new Yaqi adjustable soon
- Thread starter francosi
- Start date
I'll wait for HSC. Hopefully they'll preserve the Gibbs' head-heavy balance. It makes the razor IMO; the Rex is an unbalanced mess and the biggest $200+ disappointment of my wet-shaving experience. If the worst thing to happen is that I have to keep punching slots in my razor blades, that won't be the end of the world.
Where's the balance point on the Rex, (I've never held one)? The Rex Envoy incorporates a traditional balance point.
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When I buy a razor and before using it, I locate the balance point. If I can balance it on my finger and move my hands around without it rolling off, I’m very happy. Most of my modern razors can’t do this but there are exceptions that I own like the Game Changers with any handle, the Standard Razor/Aluminum, Timeless in stainless and bronze and the Vikings Blade Emperor Augustus and Meiji. All of my vintages pass my balance test regardless of brand and I once said I could put all of my vintage Gillettes on the fingers of both my hands and ride a unicycle.
My Rex Ambassador equalizes below the adjustment dial on the handle. If I try my finger test, it just rolls but it will stop tipping below the adjustment dial.
Matt has big hands but I would expect him to respect the Gillette tradition generally when it comes to balance points.
The Gillette New with Common Bar Handle and the brass Gibbs Reglable are the standouts in my vintage collection of all metal razors in terms of balance point being way north of the traditional grip point. "Head heavy" is a subjective judgement but balance point is where it is, and where it shouldn't be is on the smooth part of the neck north of the knurling.
Not a deal killer, my favorite razor of all time the Shake Sharp Mk1 has a balance point right under the head but is designed in such a way that it's entirely comfortable and maneuverable due to the curve of the head and handle length.
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It's a bit below the dial, right about where most razors balance.
I owned my Rex before ever getting a Gibbs. I’ve mentioned on other threads about my annoyances with the build on mine but overall it is a very efficient razor yet for me, it is not very smooth.
My first Gibbs Adjustable was purchased off of the Bay and I later learned the owner was a member here. Funny now kind of story but USPS delivered it to the wrong house and I didn’t get it until they returned from vacation.
My first shave blew me away and even with the similar style and adjustment with the modern Rex, they shaved like completely different razors. Not even close. The Gibbs is incredibly smooth on all settings. My biggest mistake was being hung up on blade mods when the Gibbs were a whole lot cheaper. Putting my modified blades in my Gibbs takes the same amount of time as loading blades in my Rex which I learned best to do upside down.
I don’t hate my Rex but at the same time when I see another modern offering being introduced like the TAIGA and the HSC or Claudio’s mods, I follow with great interest.
At the second row of knurling below the adjustment dial.
I understand from them that they r coming out with both titanium and as versions of the taiga in their 2nd gen or batch and the new taiga will have a slightly shorter handle and a much higher level of polishing compared to the 1st batch or gen. There will also be some unspecified changes due to buyer feedback. However they will not be bundling the OC plate with the razor this time.
An all aerospace aluminium gibbs replica would be great! I take it that it will be made in china? Hopefully the savings in cost will be passed along to buyers.
I’d love that, but was just hopeful. Just brass would make my day. Received an email from him regarding a new manufacturer, maybe this one will be closer to home this time. I have nothing against anything made in China, but with what happened the last time, I’d be a little cautious.
Another wish come true would be a Timeless collaboration in aluminum, now that would be awesome.
Ha ha.
