Ah the Safety Razor Compendium saves the day again. This thing is like my bible
Neo-Lux ultra slant razor
- Thread starter Etalex
- Start date
Ah the Safety Razor Compendium saves the day again. This thing is like my bible
The Bakelite slants are around and in general cheap. You have to keep an eye on ebay listings. The thing is that they are very light in weight unlike the Merkur and wouldn't perform as well IMHO. You can get a used Merkur slant on the forums or on ebay reasonably from time to time and needless to say I highly recommend them.
Yeah, I have added one to the list of possible trades in my thread in the b/s/t forum here. Who knows, maybe someone wants a bunch of creams, etc (I doubt it, but who knows). I would love to try one. They look so strange. I have heard that they are quite aggressive, and generally I am not really for aggressive razors, but instead choose to go for smooth razors, with feather blades.
With a Feather I wouldn't call a Merkur slant aggressive. Rather it is efficient. If you do get one just use it as you would a normal straight head razor. I think you will find it works very well. If not they sell on the forum briskly when the come up.
- Thread starter
- #25
I beg to differ with regard to performance. I think it is a myth that light razors don't shave as well as heavier ones. Surely, they don't look as good, and the lack of heft doesn't give you the same solid feeling as with an all metal razor, but I have shaved many times with my bakelite slant, as well as with lots of metal razors of varying weight, and I can get excellent shaves with both. My best shaves ever were actually with the bakelite slant and a Gillette NEW, respectively. Curiously they are the two lightest razors I own.
Best wishes,
Alex
Well we see time and again that wet shaving is a YMMV thing. I shaved with a Gillette Good News for years with no complaints. I used pressure with it because there was no weight. When I came to the forums and went back to the DE for the first time in forty or so years I used the same technique and got irritation and the occasional nick. After reading the forums I learned about letting the weight of the razor do the cutting and the gradual stubble removal multiple pass technique. That is now my routine and it serves me well. If a fellow can get a great shave out of a very light razor I am happy to learn of it and I may try one of my plastic slants and see how it works for me. Thanks for the heads up on that.
- Thread starter
- #27
Jimmy,
In general I agree with you that if a straight bar razor is too light, it is quite difficult to shave without applying too much pressure. However, with these ultra slants, the cutting action (rather than the "scraping" you get with straight bars) seems to make pressure unnecessary. I use the lightest of touches, and the razor itself is very light, but the cutting angle does the job. Compare that to cutting a slice of bread by simply pushing a knife onto a loaf, or by using a slicing motion with a sharp knife. In the latter case you hardly need any pressure.
By the way, I received my Neo-Lux today, and it is much heavier than I expected! I have to check exactly how much it weighs, but it is certainly up there with the Merkur slant and other all metal razors.
It is interesting that my razor has a metal top plate, while the other Neo-Lux razors I've seen had an all plastic head. It gives some very nice heft to the razor.
Does it say anything in the Safety Razor Compendium about the different Neo-Lux variants, with or without metal top plate, and the different colours on the handles?
Best regards,
Alex
In general I agree with you that if a straight bar razor is too light, it is quite difficult to shave without applying too much pressure. However, with these ultra slants, the cutting action (rather than the "scraping" you get with straight bars) seems to make pressure unnecessary. I use the lightest of touches, and the razor itself is very light, but the cutting angle does the job. Compare that to cutting a slice of bread by simply pushing a knife onto a loaf, or by using a slicing motion with a sharp knife. In the latter case you hardly need any pressure.
By the way, I received my Neo-Lux today, and it is much heavier than I expected! I have to check exactly how much it weighs, but it is certainly up there with the Merkur slant and other all metal razors.
It is interesting that my razor has a metal top plate, while the other Neo-Lux razors I've seen had an all plastic head. It gives some very nice heft to the razor.
Does it say anything in the Safety Razor Compendium about the different Neo-Lux variants, with or without metal top plate, and the different colours on the handles?
Best regards,
Alex
The Compendium shows one with a metal top cap. I just checked mine and it is plastic but the handle on the Neo Lux has some metal in it and is weighty. The Neo Raz is all plastic and very light. You have piqued my curiousity and I may give the Neo Lux a try.
