This might be the nicest birthday present anybody has made for me! 
Blade gap and exposure
- Thread starter Patrice
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This is impressive work!
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- #43
Happy nerd birthdayThis might be the nicest birthday present anybody has made for me!
Happy nerd birthday
That's perfect, thanks!
(wish I still had a bottle of real Champagne in the closet though)
Obviously rocket science.
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- #47
Like a few of us around here, I thought this razor was a joke for years and didn't take it seriously. It is what has completely changed my thinking and preferences and frankly what I thought possible. I wrote something to this affect in the favourite new purchase of 22' thread. On the flip side, the Yates razors demonstrate a similar level of innovation with high gap razors as an alternate to the pricey WR2. And the Green Cult 2.0 in the budget category rounds out three.
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- #49
Where is this thread?
And the Karve CB plate G, did you try it?
BTW, you never tried the Progress?
What was your ONE purchase in 2022 that impressed you most and why?
Please pick just pick ONE item (not this and that and another one etc) and tell us why. I didn't purchase many things in 2022. Nearly purchased an Overander but it fell through. My most impressive purchase was a premium stash of 180 vintage NOS Gillette Platinum Plus blades in mint condition...
www.badgerandblade.com
Chose Tatara over Karve. Still plan to try Progress eventually, we have a dealer for the Mergress near me.
Hello,
I'm very late to your thread since I just found it last night. But I've already read through it a few times.
Thank you for getting this info on graphs. I for one find it very useful since I truly love the nerdy side of how things work. Threads like these fascinate me! Excellent (easy) guide for decision making on how a razors characteristics might affect how it might shave.
Of course we know that this is still all YMMV (until you actually try the razor yourself) but it's still a great starting point.
I look forward to seeing the list grow!
By the way, a belated "Welcome to B&B"
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I just stumbled on this thread a few minutes ago... I read it through.... and don't understand much of it. I'm going to have read it when it isn't so late at night and I can give it my full attention... though I suspect, I still won't grasp it. I do know.. I have some razors that aren't supposed to work based on a few specs. As I've said many times, these razor designers know a lot more than I do.... and I get to enjoy shaving with their masterpieces.
This makes so much sense to me. Thank you for putting your words in layman’s terms.Bienvenue à B&B! I am one of the resident measurement nerds around here and will be having several looks at your post. I did see your other post on an old thread and I am still trying to remember where that chart came from. Your measurement for the Blackbird isn't the agreed upon number, but I am familiar with the source. I don't want to say too much about it as Shane has decided not to publish this anymore. It is mentioned here:
Wolfman Offers New WR2 0.75 Custom Blade Gap
The original razors weren't available in many gaps at all. I'm talking about the WR1 mainly. The variety in gaps came later. The so called standard gaps are actually well chosen. WR1 .61 WR2 .95 WR3 .40 James did in the early days alter gaps if they were too mild/efficient. The WR1 .74 used...
Briefly, one comment I have made in the past is that more blade exposure get's the blade closer to your skin whereas more gap allows your skin to get closer to the blade(but doesn't require it). Hence the high gap/low exposure razors can feel very smooth and non threatening depending on how they are used. Please remember also that all larger gaps are what is called aggressive, they can bite based on the ability of your skin to get bunched up into the gap! Like them or not, the Wolfmen perfectly split the two camps into two different designs to suit each. Then you get into whether a razor is more of a shallow, neutral or steep designed razor and this can effect how these different philosophies are perceived by users. For example, the Blackbird has a reputation for being aggressive due to it's blade exposure. But that isn't correct, it won't bite suddenly, you have to push the edge into your skin! It has blade feel that some of us find useful, others find it's too much.
I can visualize why I enjoy using my two SE’s:
1912 GEM “squat head “
1924 ER Shovel head
Both are:
-easy to find right shaving angle
-very efficient
-very smooth
-very comfortable
-both have good size blade exposure from what I see
When using, I feel safe like as long as technique is good, nicking is not much of a concern.
Thank you
@Patrice
Veyy nice work. And.. Having a little bit of experience this table ist very useful. Ilat least for me, as it visualizes if a razor suits me. And looking back to many razors I have tried i now know why they didn't fit.
Any updates to come? I'd be interested to see the Rockwell 6s in your coordinate system.
Veyy nice work. And.. Having a little bit of experience this table ist very useful. Ilat least for me, as it visualizes if a razor suits me. And looking back to many razors I have tried i now know why they didn't fit.
Any updates to come? I'd be interested to see the Rockwell 6s in your coordinate system.
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- #55
Hi @flash75! Thank you, I have not worked on it since, I have some projects but I'm a bit dispersed... Regarding 6S I would need to have the data but they have not been published or measured. From what I've seen there's a lot of negative exposure from 1 to 3 (if I remember correctly) which makes it a very very mild razor in the low plates section.
Grate to see a comparison like this. However, without taking into account the blade support, blade rigidity, blade angle of attack and head profile, i am really not sure how i would use it if i was to buy a new razor.
I think the Blackbird can really highlight this. This has a unique blade support and head profile, that allows the blade to be stiff in one direction and flexible in the other direction. The head design also guides blade into a optimum angle for you, provided you use it as intended by the designer. If you only combine the blade gap and exposure of this razor without the other design attributes of this razor, you will have a completely different razor, which might not even be a good razor.
I like numbers, but unless you consider the other factors i don't know what to do with it.
I find it useful if you look at a razor like the Karve and the Tatara razors, where you can change plates that give you different gaps and blade exposures, and the head is a constant factor.
The Muramasa is also interesting because it is designed to adjust the gap and blade exposure dynamically. (thanks for pointing this out @Iridian)
When you take the same logic to compare two different razors, just based in these metric, it is no longer an apples and apples comparison.
I think the Blackbird can really highlight this. This has a unique blade support and head profile, that allows the blade to be stiff in one direction and flexible in the other direction. The head design also guides blade into a optimum angle for you, provided you use it as intended by the designer. If you only combine the blade gap and exposure of this razor without the other design attributes of this razor, you will have a completely different razor, which might not even be a good razor.
I like numbers, but unless you consider the other factors i don't know what to do with it.
I find it useful if you look at a razor like the Karve and the Tatara razors, where you can change plates that give you different gaps and blade exposures, and the head is a constant factor.
The Muramasa is also interesting because it is designed to adjust the gap and blade exposure dynamically. (thanks for pointing this out @Iridian)
When you take the same logic to compare two different razors, just based in these metric, it is no longer an apples and apples comparison.
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Thanks for the correction.
Sure, these are two very important factors, but not the only ones. Three cheers for @Patrice for organizing and plotting them! It is a very interesting visualization of a lot of different tools. Yes, there are lot of other factors - the ones you mention plus many more. Still, these are two critical specs and it is very interesting to look at them in this way.
Awesome compilation of data here! I wish I had found it sooner. One note: As far as I know both the GreenCult v1.0 and v1.1 are single gap/exposure (no plate options). I think only the v2 has the plate options. It seems you have a line going through the v1 data and I'm pretty sure it should just be a point. Unless there was some options for that model I'm not aware of.
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