Will be interested to see if it works for you.
PIF: Take a razor, add a razor
- Thread starter Rory1262
- Start date
Glad I could add some humor to your day, FT.
Today I ran the Clix on one side and the 160 on the other. Found the Clix to be mild but, unlike the Feather, with enough effort I was able to get a decent shave. The 160, as previously stated, is also too mild but less so and was able to get a decent shave with less effort.
Tomorrow my 85 year old dad is going to shave with the Canadian Old (or so he says). If he likes it, that will be my chosen razor (and my gift to him). Not holding my breath. Seems turned off to traditional shaving. Wants to just shave with his plastic Bics. Go figure!
Tomorrow my 85 year old dad is going to shave with the Canadian Old (or so he says). If he likes it, that will be my chosen razor (and my gift to him). Not holding my breath. Seems turned off to traditional shaving. Wants to just shave with his plastic Bics. Go figure!
Today I ran the WCS against the Canadian Old. In terms of experience, the WCS exceeded expectations. Was expecting a bland mild razor. Was instead a mild razor with some decent blade feel. That said, was barely able to get a close shave whereas the Canadian Old side did a decent job. The Canadian Old is growing on me. It's not outstanding but then it's not fair to compare it to my favorite high end razors. For one thing it's more than 80 years old and for another it can be had for $5 or $10 (on a reasonably good day).
The Canadian Old doesn't jump out at me in any way. It's lighter than I prefer. The handle is way thinner. I'm not really a vintage guy because most old razors are light and small. But it's a good shave. Would like to try a Single Ring sometime. Have a million Gillettes in my collection but haven't crossed paths with even one Single Ring; at least not that I can recall. If I did, didn't know what it was and overlooked it.
Since I'm not going to ever want to take my CGL3 or my Ikon Tech when traveling, I guess I could be interviewing potential travel razors. In that regard one could do far worse than the Canadian Old.
The Canadian Old doesn't jump out at me in any way. It's lighter than I prefer. The handle is way thinner. I'm not really a vintage guy because most old razors are light and small. But it's a good shave. Would like to try a Single Ring sometime. Have a million Gillettes in my collection but haven't crossed paths with even one Single Ring; at least not that I can recall. If I did, didn't know what it was and overlooked it.
Since I'm not going to ever want to take my CGL3 or my Ikon Tech when traveling, I guess I could be interviewing potential travel razors. In that regard one could do far worse than the Canadian Old.
So I guess your dad didn't go for the Old, then? I thought it was a good razor. A little more weight would have made it a better razor. Typical of Old Types, that handle is hollow. Now that I think of it, I should have tried it with the solid ball end handle from my Tech. Hell, even the fat handle from the Tech in the box would have been better.
West Coast Shaving or Maggards have some nice solid brass handles also if you want something after market. The other option with those old handles is open them up and put some tungsten putty in them to give them some weight. It is just a matter of figuring out how to balance the weight then or put a metal rod in the insert.
So .............. which one you gonna keep?
Still working it. It's down to
1) Canadian Old
2) MMOC
3) Autostrop
Right now I'm saving up some beard growth to give the Canadian Old a real workout. Then I'll do the same for the MMOC. And then last the Autostrop.
Guys down the list, tell me if you'd rather have me add the Rapira or the Fendrihan Mark-I with a Maggards handle. I'm thinking the Rapira would be more fun because a lot of guys have spoken really highly of it and there are few aggressive razors in the box. Never worked for me but there are threads raving about it's supposed virtues. Plus it would be take an aggressive, add an aggressive. The Fendrihan is a more expensive razor and has its fans too, but doesn't seem to get a lot of love around here. I think its underrated. Think I paid about $25. Not super aggressive but on the aggressive side and very smooth. It's a razor I like and appreciate. Great travel razor because with the double comb it's really versatile but not so expensive one need worry about it. The Rapira was only $9 but took two months to import. Some of that was bad luck. Someone recently said it's selling on an American site and super cheap too.
1) Canadian Old
2) MMOC
3) Autostrop
Right now I'm saving up some beard growth to give the Canadian Old a real workout. Then I'll do the same for the MMOC. And then last the Autostrop.
Guys down the list, tell me if you'd rather have me add the Rapira or the Fendrihan Mark-I with a Maggards handle. I'm thinking the Rapira would be more fun because a lot of guys have spoken really highly of it and there are few aggressive razors in the box. Never worked for me but there are threads raving about it's supposed virtues. Plus it would be take an aggressive, add an aggressive. The Fendrihan is a more expensive razor and has its fans too, but doesn't seem to get a lot of love around here. I think its underrated. Think I paid about $25. Not super aggressive but on the aggressive side and very smooth. It's a razor I like and appreciate. Great travel razor because with the double comb it's really versatile but not so expensive one need worry about it. The Rapira was only $9 but took two months to import. Some of that was bad luck. Someone recently said it's selling on an American site and super cheap too.
