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Help me simplify from my Rockwell 6S

I have used a Rockwell 6S for over a year exclusively. More specifically, I have used plate 5. I used plate 4 for a brief time but have found 5 slightly more efficient. I like the shaves a lot. I don't love the clunky feel or exposed tabs. I also don't like keeping around plates that don't get used. I'd like to get more streamlined.

Other DEs I have liked almost enough to make them my one and only: Gillette Red Tip, Long-handled black beauty (set on 5 or 6), Mergress.

I used an EJ Barley chrome for a long time, and it was a handle I liked and a smooth shaver, but I wanted something a shade more aggressive.

Top of my list right now is the GC .84, but I'm open to other suggestions. I am unlikely to spend triple digits for a razor again, although I did for both the Mergress and the Rockwell. I like the idea of a steel razor, although brass might be a consideration, as would aluminum or maybe even zamak, although when I finally dropped my EJ after 6 years of use and the threads snapped, it turned me off.

I want one razor and don't wish to go shopping for another soon. So, is the Game Changer my best bet? Is there something else I ought to consider? 3One6? Rocca? Others?
How much dangerous are the exposed tabs in a S6?
 
How much dangerous are the exposed tabs in a S6?
Not very. I have clipped my ear once or twice in about 15 months of daily use. But they're annoying aesthetically and you do have to watch for them a bit. It's nitpicky, really. The razor is great.
 
Based on my experience, there is only one razor that I can say that competes directly with the Rockwell. I currently have 30 razors in my collection and I have probably used more than 50 razors. All this is to say I have done some comparisons. I am not the person that only have tried 1 or 2 razors and swears by them. I am not an expert, but I have a little experience, at least to know exactly what woks for me.

That one razor is the Karve Christopher Bradley razor. It has pretty much the same efficiency and smoothness of the Rockwell with less chunky design. The advantage of the Rockwell is that it comes with all the plates you need. The karve, you have to decide which plate or plates you want to buy. I purchased plates b and c. Those are more or less equivalent to 4 and 5 on the Rockwell.

I hope this helps. I am very interested on what other recommendations people have.


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Are you talking the brass Karve?
 
Which handle did you buy? I ask because I was going to plug the barber pole.


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I picked it up on the BST here, so it comes with the HD handle the seller had. If I decide to try another handle, I'll probably buy 3 (haha! simplify!) and decide among the Super Knurl, Radio Knob, and Barberpole by using them.

I'm hopeful that the HD will be so perfect that I just call it a day.
 
For me, I find that my "mild" Game Changer 0.68 SB with a sharp blade, to be more efficient than my Rockwell 6S on plate R5.
That's encouraging, Fred D.

The R5 plate has a blade gap of 0.69mm, so I ordered a GC 0.68 SB in the hope of getting as good a result with a less bulky head.
 
I picked it up on the BST here, so it comes with the HD handle the seller had. If I decide to try another handle, I'll probably buy 3 (haha! simplify!) and decide among the Super Knurl, Radio Knob, and Barberpole by using them.

I'm hopeful that the HD will be so perfect that I just call it a day.

The HD is great - reminiscent of the handle on the Merkur 34C but larger.
 
I'm 5 shaves in with my GC84 at present. The following are thoughts so far, but definitely not a final verdict. I'm going to give the razor time, as I had to when I adopted the 6S as my daily shaver.

Pros:
The handle is actually really nice. I am interested in a Barberpole and a Super Knurl, but there's not a thing wrong with this one.
The thinner baseplate and top cap make the razor look and feel agile. It's very easy to maneuver.
The shaves feel comfortable and smooth.

Cons:
I am not getting as close a shave as plate 5 on my 6S. This may be because it feels smooth even when not at an optimal cutting angle, so I am hopeful this will improve.
I have had irritation on two shaves, in both cases along my trouble area (right jawline). It was minor both times and probably a technique issue, again perhaps related to how smooth the razor feels even when not just perfectly dialed in.

I would expect to see some improvement in a week or so. Even if things aren't perfect then, I would think my technique with this particular shaver will be more dialed in and the shaves will be improving. I am not an inexperienced DE shaver, so if after two weeks there's not some improvement, I won't be inclined to blame myself as a user. It may be time at that point to reevaluate.
 
I'm 5 shaves in with my GC84 at present. The following are thoughts so far, but definitely not a final verdict. I'm going to give the razor time, as I had to when I adopted the 6S as my daily shaver.

Pros:
The handle is actually really nice. I am interested in a Barberpole and a Super Knurl, but there's not a thing wrong with this one.
The thinner baseplate and top cap make the razor look and feel agile. It's very easy to maneuver.
The shaves feel comfortable and smooth.

Cons:
I am not getting as close a shave as plate 5 on my 6S. This may be because it feels smooth even when not at an optimal cutting angle, so I am hopeful this will improve.
I have had irritation on two shaves, in both cases along my trouble area (right jawline). It was minor both times and probably a technique issue, again perhaps related to how smooth the razor feels even when not just perfectly dialed in.

