Damn Comfortable Shave

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Me too.
You need to try it with your El Fantasma handle, Jim. To me, on doing that, it felt weird and extremely head-heavy immediately... but once I started shaving with it, it was bliss. There's no going back for me now.

Of course, your experience may differ. But it's definitely worth a try (for science!).

I tried it with the lightest of my three Ti handles. Not sure that was better than the heavy RR SS handle, but it was different.





Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

...yesterday's shave with the ShimKai GC .78 was so good...

Nick @Dovo1695, I almost asked what a ShimKai 78 was. Some fancy and expensive new Japanese razor no doubt!

I'm going to be very interested in your reviews and impressions of the Lupo 72 as you continue with it under normal circumstances.

If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed; if you do read the newspaper your misinformed...

Big Nurse agrees. That's truly frightening.

Happy shaves (and thank God for them),

Jim

 

[Rosseforp]

Thanks for replying.

The GC seems mostly unobtanium right now. Certainly it is with any handle I'd buy.

I've mostly used the R41 with the right handle, or at least one I like.

View attachment 1272850

I've not weighed it, but it's reasonably light.

Not anywhere in the league with yours of course.

The Karve G is darn good. The Karve D is smoother of course and surprisingly efficient. I think you'll be quite pleased.

I'll be interested in your review of the Executive. I certainly like mine. A lot.​

View attachment 1272851

Happy shaves,

Jim

The Rose Gold R41 handle is beautiful, I like mine too, and is pretty light at 37.6 grams Jim, but I prefer a slightly shorter handle. It isn't very grippy either. My R41 with really lightweight handle is a completely different razor.

I'll be interested in your review of the Executive.

I certainly like mine. A lot.

I like mine a lot also Jim. I used during this year's FFFMM.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I decided I might like the UFO handles so I bought them (with a 68 head and a 84 OC baseplate).

Science $ Curiosity marches on!

A member is lending me a Lupo 72.

RazoRock has an interesting business model:

Gentlemen, these are our best and best selling razors about which we brag endlessly, and into which we've put enormous time and money, but good luck on buying one anytime soon. Occasionally we'll deign to sell you one with a handle you don't want or maybe a handle you love but already have four of.

Timeless is eating their heart out.

Spoiler: On...

On the other hand, I just bought something. Maybe the model works after all (for them).

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Dovo1695]

RazoRock has an interesting business model:

Gentlemen, these are our best and best selling razors about which we brag endlessly, and into which we've put enormous time and money, but good luck on buying one anytime soon. Occasionally we'll deign to sell you one with a handle you don't want or maybe a handle you love but already have four of.

It definitely is an interesting business model. I do have to admire them though. They started putting out the $50 Game Changer in cnc'd 316l when everyone else had a price point north of $150.

Ironically, I suspect that the thing standing between them and increasing production to meet demand is the fear that someone will do to them, what they did to Wolfman razors. My understanding is that the Game Changer is a, let's be charitable, "homage" to the Wolfman Guerilla. The Lupo (which is "wolf" in latin) is a shameless "homage" to the Wolfman WR series. So far so good. Until it's not.

At this very moment, there is a company in China that is making perfect 316l stainless copies of the RazoRock razors! They have the GC .68, GC .84, Lupo .72, Lupo .95, and Mamba. They sell the razors for 30% less than RazoRock does. They haven't taken meaningful market share yet, but it's just a matter of time. When a 316L SS Lupo .72 clone costs $24.99 from China, and starts gaining traction on forums, the jig will be up for RazoRock.

RazoRock is in a position now to sell twice as many razors as they currently do. If they bought a new CNC machine and brought on an operator, they would make a pile of money this year. That may not be true in 2 years, and a CNC machine like that is probably north of $250k. @Rosseforp would probably have a better idea since he was in the biz. At any rate, it's a major capital investment, and the resale price on those machines take a massive hit on the secondary market.

So Italian Barber makes as many razors as their 1 machine will crank out, knowing they could probably sell more, but unable to take the risk that new competitors will vacuum up the market before they pay off their machine. That's my entirely unqualified evaluation of what's happening. It's purely speculation and I could be very wrong. I'm a small business owner myself, and I fret about such things all day.

If you want to see the true racketeers in the market, consider that Muhle and Merkur are still selling 25 cents worth of plated pot metal for $40. Now that's an interesting business model!

 

[Haku]

It definitely is an interesting business model. I do have to admire them though. They started putting out the $50 Game Changer in cnc'd 316l when everyone else had a price point north of $150.

Ironically, I suspect that the thing standing between them and increasing production to meet demand is the fear that someone will do to them, what they did to Wolfman razors. My understanding is that the Game Changer is a, let's be charitable, "homage" to the Wolfman Guerilla. The Lupo (which is "wolf" in latin) is a shameless "homage" to the Wolfman WR series. So far so good. Until it's not.

