Lambda Athena

[Phoenixkh]

One of the goals from my shaves in that state of oneness with the razor and the shave, often described by @Cal as a Zen shave. I've approached shaves like that quite a few times but the first time I was in that state of mind for the whole shave was with the Athena. Since then, I seem to be able to return to that place on a more consistent basis. I feel like the Athena taught me how to get there. For me, it's an amazing razor and one I cherish using.

 

[Guido75]

The Athena isn't a plated razor, is it?

No, solid metal and then polished to a shine with special polishing on the handle to give it that matte look/finish in certain places.

Guido

 

[spacemonkey42]

My guess is that the corners have not changed in design, they probably all come off the CNC machine the same. I bet the differences between razors is just due to human variations in how much Theo polishes the razor. I am not positive, but it looks to me that my earlier batch Athena has a tiny difference in pointedness of each corner.

 

[Phoenixkh]

My guess is that the corners have not changed in design, they probably all come off the CNC machine the same. I bet the differences between razors is just due to human variations in how much Theo polishes the razor. I am not positive, but it looks to me that my earlier batch Athena has a tiny difference in pointedness of each corner.

With handmade items, there will always be some degree of variation, I agree. Knowing Theo just a little bit, I feel the care he takes with every razor is significant. I don't think I could ask for anything more.

 

[AU55IE]

Long posts are very welcome when it comes to reviewing a razor. At least for me, it needs to be descriptive to have any meaning. There's no point saying a razor is good without saying why, and what it feels like. Anyway, it didn't feel long to me while I was reading it - it was all direct to the point. Actually one of the most clear-minded and informative reviews I've read about the razor to date.

It's really nice to hear you clicked with the razor right away and you are finding it to be exceptional in your collection. You had quite a long wait for it in Australia so I think we all really hoped it would delight you in the end.

You make an interesting point about the base plate corners (which I, too, wish we could stop obsessing over now, though it is the nature of forums and the way we exaggerate tiny things when everything is presented in un-nuanced plain text). I think you're right - if I feel the edge of the base plate then I know I've got the angle wrong and I correct it. I think it probably does help me, without consciously thinking about it. I made a thread recently about safety bars and Shane from Blackland posted a similar comment that he intentionally designed the Blackbird safety bar sharper and less comfortable in order to encourage the user toward the correct angle for shaving with it (at least that's how I interpreted his comment and I apologise if I am misrepresenting anything).

I also note @Phoenixkh's discovery that the base plate corners haven't changed from his older Athena, and he has been so happy with that he ordered a second and earmarked them as items he would like to leave to his sons - so clearly this is all a non-issue from his perspective. I've always said that my Athena (from the second batch) has a sharp base plate but if you ever feel it then you're shaving too steep or pressing too hard onto your face. It's the way it is for looks, and it doesn't cause any inconvenience to me.

I think on that note I too shall refrain from any further comment about the corners since I realise that what I just typed gives this matter far more space on the forum than it warrants - from my perspective anyway.

Thanks so much for the kind words. It's really great to read so many peoples opinions on this razor one way or another.
It really does feel like a club. I am optimistic about the next shave and expect a similar or better shave experience.

It seems like such a great razor that it makes a compelling argument as to why one would not pick up and Ares too which explains why so many people here alone have either one of each or two of one.

It was a bit of a wait then part of me was probably too eager and also I have to admit that I had once been a victim of what I could only describe as a scam now from one manufacturer now considering it has been several years an no razor has materialized but that is a story for another day but I honestly feel like all the comments here added to excitement too and I feel like everyone has done a really good job of detailing that.

Yes, it has become a bit of a distraction but it is an interesting discussion to have. Wow I must have missed that thread. I personally feel the Blackbird is angular but not sharp but that could be because I have it in a polished stainless steel and shane did a really good job of polishing it that it did just enough to soften the corner edge to not be as much of an issue but enough to nudge you in the right direction which is where I feel the Athena could be improved just ever so slightly but I do feel like this was intentional. I do feel like Shane and Blackland always have a well thought out reason for their design choices which pleases me beyond just from a shavers perspective.
I was a bit mindful of perhaps being influenced by the thoughts and comments of others and had it not been for that across the grain pass I probably wouldn't have noticed but I feel like I can correct myself as I have done with my Smart-Helix Apollo Light razor which had similar sharp points on the base plate with one base plate more noticeable than the other but it is one of my absolute favorite razors so there you go.

