My Grande Journey

[AimlessWanderer]

Just
A
Gleefully
Great
Everyday
Razor

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Mike's
Massive
Obsolete
Contraption

 

[thombrogan]

Janky, not massive.

The MMOC is a wee babby that tenderly cradles its GEM blade for a soothing lullaby of whisker cutting. I use mine every night I can.

 

[TinyT]

Not a bad shave but the juice sure aint worth the squeeze.

Could be worse.

 

[Esox]

It could always be worse. Gotta wonder how much though.

It could also be much easier. Kinda like it should be...

 

[Clay S]

Fixed
Adhered
Tacked
Immovable
Pinned

 

[JoWolf]

Fixed
Adhered
Tacked
Immovable
Pinned

I don’t think Cal @Cal will come after you since they are all Caps.

 

[thombrogan]

http://instagr.am/p/CFoofxcHuqZ/
Just like that, @Esox is able to get great shaves from a Fatip Lo Storto Originale

I read the posts about your one I said sounded off. Whether the pins were too tight or it was just chromed brass, I think the golden one is the one for you.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Looks to me like someone needs more practice with a photo editor

 

[Rosseforp]

I have not. I have however, just had a look at it and it looks perfect.

View attachment 1145495

However, when I drop a blade on the cap this is where it sits. Its equal on both sides and the blade itself appears to be sitting level.

View attachment 1145496

After I screw the handle on and seat the blade, then unscrew it and try to take the blade off, this is what happens.

View attachment 1145494

It binds on the threads in the stud and gets stuck which doesnt make a lot of sense because the OD of the threads on the stud are .0173" and the ID of the center hole in the blade is .2". That should leave enough wiggle room for the blade to both drop on and come off the cap easily. I even dropped the cap with the blade seated like in the picture above and it still didnt come off.

My thinking is, if the blade can bind when seated, it can also bind as its being seated. If that were to happen, the edge would have an unnatural bend in it which would lead to the scraping feeling.

It must be your cap, Mike. The blade just falls on and off of both of my FOCS caps.....

 

[JoWolf]

I have not. I have however, just had a look at it and it looks perfect.

View attachment 1145495

However, when I drop a blade on the cap this is where it sits. Its equal on both sides and the blade itself appears to be sitting level.

View attachment 1145496

After I screw the handle on and seat the blade, then unscrew it and try to take the blade off, this is what happens.

View attachment 1145494

It binds on the threads in the stud and gets stuck which doesnt make a lot of sense because the OD of the threads on the stud are .0173" and the ID of the center hole in the blade is .2". That should leave enough wiggle room for the blade to both drop on and come off the cap easily. I even dropped the cap with the blade seated like in the picture above and it still didnt come off.

My thinking is, if the blade can bind when seated, it can also bind as its being seated. If that were to happen, the edge would have an unnatural bend in it which would lead to the scraping feeling.

I wanted more shaves before I replied Mike. You were right your first shave told you it was a defect. You instinctively would have been adjusting to the blade. All slants manipulate the blade. The defect is taking it out of its operating window. Instincts and feedback are harder to accept with new equipment but repeated results cannot be denied. I do know that favourite blades can be radically different in Lo Storto. All blades I’ve used drop on and off without resistance. Trying a few favourite blades with harsh results gave me pause as well. I also suspect that others with the same defect as yours may have had more forgiving blades for their shaves. Do you think the Vendor might send you another razor?

 

[Esox]

http://instagr.am/p/CFoofxcHuqZ/
Just like that, @Esox is able to get great shaves from a Fatip Lo Storto Originale

I read the posts about your one I said sounded off. Whether the pins were too tight or it was just chromed brass, I think the golden one is the one for you.

It must be your cap, Mike.

Yep, I think so too Doug. I think the stud and possibly the pins are aligned wrong in relation to the torqued cap and when the blade is seated, it binds. I havent bothered having a closer look at it. The wind is out of those sails for the time being but when I get curious again I'll see what the issue is and try and correct it. I think that whatever it is, is also causing the scraping feeling I get from it.

I wanted more shaves before I replied Mike. You were right your first shave told you it was a defect. You instinctively would have been adjusting to the blade. All slants manipulate the blade. The defect is taking it out of its operating window. Instincts and feedback are harder to accept with new equipment but repeated results cannot be denied. I do know that favourite blades can be radically different in Lo Storto. All blades I’ve used drop on and off without resistance. Trying a few favourite blades with harsh results gave me pause as well. I also suspect that others with the same defect as yours may have had more forgiving blades for their shaves. Do you think the Vendor might send you another razor

I expected blades to behave and feel differently in the slant so that wasnt much of a surprise.

I wouldnt be surprised if Maggard would send me a replacement, but by the time I paid for shipping I might as well of just ordered another one anyway. I also dont feel that it should cost Maggard anything. The problem isnt theirs even if they would make it right.

I'm really not that worried about it. I've sure wasted a lot more money than $50 on something over the years. I may order another one sometime if I cant figure out what the problem is with this one. I think that if I reduce the diameter of the base of the threaded stud, I'll fix the problem. I have a grinding bit for my Dremel that will do it but before I try that I'll enlarge the center hole in the blade, that would accomplish the same thing, and then I'll see how it shaves.

I wont be doing anything with it until I'm finished testing all the soap samples Al sent myself and Wes @TinyT though.

 

[Johnnynroy]

I just got caught up on the conversation regarding the slant. I will have to look at the top caps for mine. I swapped the caps of my gentile slant and the FOCS and now the baseplates for both are wonky. I have a feeling there were more QC issues than we realized with this first run. I don't recall my blade ever seating easily on the top caps of either razor. I also got a scraping feeling when I shave with the FOCS. The gentile was better. Now that the baseplate looks bad wonky, I'm hesitant to shave with it or the FOCS. Oh well, I've wasted money before.

Are you still liking the SV desert vetiver a lot Mike? I recently used my SV felce 4.3 for several shaves and my skin was in amazing shape. I may end up just switching over to SV totally instead of continuing to use the vitos red. We shall see of course.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Dovo1695]

I may end up just switching over to SV totally instead of continuing to use the vitos red.

Speaking of Vito's Red, has anybody found a source selling it in normal quantities? I'm keen to try it based on all the great things you guys have been saying about it, but I'm not sure I'm down for a kg...

 

[thombrogan]

Connaught’s sells Almond and Almond/Coconut in 100ml sizes as well for £3.25 or so.

 

[Cal]

I'm keen to try it based on all the great things you guys have been saying about it, but I'm not sure I'm down for a kg...

Connaught’s sells Almond and Almond/Coconut in 100ml sizes as well for £3.25 or so.

And Nick... consider all the experiments you could do with 1kg of Vitos (which costs about the same as a jar of Stirling).

 

[Dovo1695]

And Nick... consider all the experiments you could do with 1kg of Vitos (which costs about the same as a jar of Stirling).

This a very good point...

 

[TinyT]

And Nick... consider all the experiments you could do with 1kg of Vitos (which costs about the same as a jar of Stirling).

 

[Esox]

I just got caught up on the conversation regarding the slant. I will have to look at the top caps for mine. I swapped the caps of my gentile slant and the FOCS and now the baseplates for both are wonky. I have a feeling there were more QC issues than we realized with this first run. I don't recall my blade ever seating easily on the top caps of either razor. I also got a scraping feeling when I shave with the FOCS. The gentile was better. Now that the baseplate looks bad wonky, I'm hesitant to shave with it or the FOCS. Oh well, I've wasted money before.

Are you still liking the SV desert vetiver a lot Mike? I recently used my SV felce 4.3 for several shaves and my skin was in amazing shape. I may end up just switching over to SV totally instead of continuing to use the vitos red. We shall see of course.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Yep. I've wasted a lot more on less lol.

SV is the soap by which all others are compared. It easily surpasses my other soaps and creams. Wickham is pretty close though. Vitos cant touch it.

The Desert Vetiver scent is strong. Strong. Its also a very heavy scent. I dont mind it but it sure isnt a favorite.

Do yourself a favour and try Southern Witchcrafts Joel. I need to use mine a bit more but it very well could match SV. It is an excellent soap and one I'll buy more of. I have their Anthropophagy. The scent of it is like clean steamed linen. Its not a bad scent but it treads a bit too close to Hannibal Lecter for me. Theres something in the scent that just aint quite right, or perhaps, its my imagination now that I know what the word actually means haha.

And Nick... consider all the experiments you could do with 1kg of Vitos (which costs about the same as a jar of Stirling).

Except for the shipping from Connaught. $29CAD!

 

[Dovo1695]

Except for the shipping from Connaught. $29CAD!

Ouch. For that kind of money, I think I'll save my pennies for some SV Cubebe. I've never tried it, but it's on my bucket list.

The shave den is bare now that I'm at the end of my 3017ing project, so I don't mind spending a bit to rebuild moral. Presently, I'm down to the last inch of an Arko stick, some Stirling samples curing as part of an experiment, and a puck of Mogno (currently in transit), which Marko has recently reviewed glowingly.