside down, then put the plate on, then the handle - the blade will center more consistently than if I don’t tighten it down enough and rotate the razor with the handle down.

I can get it centered almost every time without even checking it visually.

other razors with that design to hold the blade - the two posts, not slots or anything at the 4 corners, I see a bit of shift one way or the other. The Merkur would do it a bit too. Loading it the same way as the Rockwell, it was almost always centered.

I’ve not found it to affect the shave that much.

I could see how it would be annoying though.

 

[RayClem]

When blade alignment varies side to side, there are two possible issues. It might be that the razor is out of alignment or the pins are too small, allowing the blade to move. Considering what I have heard about the workmanship of Piccolo razors, that is definitely a possibility. There are several dimensional aspects of the head that are crucial to proper blade alignment.

However, the razor blade can also impact blade alignment. If the mounting holes are not perfectly centered and of the proper size to fit the mounting pins on the razor, there can be alignment issues.

If you have a scanner, or a printer that has a scanner, you can scan a razor blade at high resolution, enlarge the image digitally using an image editing program, and then print it out to the largest size possible. Then you can measure the dimensions of the blade. Since measurements need to be made to the nearest 0.001 inch, it is difficult to make the measurements on the blade itself.

 

[Rivers23]

Thanks for the replies guys, I thought that it's only me who has these issues. I'm not obsessive or a perfectionist, it's just soooo annoying when one side of the blade is quite noticeably milder or more aggressive. I've also used many types of blades and the issues remain the same.

I forgot to mention that I got a shavette too. But, with it you can only go up and down and my whiskers grow sideways a lot, so I can't get a nice shave. I also looked into single edge razors, but the offering seems to be quite scarce. The cheapest option is a 40 dollar Razorock. Leafs are too expensive for me and injectors also because of the blade cost.

It's quite ironic that the 5 dollar Tech knockoff has perfect blade alignment and provides me with nice shaves, I'm certain that the English Tech will be even better.

 

[know1special]

It's quite ironic that the 5 dollar Tech knockoff has perfect blade alignment and provides me with nice shaves

This happenstance is such a common phenomenon in shaving that it's almost more of a feature than a bug, so to speak.

Some of my cheapest gear serves me best.

 

[Dave himself]

I've been loading my Fatip piccolo upside-down now from just after I got it. Someone suggested it on this forum I just can't remember who, but it works like a charm for me.