I wish I knew how to copy and paste the relevant portions on the Neo from the Compendium. It is in PDF format and I run Linux and right clicking doesn't bring a menu with a copy feature. Here is a link to a page describing the Compendium and if you follow the links on the page it gives some examples of the layout. It isn't cheap but if a person is really interested in safety razor collecting it is a valuable resource and enjoyable to browse through.
- Thread starter
- #29
And now you've made me curious about the Safety Razor Compendium. I may buy it some day when I have a bit more time to spend on razors. It's still a reasonable prize for that amount of information. The author must have spent a lot of time and effort on it.
I view the ultraslants as something inbetween safety razors and straight razors. They're safer than a straight, but can cut you up if you're not careful. Interestingly, however, they are much safer than they look. Good luck if you decide to try your Neo-Lux.
Best regards,
Alex
- Thread starter
- #30
I just had a look at a review of the Safety Razor Compendium, at
http://www...............com/CDbook.html
The razor called Luch looks fascinating. The head seems to be similar to a Merkur slant, but the slant angle is greater. Slant-fan, have you ever come across one of these? It would be very interesting to try it.
Alex
http://www...............com/CDbook.html
The razor called Luch looks fascinating. The head seems to be similar to a Merkur slant, but the slant angle is greater. Slant-fan, have you ever come across one of these? It would be very interesting to try it.
Alex
I can't open the page from the link and I have had no luck finding the Luch
in the Compendium.- Thread starter
- #32
I can't open the page from the link and I have had no luck finding the Luch
It's the review from Razor and Brush on the SRC page you gave in a post above.
I own a Neo-Lux by myself for a couple of months. Till now, I shaved with a lot of different DE's: Vision, Gillette's, Merkurs, also the slant, RAS, RAP, Mulcuto und Merkur "Schrägschnitt", Futur, Hoffritz and so on.
A lot of DE razors are good to my skinn and I've got a good, close shave of them with nearly no problems. From the "Schrägschnitt" DE I've got usually a very close shave (I like the Mulcuto). Today I had the closest Shave of my Live with the EMPOR slant.
But the Neo-Lux ...... he smashed me down. It was very scary to shave from the north to the south, but when I started to shave from the south to the north, there was under my kinn a bloodbath - it tooks almost two days to heal! I used a IP, and there was nothing wrong with the IP.
I'm afraid to use this razor again, but probably I will.
So, take care, if you will shave yourself with this razor.
A lot of DE razors are good to my skinn and I've got a good, close shave of them with nearly no problems. From the "Schrägschnitt" DE I've got usually a very close shave (I like the Mulcuto). Today I had the closest Shave of my Live with the EMPOR slant.
But the Neo-Lux ...... he smashed me down. It was very scary to shave from the north to the south, but when I started to shave from the south to the north, there was under my kinn a bloodbath - it tooks almost two days to heal! I used a IP, and there was nothing wrong with the IP.
I'm afraid to use this razor again, but probably I will.
So, take care, if you will shave yourself with this razor.
It's less scary then it looks. Moving the razor in the direction of the handle results in a Gillette slide (about 45 degrees), which is the purpose of the design and which is equivalent to a Guillotine action. Now that does sound scary
Best - MM
I really want one!
- Thread starter
- #37
I shaved with mine this morning, and it was amazing. I can never get as good a shave with a normal razor. Because it cuts so efficiently you really need to know your face, and the direction your beard grows in. Mine grows in lots of different directions, but throughout the years I've learnt how to do it.
Another point is that I don't think you need an ATG pass with ultraslants, because already after an XTG pass you have reduced the stubble to almost nothing. At least for me, an ATG pass doesn't add any visible improvement.
By the way, what's the colour on your Neo-Luc? Could you post a picture?
Best wishes,
Alex
- Thread starter
- #38
It's less scary then it looks. Moving the razor in the direction of the handle results in a Gillette slide (about 45 degrees), which is the purpose of the design and which is equivalent to a Guillotine action. Now that does sound scary
Best - MM
Mozart, do you own one of these as well?
Alex
I see it now. i missed it on the last go round because I was looking for an ultra slant like the Neo. The Luch being the garden variety. I have a slant with the same head but a different handle from the USSR. The labeling on the case and blades is written in Russian so I don't know if it is a named Luch but the head is identical.
Welcome to B&B and thanks for the warning about shaving with the Neo. If I ever try I will do so with care. Any chance of seeing a photo of the Empor slant? I collect slants and I hadn't heard of the Empor.