I would expect to see some improvement in a week or so. Even if things aren't perfect then, I would think my technique with this particular shaver will be more dialed in and the shaves will be improving. I am not an inexperienced DE shaver, so if after two weeks there's not some improvement, I won't be inclined to blame myself as a user. It may be time at that point to reevaluate.
I had some trouble with the .84 at first. It was so smooth I didn’t think it was doing anything. So, without realizing it, I compensated with more pressure. Once I lightened up, it became my daily driver. This, of course, may not be the case for you at all. The .68 was just too mild for me. Good luck!
 
I had some trouble with the .84 at first. It was so smooth I didn’t think it was doing anything. So, without realizing it, I compensated with more pressure. Once I lightened up, it became my daily driver. This, of course, may not be the case for you at all. The .68 was just too mild for me. Good luck!
That's part of what's going on for sure. I did back off the pressure today, and I paid better attention to angle, and the shave felt the same while I was shaving, but it was much closer. After years of shaving with DEs, I've pretty much learned that with time I will adapt to any shaving tool. The DE89, the Gillette Redtip, the Black Beauty, the Mergress, the Rockwell 6S, and a couple of others became totally familiar and yielded great shaves given time. Probably I should have just stuck with one of those and not continued the search. The search never ends, after all, and it also doesn't necessarily yield anything but more searching.
 
I was in a rush today, my first day of in-person work since March 13. As a result, I wound up shaving a bit more quickly and thinking less. It worked. Having absorbed the shaving angle of this razor for a week, I had a fantastic, irritation-free shave with little thought and even less time to execute. As it always does, the combination of less pressure and quick, light strokes yielded tremendous results. Digging the GC84.
 
Everything's clicking with the GC .84P now. It's a really good razor, albeit not as automatically forgiving as the 6S. It's more maneuverable and lighter, though, and I can see where some prefer it aesthetically (for me that's a wash: I love the elemental look of the matte finish on my 6S, but I also dig this polished steel).

Still not sure which I'll keep, but sometime soon I'll figure it out.
 
I insist, the Karve Christopher Bradley safety razor has all the good virtues of the Rockwell 6S, but s little lighter and much easier to maneuver. Like the 6S it is very, very smooth and forgiven, but efficient at the same time.

I believe the Karve was made to compete directly with the Rockwell 6S.

Here is part of an interview Mantic59 from Sharpologist did to Chris Kitchen the creator or the Karve.

"I got with Chris Kirchen of Karve by email with a few questions I had:
When did you personally get interested in ‘old school’ shaving and when did you decide you wanted to make shave products?

I guess I always wondered if there was a better way than cartridge razors (because I was always left wanting), but the first time I really thought about it was when I saw that scene in ‘Skyfall’ (yeah, yeah…corny, but that was the spark). I kept using a cartridge razor for about a year after I met Brad…I just didn’t know where to start, so I stayed put. Then one day, I came across a Rockwell razor on Massdrop or Touch of Modern and I started doing some research…which turned out to be a deep rabbit hole. I asked Brad for some help and he turned around and sent me a care package. I was converted after the first shave. Actually, it was the scent of the soap that hooked me…it had the same scent as the soap that my dad used when I was a kid.
I’m not sure that there was actually ever a moment when I decided to make shaving products. ‘Maker’ is such a large part of my personality and my interests, so I tend to approach just about everything I encounter with the attitude of “Can I make that?”. If there was a decision, it was made subconsciously that day that I saw the Rockwell razor for the first time. And then, when I enjoyed my first wet shave so much, it was only a matter of time. When I told people in my life that I was making brushes and razors, their answer was ‘of course’."




QRTAS
 
I insist, the Karve Christopher Bradley safety razor has all the good virtues of the Rockwell 6S, but s little lighter and much easier to maneuver. Like the 6S it is very, very smooth and forgiven, but efficient at the same time.

I believe the Karve was made to compete directly with the Rockwell 6S.

Here is part of an interview Mantic59 from Sharpologist did to Chris Kitchen the creator or the Karve.

"I got with Chris Kirchen of Karve by email with a few questions I had:
When did you personally get interested in ‘old school’ shaving and when did you decide you wanted to make shave products?

I guess I always wondered if there was a better way than cartridge razors (because I was always left wanting), but the first time I really thought about it was when I saw that scene in ‘Skyfall’ (yeah, yeah…corny, but that was the spark). I kept using a cartridge razor for about a year after I met Brad…I just didn’t know where to start, so I stayed put. Then one day, I came across a Rockwell razor on Massdrop or Touch of Modern and I started doing some research…which turned out to be a deep rabbit hole. I asked Brad for some help and he turned around and sent me a care package. I was converted after the first shave. Actually, it was the scent of the soap that hooked me…it had the same scent as the soap that my dad used when I was a kid.
I’m not sure that there was actually ever a moment when I decided to make shaving products. ‘Maker’ is such a large part of my personality and my interests, so I tend to approach just about everything I encounter with the attitude of “Can I make that?”. If there was a decision, it was made subconsciously that day that I saw the Rockwell razor for the first time. And then, when I enjoyed my first wet shave so much, it was only a matter of time. When I told people in my life that I was making brushes and razors, their answer was ‘of course’."




QRTAS
Thanks. That's a really interesting piece of reading. I may try a Karve someday. Dunno. I can't see buying another modern razor at this point as the improvement would be marginal at best, it would seem, over the GC84. Never say never, though.
 
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