At this very moment, there is a company in China that is making perfect 316l stainless copies of the RazoRock razors! They have the GC .68, GC .84, Lupo .72, Lupo .95, and Mamba. They sell the razors for 30% less than RazoRock does. They haven't taken meaningful market share yet, but it's just a matter of time. When a 316L SS Lupo .72 clone costs $24.99 from China, and starts gaining traction on forums, the jig will be up for RazoRock.

RazoRock is in a position now to sell twice as many razors as they currently do. If they bought a new CNC machine and brought on an operator, they would make a pile of money this year. That may not be true in 2 years, and a CNC machine like that is probably north of $250k. @Rosseforp would probably have a better idea since he was in the biz. At any rate, it's a major capital investment, and the resale price on those machines take a massive hit on the secondary market.

So Italian Barber makes as many razors as their 1 machine will crank out, knowing they could probably sell more, but unable to take the risk that new competitors will vacuum up the market before they pay off their machine. That's my entirely unqualified evaluation of what's happening. It's purely speculation and I could be very wrong. I'm a small business owner myself, and I fret about such things all day.

If you want to see the true racketeers in the market, consider that Muhle and Merkur are still selling 25 cents worth of plated pot metal for $40. Now that's an interesting business model!

I read rumours that they might actually produce their razors in China - since their price is so low.

 

[Rosseforp]

RazoRock has an interesting business model:

Gentlemen, these are our best and best selling razors about which we brag endlessly, and into which we've put enormous time and money, but good luck on buying one anytime soon. Occasionally we'll deign to sell you one with a handle you don't want or maybe a handle you love but already have four of.

I do have four Razorock razors, and more of their handles than I would like to admit

So Italian Barber makes as many razors as their 1 machine will crank out, knowing they could probably sell more, but unable to take the risk that new competitors will vacuum up the market before they pay off their machine. That's my entirely unqualified evaluation of what's happening. It's purely speculation and I could be very wrong. I'm a small business owner myself, and I fret about such things all day.

Based on the language that Joe uses in his advertising, I seriously doubt that Razorock actually owns a machine shop at all.
I used to work for a job shop that made parts for TEAC and a mail-order motorcycle parts manufacturer(an alleged manufacturer, as we made the parts, they only assembled them).
Back in those days they wouldn't send us an order for parts until after enough customers had actually paid for the parts in advance. Then we would make the parts.

I highly suspect that is the same manufacturing model that IB uses.
They probably use a job-shop for all of their manufacturing and have to rely on the job-shop's lead times, and that is why they cannot control their stock adequately.

RazoRock is in a position now to sell twice as many razors as they currently do. If they bought a new CNC machine and brought on an operator, they would make a pile of money this year. That may not be true in 2 years, and a CNC machine like that is probably north of $250k. @Rosseforp would probably have a better idea since he was in the biz. At any rate, it's a major capital investment, and the resale price on those machines take a massive hit on the secondary market.

You can pick up a brand new 4 axis HAAS VF2 for $89k. It is the tooling costs, electricity, and floor space that will get you. And you absolutely need air conditioning or the machines will stop running. Secondary market about 10 cents on the dollar for the machines, but the tooling holds it's price.

 

[Neilzebub]

I've heard the GC .68 is very akin to the Feather AS-D2. Is that the case?

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

It definitely is an interesting business model. I do have to admire them though. They started putting out the $50 Game Changer in cnc'd 316l when everyone else had a price point north of $150.

Ironically, I suspect that the thing standing between them and increasing production to meet demand is the fear that someone will do to them, what they did to Wolfman razors. My understanding is that the Game Changer is a, let's be charitable, "homage" to the Wolfman Guerilla. The Lupo (which is "wolf" in latin) is a shameless "homage" to the Wolfman WR series. So far so good. Until it's not.

At this very moment, there is a company in China that is making perfect 316l stainless copies of the RazoRock razors! They have the GC .68, GC .84, Lupo .72, Lupo .95, and Mamba. They sell the razors for 30% less than RazoRock does. They haven't taken meaningful market share yet, but it's just a matter of time. When a 316L SS Lupo .72 clone costs $24.99 from China, and starts gaining traction on forums, the jig will be up for RazoRock.

RazoRock is in a position now to sell twice as many razors as they currently do. If they bought a new CNC machine and brought on an operator, they would make a pile of money this year. That may not be true in 2 years, and a CNC machine like that is probably north of $250k. @Rosseforp would probably have a better idea since he was in the biz. At any rate, it's a major capital investment, and the resale price on those machines take a massive hit on the secondary market.

