Karve Diem

[Sotiris_A]

In order for the shaving plane to remain the same, the width or the geometry of the guard must change. Karve like a Gillette adjustable seems to vary the gap (length of the area cycled in blue) keeping the rest of the geometry the same.



Essentially plate F is the tallest and the AA the shortest. Here are some photos of plate A (left) and E (right):





These are not perfect due to minor shooting angle errors but you can get the rough idea. Perhaps I am missing something but, in my understanding this is equivalent to the Gillette adjustable:



So at plates AA to B the angle of the shaving plane is shallow enough that the exposure is negative but as we progress to the other plates it turns positive. I hope this helps. Happy shaves!

 

[Zhang Doe]

I have always thought that larger blade gaps generally mean positive blade exposure, and this allows for a broader range of angles to be applied when shaving.

 

[kohalajohn]

I agree. The image from the gillette adjustable really shows this. Sorry for the longwindedness here, but I'm figuring this out in my own head.

I had thought that it was the safety bar that is ground down, but no, it's the top of the bottom plate, the guard, that is ground down. It's the guard that holds the blade up high above the safety bar, creating the gap and setting the exposure.

With the guard ground down so that the edge nearly rests on the safety bar, you've got almost no choice in shaving angle. You have to follow the angle that the blade is giving you.

That's what my fatip is doing. And it's ok I guess, except if I'm not careful, I'll completely miss an area of stubble.

But when the guard surface is high above the safety bar, creating a gap, your shaving angle can wiggle a bit and you'll still cut stubble. I think I prefer this.

And, as catcha points out, you can use pressure to bulge the skin up into the gap. This creates the same effect as having a lot of exposure of the edge.

I suspect that the reason small gaps are suggested for new shavers, is because new shavers have decades of muscle memory with carts, and carts train you to push hard. That much pressure can be too much when there's a large gap. New shavers have to learn to use light pressure, and that can take some time.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[Sotiris_A]

I agree. The image from the gillette adjustable really shows this. Sorry for the longwindedness here, but I'm figuring this out in my own head.

I had thought that it was the safety bar that is ground down, but no, it's the top of the bottom plate, the guard, that is ground down. It's the guard that holds the blade up high above the safety bar, creating the gap and setting the exposure.

With the guard ground down so that the edge nearly rests on the safety bar, you've got almost no choice in shaving angle. You have to follow the angle that the blade is giving you.

That's what my fatip is doing. And it's ok I guess, except if I'm not careful, I'll completely miss an area of stubble.

But when the guard surface is high above the safety bar, creating a gap, your shaving angle can wiggle a bit and you'll still cut stubble. I think I prefer this.

And, as catcha points out, you can use pressure to bulge the skin up into the gap. This creates the same effect as having a lot of exposure of the edge.

I suspect that the reason small gaps are suggested for new shavers, is because new shavers have decades of muscle memory with carts, and carts train you to push hard. That much pressure can be too much when there's a large gap. New shavers have to learn to use light pressure, and that can take some time.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the ideas.

I am by no means an expert myself.

Positive blade exposure gives you more angles at the expense of a more aggressive feeling due to blade presence. Despite the fact that the Fatip has minimal gap, you always have all the angles between riding the cap (shallow angle) and riding the guard (steep angle) and that span is not negligible IME. See the sketch in the following link and think of a razor with positive exposure:

The Wanderer's Guide To DE Shaving

Part One I was self taught with a DE razor 25 years ago, and had to figure out a lot of things the hard way. I learned a lot of things over the years, but wish there had been an experienced DE shaver who could have taught me the basics early on. This guide is offered so that you can get to...

www.badgerandblade.com

In fact, if you like shaving at a shallow angle then the gap can even become irrelevant as the guard rarely touches the skin. In my understanding, it is more when you go neutral to riding the guard that the gap plays an important role. Finally, the gap alone is not an indicator of mildness. Eg. the Merkur 34c has a 0.71mm gap but it is milder than the Fatip or the Gillette New SC which have a gap of 0.14mm and 0.58mm, respectively.

Double-Edged Safety Razors Ranked by Blade Gap

Ranking by blade gap size

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Consider the Schick adjustable and Personna adjustable. One moves the bar up and down, altering blade gap. The other one moves the bar in and out, altering blade reveal.I forget now which does which.

