The Straight-Eight Shavette Pass.

[TheVez2]

I used the guard once, and it was easy, but flipping it is a pain. It's not much different without it. In the hopes of comparing it to true straight razors, I intentionally did not send it with the guard. Plus, if you buy your own, many don't have the guard with them anyway.

 

[sychodelix]

Another good shave last night (but was too sleepy after to post). It seems stropping mellows out the blade some, but it still is nice and sharp. Again, an effortless, DFS shave on my neckline and near the cheeks. The shape and weight works very well for lining up along my beard for edging and trimming.

 

[TheVez2]

I've been using the Weck hair shaper in my travel kit for the last few days. It has performed very well and given me a DFS in one pass. I have really not found the shorter length, compared to the Sextoblade, to be awkward or hindering my shave at all. It is slightly less comfortable to hold, but that is about it. I'd say I have average size hands. If someone had larger hands I think it might be harder to handle, but otherwise it would be fine.

 

[ladykate]

I have big hands and the hair shapers just don't feel right to me. That was why I put the handles on the hair shapers that I picked up. I can see where they would work for some, though.

Also, I can't get a DFS with a blow torch with just one pass - let alone a razor. ;-}

 

[Alum of Potash]

I'm next in line. I can hardly wait!

 

[sychodelix]

I'm next in line. I can hardly wait!

You won't have to wait long. I plan on shipping it out in the morning.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Great, thanks!

 

[Alum of Potash]

So the razor was in the mailbox this evening and I just shaved with it. Thanks to sychodelix for packaging up things nicely and thanks to KJ for starting this pass-around.

In the paperwork, it was requested that I mention my setting, so let me first say that I live in an old, working-class, formerly industrial neighborhood of Cambridge, Mass., dating to the 1820s-30s, and perhaps the earliest of its type in the country (although the City could care less about this). During the Revolutionary war, George Washington and his men set up a small fort here (which has long since vanished) about a block away and fired some cannons before high-tailing it out of there before advancing redcoats (who were arriving from Boston to liberate some Tories on the other side of town). Boston Garden, where the Celtics and Bruins play, is about a twenty-five minute walk from here.

And now for my experience of the razor and blade. I have been straight-razor shaving for what is approaching two years now, using a Parker shavette very sporadically when I am on a short trip or staying in undesirable conditions like camping or a beach house by sea. My first impression upon taking the razor out of the box was that yes, indeed, this does seem far closer to straight than the Parker--mostly because of the spine, tang, and scales, especially the latter. I spritzed the blade housing off with alcohol, loaded the blade as directed, tried the HHT (where it actually failed at times, like my own honed straights), lathered up, and went to work.

On the first sweeping pass, I felt that the Sextoblade razor was closer to a straight than a Parker, since I tend to use shorter passes with the latter's smaller blade, while this one allowed me to go the distance. And the Sextoblade razor allowed me to pretty much follow my normal, three-pass routine with a straight. From this I can say that it definitely seems like it would work for a newb not wanting to contend with the vagaries of stropping for starters, or for someone used to straights wanting to take it on a short voyage away from the familiarities of home. Three passes later, I had a DFS with only the slightest bit of alum block tingle.

So how is it different from a straight? Well, immediately I missed the solidity of the single-body relationship of spine and blade's edge that the straight has. With the razor taking a replaceable blade like this, there is always the subtle sensation that spine and blade are not one, meaning that the blade is weaker, exposed, and less capable of stress. Consequently, one cannot apply as much force when shaving here, counting on the straight-razor's heft, which means that one has to rely on the sharpness factor, rather than smoothness, with the result being that the shave is not quite as close, or feels ever so slightly different. But this is very subtle, and for the beginning straight-razor user, it wouldn't be much of an issue, the important thing there being to learn the tricks of pulling the skin with the off-hand, the necessary grimaces, and blade angle--all of which this razor provides. While shaving, I also felt that the Sextoblade razor had more difficulty in tight areas like beneath my nostrils or between my jawline and the neck. And at one point while doing the my first WTG pass, I could feel the blade cut into the base of the neck very slightly (a brief weeper was the result). The sensation was extremely sharp, and I am sure that a straight would have been more forgiving here. Again, the sharpness factor versus smoothness. Beyond this, the blade seem to catch more in the limited ATG areas that I normally do (the base of the neck, beneath the jawline) or when the angle was raised beneath the nose, but really, this wasn't much of a problem.