So Italian Barber makes as many razors as their 1 machine will crank out, knowing they could probably sell more, but unable to take the risk that new competitors will vacuum up the market before they pay off their machine. That's my entirely unqualified evaluation of what's happening. It's purely speculation and I could be very wrong. I'm a small business owner myself, and I fret about such things all day.

If you want to see the true racketeers in the market, consider that Muhle and Merkur are still selling 25 cents worth of plated pot metal for $40. Now that's an interesting business model!

Excellent.

I really enjoyed your viewpoint about the subject. I had no idea about the very interesting Chinese knock offs of the RazoRock razors.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Dovo1695]

I highly suspect that is the same manufacturing model that IB uses.
They probably use a job-shop for all of their manufacturing and have to rely on the job-shop's lead times, and that is why they cannot control their stock adequately.

That makes sense. I wonder if they found a job shop that makes high end, high profit parts but that is only working at 70% percent capacity. Italian barber makes a contract to buy the 30% free capacity in an annual contract, and gets a break on the per piece rate. The job shop runs at 100% capacity, which dramatically increases profitability. Both parties win, but Italian Barbers supply is constrained by the fixed number of machine hours they buy at the reduced rate, hence the limited stock, and supply issues. They get razors when the job shop has nothing better to do. Pure speculation on my part again of course; maybe it's nonsense. Do such deals occur in the job shop world?

I had no idea about the very interesting Chinese knock offs of the RazoRock razors.

From what I've read from folks here on the forum who own both the RR version and the knockoff, they're damn good razors. They also have a SS steel clone of the R41. The vendor sells them direct to consumer from Aliexpress. I reckon you'll hear more about them as time goes on and their prices drop down from $35 towards that magical $29.99 price point. That price includes shipping believe it or not.

Razors have always been a cutthroat business.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I've heard the GC .68 is very akin to the Feather AS-D2. Is that the case?

I used the AS-D2 long enough (months) to believe I can give the perfect answer even though I've only used the GC 68 a few times: The two razors are not at all alike, at least not in any way I can appreciate as a guy who has shaved with both, in terms of anything I value while shaving.

Obviously, both are SS, but the AS-D2 is chromed SS.

The GC 68 is a lot more efficient.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Neilzebub]

Cheers. I might have to buy the GC heads then, thanks.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

If you want to see the true racketeers in the market, consider that Muhle and Merkur are still selling 25 cents worth of plated pot metal for $40. Now that's an interesting business model!

I've been reading about the $97 Merkur Adjustable Futur Safety Razor Gold Plated 702.

It is gold plated pot metal!

Yes, people like it, but somehow the Chinese knockoff, the Q Shave adjustable, is almost equally reviewed.

You make a very good point, @Dovo1695

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Friday's shave was very good.

It is very hard indeed to top the Fatip Open Comb Slant (in its balance of qualities - ease of use, smoothness of its shave, efficiency - and overall value and cool factor).

I like this "little" RV Shavemac Pure brush. It has some scritch but no scratch.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Cal]

The usual progression, 400-600-1200-2000 then the fingernail buffing and polishing sticks. Flitz or Simichrome for the final polish.

Stage 1 (posted previously):

My wet and dry (to your progression Doug) arrived today. I didn't spend very long, but used all four grits and finished up with a little polish. Stage 2 (I'm happy, no further work required):

Thank you Doug!

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Stage 1 (posted previously):
View attachment 1273424

My wet and dry (to your progression Doug) arrived today. I didn't spend very long, but used all four grits and finished up with a little polish. Stage 2 (I'm happy, no further work required):
View attachment 1273425

View attachment 1273426

Thank you Doug!

That looks great, Cal!

Could you spell out for those of us more challenged exactly what you did to get results like that?

I have experience polishing up my long-on-a-road-trip SS General, and also several brass razors (which are easy as pie), but not Zamac.

I have all sorts of sandpaper in a very wide range of numbers. Flitz is my main skill.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Neilzebub]

Nicely done Cal!

 

[Esox]

I didn't spend very long, but used all four grits and finished up with a little polish. Stage 2 (I'm happy, no further work required):

Good job!

A stiff nylon brush with a bit of polishing compound will help smooth the recessed edges, if you're so inclined.

 

[Esox]

Since this razor was just brought to my attention, I'll add it here as well.

Henson Razors.

"Chatter is what causes razor burn and irritation." Someone has been paying attention in class. Hmmm, only an hour from me...

 

[Rosseforp]

Stage 1 (posted previously):
View attachment 1273424

My wet and dry (to your progression Doug) arrived today. I didn't spend very long, but used all four grits and finished up with a little polish. Stage 2 (I'm happy, no further work required):
View attachment 1273425

View attachment 1273426

Thank you Doug!

WOW