Perhaps my head is not the way it should be then. It slides off with or without a blade. I have not yet tried a broken de blade. As usual I had an ASCO pro saloon half blade.
Focus Dynamic SE Razor
- Thread starter muzichead
- Start date
I'd say the tolerances required are fairly tight, so if yours is off by a little, it might be that it does require the bend.
On the other hand, I have only used a Kai SS blade in mine and they seem to be ever so slightly stiffer and longer than my other DE blades.
I don't think that would have been the problem since I have used many aggressive razors with never a nick or weeper or any irritation. The blade some how seemed to grab my skin and did not cut smoothly.
- Thread starter
- #84
This is from The Superior Shave's site for the R48...
The R48 Dynamic's made of anodized aluminum, and takes 1/2 of a conventional double-edge razor blade (NOTE: we believe the bent shard of the broken-in-half DE blade was considered in the engineering, so while both DE and 'saloon' blades likely work we officially recommend you snap regular DEs in half). By this odd approach it provides DE blade ubiquity with some SE system (the standoff angle is very acute, like a "true" SE) mechanical advantages, and there's no expensive proprietary marriage to some fancy blades here.
Not sure why snapping a DE blade in half is so difficult for some to either do or comprehend to use this razor. I regularly take my DE blades that I have used and don't intend to use anymore and put them back into the wrapper and snap them in half before putting them into my blade bank for future disposal. I've never had any incidents where I've been hurt by doing this and it is actually rather effortless to do... Not seeing the big deal at all.
The R48 Dynamic's made of anodized aluminum, and takes 1/2 of a conventional double-edge razor blade (NOTE: we believe the bent shard of the broken-in-half DE blade was considered in the engineering, so while both DE and 'saloon' blades likely work we officially recommend you snap regular DEs in half). By this odd approach it provides DE blade ubiquity with some SE system (the standoff angle is very acute, like a "true" SE) mechanical advantages, and there's no expensive proprietary marriage to some fancy blades here.
Not sure why snapping a DE blade in half is so difficult for some to either do or comprehend to use this razor. I regularly take my DE blades that I have used and don't intend to use anymore and put them back into the wrapper and snap them in half before putting them into my blade bank for future disposal. I've never had any incidents where I've been hurt by doing this and it is actually rather effortless to do... Not seeing the big deal at all.
Well, we're breaking razor blades with our fingers, so some trepidation seems normal. But....
I'd never snapped a blade in half before trying this razor this morning, and it was a non-issue. Keep it in the wrapper, fold it in half until it breaks, et voila. It wants to break cleanly at the halfway point, and it's not going to cut your fingers. The deformation created by the bending of the blade before it snaps in half creates a little "spring" you wouldn't get if you used a commercial half-blade or snipped the blade cleanly in half. As I said above, I'm pretty sure that deformation is integral to the cap staying tight once a blade is inserted. Perhaps a thicker blade would work too, but according to the manufacturer, that's not how this razor is designed. I'd certainly try using the razor as recommended before getting creative with blade choices and making judgments based on unintended uses.
Last edited:
Fair point. It is peculiar for a razor. But if you think about it, it's no different from a bagel or English muffin.
Actually, now that I think about it, I'm starting to resent oranges, bananas, and pineapples too.
Not really. As G.W. said, you have to break this a certain way in order to keep the pieces together. You can still eat an English muffin without cutting it.
Then what about the blades that are slightly thicker like a Personna. How does this effect it?
The little 'posts' are supposed to be adjustable. Stick some thick needles and/or thin finishing nails and or unbent paperclips in the hole and twist the nails/needles/paperclips with some pliers to adjust.
Anyone have an issue where the blade sits flush against the base plate which does not allow any kind of vertical gap? My razor can barely shave anything no matter what angle/pressure/buffing I do.
Pictures to illustrate. Top picture stock image from the website.
Razor I have.
Pictures to illustrate. Top picture stock image from the website.
Razor I have.
Thanks for the info. I did not buy from there and had not seen this advice before. Breaking a blade is no problem, not even for me. It is just that I did not expect this. I Always use saloon half blades in my barber razors, so I do not have to break. But saloon blades do not work in mine, the cap keeps sliding. Must say for now I am not too happy about it. Tried it yesterday. Getting misshaped blades is absolutely no problem, but the first (Elios) was bent too much and did not go in (both halfs). I did manage with a lot of pressure one half, but then the blade was sticking out over the safety bar, so I got it out. The blade was being pushed out when closing al the time. Next I broke a Flying Eagle 74s. The first half of that one did work, but it was very tight. Difficult to open again. I really do not understand why they did not build it to accept saloon blades. Perhaps Italian barbers do not use them. In fact most Turkish barbers do not use them either. But at least Rocnel made it easy to use a broken de blade. And it takes saloon blades. Again my R48 top cap is very loose, so it may not be like this for all.
After reading this and also hearing how mild this razor is I am officially put off buying it - which is a surprise because the Focus Slim is such an amazing shavette that I expected the Dynamic to be exciting too.
Maybe they could bring out a more aggressive v2 like OneBlade have done with the Core.
Well miracles seem to have happened over night ;-) This morning I could load one of the half Elios blades. In fact easily.
Yesterday I had the wrong side of the blade up. Do not know how to say this properly in English, but the sharp sides of the broken tabs have to point down to the cap. If you have them the other way around you could experience as I did yesterday. So the blade can only go in in one position. You can not turn it around. This morning I had a nice shave with it. De Vergulde Hand shaving soap (extra fresh) with my VIG 26/56 horse brush. Made a nice thin lather. Yes, it is mild, but still effective. I would rate it (well) above my Core. I still need 2 passes to get really clean, but the R48 does a better job in 2. I do not have to push as hard as with my Core V1. And the R48 does not need special blades. After all you can not expect barbers to pay 60-70 cents per blade. Perhaps the R48 is something like an OB Genesis for barbers ;-)
Last edited:
You can cut off as much as you want as it's easy to cut and smooth out.
Just a thought.
I will do that with mine if it turns out bothersome.
I was wondering this.
Notice when you brake a blade in half that the tabs are sometimes longer on one side.
So does that effect the outcome of where it is mild or more aggressive.
I think if that is true it would be easy to change the width of the blade as you would like your shave to be.
Any body know?
I like it mild anyway but I was just curious if any one as noticed.
I did find this about the Shavette they have that uses the same head.
"If you snap your blade and leave too much of an upturn on the broken end it will struggle to lock the load".
Here is the shevette one
Review: Focus Slim Al
Last edited:
After I used it, the handle did not seem to long. I hope you like the razor when you get it. Make sure you post a review of your first shave.
I have the slim al as well and I took a chance on this razor based on how much I love the Slim AL (frankly I'm surprised there's not more buzz about it).
I loaded it correctly with the bent shards facing toward the top cap (eg the shards point up to the sky with the razor in the stand...for me it doesn't load the other way at all).
Interesting, my top cap is very tight even without a blade.... with a blade it holds so tight that the blade edge sits flat against the razor "base plate" and behind the safety bar so I have zero blade exposure and corresponding zero hairs being cut..... see my pictures above.