To conclude, this is a nice razor, and had I not taken the full-blown straight razor path that involves stropping and honing, I could see myself blissfully using the Sextoblade for the rest of my days and not really needing more. Yet the uniformity of using the same set of industrially-produced replacement blades is not for me in the end; I've caught the honing bug and like to tinker with the edge. For an occasional break from straights or short trips, though, it's great, just so long as it's used with a light touch.

Not having wanted to read too many earlier comments on this thread, so as to remain unbiased for the first try, I will now go back and read them and take these into consideration for the next couple of tries.

 

[wherndon]

Very nice review Alum,.
I have a stash, and in btween my nose and the stash is always a tight spot for me, no matter what blade I choose, but some practice has made it much easier.
Keep us posted.
regards,
Bil

 

[Alum of Potash]

Shave no. 2 was largely replay of last night, the exception being that I stropped the razor with a Vincent/Yanaki cowhide or synthetic(?) strop that is more or less designed for hair-cutting blades like this Fromm. Ten strops on the "canvas" side and sixty on the "leather" side. If it is a "vegan strop," this one has a very light draw, almost akin to shell or cordovan leather, imparting a very different experience nonetheless. Being far from a leather expert, I'd like to know if the surface is synthetic, since it is consistently described as being "cowhide," yet the backside seems to be of something more man-made. In any case, stropping seemed to improve the HHT from last night, and the over-sharp fear factor was dampened ever so slightly as a result. Three passes and Thayer's lavender witch-hazel, rather than an alum block and an after-shave, was a very nice, delicate finish afterwards. No cuts or weepers and another DFS, again not quite as close as when using a regular straight due to the need to maintain a lighter touch here.

While shaving this evening, I really understood what is the chief shortcoming with this razor as opposed to straights. There is about a 1/4" width of blade extending from the spine/blade-holder that is exposed and unsupported. Consequently, one must always remain concerned that this section might flex and dig in. Even the lowly Parker offers more support than this, the downside with the Parker being that one can never really see the blade's angle and must resort to "night-flying" by concentrating on the spine. With the Weck/Sextoblade, one always sees the edge angle itself, which is a big plus. Ultimately, it seems most reminiscent of a frameback, yet still lacking the rigidity of the frameback's more solid and thicker replaceable blade, which in essence, isn't all that replaceable.

Before stropping, I also looked at the Fromm blade's edge with a 20x Hastings triplet loupe. I'm not at the point where I can estimate the rating of the abrasive used, so let me state roughly that there were three bevels there. The primary bevel was done on a relatively coarse abrasive; the secondary, far closer to the edge, was done on a slightly finer coarse abrasive; and the tertiary consisted of the polishing proper starting not far from the blade's edge itself. More or less, this all seemed analogous to the blade "rounding" with pastes that we Americans seem antipathetic to, but which seems to meet with more approval in European circles.

Think I will follow Kentos's example above and tape the spine and hone it, using a black Arkansas for want of a different finisher, and then shave with it one more time. This will probably happen on Monday, if not sooner--we'll see. In any case, I'll report back then, before sending it off to a happy reunion with KJ.

 

[sychodelix]

Hmm, didn't know Vincent made a strop like that. Interesting.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Here's a link: http://www.bestclippers.com/yarast.html. And I should say that it is either sold by Vincent or Yanaki (I have edited my above post to reflect this). Looks like it's out of stock now, which is too bad as I'd like to hear of others' impression of it as I find it nice to use for the light draw, but definitely weird for the sensation. They say it's cowhide leather, but grid-like grain on the backside would incline me to think it's synthetic. I'm no leather expert, but if the surface is cowhide, then it's the thinnest, most hardened surface I've ever encountered.

 

[TheVez2]

I just want to thank everyone involved in this pass for making it such a huge success. I expected everyone to agree with me, but you all made it sound much better than I could.

I also want to thank everyone for being proactive in asking for addresses. Normally I would be on top of that sort of thing, but I have been in the process of packing, moving, being in a hotel for a week, and then unpacking in my new apartment. The last month has been busy and hectic for me. Thanks for keeping everything going smoothly guys. I love the community we have here at B&B!

 

[wherndon]

+1 what KJ says, and he is a big factor why B&B is great.
regards,
Bil

 

[TnutsShave]

Yep, big +1 here. I would have never considered the Weck in my rotation. After my first shave with it, I went to Ebay and got one right away. I've now got a pack of the Personna's and Promates on their way.

 

[TheVez2]

Thanks everyone for making this pass a huge success. Overall, I believe everyone agreed with me on the performance and feel of the Weck. It has arrived safe and sound back home, and to wrap things up, I consolidated the reviews from this thread here: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...oblade-Pass-The-Reviews?p=5003799#post5003799