Alright.... I've been putting this off far too long as I have been pretty disgusted with this ***... I liken this to the "shedsheister" shaving brush.
Wacker 6/8 - 1/4 hollow... for those of you with a short attention span, look at the pictures - then four words sum it up - "Don't buy a Wacker."
For those of you with inquisitve minds - you might ask, why? Well... giddy up for a wild ride fellas.
Ok - where to begin... First off i'll start with my biggest gripe, one I think is TOTALLY unacceptable, and put this razor in a league of "sucking" all in its own. The damn thing sometimes.... will not open. Huh? What? How is that possible? Alright proofs in the pics - check this out....
Need some help? That's the tang (or monkey tail) of the razor stuck against the third pin. Basically depending on where the LOOSE third pin rubber gromet is resting - 60-70% of the time when you go to open the razor - BAM gets stuck on the pin, so like a dummy you have to play with it, and jiggle the tang against the third pin for 20-30 seconds to work it around enough to be able to open the bloody razor.... oh yeah.... nothin' but class baby. Oh yeah... check out how absurdly thin those scales are while we're at it.
Speaking of scales.... they are uneven. No, not just a little uneven, they are SO uneven the razor cannot actually sit upright on its scales... it must be laid flat on the side of the scales... yeah... it's that awful. While shavingshop touts the "french competition" to be of lower quality - note, sure TI's have pins in absurdly funky places.... and it's not acceptable... but hey... at least you can open the things 100% of the time, and as a nice "bonus" the scales are on straight enough to not stick out like a sore thumb when you hold it in your hand, feel funky and not sit up straight. Look how much the bottom scale sticks out....
Alright - let's get down to ascetics. This thing (and a Friodur he allowed me to send back) showed up covered in absurd scratches all over he attributes to honing. Well - IF it is actually from honing.... that would just be downright sad, and I don't know how the hell he could manage to scratch the hollows of the blade, and good lord would he be honing with an absurdly coarse stone. (BTW - if you do opt to get one of these, without paying heed to my warning - at least don't opt for the $20 honing service, as this thing was nowhere near shaving sharp)
Check out these awesome scratches....
Edge is all scratched, flats look like hell...
Poor gold wash & scratched edge(bottom right) and scratched up in the hollows...
Spacer stick up slightly over the scales (snags when you pass your finger over it - see my the dark nib contrasting against my pointer finger) and blade that does not rest on the 3rd pin and sticks up way too high...
Not touching 3rd pin, so it only functions as a hinderance to opening the razor...
Notice the blade sticks up way too high, and the it is all scratched towards the front where it rests against the horn scales? Soligen must be proud....
Scratched up even on the damn jimps, all sorts of black crud in the filings, and notice how the filings just start to get half *** at the end? For a $200 razor, totally unacceptable... Also notice the uneven scales, and the blade not ceneterd to the scales (see the gap on right side, left side = tight)...
Crooked uneven scales, off center blade...
Now another thing that chaps my ***.... it is marked as Hollow ground.... not 1/4 hollow ground. That's like buying a v12 mercedes and having it marked as a v8. Weak sauce...
Alright, alright - enough gripes on the looks/quality of the razor (I could certainly keep going about the ugly/cheap scales, or messy pin job) - how does it shave? After all - this is a "1/4 hollow" supposedly the best shaving razor out there with only 60 blanks (or some other b/s) in the world, right? Well... the "shave ready - honed" razor showed up not even close to shave ready. After about 60+ passes on the 4K side of a norton, I was able to even out the bevel, then go to town with the 4/8K, hit it with a few japanese stones, 2 belgian corticles, diamond and chom oxide paste, and finally got the damn thing sharp... which was really quite an undertaking. This steel is SUPER hard, and is NOT for a beginner, or someone new to honing. The steel is incredibly hard, yet also quite brittle, so it is prone to microchipping, which makes it a giant hassle to hone up properly and initially has to be honed after every shave for a week or so until the edge "sets" as Lynn likes to call it. So, when it is finally tuned up, sharp as the dickens, and ready to rock in its scratched up motley goodness - how does it work? Well... it works well... and it shaves nice actually... but just well... and nice. Is this the second coming of baby jesus? Yeah... right. While it shaves well, and I would go as far as to say it is one of the better shaving new-old-stock razors currently available, I wouldn't say it shaves BETTER than a stainless bladed Dovo, and most certainly does not shave as well as a tuned up TI.
Verdict.... for a razor this expensive, without question (I mean not even a contest) don't even consider them as an option - go straight to TI if you want the best shaving razor for around the $230 price tag - and here's my case - the horn scales are really sad, incredibly thin and are drastically inferior to TI horn scales, the blade is "satin" finished, not mirror polished, which is absurd for a razor so expensive, as TI's are LESS expensive and mirror polished (which is more expensive and labor intensive to do). In the same price range you can get a 6/8 Leaf and Vine TI, or an 7/8 or 6/8 blonde or black horn TI, or even a limited edition frame back or one of the art deco TI's, or for $30-40 more, you could pick up one of the new/slick ebony handled wheat berry, or grass hatching (spine carved models) Or a limited edition Horn Covered Tang model (outta this world shaver with a 100 year old blade) or the 6/8 flat back white bone.... the options are limitless. Hell you could also pick up a GENUINE mother of pearl stainless bladed Dovo for the same price as this wacker.
Well... I must have gotten a dud - right? Well... assuming he honed it (as I was charged for) he has not only seen this, but held it, and spent some time with it, and it seemed to not be offensive enough for him to pull. When I brought up these concerns to him (after having sent back a pathetic Friodur 2 days earlier that had shown up prior to the Wacker) I was "being way too picky." At that point - I cut my losses, and politely said I would keep it if I was being "unreasonable."
Just for kicks... I tried listing this SEVERAL times on the for sale forum, and pm'ed several people about it (I wouldn't actually sell it, I was curious to see what the second hand market/demand for these is/was) and 9 out of 10 people I talked to basically said the "hush hush" word on these is that they are a ***, and what my thoughts were. The word is out... I'm just the first to stir the pot and be public. Sure, I am certain there are a few decent ones out there... but it seems there are quite a few duds as well. My vote.... get a TI you can return, is of higher quality, is LESS expensive, finer steel, easier to hone, and provides a superior shave. As for me.... make mine a TI or Dovo. TO DISCUSS THIS REVIEW - DO NOT USE THIS REVIEW ENGINE, ALL NON-REVIEW POSTS WILL BE PROMPTLY DELETED - PLEASE GO TO THIS THREAD!
Thanks!
