All right. I know R41 has many fans ... deservedly so; it occupies a place on the far-end of the shave scale. Over there with alligators, pirhanas, barracudas ...
I have dozens of razors, new and old, and R41 is one of the meanest-shaving to me.
Aggressive, yes, but I LIKE that. I shave with Thin-cap OLDS, Single-Ring and many other mean shavers.
I never could get a comfortable shave with the thing. Tuggy, to me. With blade chatter, perhaps inherent in the design. (Mine is the newer version). So.
Recently I decided to challenge my beliefs, a good thing to do periodically. (Hate Tabac? Try it again six months later. Veg reminds you of a funeral home bathroom? Revisit the Veg after attending a wake, etc.) Anyways.
I gave R41 a try last week and it did exactly what I remember: a tuggy, painful shave.
But I got an idea ...
A member here gets good shaves with R41 using the Yintal "bronze" razor's topcap. I have that cheapie razor, so gave it a try.
While a good-looking combination, it also was noisy - a sign of chatter/vibration - and, hm, it didn't work well for me.
I had a few other "heads-only purchases" lined up, and gave the Razorock Self-Lubricating Open Comb (SLOC) head a try.
It fit with a greater coverage across the top, and seemed to clamp well - a prerequisite for any combo working well.
Now. I'm not an engineer (though there are plenty here) and in general, don't want to mess with combinations of topcap and baseplate. It's 50-50 you'll make something worse and a lot of times, they don't fit. But what the hey; take no chances have no fun.
It shaved SO WELL. Quiet, and another efficiency tiger. More importantly, it was the first comfortable shave I've ever gotten with the R41 baseplate.
I think it's clamping well; someone with the math skills or ability to reckon on this is welcome to weigh in.
I have no opinion on the combination's looks. (Dang, need a better side-photo). Can only say, the SLOC topcap is making the R41 baseplate work very well - for me. Shaved with it all week, to be sure!
Thoughts?
AA
I have dozens of razors, new and old, and R41 is one of the meanest-shaving to me.
Aggressive, yes, but I LIKE that. I shave with Thin-cap OLDS, Single-Ring and many other mean shavers.
I never could get a comfortable shave with the thing. Tuggy, to me. With blade chatter, perhaps inherent in the design. (Mine is the newer version). So.
Recently I decided to challenge my beliefs, a good thing to do periodically. (Hate Tabac? Try it again six months later. Veg reminds you of a funeral home bathroom? Revisit the Veg after attending a wake, etc.) Anyways.
I gave R41 a try last week and it did exactly what I remember: a tuggy, painful shave.
But I got an idea ...
A member here gets good shaves with R41 using the Yintal "bronze" razor's topcap. I have that cheapie razor, so gave it a try.
While a good-looking combination, it also was noisy - a sign of chatter/vibration - and, hm, it didn't work well for me.
I had a few other "heads-only purchases" lined up, and gave the Razorock Self-Lubricating Open Comb (SLOC) head a try.
It fit with a greater coverage across the top, and seemed to clamp well - a prerequisite for any combo working well.
Now. I'm not an engineer (though there are plenty here) and in general, don't want to mess with combinations of topcap and baseplate. It's 50-50 you'll make something worse and a lot of times, they don't fit. But what the hey; take no chances have no fun.
It shaved SO WELL. Quiet, and another efficiency tiger. More importantly, it was the first comfortable shave I've ever gotten with the R41 baseplate.
I think it's clamping well; someone with the math skills or ability to reckon on this is welcome to weigh in.
I have no opinion on the combination's looks. (Dang, need a better side-photo). Can only say, the SLOC topcap is making the R41 baseplate work very well - for me. Shaved with it all week, to be sure!
Thoughts?
AA