It's definitely a nice razor to pass down and I feel like the value for them is just going to go up regardless of if Theo and Lambda continue to make a million of them. The presentation is also top notch.
I should have also mentioned that the magnets in the wooden case are strong enough to be able to hold the weight of the razor and base of the box if you lift it by the lid only which is pretty great too. I definitely feel like its a non-issue for me at this point. The entire shave was so rewarding that it is hard to argue against it but it is important to gather and write your thoughts and experiences and I feel like you as many others here are valued for it. I also try to take a perspective of it that it may not be an issue for me but others may find it a bit jarring so I try to understand why and then work backwards to question myself on what I could be doing or perhaps have been doing wrong.

 

[AU55IE]

With handmade items, there will always be some degree of variation, I agree. Knowing Theo just a little bit, I feel the care he takes with every razor is significant. I don't think I could ask for anything more.

Exactly this. The symmetry of the angles on my Apollo Light razor are no exact either but it shaves so extremely well and all of its other positive aspects make it a real winner and something not worth worrying about at this point.

In regards to what @SpaceMonkey has said I totally agree and feel that this is exactly where the variations are coming from more than that I feel as though a simple polishing will do enough to soften the corner if someone was so inclined. I had already thought about doing it and if I were I would just use a Dremel and a small polishing wheel but it is likely something I can adjust for within my shave and come out a better shaver for it not just for my Athena but with other razors also.

There is always something to learn and take away from each razor.

I do understand where some people are coming from with their assessment of the corners though.

 

[JAHE]

You make an interesting point about the base plate corners (which I, too, wish we could stop obsessing over now, though it is the nature of forums and the way we exaggerate tiny things when everything is presented in un-nuanced plain text).

Obsessing?
Exaggerating?
Presenting im un-nuanced plain text?

Sorry, but I have to disagree with these findings. I absolutely have no clue to which posts you are referring to in this thread.

Let's sum things up. A significant amount of owners (more than just one or two) of the recent Athena batch had an issue with the corners of their baseplate and raised questions on the issue; let's call it an issue, because for them it felt like one. And I hear them, since for me it didn't feel right, either.

if I feel the edge of the base plate then I know I've got the angle wrong and I correct it.

I obviously know nothing of the curvature of your face/jaw line area, but I assume the curvature might be different to mine... I tried to correct the angle. It worked out on the cheeks this way and I couldn't feel the corners whilst shaving my cheeks anymore. Unfortunately, said correction of the angle did not successfully work out on my neck (whilst shaving the jaw line) due the curvature of my neck/jaw line.
I, myself, certainly did not apply too much pressure whilst applying strokes... BTW, why should anyone?

As soon as I rounded the corners with my nail polish foil I was able to shave free of problems; whichever angle I chose I was able to shave free of an unwanted scratching on my neck, afterwards.

Nevertheless, IMO pointy corners on a baseplate which affect the shave are a bug, not a feature! (My rounded off corners do not affect the look of the razor...)

For sure, such things can happen in an artisanal context, but they really shouldn't. IMO, everyone who raised a finger on this issue was right to do so, "tiny thing" or not. We are talking about a 200 EUR razor and not a cheapish 5 bucks razor.

I'm glad Theo took care of those you didn't dare to correct the issue on their own. I experienced nothing but excellent customer service from Theo, so it doesn't come as a surprise. l already have stated that I'm pretty sure Theo will have a close look on this topic wrt upcoming batches. And I don't see any reason for not jumping on the waiting list... just to be clear on this.

However, the point I'm trying to make is: there was no "witch hunt" or any sort of "bashing" going on here, thus I think the wording quoted in the beginning of my post was way too pointy. ().

I'm finding the way the discussion was made to be appropriate and balanced.
Thanks to the helpful hints of other members here I was able to correct the issue on my own. These hints likely wouldn’t have been posted without the discussion of the topic. I'm really glad I was pointed to a quick and easy to achieve solution by B&B's members and I'd like to thank everyone who spoke up and added their experience!

Cheers!

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Obsessing?
Exaggerating?
Presenting im un-nuanced plain text?

Sorry, but I have to disagree with these findings. I absolutely have no clue to which posts you are referring to in this thread.

Let's sum things up. A significant amount of owners (more than just one or two) of the recent Athena batch had an issue with the corners of their baseplate and raised questions on the issue; let's call it an issue, because for them it felt like one. And I hear them, since for me it didn't feel right, either.


