Just had my first shave with the Rex this morning, and while I'm going to give it a couple days before make a full report, I had some interesting observations from the first shave.
I chose a fresh GSB for the first shave, so I could better compare it to my Timeless, which had a new GSB installed into it over the weekend for Monday. For the maiden voyage, I set the Rex on 4, checked the alignment which seemed pretty strait and level to my eye, equal exposure on both sides, and proceeded to lather up with Tabac soap, immediately following my morning shower, which included a small amount of hair conditioner applied to my face to better soften those gray whiskers.
The knurling on the Rex is VERY 'grippy', more so than any other razor I've used, including the PAA which was the previous grip champ of those razors I've used. I don't care how much soap is on your hand, there is no way this razor can possibly slip out of your hand. This baby seems as solid as my Timeless in the hand, and has a nice feel in the hand, better than my Fat-Boy, which is a similar size. For the sake of a fair comparison, I decided to make the first shave a traditional two pass shave, top to bottom (WTG), followed by side to center (XTG), and finally bottom to top (ATG).
First observation is there's actually more blade feel than expected, at least with a new GSB. It's not harsh, and quite smooth, but definitely more blade feel than I would have expected. At a setting of 4, the Rex looks pretty darn tame, not a wide gap, like you'd get on a MingShi/Futur, Karve, or my .95 Timeless, but there's a good amount of blade smooth blade feel....I was sort of expecting 'Tech' or Rockwell R3/R4 blade feel, so there was some initial surprise. Fairly quiet razor, there's feedback, but it's both low pitched and low in volume, compared to some others. Good amount of growth removed by the first pass, so even at 4, pretty efficient.
I re-lathered and proceeded to the 2nd pass. Bit less blade feel on the 2nd pass, as the first pass removed quite a bit, even going WTG. Fairly easy to tell where the growth is, as you can sort of feel it, as it removes the high-spots. Sides of Chin and neck feel pretty darn smooth, and maybe even mostly BBS after the overlapping swipes. Still very smooth, with that underlying blade feel, or I'm calling it blade feel for the time being. I did notice going a bit shallower reduces that 'blade feel', so tomorrow I need to pay more attention to the angle and see if in fact it was blade feel or the edge of the guard contacting the skin. Seems to have a fairly wide working range from a bit steeper to a bit shallower angle.
Well, mostly BBS or not, I re-lathered for a 3rd pass, going South to North (ATG). In many areas there wasn't really anything left to remove, or very little. Just some of the 'trouble' spots, which are harder to get totally smooth. The area just under my chin, which is a difficult spot to get glass smooth, is surprisingly already smooth at this point. Very easy to get under the nose, it's a narrow head, and performing the 'fools pass' is pretty easy, no blood or weepers evident. (Under the nose is probably the most problematic area for me, as this might be the most sensitive area of my face to shave). I'm easily BBS, but did miss the folds/creases from the corner of mouth, so I took an additional swipe or two to finish knocking them down. (I'll take the hit today, as I may not have puffed my cheeks during the ATG pass on those areas, having been still half a sleep and somewhat on auto-pilot).
My take away so far is that while there might be a bit more blade feel than expected, it felt ultimately 'safe' set on 4, and plenty efficient, yet gentle feeling enough, for a daily shaver. I'd say that like the Rockwell, you'd need to do something dumb or get a little carefree/careless to cut yourself with the Rex. (Probably just jinxed myself, and I'll end up slicing my face open tomorrow, but odds say no, it feels that safe). I also want to try another blade or two, just to see if the feel changes, perhaps a Nacet or Rapira Platinum Lux, which I find sharper than a GSB. I also want another couple of shaves to confirm that 'blade' feel, to make sure it wasn't a side affect of being a bit steeper than perhaps is ideal for the Rex on the initial pass. - Might even try the ATG first method tomorrow, which I do quite often with my Timeless, or just crank it up to 5/6 to see how she feels.
I chose a fresh GSB for the first shave, so I could better compare it to my Timeless, which had a new GSB installed into it over the weekend for Monday. For the maiden voyage, I set the Rex on 4, checked the alignment which seemed pretty strait and level to my eye, equal exposure on both sides, and proceeded to lather up with Tabac soap, immediately following my morning shower, which included a small amount of hair conditioner applied to my face to better soften those gray whiskers.
The knurling on the Rex is VERY 'grippy', more so than any other razor I've used, including the PAA which was the previous grip champ of those razors I've used. I don't care how much soap is on your hand, there is no way this razor can possibly slip out of your hand. This baby seems as solid as my Timeless in the hand, and has a nice feel in the hand, better than my Fat-Boy, which is a similar size. For the sake of a fair comparison, I decided to make the first shave a traditional two pass shave, top to bottom (WTG), followed by side to center (XTG), and finally bottom to top (ATG).
First observation is there's actually more blade feel than expected, at least with a new GSB. It's not harsh, and quite smooth, but definitely more blade feel than I would have expected. At a setting of 4, the Rex looks pretty darn tame, not a wide gap, like you'd get on a MingShi/Futur, Karve, or my .95 Timeless, but there's a good amount of blade smooth blade feel....I was sort of expecting 'Tech' or Rockwell R3/R4 blade feel, so there was some initial surprise. Fairly quiet razor, there's feedback, but it's both low pitched and low in volume, compared to some others. Good amount of growth removed by the first pass, so even at 4, pretty efficient.
I re-lathered and proceeded to the 2nd pass. Bit less blade feel on the 2nd pass, as the first pass removed quite a bit, even going WTG. Fairly easy to tell where the growth is, as you can sort of feel it, as it removes the high-spots. Sides of Chin and neck feel pretty darn smooth, and maybe even mostly BBS after the overlapping swipes. Still very smooth, with that underlying blade feel, or I'm calling it blade feel for the time being. I did notice going a bit shallower reduces that 'blade feel', so tomorrow I need to pay more attention to the angle and see if in fact it was blade feel or the edge of the guard contacting the skin. Seems to have a fairly wide working range from a bit steeper to a bit shallower angle.
Well, mostly BBS or not, I re-lathered for a 3rd pass, going South to North (ATG). In many areas there wasn't really anything left to remove, or very little. Just some of the 'trouble' spots, which are harder to get totally smooth. The area just under my chin, which is a difficult spot to get glass smooth, is surprisingly already smooth at this point. Very easy to get under the nose, it's a narrow head, and performing the 'fools pass' is pretty easy, no blood or weepers evident. (Under the nose is probably the most problematic area for me, as this might be the most sensitive area of my face to shave). I'm easily BBS, but did miss the folds/creases from the corner of mouth, so I took an additional swipe or two to finish knocking them down. (I'll take the hit today, as I may not have puffed my cheeks during the ATG pass on those areas, having been still half a sleep and somewhat on auto-pilot).
My take away so far is that while there might be a bit more blade feel than expected, it felt ultimately 'safe' set on 4, and plenty efficient, yet gentle feeling enough, for a daily shaver. I'd say that like the Rockwell, you'd need to do something dumb or get a little carefree/careless to cut yourself with the Rex. (Probably just jinxed myself, and I'll end up slicing my face open tomorrow, but odds say no, it feels that safe). I also want to try another blade or two, just to see if the feel changes, perhaps a Nacet or Rapira Platinum Lux, which I find sharper than a GSB. I also want another couple of shaves to confirm that 'blade' feel, to make sure it wasn't a side affect of being a bit steeper than perhaps is ideal for the Rex on the initial pass. - Might even try the ATG first method tomorrow, which I do quite often with my Timeless, or just crank it up to 5/6 to see how she feels.
