LORDet = Cadet Open Comb + Lord Top Cap

[Jarick]

Been shaving with a LORD L6 for the last year. It's a nice razor, but very mild, and the handle sucks. I got a Cadet open comb last weekend. Great handle and it shaves super close, but it's very aggressive and there is enough movement in the blade that the exposure can be uneven. And with that aggressive exposure, you have to use lighter pressure, and with my inexperience, that meant some blade chatter and further irritation.

So I put the LORD cap on the Cadet OC base plate and handle. Used an Astra SP blade.

- No more wiggling blade; the LORD cap has slightly larger posts that prevent blade movement.

- Much milder shave; blade exposure was smaller with the LORD cap. Razor was much less picky about the shave angle.

- Closer shave than the L6; there's less blade gap with the open comb plate, even though it's a mild shave, it's close. I normally get BBS only blade buffing after multiple passes. Today, BBS with two passes (WTG, ATG).

- Less irritation; again, due to the milder shave. No weepers or burn today and reached for a splash rather than the balm I had been using the last several days.

- Aesthetically a great look; for some reason the bigger LORD cap fits with the big handle nicer than the L6 with the puny handle or the regular cap on the big Cadet.

Cadet from the top, note the uneven exposure:



Here's the reason why, the top cap has slightly smaller posts on the outside, which allows the blade to wiggle around:



CADET from the top, hard to see, but there is a bit more edge exposed:



LORD from the top, much more even exposure:



LORD from the side, a little easier to see, the edge is in line with the top and cap:



Solid shave today:

 

[redrako]

Nice discovery.

Nothing like those frankenrazors!

 

[El Judio Bravo]

Gonna try this tomorrow morning!

 

[Jarick]

How did you like it?

With a few shaves on this razor, still excellent. Very close and very smooth without being overly aggressive.

I will say the first few shaves I went ATG on the neck to get a BBS shave and that cause irritation and razor bumps that I am letting heal. This is not the razors fault, just my skin and technique. Point is, I can get a shave that's TOO close with this thing without the aggressiveness. Definitely closer than the L6 on its own.

Got a light sunburn so have been doing one or two passes WTG this week. Today, WTG and XTG on the face, WTG on the neck. Easy DFS and near BBS on the cheeks.

 

[Phil1-6]

Gonna try this tomorrow morning!

+1

It has to be better than what I'm experiencing with the standard Cadet OC.

 

[razorhead63]

Glad I saw your thread tonight... I've been thinking of purchasing a Cadet OC razor, but seeing the unevenness of the blade exposure on yours, I am not so sure now. You mentioned that the shave was very aggressive before you changed the cap on it. Was it tolerable with good technique used? They look like very nice razors and I am very tempted to buy one... which model Cadet is yours?? I am highly curious......

John H.

 

[Phil1-6]

So I tried you idea. Much milder than with the Cadet head. Still agressive. Still some irritation and I got bit three times. The shave was still close as well.

What is my take away? After two shaves with the standard Cadet was I was ready to abandon it. This solution will allow me to work on my technique to reduce the nicks and irritation before giving it the thumbs up or down.

Thanks for the idea.

 

[Jarick]

I'll preface this by saying I have very little experience compared to most other users on this forum, so I can't compare to say a 1904 or an R41 or basically any other open comb as this is the first I've used.

Before swapping the cap, the Cadet was VERY aggressive, far more than the L6 (which is extremely mild). Was shaving tolerable with light pressure? Yeah, I suppose...but why tolerate shaving when you can enjoy it? I'd rather just have a mild shaver instead.

After swapping the cap, you still have the increased blade exposure due to sitting on top of the combs rather than hiding behind a bar, but the cap covers less blade and makes it more forgiving. It also greatly reduces the uneven blade exposure.

Today was my fourth shave on a Gillette 7:00 Yellow. Still felt sharp yet smooth. No nicks or irritation, but I have stopped going ATG to let my razor and sun burn heal. Getting married at the end of the month so I need to not look hacked up for pictures!

I purchased the TP-26 short handle razor. I think all the open comb heads are the same, so it's just a matter of finding the handle you like. I think the two razors together are about $40, which is still a pretty fair value.

Good to see another Twin Cities resident here!