I obviously know nothing of the curvature of your face/jaw line area, but I assume the curvature might be different to mine... I tried to correct the angle. It worked out on the cheeks this way and I couldn't feel the corners whilst shaving my cheeks anymore. Unfortunately, said correction of the angle did not successfully work out on my neck (whilst shaving the jaw line) due the curvature of my neck/jaw line.
I, myself, certainly did not apply too much pressure whilst applying strokes... BTW, why should anyone?

As soon as I rounded the corners with my nail polish foil I was able to shave free of problems; whichever angle I chose I was able to shave free of an unwanted scratching on my neck, afterwards.

Nevertheless, IMO pointy corners on a baseplate which affect the shave are a bug, not a feature! (My rounded off corners do not affect the look of the razor...)

For sure, such things can happen in an artisanal context, but they really shouldn't. IMO, everyone who raised a finger on this issue was right to do so, "tiny thing" or not. We are talking about a 200 EUR razor and not a cheapish 5 bucks razor.

I'm glad Theo took care of those you didn't dare to correct the issue on their own. I experienced nothing but excellent customer service from Theo, so it doesn't come as a surprise. l already have stated that I'm pretty sure Theo will have a close look on this topic wrt upcoming batches. And I don't see any reason for not jumping on the waiting list... just to be clear on this.

However, the point I'm trying to make is: there was no "witch hunt" or any sort of "bashing" going on here, thus I think the wording quoted in the beginning of my post was way too pointy. ().

I'm finding the way the discussion was made to be appropriate and balanced.
Thanks to the helpful hints of other members here I was able to correct the issue on my own. These hints likely wouldn’t have been posted without the discussion of the topic. I'm really glad I was pointed to a quick and easy to achieve solution by B&B's members and I'd like to thank everyone who spoke up and added their experience!

Cheers!

I just mean that things can often get magnified in forum discussions. Like all those fifty page threads about whether somebody’s Simpson brush shed too many hairs - an extreme example, I admit. I don’t mean that people shouldn’t report their honest experiences, or that anybody was hysterical - it was just an observation about forum dynamics.

 

[jason2]

I take offense. I'm still trying to figure out how to open my tucks the right way...

 

[JAHE]

I take offense. I'm still trying to figure out how to open my tucks the right way...

B&B is to the rescue...

What's the best way to open a tuck of blades?

Maybe it's a dumb question, but is there a "right" way to open a tuck? If I tear the box open starting from the slit on the back, the tab that's left doesn't always fit back in properly. Now all the blades can slide out into a jumbled mess in my ziplock bag of blades. With Voskhod's in the...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[jason2]

Yep, that's what I was referring to. My humour is a little dry.

 

[JAHE]

Yep, that's what I was referring to. My humour is a little dry.

 

[Guido75]

Second shave with the Athena was nothing short of spectacular. I think I found the right angle which was (for me) actually steeper than I previously thought.

The rehydration when rinsing the razor and the razor then subsequently dispensing water during the next pass is excellent additional lubricant. For today’s shave I could have sworn that this water retention changed the audio feedback during the ATG.

The blade rigidity is enormous and in part the reason why I could take a Gillette Black to 18 shaves and tomorrow 19 shaves. Definitely less blade feel than say the R41. And a serious contender to my Ti95 as top gun razor. At least today it was super effective in my jaw line. The audio feedback was a true guide post in that sense.

The other thing I noticed today was that in terms of weight this razor feels heavier when setting things up than when actually shaving with it. I haven’t brought them to the scale but I would guess (perhaps wrongly) that the GC2 is heavier. And at least feels less nimble than the Athena.

No other observations for now. More experiences to follow is warranted posting that is.

Cheers,

Guido

 

[gdawg55]

I probably made it sound more complicated than it really was - it was fairly straight-forward really.

Again, not the best pictures but hopefully you get the idea - the result:

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View attachment 1658323

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Very nice work. I’ve never been bothered by the corners but I can see why they might be sharp for some. Seems like Theo could round them a tad more without affecting the overall appearance.

 

[AU55IE]

I just had my second shave today with the Lambda Athena razor, I was expecting a bit of mixed results as I have always found my shaves to be a lot smoother when my face is well rested and the hair had grown out a bit but this time I only had a few short days between shaves and had a very low stubble on my face since the last shave so I was expecting a more challenging shave but what I got was another smooth and easy to achieve BBS shave.

I will say I did hear the razor sing more so this time as expected due to my short stubble.
Whilst I remained cognisant of the corners of the base plate it did not impair my shave in the slightest this time around and by the time I got to my second pass I soon forgot about it as I had put it to the back of my mind although I was aware enough to know that I had made some adjustments to the way I was shaving, the angles I was using and where I was using them particularly along the neck.

