A couple weeks ago I was doing a little shopping on Amazon and saw this come up on suggestions. I wasn't searching for razors but I suppose it was suggested because a while back I was searching and thinking about buying Wilkinson Sword blades. I know I looked at this and other VB razors before but passed as I have a number of razors already that hardly get used because my Slim is my number one and my Fatboy is a close second. My SS, New short OC, Krona, Tech, 34c, VDH TTO, Wilkinson Sword, Schick J1 and the Parker Adjustable Injector all very rarely get used. But for some reason when I saw this again on Amazon I couldn't pass it up. I do like the looks of it. Not that fond of the two different safety bars, would have preferred scalloped or grooved on both sides so not sure how if there is a felt difference. Seems solid enough, quality looks decent, heavy feel which is a plus. The adjustable mechanism doesn't feel smooth, like a grinding feeling while turning, with the door slightly ajar, and the cap on the bottom of the handle looks a little mangled. But overall looks like a nice razor. Tomorrow it will get a test drive on setting around 5 to start, maybe 6 and see how it compares to my Slim on setting 7.
Did I really need another razor? Vikings Blade Meiji.
- Thread starter skibik
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Boy I hope you got one from the newer moulds! I think you have heard me mention before that I got one of the ones with a frown, others have as well. I think the problem is fixed, but the not smooth adjustment is a new one for me. The two sides are surprisingly different and not necessarily the way you would expect! 
(they are more useful than assumed, can use one for certain areas and the other for others)
(they are more useful than assumed, can use one for certain areas and the other for others)
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- #3
Boy I hope you got one from the newer moulds! I think you have heard me mention before that I got one of the ones with a frown, others have as well. I think the problem is fixed, but the not smooth adjustment is a new one for me. The two sides are surprisingly different and not necessarily the way you would expect!
(they are more useful than assumed, can use one for certain areas and the other for others)
I'm not sure what the "frown" you are referring to is, I am gathering it must be curved across the safety bar when closed, It appears straight. First I was adjusting it with the doors closed tight and the safety bar was lopsided, I shouldn't have been adjusting it with them closed and when I open the doors slightly then it adjusts straight. But when I turn the knob it feels like it is grinding on the handle somewhere.
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- #4
So, I was trying to load a blade to get ready for tomorrow morning test drive and one goofy thing I found is if the razor is set at 1 the doors are more closed than if it is at 9. With it set at 1 a blade doesn't fit through the doors, really, the Slim or Fatboy doesn't do this. At first I also thought the blade had more exposure on the scalloped side and tried to realign the blade but it sits quite tight on the center bar, after some fiddling it may be just my imagination.
Looks nice though! I'll be following along with interest my friend.
The "frown" he's referring to is a downward bend on the blade at the edges. It was a well-known issue with some of the Meijis.
I bought one late last year. I had read a lot of criticisms on the internet to the point where I wouldn't buy one for months until I decided to take a chance. I don't think it's a design problem at all. But I suspect they have had some quality control issues.
Mine is flawless. Everything is straight and right. Having said that, it's my most aggressive razor. I started at the midway point, around 5 on the adjustment scale, and I though my epidermis was going to come off. So I dialed it back to 2.5 and it was much better. Nowadays, it's not unusual for me to dial it all the way back to 1.
Obviously, it depends on the person, the blade, the soap/cream, the type of beard, etc.
I actually put mine away for several weeks and contemplated giving it away. But I pulled it out of mothballs recently and have finally bonded with it. I love the looks, the heft, the feel of the razor. And as long as I don't dial it up too high, it gives me really good shaves, some of them outstanding.
I wish you good luck. I hope you end up liking it as much as I do.
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- #7
The "frown" he's referring to is a downward bend on the blade at the edges. It was a well-known issue with some of the Meijis.
I bought one late last year. I had read a lot of criticisms on the internet to the point where I wouldn't buy one for months until I decided to take a chance. I don't think it's a design problem at all. But I suspect they have had some quality control issues.
Mine is flawless. Everything is straight and right. Having said that, it's my most aggressive razor. I started at the midway point, around 5 on the adjustment scale, and I though my epidermis was going to come off. So I dialed it back to 2.5 and it was much better. Nowadays, it's not unusual for me to dial it all the way back to 1.
Obviously, it depends on the person, the blade, the soap/cream, the type of beard, etc.
I actually put mine away for several weeks and contemplated giving it away. But I pulled it out of mothballs recently and have finally bonded with it. I love the looks, the heft, the feel of the razor. And as long as I don't dial it up too high, it gives me really good shaves, some of them outstanding.
I wish you good luck. I hope you end up liking it as much as I do.
Thanks for explaining that. I tried a search here and that is almost a waste since it give 45 posts about "what did you use today" to 1 post about the razor. I did manage to find a thread about this frown. I even noticed when I was back on Amazon the disclaimer even says that it is not a defect. Mine looks like it is perfectly flat with a blade in it and doesn't have the frown or those burs mentioned in the disclaimer. As mentioned I did notice at first when I had the doors closed the gap was not even from one side to the other. But when I opened the doors and moved the adjustment knob back and forth it leveled out and looks uniform with the doors closed. I have it set at 6 for the morning shave but it really looks aggressive so might even drop it to 3.