 

[DrAwkward]

Brilliant! I won't try this tomorrow, but I. will try it in a few weeks. I like both the Lord L6 and the Cadet. Marrying them together sounds like a great experiment.
BTW, congrats on the nuptials! I can't speak for anyone else, but marriage has been VERY good for me.

 

[razorhead63]

Thank you for the feedback Jarick... the Cadet I have contemplated purchasing is the Robusto model....
It appears to be a handsome little razor, solidly made... I do have experience using a couple of my old Gillette open combs, and yes I've had to be very careful with how much pressure I use when shaving with them. This razor would be like a new challenge, learning to use it properly.. Even if I only use it occasionally..... I am quite intrigued.... I am going to get one....

John H.

 

[Jarick]

Put a Feather in it today, BBS on my cheeks with only two WTG passes! Yet still felt fairly mild.

 

[Jarick]

Days two and three of the Feather had a bit of irritation. Will soon return to the Astra/7:00. Neither of those blades felt like they needed to be changed out after a few days, just trying out different things. Maybe I'll even go weird and throw a Derby in there...

 

[GAZ082]

Nice you found a good combo! Cadets QA really suck. They are cheap but had the same issues with uneven blade exposure. Mine even the worm-shaft unweld after a couple of weeks of use.

The handle is nice and heavy though.

 

[Jarick]

The last two days with a Lab Prep were better than the Feather, not as good as the Astra/7:00. I will give another day for it, then swap back to the Astra just to be sure. I'm getting a bit of tugging rather than smooth cutting.

 

[Phil1-6]

I initially tried the Cadet with an Astra. Way too agressive. So I thought a milder blade would work. What do I have? A Wally World Wilkerson. Still too aggressive! Then I found this thread, swapped the head and...much milder. After three days too much pull so back to the Astra. Fantastic! Still BBS but a lot milder. I have my combination now.

The trick is a lighter touch then my HD. No taking curves on two wheels. A little more diliberation, but not that much more total time.

 

[Jarick]

Yes the original cap is just too small and leaves too much blade exposure.

Today was the last day I'll keep the Personna Med Prep on there. I got even less tugging today than yesterday, but still not as smooth as before, and I want to see if it's the blade or the soap. I know working more of a scrubbing face lather to lift the whiskers helped quite a bit.

Still going two passes, sometimes both WTG, sometimes one WTG and one XTG or even a diagonal pass. It's taken a week or two to get used to having DFS rather than BBS all the time but my neck looks much better for it. At a distance, having clear skin is more important than no trace of stubble!

One thing I do with my first pass is to keep the handle more vertical, so it reduces the whiskers rather than trying to take them down in one pass. Then I take the handle more horizontal and let the blade get close to the skin.

 

[Jarick]

Was lazy and didn't dig around for the Astra. Used a Crystal, which I had decent success with in the past. Somewhere between the Astra and Feather in terms of sharp/smooth continuum. And performed just like you'd expect, on the sharper side of smooth. Nice shave, but I think I prefer the Astra. I'll guess that the shaves might improve over the next couple days as the blade dulls a bit, like the Personna.

 

[Jarick]

Swapped the blade out for a Derby Extra today, probably my least favorite blade, but was interested to see how it performed. It actually was a very good shave. Very smooth with no tugging, close with two passes and touch ups.

I didn't understand, and maybe still don't, why a more aggressive open comb razor can give a better shave with duller blades, but somehow this is the case. Anything sharper than the Astra seems to be TOO sharp with some scraping, or maybe it's blade chatter, I don't know. But the duller side of the spectrum seems to give very good shaves.

 

[les24preludes]

The 2 stud 3-piece razor design started way back in the early 1900s with the Gillettes like the Old Type, and it's used in a large percentage of modern razors - Fatip, Rockwell, Karve, R41, DE89, long list.... Plus a lot of the Chinese razors like Yaqi and Yintal. Most of them fit together quite well. I have quite a collection of these 2 stud heads and there are all kinds of combinations to be had in closed and open comb. I fit them all on my favourite titanium handle. Pictured here is a Fatip baseplate with a Yintal Bronze top cap. These fit together nicely and the Yintal cap seems made of brass to me, it's a good weight. I could equally use a Gillette Old Type top cap or several others, and today I used a R41 baseplate. Bottom line is that you can create a wonderful razor by putting together all your favourite parts.