Feather Single Edge Issue or am I doing something wrong?

[reenact12321]

Hi,

I'm a long time lurker first time poster. I've been shaving with a double edge safety razor, Proraso and a badger hair brush for a long time and have had consistently good luck with bluebird and Feather blades.

I recently picked up a valet autostrop razor and bought some feather single edge FHS-10 to give it a try. Showered, lathered up and went to work, probably 3 days growth. I found that within about 1/4-1/3 of the shave the razor was pulling and felt dull, finishing the shave was very uncomfortable and I ended up cleaning up with a bic yellow disposable I keep for emergencies which cut notably cleaner and better than that blade by this point.

Did I get a dud? Is there some technique secret for single edge razors? Does feather's quality not carry over to these blades?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Feather's single edge blades are not as sharp as the DE version...but you should still be able to get a few shaves out of it. It might not be the blade. If this was your first shave with the Valet, it may take a number of shaves to nail down technique. The optimal angle of attack is different from a DE razor.

 

[kingfisher]

Those blades are crap, but they usually last through at least one shave before they go dull. Shallow angle, rich/hydrated lather is a must.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

 

[reenact12321]

Those blades are crap, but they usually last through at least one shave before they go dull. Shallow angle, rich/hydrated lather is a must.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

Do you have a suggested single blade alternative?

 

[kingfisher]

Do you have a suggested single blade alternative?

I wish I did. Some of the autostrops will take de-spined GEM blades, but most will not. When I shaved with an autostrop I would palm strop the Feather blade right before putting it into the razor and then shave once with it and toss it out. Usually I got a good shave, but the blades often crapped out during the second shave, so I took to tossing them after a single shave.

With the price of those blades, and the fact that I can get 10-16 shaves from an Schick Proline or Kai Mild PINK in my shavettes, I just couldn't see why I should continue using the Autostrop. Never thought they shaved any better than most GEM razors anyway, and I wasn't enough into steampunk to make me think it was worth continuing to use it.

 

[reenact12321]

Cool. I appreciate the insight. I picked it up more to complete the wash roll for my British WWII soldiers kit. I just thought I'd give it a shot and was just wowed by what a miserable shave I had. Back into the display stuff

 

[Whiterook]

You may have a dud blade, it happens. These razors shave well if you get the angle right. Start with the top of the blade against you face and rock it down a bit until it starts cutting. Do you know what model you have? I can manage half a dozen shaves from a FHS10 blade, many more from a Gem.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Check your shave angle - it will seem quite shallow compare to what you are used to with DE, like almost flat to your face.

I don't get all the hate for the FHS-10 blades around here. I get 5-7 shaves out of each one I stick into whatever AutoStrop razor I decide to use that week. I do palm-strop the blade between shaves, as I do with Gem PTFE blades, but I doubt that is responsible for the longevity. I have a typical beard for a 60+ y/o guy, just a shade less tough than iron filings, so it's not like I've got a baby face or anything.

Now the Feather carbon SE blades are another matter - they are pretty terrible.

 

[dabrock]

I've heard some similar stories with the One Blade, particularly for head shaving. The blades seem to dull very quickly and if your beard is really tough you might be able to dull them before the shave is done from what I understand. Unfortunately, these are not a great blade.

 

[kingfisher]

Certainly if you are not used to GEM-style razors, the angle is much shallower. Try to keep it almost flat on your face.

 

[Itazuramono]

I have this exact same problem with the those blades! Good to know I'm not the only one. In the VC4 it's not so bad, but like everyone else says the blades only last about 1 or 2 shaves. And in the VC2 it just pulls and tugs like nothing else. I just got a VC1 and am using a Gem blade in it and it's much better.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

I got the fifth excellent shave out of a FHS-10 in my Wilkinson Pall Mall razor (fitted with a GEM spine to make it snug). One thing I've noticed about the FHS-10 - they like to be REALLY flat to the face.

 

[Morteus61]

Thanks for the info. I just picked up a Valet Auto strop VC-4. Have the Feather blades on order. It came with 1 VALET blade. No strop. The blade seems very old but very sharp. Going to strop it by hand and try out a shave before the Feather blades arrive. Hoping I can just keep stropping the original blade. Let me know if anyone had continued success with that. I have a course beard. Feather blades will put me in the poorhouse!