This is a hard review to write.
The reason for this is that I'm pretty certain that everything I'm going to say here is specific to the individual razor head I used this week, and does not apply to the NEW heads in general.
Still, my purpose here is to review the razor I used, so here goes:
This week I used a US-made Gillette long-comb NEW head that was replated in bronze by Bob (cooncatbob from Bob's Razor Works). He also provided a custom handle made in solid bronze. The handle is about 4" long and weighs a solid 100 g. It looks absolutely lovely, and it feels excellent in the hand. The added heft also should add to the aggressiveness of the razor. I used the razor with a Gillette 7 O'Clock yellow for the first four days, then changed to a Treet Dura Sharp blade for Friday's shave.
I've used various NEW razors before (US and British, long-comb and short), and they've all been pretty aggressive razors, but still extremely smooth shavers. I got rid of all my NEW's before I acquired this razor.
The NEW is an open-comb razor that, to me, represents the best OC design that Gillette ever came up with. Blade placement is easy (a problem with the Old type, and the New Improved heads), as there's a bar on the inside of the head-cap to keep the blade in place. It came in several variations (long-comb, short-comb, NEW Deluxe), and there are variations in the US and Brit versions of this head. Handles varied too.
My razor is significantly heavier than any production NEW. The handle is thicker, heavier, and longer, than production handles. This makes for easier handling, but this is a personal preference. The razor itself had quality written all over it. Bob's work is wonderful, and it shows in this piece. However, the head is what determines how it will shave, and that's made by Gillette.
The shaves were all good, but underwhelming. It seemed like the razor wasn't as aggressive as I remembered the NEW-type razors being. It felt like the blade wasn't contacting the skin at all, and there was residual lather left after a pass, indicating that this was the case. It was smooth, but that's because it felt like I was shaving without a blade.
That wasn't the case, as the hairs were being cut, but it wasn't close enough to the skin. This led to me having to use some pressure while shaving. I don't like to do that.
After working at each day, I was able to get a decent shave, but it wasn't what I was looking for. The shaves were nowhere near as close as it was with the Streamline (last week's razor). Still, it was enough to get me through the day.
I tried several variations in technique, and even went so far as to loosen the handle. Visually, the blade gap was pretty low. Unfortunately, I do not have any other long-comb NEW's at the moment to compare it to, but I was pretty certain that the blade gap was lower than it should be.
Luckily I have some Gillette Tech razors. These use the same head-cap as the NEW, so it was an easy swap. This caused an immediate improvement in the shave --- much more 'NEW-like'.
At the end of the week, I came to the conclusion that the head-cap was indeed the culprit - leading to the mild shaves. It was more curved than the head-cap from my Tech, and it had a longer 'screw' section. It seemed to clamp down further on the blade, causing it to curve more towards the comb. The result was a shave that was milder than a TV SuperSpeed (in direct comparison, with the same blade) --- not at all what I was looking for.
So the only conclusion I can make at the moment is that the razor head I was shaving with was too mild to shave with. I'd say it was actually close to unusably mild!!
This observation cannot be extended to other NEW razors, as I know that is not the case (from personal experience). However, it does show that there's some variation in the shave from razors of the same type. If you don't find a NEW that works 'like everyone says it should', you may just have a dud and you may want to try another.
Bob is a great vendor, and immediately offered to send me another head-cap to replace the one I have. I'll defer the final verdict on this razor until then.
Previously reviewed in this series:
The Classic Shaving Cobra Classic
Gillette New Improved Big Fellow
The EverReady Streamline
The reason for this is that I'm pretty certain that everything I'm going to say here is specific to the individual razor head I used this week, and does not apply to the NEW heads in general.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Still, my purpose here is to review the razor I used, so here goes:
This week I used a US-made Gillette long-comb NEW head that was replated in bronze by Bob (cooncatbob from Bob's Razor Works). He also provided a custom handle made in solid bronze. The handle is about 4" long and weighs a solid 100 g. It looks absolutely lovely, and it feels excellent in the hand. The added heft also should add to the aggressiveness of the razor. I used the razor with a Gillette 7 O'Clock yellow for the first four days, then changed to a Treet Dura Sharp blade for Friday's shave.
I've used various NEW razors before (US and British, long-comb and short), and they've all been pretty aggressive razors, but still extremely smooth shavers. I got rid of all my NEW's before I acquired this razor.
The NEW is an open-comb razor that, to me, represents the best OC design that Gillette ever came up with. Blade placement is easy (a problem with the Old type, and the New Improved heads), as there's a bar on the inside of the head-cap to keep the blade in place. It came in several variations (long-comb, short-comb, NEW Deluxe), and there are variations in the US and Brit versions of this head. Handles varied too.
------------------------------------------------------------
My razor is significantly heavier than any production NEW. The handle is thicker, heavier, and longer, than production handles. This makes for easier handling, but this is a personal preference. The razor itself had quality written all over it. Bob's work is wonderful, and it shows in this piece. However, the head is what determines how it will shave, and that's made by Gillette.
The shaves were all good, but underwhelming. It seemed like the razor wasn't as aggressive as I remembered the NEW-type razors being. It felt like the blade wasn't contacting the skin at all, and there was residual lather left after a pass, indicating that this was the case. It was smooth, but that's because it felt like I was shaving without a blade.
That wasn't the case, as the hairs were being cut, but it wasn't close enough to the skin. This led to me having to use some pressure while shaving. I don't like to do that.
After working at each day, I was able to get a decent shave, but it wasn't what I was looking for. The shaves were nowhere near as close as it was with the Streamline (last week's razor). Still, it was enough to get me through the day.
I tried several variations in technique, and even went so far as to loosen the handle. Visually, the blade gap was pretty low. Unfortunately, I do not have any other long-comb NEW's at the moment to compare it to, but I was pretty certain that the blade gap was lower than it should be.
Luckily I have some Gillette Tech razors. These use the same head-cap as the NEW, so it was an easy swap. This caused an immediate improvement in the shave --- much more 'NEW-like'.
At the end of the week, I came to the conclusion that the head-cap was indeed the culprit - leading to the mild shaves. It was more curved than the head-cap from my Tech, and it had a longer 'screw' section. It seemed to clamp down further on the blade, causing it to curve more towards the comb. The result was a shave that was milder than a TV SuperSpeed (in direct comparison, with the same blade) --- not at all what I was looking for.
So the only conclusion I can make at the moment is that the razor head I was shaving with was too mild to shave with. I'd say it was actually close to unusably mild!!
This observation cannot be extended to other NEW razors, as I know that is not the case (from personal experience). However, it does show that there's some variation in the shave from razors of the same type. If you don't find a NEW that works 'like everyone says it should', you may just have a dud and you may want to try another.
Bob is a great vendor, and immediately offered to send me another head-cap to replace the one I have. I'll defer the final verdict on this razor until then.
NOTE: There's one quirk about the bronze plating that I should mention: The plating on the head seems to react with standing water, so after a shave you'll see dark spots develop, unless you wipe it dry after every shave. This is not an issue for me, but it may be a problem for some people.
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Previously reviewed in this series:
The Classic Shaving Cobra Classic
Gillette New Improved Big Fellow
The EverReady Streamline