 

[weekly]

Isn't it just that the shaving angle becomes steeper revealing the blade more as the gap increases while the width of both the cap and and the base plate remain constant?

That has always been my understanding.

 

[Leverspro]

I ordered some red jewelers rouge today to try get the scratches out of my Karve cap. I've also got this CG brass torpedo laying in a drawer and looking pretty dull. Anyone polish one of these? It would be pretty different from polishing the flat surface of a cap.

 

[Esox]

I ordered some red jewelers rouge today to try get the scratches out of my Karve cap. I've also got this CG brass torpedo laying in a drawer and looking pretty dull. Anyone polish one of these? It would be pretty different from polishing the flat surface of a cap.

Polishing by hand is the safest way, also the slowest.

Using a higher speed machine, Dremel or bench mounted buffing wheel, you need to be very careful not to change the contours. Polishing removes material. If you press too hard or linger too long in one place, you can mess up the piece.

 

[Vanille]

I also ordered some polishing materials yesterday. Will post pictures once done!


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[Justin1976]

Anyone know what the average wait time is for current Karve orders to the US?

 

[xiletero]

For everrrr..........

Seems that is worse than before

 

[Calm_Shaver]

4-6 weeks from my experience. This is when I ordered the Karve Stainless Steel. Hopefully they improved in that aspect.

 

[ajc347]

I’m still waiting for two baseplates I ordered on Black Friday.

They haven’t shipped yet despite being shown in stock when I purchased them. It would have been more palatable had Karve been upfront and said that was purchase was effectively a pre-order.

I would, therefore, suggest that you’re likely to be in for a pretty long wait if you order anything at the current time as there seems to be quite a backlog.




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[xiletero]

I’m still waiting for two baseplates I ordered on Black Friday.

They haven’t shipped yet despite being shown in stock when I purchased them. It would have been more palatable had Karve been upfront and said that was purchase was effectively a pre-order.

I would, therefore, suggest that you’re likely to be in for a pretty long wait if you order anything at the current time as there seems to be quite a backlog.




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And they can't blame the post like Yaqi

 

[merovirginian]

My last order from Karve was in September (2019), for a single base plate. Order placed and then it was shipped two weeks later, and took about a week to arrive. About 3 weeks. Then.

 

[xiletero]

I ordered from Westcoastshaving and Razoremporium....shipped next day....

 

[AQU]

Buy from a retailer. I think it's becoming apparent that Karve is using its clients for business loans.

It should not take 2+ months to ship a razor that you "added to cart". He's clearly taking the money to cover costs.

Charcoal Goods, Timeless, Blackland and a few other smaller companies operate in much more honest ways.

Cancel you order and buy a Blackbird imo.

 

[muzichead]

@Justin1976
Karve supposedly shipped the first parts, (non-polished), of Black Friday orders earlier this week yet no one has actually seen any movement in any postal systems to date. It was probably just a pic to quasi-satisfy some very angry people that shelled out the money 2 months ago and have nothing to show for something that was listed as "in stock"!! To make matters worse, he recently messaged someone that purchased the polished stainless version and said those won't be available to ship until around March 1st... That's over 3 months for something they said was "in stock"!!

This is definitely a buyer beware vendor for sure as he has no problem lying to clients to get them to send them money only to make them wait months to get their items.... Probably the most dishonest vendor in shaving...

 

[Earcutter]

I bought a brass Karve and was so impressed, I dropped my beloved Mühle R41 and started the long endeavor of trying every blade I could buy in my Karve. I got a pretty good collection of blades - it was going to take the best part of a year.

In the middle of my testing, I ordered their Stainless.

The experience was so horrible, I decided I’d sell the lot of them and go back to my 41. Turns out, the Karve really is better and I wanted to finish the testing with the same razor. So I kept them. I use them. But I’ve got no love for the brand. It’s just the best tool I’ve got right now.

I’d recommend you you look elsewhere (there’s lots of great options) if customer service, or getting anything in a reasonable amount of time means anything to you. If I was doing it again, that’s how I’d go.

 

[para]

This is definitely a buyer beware vendor for sure as he has no problem lying to clients to get them to send them money only to make them wait months to get their items.... Probably the most dishonest vendor in shaving...

Totally Agree!

And the worst part is that when you eventually finally do your get your Karve you can't enjoy it because every time you pick it up you are reminded of how you were sucker punched by this deceitful and dishonest vendor.