Rex Konsul tips and tricks? Help a newbie

[Kiwishaver30]

Hi,

Ive upgraded from a Rockwell 6s to the Konsul, but the Konsul doesn’t seem as smooth as the 6s.

I tried shaving with a weeks growth and it felt like it was pulling the hair.

shaves with a couple of days growth aren’t as efficient as the 6s. I’ve tried different settings.

What am I doing wrong and what can you recommend?

 

[Dyllern]

Hi,

Ive upgraded from a Rockwell 6s to the Konsul, but the Konsul doesn’t seem as smooth as the 6s.

I tried shaving with a weeks growth and it felt like it was pulling the hair.

shaves with a couple of days growth aren’t as efficient as the 6s. I’ve tried different settings.

What am I doing wrong and what can you recommend?

I can of course only speak from my own experience, but I have tried quite a few razors and I would say I can make all razors work. "Work" like in at least provide a decent shave.

Sure a razor can be more or less agressive and sure a blade can be more or less sharp, but none of that matters if the preparation of the beard isn't optimal.

The beard needs to be thoroughly wet/hydrated and a "gliding agent" applied in form of some kind of soap. Again soap pucks, creams, shaving sticks can vary, but ultimately they just have to provide as substance that minimise friction between your skin and the razor/blade.

A fancy brush and an expensive soap are by no means necessary to get a good shave. If you do it right your hands and eg. a low quality liquid hand soap will do.

So if you use a blade that you know suits you and set the 'Konsul' at 2/3 as a start you should very much be able to get a good shave with the right preparation. From what I have read the blade exposure on the 'Konsul' should be considerably closer to neutral compared to eg. the 'Ambassador', so you should get a smooth experience from the start.

I must admit I haven't tried the 'Konsul' myself, but from what I have read of reviews combined with my experience with a lot of other razors there is only one conclusion.

It's you and not the razor that's the problem

A manufactoring error could of course be possible, but I highly doubt it.

 

[Old Hippie]

OK, so here's some input from someone who's used the Konsul a lot...

In fact, I just finished using it. Congratulations on getting what I think is a very fine razor.

First, technique is king. You may have great technique on another or many other razors, but each new razor needs a bit of adjustment in your technique. Sometimes that's "hidden" in that you will just automatically adjust and not notice it; other times you need to stop and reflect on things.

I am mildly prone to getting some irritation ATG. A "good" razor for me is one I can use to achieve a close 2-pass shave. Note that "I can use" implies that not only is the razor adequate, but the blade is as well AND I can accommodate with technique.

I'm not you, and my shaving context is not yours. There are several ways to use an adjustable. Some like to run through the gears (that's me) while others want to use an adjustable to find that perfect gap, then go buy a razor with that gap. Either way it's fine.

Despite the occasional wish expressed for a razor that can rip all the hair off in one fast ATG pass, that ain't the way the universe works. We reduce hair until we've taken off enough to meet our expectations, in several passes from different directions. That's so obvious we all know it; I'm just making sure the cards are face-up.

I'll take the example of shaving my head, which is most of what I shave. The top of my head is essentially bald, though there's enough growing up there to show silver stubble if I don't keep it cleaned off. Doesn't take much razor to get that part, so setting 3 and a WTG pass there is sufficient.

I open that sucker up wide to 6.5 for WTG on the sides and back. I almost never nick myself WTG and I like to take off as much as I can there. Saves me work later.

Then I crank it down to 2 for an ATG pass. This for me is far too mild to actually shave close, but a larger gap also means I'll have the edge getting caught up in stiff hair, pulling up a skin fold and (if I somehow don't notice) giving me a cut. So I've found that setting 2 lets me take off a lot of the hair in that pass. Then I relather and open up to 4 and go ATG again. Much shorter stubble, easier to cut close.

At that point I leave it on 4 to go ATG on the temples and behind the ears, then shave WTG on my cheeks. Check for cleanups, have a sip of coffee, slap on some Nivea and clean up the Lather Pit.

That's the razor. I'm not saying my settings will work for you, but I am encouraging you to think about how your hair grows, how you tend to shave it, and how you might adjust the razor to meet conditions. I don't get wrapped around "ride the cap" or "ride the bar" advice. You can play with that if you wish. I tend to listen for the approximate middle of the "shave window" and just go for it.

Let's briefly touch on blades.

"Briefly" because some years ago I tried some blades and settled on Astra SP, which I have used through about three different iterations and still love them. So I'm not real adventurous with blades. However, lately I was looking at some blade tucks I've had for a while (since my earlier researches) and decided to revisit a couple. Another point of common knowledge around here is that a blade that works killer in one razor may not be so congenial in another. Again, Astra SP -- they seem to be universal for me.

You may wish to try a few other blades. I decided that since I had some old Israeli Reds I'd try one. It seems to be fading faster than an Astra SP, feels slightly rougher but oddly gives me a pretty good shave, although with just a barely noticeable higher degree of irritation in spots.

It's an adventure! It's not "plug and shave." But it's also not rocket science, brain surgery, or tax accounting; all of which intimidate me. I find the Konsul is a good razor to use when I've carved myself up with other more aggressive razors. At the same time it can mimic those more aggressive razors pretty effectively. Yes, it has its quirks and foibles. I admit I just dove in and used it for about two months straight to get used to it. If you're having struggles with it, set it aside and shave out a blade in something else, then go back and shave out a blade in the Konsul. Gradually it'll fall into line for you, I think.

Prep, soap, hydration, humidity, "glide" -- all factors as well but not specific to this razor. Good places for incremental improvement. I used to do a fairly thick lather, but found that a thinner runny lather works pretty well for me.

Good luck! It's a lovely razor and I'm interested to hear how you get on with it.

O.H.

 

[EMG06]

Might be silly to say, but when I first received my razor, somebody had wrapped a small piece of wire on the screw thread on the underside of the top cap (to hold it in place while plating maybe?).

I didn’t notice when loading the blade and my first shave was awful. I was worried I had just dropped a lot of money on a terrible razor, but wanted to try a new blade before giving up completely. As I was going to swap it out, I noticed the wire.

Removed it and have loved the way the razor shaves ever since.



If it’s not this specific problem, I would recommend using a lower setting (I like 2.5) and going slower than normal until everything feels right to you. I’ve personally also found that a steeper angle (riding the bar) works better for me.

Good luck!