A Clockwork Orange...errr, Razor.

[JamieW]

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a Stahly Live Blade on the Bay, and decided to give it a shave this morning. So I loaded it up with a fresh Derby, wound it up as far as it would go, and laid it into a fresh lather of Bigelow.

The first pass (WTG) was incredibly smooth. The combination of the vibrating action and the round safety bars made the thing glide over my face with the sensation that there was no blade in the razor at all. It was so freaking smooth, but it cut hairs...about the same as I get from the first pass on my DE89.

So far so good.

Lather up again, wind it up again, and go for my second pass (XTG). On this pass I notice that one side of the razor seems a bit more aggressive and less smooth than the other side. When I first loaded the blade in, the gap seemed just a tad uneven, so I chalked it up to that, and finished the 2nd pass. Upon rinsing, sure enough, the side of my face that I shaved with the "aggressive " side of the razor was shaved much closer than the side of my face that I shaved with the less aggressive side.

With that in mind...

Lather up again for my third pass (ATG). Confirm that one side of the razor is noticeably more aggressive than the other, and make sure to shave with that side. Get the cheeks, go for the neck, blood......

......and that's when I notice that the reason the razor seemed to be getting more aggressive is because the head had worked itself loose. Not sure whether it was from the vibration or a combination of the vibration and the way I as holding it, but it had unscrewed almost a whole turn and was rotating freely! I screwed it back on tightly and finished the shave, experiencing the super smoothness that I had felt on the first pass.

The result was a nearly BBS shave (though at the expense of a layer of skin on my neck), but I immediately removed the blade, cleaned up the razor, and returned it to the case.

I think I'll leave the things that vibrate to my wife.

 

[Radar O\'Reilly]

You should talk to CoonCatBob. He makes regular(and I don't mean plain. They are amazing looking and bordering on works of machine arts), non vibrating, handles for Stahly heads. He keeps trying to talk me into one, but after the hours I spent rehabbing mine, I am reluctant to do so. I agree with him, though, that the Stahly head is a greatly designed head, and I blame him for the rise in prices on Stahlys on eBay.

That said, loosening has never been a problem on mine.

 

[ackvil]

I saw one recently at an antique store but passed on it. When I wound it up and it vibrated it reminded me of some of Gillette's latest inventions.

 

[JamieW]

Radar, I've seen Bob discuss the head on here, and have to agree with the smoothness, but I'm not sure I want to make that kind of investment when my DE89 shaves me so well. I tried it because, well, I'm a bit obsessed and want to try ever razor ever invented .

As for the head loosening, I think I was to blame more than the razor. On my first pass I held it by the bottom, then set it down on the counter still vibrating, while I lathered for my 2nd pass. I think I need to "choke up" a bit and wait until the vibrating is done before setting it down. I may give it one more shave before I give it up.

 

[cooncatbob]

You should talk to CoonCatBob. He makes regular(and I don't mean plain. They are amazing looking and bordering on works of machine arts), non vibrating, handles for Stahly heads. He keeps trying to talk me into one, but after the hours I spent rehabbing mine, I am reluctant to do so. I agree with him, though, that the Stahly head is a greatly designed head, and I blame him for the rise in prices on Stahlys on eBay.

That said, loosening has never been a problem on mine.

Yes, it would be an awful lot of work to screw the Stahly head onto a Gillette handle.

 

[GentsInstinct]

I'm a sucker for the, what I call, "odd ball" razors and this is one razor I plan to add to my collection. I want the black one in the wood box.. and I don't see those often. Last one I saw on Ebay, the wood box wasn't in good shape. And as I always attempt to shave at least once with all "new" old razors I acquire, I'm really looking forward to a shave with the Stahly Live Blade.

 

[Radar O\'Reilly]

Yes, it would be an awful lot of work to screw the Stahly head onto a Gillette handle.

I didn't say anything about work. It took a lot to work on my Stahley. I'm just stubborn and ornery.