I am, perhaps, one of the most impatient people around. I also pride myself on being able to solve problems. So, when my DeHaven razor arrived and I realized that it was useless with the old, chipped blade I got a little upset. I read on this forum that there are those who modify the blade with a shavette (or some other blade that I do not have- and I do not want to wait for them to arrive.) I hope what I posted below will help somebody decide to use this marvel of engineering and art. It took all of 5 minutes to modify the blade and get it ready and almost half an hour to post this. LOL.
So, what to do? Modify a typical DE blade. Be forewarned: if you choose to follow my example I will not be held responsible to damage to your fingers or face (and remember to wear eye protection.) With that out of the way- this produced a pretty good shave and it would almost be impossible to so much as nick yourself regardless of angle. This will be my razor on days where I would be tempted to use a cartridge to save time. Great feel to it.
First was cutting the DE blade in half and trimming the ears. Look! The blade is the exact width of the old blade without the spine. Things are looking good. In this picture is the DE next to the original.
Now, I might be able to modify the spine to hold the half razor. However, I do not want to wreck the only blade that I have, ruin any value to collectors and end up with a half-held blade. Oh, I have JB Weld and some epoxy putty that I could make a great and sturdy spine out of... but it would be a lot of work for one shave. Thankfully, on the top of the garbage lay a sticker that a company had sent me to stick to my water heater in case of a leak. Vinyl sticker material seems that it should hold up to a splash of water. (though after use and exposure to water it would prove itself to be a cheap paper based sticker instead of vinyl... I will be on the lookout for vinyl stickers now.) Out come the scissors and off comes a strip. A quick trim to get it to the right thickness to fit the spine holder when it is folded three or four times on itself and things are ready to wedge the blade remnant in. You can see the used strip on the left in the above picture. The piece that has been crumpled and straightened is what I used by folding in on itself until it was firm in the holder. This is a picture of the blade being held in after the shave by that strip.
It was the perfect angle, the perfect exposure and will be very easy to make new holders and insert new blades. As always, YMMV. I used the grips on the front of the strippers to push the blade into the improvised holder and the tension that the razor itself puts on the blade ***should*** hold the blade firmly. I shook the razor as vigirously as possible and while the shake to sharpen part moved, the blade remained firm. I am comfortable with the setup and confident using it. Do your own tests and use your own common sense. It is your face. Below is the picture of the exposure (it is the same as the blade that came with the razor.) After that is the angle that the DE blade remnant rests at. It is an illusion that it extends past the combs. It is actually perfectly flat against them if you see it in person...
So, what to do? Modify a typical DE blade. Be forewarned: if you choose to follow my example I will not be held responsible to damage to your fingers or face (and remember to wear eye protection.) With that out of the way- this produced a pretty good shave and it would almost be impossible to so much as nick yourself regardless of angle. This will be my razor on days where I would be tempted to use a cartridge to save time. Great feel to it.
First was cutting the DE blade in half and trimming the ears. Look! The blade is the exact width of the old blade without the spine. Things are looking good. In this picture is the DE next to the original.
Now, I might be able to modify the spine to hold the half razor. However, I do not want to wreck the only blade that I have, ruin any value to collectors and end up with a half-held blade. Oh, I have JB Weld and some epoxy putty that I could make a great and sturdy spine out of... but it would be a lot of work for one shave. Thankfully, on the top of the garbage lay a sticker that a company had sent me to stick to my water heater in case of a leak. Vinyl sticker material seems that it should hold up to a splash of water. (though after use and exposure to water it would prove itself to be a cheap paper based sticker instead of vinyl... I will be on the lookout for vinyl stickers now.) Out come the scissors and off comes a strip. A quick trim to get it to the right thickness to fit the spine holder when it is folded three or four times on itself and things are ready to wedge the blade remnant in. You can see the used strip on the left in the above picture. The piece that has been crumpled and straightened is what I used by folding in on itself until it was firm in the holder. This is a picture of the blade being held in after the shave by that strip.
It was the perfect angle, the perfect exposure and will be very easy to make new holders and insert new blades. As always, YMMV. I used the grips on the front of the strippers to push the blade into the improvised holder and the tension that the razor itself puts on the blade ***should*** hold the blade firmly. I shook the razor as vigirously as possible and while the shake to sharpen part moved, the blade remained firm. I am comfortable with the setup and confident using it. Do your own tests and use your own common sense. It is your face. Below is the picture of the exposure (it is the same as the blade that came with the razor.) After that is the angle that the DE blade remnant rests at. It is an illusion that it extends past the combs. It is actually perfectly flat against them if you see it in person...
Last edited:
