So tonight I had my 3rd shave with my new Meiji razor. I have been using a safety razor for about a year. But the only one that I have been using is a Merkur 42001 that a friend gave me. I like the Merkur. It is a nice mild razor that is good for my tough beard with very sensitive skin. But tonight I got the best shave of my life! Wow! I think this razor is amazing. My first shave was with a feather. I used the dial down method. Setting 5 1st pass wtg, 3 2nd pass xtc ear to nose,1 3rd pass xtc nose to ear. On my neck I used setting 5 wtg,2nd pass wtg setting 3 wtg. That is all I do on my neck. No atg for me. It just does not work. Always get razor bumps. I liked the shave but 5 is to high for a Feather blade for me. I nicked myself,and that rarely happens. I used the scalloped side on my face and the smooth bar side on my neck. I do notice a difference. The scalloped side is more aggressive and gives louder feedback. The second shave was also a Feather. But starting at 3,then 2,then 1. Much better! But tonight I decided to try the dial up method. I used a Wilkinson Sword German blade from my sample pack from Try A Blade. Wilks were the second blade that I tried when I was just starting. It gave me a smooth comfortable shave but the Feather cut my beard much better. I was impressed. Tonight I got damn near a close as shave as a feather with this razor. I started out on setting 1 wtg. Then 2 and 3 xtg on the 2nd and 3rd passes. On my neck 1 then 2 wtg. I have no irritation. A dfs shave! I can rub my hand wtg and xtg and it feels silky smooth. Only if I rub atg can I feel just a little bit of stubble. But at least I look BBS. And that is good enough for me. I won't have to shave again until Saturday or maybe even Sunday. I think the dial up method work better for me. But of course YMMV. I am going to try a Gillette Nacet next. Then I have Kais,Personna Reds,Voskhod,Gillette 7 o clock blacks,yellows,and gonna try Astra SPs again. So many choices! Going farther and farther down the rabbithole!;] Anyhow I highly recommend this razor. If you don't like it, you can return it. As a final note; these are the products I used. Walmart equate noxema as a preshave[I like it better than shave oils cause shave oils make me break out.]And I do notice a big difference if I don't use a preshave. I use MWF. I love this soap. I have hard Florida well water. But I get a great lather. It just takes a little longer than other soaps. I don't use Alum cause it burns my skin. But I use good old classic Aqua Velva. I love the cooling menthol and the glycerine content. I keep mine in the fridge! Then I use Duke Cannon Cooling Balm. This stuff is great! But I am not supposed to use it because on the bottle it says "Not for clowns!";] Sorry for such a long post. But I hope that it can help someone. Please take a look at the reviews on Amazon. Anyhow have a great shave and have a great day!
My review of the Vikings Blade Meiji adjustable razor.
- Thread starter Panzermeister Dave
- Start date
Nice review!! 
I’ve tried Lab Blues, Kai, Latin Schicks (German Wilkies), Yellows and the new Gillette KCG blades in mine and get a smooth shave every time. I have both the Meiji and the Augustus. Very much like a Gillette in that razor does not dictate the blade you use, the blade you use matches what you are looking for in a shave. I start on higher settings WTG and XTG and drop the settings down ATG.
- Thread starter
- #4
Thank you. I am still experimenting with it. But that is half the fun!Nice review!!
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- #5
Yes. I like the fact that this razor can make a blade seam more aggressive or less aggressive. I think it will be easier for me to find a balance of sharpness and smoothness. But I got a few more blades to try in my sample pack.
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- #6
I am posting a reply to my own review of this razor because things have changed in a bad way! After only using this razor for 2 months, it now looks like crap. There is a shiny plating that is coming off on the base plate where the numbers are. It looks kind of like this razor was painted with a clearcoat.
Also, I decided to compare shaving with this razor set on setting 1 using the smooth side of the blade with my Merkur 42001. Hands down the merkur gave a smoother, more comfortable shave. I don't know if the fact that the plating is coming of the smooth side of the bar is a factor or not. I measured the blade gap and blade exposure on both. They are the same; 1/32" gap and 2/64" exposure.
In my opinion, this razor is not worth the $60 that I paid for it. So in a nutshell, I was wrong about my review. But I have learned my lesson. No more garbage from China!!!
I am posting a reply to my own review of this razor because things have changed in a bad way! After only using this razor for 2 months, it now looks like crap. There is a shiny plating that is coming off on the base plate where the numbers are. It looks kind of like this razor was painted with a clearcoat.
Also, I decided to compare shaving with this razor set on setting 1 using the smooth side of the blade with my Merkur 42001. Hands down the merkur gave a smoother, more comfortable shave. I don't know if the fact that the plating is coming of the smooth side of the bar is a factor or not. I measured the blade gap and blade exposure on both. They are the same; 1/32" gap and 2/64" exposure.
In my opinion, this razor is not worth the $60 that I paid for it. So in a nutshell, I was wrong about my review. But I have learned my lesson. No more garbage from China!!!
I’ve had my first, the Emperor Augustus for a few years and shave regularly with it with no such issue except some wear lines from the edges of the silo doors. VB replaced it for me after letting them know and I still have it and that wear stopped where it was. Also no such wear like that on my Meiji. Do you have that frosted chrome one? You should send a pic to VB and they might replace it. Could have been a batch issue.
I find that with all of my adjustables, setting 1 is usually much more mild than most common 3 piece razors. I always found setting 1 irrelevant on all my adjustables except one. That one exception would be my Rex Ambassador.
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- #8
Thank you for your advice. I have the black one. I did not know that they had o frosted chrome one. I did hear a rumor that they were coming out with it.
Ive never seen a black one before. Do you have a VB Emperor Adjustable or another VB? They sell smaller adjustables.
Either way, I’d go to the VB website and send them a message directly.
I recently acquired one of the Meiji versions. It bends the blade into a fairly severe frown, which I don't think helps in terms of the comfort of the shave. It is a bit more blade-forward than my favorite DEs; I wonder how much of that is caused by the frown?
I thought I'd try to Dremel down the burrs on the doors over the weekend, but I realized that, in order to do that, I would have to disassemble the razor. I didn't have any clue how to even start doing that, so I just put it and the Dremel away. I'm not sure whether it would even be worth the effort, but I'd love to see whether getting rid of the frown would make it a smooth shaver, or whether it would still be blade-forward. I can't find any information about the blade exposure for this razor.
I thought I'd try to Dremel down the burrs on the doors over the weekend, but I realized that, in order to do that, I would have to disassemble the razor. I didn't have any clue how to even start doing that, so I just put it and the Dremel away. I'm not sure whether it would even be worth the effort, but I'd love to see whether getting rid of the frown would make it a smooth shaver, or whether it would still be blade-forward. I can't find any information about the blade exposure for this razor.
All of mine (Emperor Augustus and Meiji) are very smooth but I have the previous mold.
I’d use a Dremmel if it bothered me but I guess a file would work just fine also. The doors from the SA look like they would fit, so I’m assuming the Slim doors fit if you have a beater lying around. The shaving gods would be furious though and you may get a nasty cut as punishment for your insolence, ha ha.
I have a VDH WEISHI somewhere but I’d have to find it to compare. You could buff those down to brass and throw those on there too. VB has Bali make their razor designs so those doors should fit too.
All interesting ideas, but i don't have the know-how to do any of those things. I wouldn't have the faintest clue how to remove or install the doors.
I have other adjustable options at that price point and this built a lot better. A lot. I absolutely love my Variant and you can see many posts from me about that razor, but this is just an all around better razor than my Variant.
Since this last mold, they have put on the description that there is a blade frown with the new mold. I think that if it bothers you, you should buy the previous mold or hold off for a little while longer and wait for the next mold if they decide to change it back. Since that time, some have complained about the frown, not because it has cut them up, but because they don’t like it for whatever reason. Due to that, I think the next mold will be like mold 1 and all the other molds for their other razors without the frown.
Looks pretty, but for $60 I wouldn't expect wavy blades...
Mixed Brass/Zamak isn't the end of the world, but you can get full stainless for that money if you eschew adjustable design (personally, I would) and full brass for much less (again, eschewing adjustable designs).
I'd far rather have a Dscosmetic T7 for that, or one of their GC copies too...
Or a pair of Fatip's (no Zamak) for that - OC for your more aggressive passes and Gentile for gentler passes... Or the Piccolo SE with both heads and keep a wedge in your pocket.
But that's me... I guess we're all different, but I'm just not seeing the attraction here
Mixed Brass/Zamak isn't the end of the world, but you can get full stainless for that money if you eschew adjustable design (personally, I would) and full brass for much less (again, eschewing adjustable designs).
I'd far rather have a Dscosmetic T7 for that, or one of their GC copies too...
Or a pair of Fatip's (no Zamak) for that - OC for your more aggressive passes and Gentile for gentler passes... Or the Piccolo SE with both heads and keep a wedge in your pocket.
But that's me... I guess we're all different, but I'm just not seeing the attraction here
