First shave with micromatic SE....

[Sirius3]

The .... signifying it was absolutely terrible! I only managed 3/4 of my first pass going with the grain, im not sure if this was the cause but i noticed unusually uneven patches of hair after i nearly finished my first pass, so i then looked at the razor only to find that there was a lot of thick hair caught underneath the blade, i had to physically remove the blade to get rid of it...under the tap it would not budge it at all. Is this normal with a micromatic SE? Or could this have been the problem? My face looks like a beetroot with a few cuts here and there but none of them that bad, mostly the irritation that is terrible and came from a single WTG pass. For now im sticking to my slant as my skin looks terrible and i doubt i will be able to shave for a few days, i don't want to possibly go through this again

Oh and im sure i loaded the blade properly, i followed MrGuysRazors advice on youtube.

 

[brianw]

Wow... No this is not normal !!!!. What Blade were you using ? was it under the stops by the comb? I just finished 10 days with a micromatic Clog Pruf and each shave was superb

 

[Sirius3]

Sorry i don't understand what you mean by under the 'stops'? The blades are ted pellas, may not be an accurate description but there is a visible thick line of hair running underneath the blade..again im sure this is a terrible description, then when i took the blade out none of the hair was stuck on it, instead there was a thick layer of compact hair covering the protruding comb 'bits'.... Maybe people can visualize what i mean. I cannot be certain it would interfere with the shave but it certainly looks like like it would. Im hoping i just didn't shave properly as i have heard great things about the micromatic.

Thanks

 

[PhatMan]

Sirius3,

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

The GEM/Ever-Ready SEs are, for me, the best shaving safety razors I have ever used .

I shaved last night with my GEM Micromatic and really enjoyed it

Is your lather on the dry side ?

I rinse the razor after each stroke, and find that at the end of the shave, the blade is free of gunge.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

 

[Gustav]

I have never shaved with an SE although I intend to but blades that gunge up, sounds like a lather problem to be. What are you using?

 

[Drybonz]

I got a micromatic recently and my first shave with it was really nice.

They are supposed to prevent clogging by the way the door closes down on the blade. It almost sounds like your door wasn't closing properly if you have stuff getting clogged up in there, which I can see how that would cause a problem.

The hole in the blade should fit over the little bump underneath the door and your door should close down flush on the blade.

*edit* Also, in my humble opinion, if you are ever getting a shave that is tearing your face up that bad, just stop what you are doing. I don't think there is any reason to subject your whole face to that much horror. It sounds like there was something wrong.

 

[Sirius3]

Thanks for the replies, i cannot say for certain if the doors are closing properly or not, the razor is in great condition and i don't think it has ever been used. Judging from pics/videos im going to assume it is mechanically fine, doesn't look odd when loaded with a blade when comparing with close up pics found online. For the shave i used palmolive soap and the lather was pretty much the same as always, works well and gives great shaves with all my DE's. Anyway i think i will be able to shave again tomorrow, this time i will pay extra attention to everything that's going on before proceeding further in to the shave...i really didn't expect it to be so terrible as i had already read much about micromatics before buying and thought i knew what to expect. I will update again tomorrow.

Cheers

 

[Captain H]

Make sure the blade is under the two tabs on either side of the head.

 

[Captain H]

Whatch the vid if you have not and see if you loaded the blade wrong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUG2B_-D0d4

 

[_JP_]

I have seen several others post here about troubles with the Micromatic, so you are not alone. The Micromatic was my first GEM razor, and I had trouble with it. Sometimes the shaves were good, other times it nicked me. When I started using a 1912 GEM I had great shaves with it every time. And now I can shave with the Micromatic with no problems at all. Personally, I think that the Micromatic is not the best GEM to learn with.

One thing to watch out for with GEM razors is the blade angle.They made it very easy to line up correctly. The instructions that come with them tell you to keep the head flat against the face so that you have the correct angle. A lot of guys like to lift the head slightly which increases the angle. That might be your problem.

 

[Fletch]

I used a MM the second time since I got it, today as a matter of fact. My first experience with it I must have had around 10 weepers with it. I shelved it for a few weeks, tried some different razors, etc. Grabbed it again today and was a bit more careful with it and I will say I got a pretty DFS with it. I have read that the angle is a bit different than a DE but I didn't get hacked up as bad as you seem to the first time I tried it. But (assuming the razor is in proper working order) my experience with it was it just took a bit of "stick-to it-ness". Still not as nice as a shave as some of my DE's but worth spending a bit more time with it for me YMMV.

 

[Drybonz]

My first experience with it I must have had around 10 weepers with it.

The main things I can think of that might be getting people these really bad results with this razor are that they are holding it with too steep of an angle (perpendicular to the face) or pressing down against the skin. I can imagine that either of these things would give you bad results, and a combination of the two would probably be sheer horror.

 

[Sirius3]

Nope, not using this thing again. Absolutely awful shave...maybe even a tad worse than the first. I was using no pressure and the angle of the razor was correct i believe from what i have seen in the videos...every stroke felt like sand paper, and again only a few tiny nicks, no bad ones. Maybe it's the blades, the razor or my technique...i honestly don't care now, not risking going through that again, usually im a bit obsessive about redness/irritation etc when it comes to shaving, no one else usually notices but me....but friends at work and at home all noticed the red irritated skin with these past couple of shaves and commented on it. Back to my merkur slant.

 

[mmack66]

Micromatics take a while to get used to and the open comb MM is the most aggressive one of the bunch, so if your technique is off a bit, you would likely have problems.

What kind of blades are you using? GEM by Personna stainless steel blades work well for me.

 

[Dave Deluxe]

Honestly, if you normally use a Slant, the OC Micromatic should be no problem for you. I get some of my best shaves from the OC Micromatic. Here are some thoughts:

- Blades are real important with SE razors, since box cutters & utility knifes share the same style of blades it is important you get "shave quality" ones.

- I know above you claimed the blade was loaded correctly, but you might re-visit this again. The seating of the blade is most important, and it is best not to proceed unless you are sure it is right. Also sometimes the tabs can get bent, or damaged, inspect them closely before use.

- Blade angle. Without getting this right you can definitely get world class razor burn and irritation. The correct angle will be much different from what you use in DE shaving.

Of course you can just throw in the towel on it. But implemented properly you'd be missing out on an outstanding shaving tool.

 

[tontovila]

I had the good/bad fortune to start wet shaving with an open comb MM. The learning curve isn't forgiving. You either do it correctly and perfectly or you bleed.