Merkur Bakelite - Is it anybody's favourite?

[Renato1]

I tried my nice new Merkur Bakelite three months ago - got four nicks, thought it was way too aggressive, and promptly retired it.

Today I reflected that perhaps I had been too hasty, my technique has now improved, and I hardly get a nick nowadays with good razors.

So I whipped up a nice thick lather of TOBS Sandalwood soap, and used the Merkur Bakelite with a Gillette Super Thin SS blade.

And promptly got four big nicks.

Quite frankly, I only have a couple of Chinese razors that I think are worse than the Merkur Bakelite. And I have several Chinese razors that I think are better than the Bakelite, even though they have blade gaps bigger than the Bakelite's 30 thou. All of those razors cost a fraction of what I paid for the Bakelite, the $5 Flying Eagle being the closest equivalent to the Bakelite, and I like the Flying Eagle a lot more.

Is the Merkur Bakelite a favourite razor of anybody?
Regards,
Renato

 

[VerbaVolant]

...Is the Merkur Bakelite a favourite razor of anybody?
Regards,
Renato

It was my favourite before I opened the box. I was not brave enough to put that thing on my face, and here is why:

Slant?

Graciously accepted back by the vendor (CS... cough...cough). Lost $8.80 return postage plus initial shipping cost.

 

[ZackP]

Wow, that's more than just flawed!

 

[Krona Kruiser]

Wow, that's more than just flawed!

Thought it was a slant for a moment.

 

[ZackP]

Yeah, maybe he got the prototype.

 

[santamariasteve]

I think the Merkur bakelite razor is an excellent razor. It seems that you got an oddball razor that Merkur's quality control should have rejected. My Merkur bakelite razor is straight and true and the blade lines up perfectly.

It is an aggressive razor, however. I would not use it with a Feather blade. I get outstanding close and comfortable shaves with a mild blade such as a Dorco or a generic drug store blade. I recommend you contact another vendor and order another one. You might even mention your experience, and ask the vendor to put a blade in and check its alignment before sending the razor to you. I'm sorry you had this experience. It's really a good razor, and I have never cut myself once. In fact the bakelite seems to have some flexibility during usage, and I think it would be difficult to cut one's self.

 

[chongo gordo]

Well, kudos for giving the Flying Eagle props, a great bargain and good shaver.

As far as Merkur quality control goes, well, people say get the Merkur that doesn't have "Solingen" printed on the handle. How sad is that?

 

[Renato1]

It was my favourite before I opened the box. I was not brave enough to put that thing on my face, and here is why:



Slant?


Graciously accepted back by the vendor (CS... cough...cough). Lost $8.80 return postage plus initial shipping cost.

That's pretty amazing, though plastic is notoriously hard to work with for fine tolerances - one often has to throw out quite a few of the first in a production run, till the process settles down.
Fortunately, mine was okay in terms of construction.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

It is an aggressive razor, however. I would not use it with a Feather blade. I get outstanding close and comfortable shaves with a mild blade such as a Dorco or a generic drug store blade............................ In fact the bakelite seems to have some flexibility during usage, and I think it would be difficult to cut one's self.

You give me some hope. Thanks.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Well, kudos for giving the Flying Eagle props, a great bargain and good shaver.

My favourite Chinese bargains so far are the Flying Eagle and two bigger, heavier razors - The Junjie ($3.70 including postage) which has a huge blade gap, and Big Roc ($6 including postage) which is an extremely mild razor and requires sharp Feather or Astra SP blades to work properly.
Regards,
Renato

 

[buyandhold2018]

Make sure the blade is seated right, all Merkurs have this problem, you have to wiggle the blade a little; make sure blade is parallel to top plate.

The problem most have with bakelites is the weight, because they are so light, it takes a while to adjust the proper amount of pressure. The Merkur bakelite is one of my favorite non-slants.

 

[StuMcB]

Got mine way back when they were all the new buzz talk. I always found it to be a great 'mild' razor. A fine shave and easy to use. Not my every day tool but good enough.

As you all know I've been struck down with only using the short super adjustabale since March.

 

[onotoman]

I have used the Merkur 'Bakelite' - (I suspect that it's some sort of modern plastic rather than real Bakelite) and found it to be OK - not great, but OK

I do have quite a few vintage Bakelite Razors such as 'The Knockout', 'Laurel' and 'Myatt' all made in England - most seem to be from the war years (1939 to 45) presumably because metal was in short supply. Most are decent shavers apart from really cheap unbranded ones, which are awful.

 

[bkflyfisher]

It's a really cool looking razor to have in my 'collection' for sure. Shaves fine for me-just haven't been wowed yet. Could be my technique vs. the very light weight of razor. I've tried Astra SP and Personna Reds with it so far. You do have to be careful when changing blade to make sure the gap is even on both sides.

 

[Renato1]

Make sure the blade is seated right, all Merkurs have this problem, you have to wiggle the blade a little; make sure blade is parallel to top plate.

The problem most have with bakelites is the weight, because they are so light, it takes a while to adjust the proper amount of pressure. The Merkur bakelite is one of my favorite non-slants.

Thanks. I've struck that issue with a few razors, but my Bakelite seems okay in that respect.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Got mine way back when they were all the new buzz talk. I always found it to be a great 'mild' razor. A fine shave and easy to use. Not my every day tool but good enough.

"Mild" razor? I'd feel trepidation using what you would consider as aggressive.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

I have used the Merkur 'Bakelite' - (I suspect that it's some sort of modern plastic rather than real Bakelite) and found it to be OK - not great, but OK

I do have quite a few vintage Bakelite Razors such as 'The Knockout', 'Laurel' and 'Myatt' all made in England - most seem to be from the war years (1939 to 45) presumably because metal was in short supply. Most are decent shavers apart from really cheap unbranded ones, which are awful.

Thanks. I was unaware of other Bakelite razors.
Interesting that you don't mind it too.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

It's a really cool looking razor to have in my 'collection' for sure. Shaves fine for me-just haven't been wowed yet. Could be my technique vs. the very light weight of razor. I've tried Astra SP and Personna Reds with it so far. You do have to be careful when changing blade to make sure the gap is even on both sides.

Hmmm - I haven't checked the gap on both sides. Thanks for the advice.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

It is an aggressive razor, however. I would not use it with a Feather blade. I get outstanding close and comfortable shaves with a mild blade such as a Dorco or a generic drug store blade.

As per your suggestion, I finally got around to trying a Dorco 301 blade with my Merkur Bakelite, using Australian Windsor soap puck.
It was certainly an improvement over my Gillette Super Thin blade, as I ony got one very tiny nick versus the four much bigger ones I got mentioned in the original post above.
However, I still had plenty of sharp stings when I ran the Alum block over my skin, indicating that it hadn't been among my most comfortable of shaves.

For my next test, I intend using a well worn Gillette Super Thin or well worn Supermax SS.

Thanks again for your suggestion.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

I get outstanding close and comfortable shaves with a mild blade such as a Dorco or a generic drug store blade.

Thanks again for your advice of sometime ago.

Today I tried a mild Shark Super Stainless blade in the Merkur Bakelite, and finally got a decent shave from it. It now behaved somewhat like my Merkur 33C.
I did get one small nick, but very little by way of alum stings.
The Bakelite is now a useful razor for me with the mild Shark blades.
Regards,
Renato