The Rapira was on IB for super cheap today, $4. A carton of the blades were on for $8 for 100 as well. Too bad I'm doing the sabbatical, I'd be getting those.
Since I didn't really take to the Rapira, I wouldn't miss it. But as I've said, plenty of guys have raved about it. The Fendrihan is a razor I like quite a bit. I don't mind giving it away because it's not my ideal but it's not far off. It's quite aggressive and very smooth. Not as blade forward as I like but super easy and comfortable to shave with and it gives a great shave. I'm not a fan of the duel comb but it can give a razor a broad range of qualities. In the case of this razor, I notice preciously little difference between the SB and OC sides.
Today I ran two razors just for the heck of it. With two days beard growth, the Canadian Old did a bang-up job and gave me a great shave. On the other side, I ran the Fat-Handled Tech since I've not used a Tech in many years and remember how much I once loved it. Sure enough, it could not keep up. The Tech was able to produce a good shave but it took a lot of work.
I've not wanted to close my mind to any razor based on prior knowledge or reputation alone. But at this point I'm done with mild razors. There are two left that interest me. The MMOC, which I'll against the MMOC I already own to see if there's any difference. And the Autostrop.
I've not wanted to close my mind to any razor based on prior knowledge or reputation alone. But at this point I'm done with mild razors. There are two left that interest me. The MMOC, which I'll against the MMOC I already own to see if there's any difference. And the Autostrop.
They will depending since they made 2 versions of the MMOC. You have the ones with 2 bumps on the plate that the blade rests on, then you have one that is missing them. Both shave differently from what I understand.
Yes, I think it was your suggestion that I run one against the other. Didn't notice any difference in the plates. Will be shaving shortly and will report back.
Sure enough, my MMOC has bumps; the one in the box does not. And they shave differently. The difference is very slight but I believe it's there. The one in the box is slightly more aggressive. Since I'm an aggression fiend, the one in the box is my preference.
I would take that razor but for the fact that I let my 85-year-old father try the Canadian Old and he liked it. I had given him a 1940s Superspeed some years back. He used it for a while and then returned to those cheap plastic disposable Bic razors that come in a bag of 10 or 12. With the Old, I think he'll abandon the garbage so that's the razor I've got to go with.
Was planning on putting either my barely used Raspira or my barely used Fendrihan Mark-II with a brand new Maggard handle in the box, and thinking about maybe just throwing both in. What would those downstream think if I put both in the box and also traded my MMOC for the one in the box. In other words, I'd be taking two razors and putting three in. Perhaps someone would prefer a slightly less aggressive MMOC anyway.
Won't do it if anyone objects. Would love feedback. Does that sound fair?
I would take that razor but for the fact that I let my 85-year-old father try the Canadian Old and he liked it. I had given him a 1940s Superspeed some years back. He used it for a while and then returned to those cheap plastic disposable Bic razors that come in a bag of 10 or 12. With the Old, I think he'll abandon the garbage so that's the razor I've got to go with.
Was planning on putting either my barely used Raspira or my barely used Fendrihan Mark-II with a brand new Maggard handle in the box, and thinking about maybe just throwing both in. What would those downstream think if I put both in the box and also traded my MMOC for the one in the box. In other words, I'd be taking two razors and putting three in. Perhaps someone would prefer a slightly less aggressive MMOC anyway.
Won't do it if anyone objects. Would love feedback. Does that sound fair?
Sounds more than fair to me. I’d be ok with you doing 2 for 2.
Think of the one with the bumps as a shimmed MMOC and the other being non shimmed. I don't think anyone will care if you swap one MMOC for another. I took one and put back more than one so the precedent unless someone did it earlier is already set.
The bumps don't shim it. They actually stabilize the blade. They fit into little grooves, no doubt to keep the blade aligned. I actually prefer the one without the bumps. I'd be adding one with bumps and taking one without. My guess is the earlier version may have slightly different architecture. Or maybe I'm dreaming it. As said, the difference is slight.
Still planning one more shave. Just so I can try the Autostrop. If I like it, will leave it in the box and buy one elsewhere. Now to find a thread on how to modify blade.
Reviewing the threads on modifying a single-edge blade for the Autostop makes it look like more trouble than it's worth. Not something I'd care to do every time I change blades. So I think I'm ready to mail the box out.
'Bout Time, your time has come.
'Bout Time, your time has come.
The older blades were thicker those bumps are there to
You can get spineless feather blades that should fit them from tryablade.com but that is for another day and another user. They also happen to be only place I know of where you can get modern blades for the Durham Duplex razors.
Well, that's the thing with the Autostrop. You have to despine the blade and then clip a piece off each side. It takes about 2 minutes to do once you've found your vise grips and diagonal cutters, but there's no way I'd put up with having to do that if I wanted to use it regularly. Which, because that thing exposes so MUCH blade, might be a less than enticing prospect for anyone who doesn't want their razors to be actively terrifying.
I did it, and it was interesting, and I got an efficient shave from it, but that wasn't exactly a keeper for the likes of me.Similar threads