This time I used a Derby Premium which is an arguable slightly sharper than the Derby Extra blade I used the first time around, the next time I will be using a Gillette Platinum blade. This razor seems to be capable of handling quite a few blades but that is something I will have to test going forward. Obviously this is subjective matter however it is a point I would like to explore further nonetheless.

As others had mentioned previously the razor is capable of holding water which comes in very handy particularly when you are working on residual slickness as it helps to lubricate the face as you go. It's worth also mentioning that I found myself rinsing out the razor more often as the water that was held inside the head would liquify the excess soap on the bottom of the base plate causing it to drip a little easier off the head. This can be both a good and a bad thing depending on the way you look at it. The good thing is that its lubricating your face and also not holding in as much lather as you perhaps normally would preventing logging but the bad is that it may drip on your shirt this however can be mitigated by two things, shaking out the razor a little after each rinse or simply rinsing more often. In my personal opinion the positives outweighs the negatives as this is an outstanding feature that I enjoy and appreciate so much. It may not happen to everyone depending upon their lather but is something I have noticed nonetheless.

Honestly I am thoroughly impressed by the Lambda Athena and completely understand why one would buy two of them as they are definitely an heirloom razor.
If I ever find myself in a situation where I am financially able to I would love to own and review the Ares as it appears to be quite the razor also.

 

[JAHE]

When I entered Theo's waiting list I wasn’t fully convinced if the Athena would fit my needs in terms of efficiency. My neck skin is pretty sensitive and prone to get irritated easily if I have to apply too many strokes to get the shave in this area done (aiming at a DFS/BBS shave result). Thus I'm looking for "efficient enough whilst shaving" razors...
I hope you get my point.

After having had a couple of shaves with it now, I am ready to conclude the razor is a "efficient enough for me whilst shaving" sort of razor. She indeed is a great addition to my "daily driver razor department".

The shaves with the Athena are very comfy, absolutely predictable and close enough to reach the level of closeness I'm looking for, without fuss. For me, the Athena shines whenever one day worth of growth is the task to be cleared. That's my preferred use case for this razor... for a couple of days worth of growth, however, I'd pick a different razor instead.
"Know your tools", they say.

Nevertheless, although my overall shaving experience with this beautifully crafted piece of work is absolutely satisfying, I felt it's worth noting that the longevity of the shaving results I get with the Athena is just "okay", but not exceptional. I haven't experienced a 12+ hours BBS shave result with this razor. The Athena doesn't compete with my R41s, Blackbirds and Wolfmans in terms of longevity of the shave result.

Anyway, and that's a thought I wish to emphasize, it's basically not a bad thing to have a shaver in the den which gives a comfortable BBS shave in the morning without any hint of skin irritation but lets the whiskers start to return in the afternoon again... (isn't exactly this what people are looking for in a daily driver razor?) Whenever an extra umph of efficiency is needed (read: whenever there's not enough time to shave in the morning but I need to look clean shaven the whole day over, so I would shave with a high efficiency razor in the evening before), I would just pick a different razor (one of the razors mentioned above) - and call it a day.

Again, knowing the tool is key...

Long story short: the Athena is an excellent daily driver and a keeper for me.

Cheers!

 

[Guido75]

I felt it's worth noting that the longevity of the shaving results I get with the Athena is just "okay", but not exceptional

I second that. That’s been my experience as well. Smooth, but relatively short lived. Which is absolutely no knock on this amazing razor at all. I think it’s a consequence of the design. I do note that while short lived wherever I shaved with the Athena I have less stubble/growth the next day.

Cheers,

Guido

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I second that. That’s been my experience as well. Smooth, but relatively short lived. Which is absolutely no knock on this amazing razor at all. I think it’s a consequence of the design. I do note that while short lived wherever I shaved with the Athena I have less stubble/growth the next day.

Cheers,

Guido

This is exactly how I found the Athena when I first got it. But with a bit shallower angle the shave longevity increased (so did the blade noise) so that now it matches any of my efficient razors. I suspect you can find more efficiency if you experiment.

 

[Guido75]

This is exactly how I found the Athena when I first got it. But with a bit shallower angle the shave longevity increased (so did the blade noise) so that now it matches any of my efficient razors. I suspect you can find more efficiency if you experiment.

That I find interesting. I will experiment some more with my angle.

Thanks!

Guido

 

[JAHE]

That I find interesting. I will experiment some more with my angle.

Thanks!

Guido

+1. My preferred angle thus far has been :
"steep to neutral", but I'll definitely give a more shallow angle a spin.
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