I completely forgot about the occasional fiasco I had with the doors, have had blades jam crooked! I held off on mentioning what number to start with so you can have your own experience, but regardless you will be down to 4 in short order.
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- #9
I completely forgot about the occasional fiasco I had with the doors, have had blades jam crooked! I held off on mentioning what number to start with so you can have your own experience, but regardless you will be down to 4 in short order.
I tried loading a used blade in it had the same issue, the blade jammed against one of the doors. I had to push the blade down and it kind of snaps over the center post and as I close the doors it pops back up. Then of course I was putting in a new blade and found that on 1 the doors don't open wide enough and as I removed the blade I hit both doors. Tossed that one since I don't want to take a chance that I buggered the blade on the first shave so in went yet another new one being careful not to jam it.
Yes, it looks aggressive and pretty sure I am turning it down to at 3 to start and if needed can go up from there. At least the blades looks flat, no frown and has a uniform gap across and apparently I need to pay attention to that in the future.
I don't have access to mine right now, but under the flap of the box it clearly states how to load a blade. Not that it should be such a problem, but you definitely need to have it fully loosened to have a chance at not jamming or wrecking a blade. The highest gap(number) has the least blade bend if I remember correctly and that is why it needs to be on a high number. This might also explain the progressively more aggressive shave past the middle of the range! I really wish I could actually use mine, it's packed away and only comes out once a year.
I have a Feather Popular which frowns the blade. Is this more dangerous than not frowning a blade? I have not really used it much since I discovered the frown.
That's my Flatboy "frowning".
The "Meiji frown" is rather bent edges of the blade, though.
In any case, razors shouldn't frown one way or the other...
a rougher shave, the blade gets caught on your hair and raised up against the cap when you pull down.
As I recall, it mentions in the instructions to only open the doors when the adjustment is set to Max. It effects how open the doors will go, apparently.
This would seem to me to be a problematic design, if you can't load a blade without turning the dial all the way up first?
Hope the razor works out!
(And to answer your question, I seriously doubt that anyone on B&B needs another razor!!
)
(And to answer your question, I seriously doubt that anyone on B&B needs another razor!!
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- #17
Mine does not have instructions on how to load the blade. It has instructions on how to shave for first time user and how to reset the tilted base issue. It came with a card with basically the same instructions as the lid but again nothing on how to load the blade. I have figured it out but I looked at everything in the box when I noticed the doors move when you change settings and I just looked again. Surprised that they didn't even supply a pack of their blades. I just checked and the blade bend on mine doesn't change with the settings, it looks the same all the way through, this is loosening the doors, setting 1 looks the same as max.
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- #18
Question is how does it shave with the frown? To me it would cause it to be aggressive in the middle if it is higher than the safety bar. I don't have a single razor that has the frown.
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- #19
Apparently they decided to no longer offer that information. I can't find anywhere on the either box inside or out and nothing on the card in the box. I did figure it out in short order so no big deal. I just don't like the way the lid catches the blade when closing, you have to be careful.
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- #20
Today's test drive. After looking at the blade gap on 6 compared to my Slim set on 7 I decided it looked like it would eat my face so I backed it down to 2. Grabbed the lather bowl and squirted a little Coate's Lavender on top of the RR Stallion remnants that was still in the bowl. Coate's is one of the slickest soaps I have and thought it would be best for the first shave on this razor. With it set on 2 the first stroke I could actually feel a lot more blade than my Slim on 7, glad I turned it down, finished my WTG pass and no blood, excellent. Lather up for my second pass, ATG on cheeks as they only get two passes and my usual XTG on neck, chin and jaw line, another good pass. Third and final ATG pass on next and chin and finished with a DFS. I did struggle bit on the chin since it seems like I can really feel the blade. The razor has a nice heft to it that I like although it seems heavier than the Fatboy. Between the smooth or the scalloped safety bar I can't say I like one over the other, the difference seemed so similar and maybe the scalloped in a way seemed a touch more aggressive. If I grabbed it and just shaved without looking at what side I shaved with I probably couldn't tell.
Other than the awkward way to load the blade this is a nice razor. I did move it up to #3 for the next shave in couple days. As aggressive as it feels on 2 I don't know if I dare to max it out. I really didn't need another razor and hate that it looked so nice that I had to buy it, really no regrets though as it shaves quite nice. Had I not already have found my favorite in my Slim or even the Fatboy this would certainly be my top razor.
Other than the awkward way to load the blade this is a nice razor. I did move it up to #3 for the next shave in couple days. As aggressive as it feels on 2 I don't know if I dare to max it out. I really didn't need another razor and hate that it looked so nice that I had to buy it, really no regrets though as it shaves quite nice. Had I not already have found my favorite in my Slim or even the Fatboy this would certainly be my top razor.
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