The biggest single thing I’ve had to relearn coming back to wet shaving is the pressure. I had forgotten that a DE blade takes a light touch. After three months I finally relearned the light touch and now I only get a nick when I get distracted or careless.Just be mindful of the angle and respectful of the pressure, and you’ll be fine.
Rockwell 6S Review: day-by-day, plate-by-plate
- Thread starter FoolishMortal
- Start date
Good review, FoolishMortal.
I must re-try the R6 plate soon, and see how it compares to the Game Changers.
- Thread starter
- #43
My Final Thoughts (until I have other Final Thoughts):
The 6S is a very well-balanced, efficient razor made with quality materials. In the hand, it doesn't feel head-heavy as the look might have you expect. The handle has moderately deep knurling that is grippy without tearing skin and I love the way that the head clamps the blade, allowing no chatter or flex, from the 1 plate through the 6 plate.
Actually, I'm a little surprised that the 1 plate even exists. As mentioned before, it's not really for shaving, if that means full removal of whiskers, but rather - at least to me - for trimming stubble to keep a one-day growth. There's a market for that, but it's already well served by a number of products and a $100 razor set need not be one of them. The 1 plate seems like a waste of time, effort and material.
The 2 plate isn't much better. It does provide some actual shaving, barely down to the skin, but it's so mild that there is a "what's the point?" factor. I understand that this plate is for the shaver with extremely sensitive skin and/or light growth, but again, it feels like this is a bit of a wasted effort in an expensive package.
Plate 3 feels very safe, like a Slim or Fatboy set on 2. You can remove stubble, you can buff to your heart's content, you can whip it around, all without feeling like you're in danger at any point. And the 4 plate is like that, too, but much more efficient.
While it sits at the far end of the spectrum, plate 5 doesn't seem to add much to the offering. The step up in blade feel and efficiency seems minimal, yet there's a mildly heightened sense that you could get bitten. The trade-off seems out of balance, so while the 4 plate is great, I view the 5 plate like 5th gear on a 6-speed motorcycle: it's just a way to get from 4th to 6th.
The 6 plate certainly is efficient and gives great feedback and a very close shave with almost no irritation, which, in my limited experience, is hard to achieve. I'm a middle-of-the-road shaver, not wanting super-mild or super-aggressive, and if I were sufficiently attentive to prep and technique, I could stretch to have the 6 plate as my daily driver.
But there are plenty of shavers who definitely want a more aggressive experience than I do, and there's nowhere to go past the 6 plate. I think Rockwell could have done away with the 1 and the 5, instead opting to give us a 7 and 8 , relatively speaking. For those people, the current 6 plate is probably just "meh", and that's not what Rockwell should strive to provide.
What ever plate you choose, the head design is where this razor shines. Yes the handle grips well and looks nice, but there are plenty of good stainless steel handles on the market. The head, though, that's new for me. It's a chunky head, which is fine because it's superbly mated to the handle - as it should be - and it somehow doesn't feel over-large when working beneath and beside the nose. And the way it releases lather! The massive lather ports definitely help, yet the engineering genius has to do with the way the cap arches over the base plate, allowing you to run water right down the center of the cap/plate to clear everything away. Water just flows, taking all the extraneous lather and whisker bits with it.
All that said, I'm very happy with the Rockwell and I think it's a steal at $100 for such a quality razor. You get adjustability, great balance, wonderful geometry, efficiency and no-nonsense utilitarian beauty. My favorite razors are my Slim on 3 or 4 and my Old Type head on a Tech ball-end handle. The Rockwell gives me a shave that is more efficient, with less effort or irritation, than either of those. While those two won't leave the den, they'll be spending a lot more time "resting".
This morning, I used the 4 plate for a quick one-pass shave and a little clean-up, and I'm certainly at SAS or better. It probably helps that I used the 6 plate yesterday, meaning there wasn't that much to remove today, but the results are the results. I'll stick with the 4 plate for a good while longer, using the 6 plate on days when I know I won't shave for the next day or two.
And who knows - maybe I'll get get tired of the 4 plate, move to the 5 plate and realized it was what I needed all along.
The Numbers:
Thanks for hanging in there with me and allowing me to share my thoughts. YMMV!
The 6S is a very well-balanced, efficient razor made with quality materials. In the hand, it doesn't feel head-heavy as the look might have you expect. The handle has moderately deep knurling that is grippy without tearing skin and I love the way that the head clamps the blade, allowing no chatter or flex, from the 1 plate through the 6 plate.
Actually, I'm a little surprised that the 1 plate even exists. As mentioned before, it's not really for shaving, if that means full removal of whiskers, but rather - at least to me - for trimming stubble to keep a one-day growth. There's a market for that, but it's already well served by a number of products and a $100 razor set need not be one of them. The 1 plate seems like a waste of time, effort and material.
The 2 plate isn't much better. It does provide some actual shaving, barely down to the skin, but it's so mild that there is a "what's the point?" factor. I understand that this plate is for the shaver with extremely sensitive skin and/or light growth, but again, it feels like this is a bit of a wasted effort in an expensive package.
Plate 3 feels very safe, like a Slim or Fatboy set on 2. You can remove stubble, you can buff to your heart's content, you can whip it around, all without feeling like you're in danger at any point. And the 4 plate is like that, too, but much more efficient.
While it sits at the far end of the spectrum, plate 5 doesn't seem to add much to the offering. The step up in blade feel and efficiency seems minimal, yet there's a mildly heightened sense that you could get bitten. The trade-off seems out of balance, so while the 4 plate is great, I view the 5 plate like 5th gear on a 6-speed motorcycle: it's just a way to get from 4th to 6th.
The 6 plate certainly is efficient and gives great feedback and a very close shave with almost no irritation, which, in my limited experience, is hard to achieve. I'm a middle-of-the-road shaver, not wanting super-mild or super-aggressive, and if I were sufficiently attentive to prep and technique, I could stretch to have the 6 plate as my daily driver.
But there are plenty of shavers who definitely want a more aggressive experience than I do, and there's nowhere to go past the 6 plate. I think Rockwell could have done away with the 1 and the 5, instead opting to give us a 7 and 8 , relatively speaking. For those people, the current 6 plate is probably just "meh", and that's not what Rockwell should strive to provide.
What ever plate you choose, the head design is where this razor shines. Yes the handle grips well and looks nice, but there are plenty of good stainless steel handles on the market. The head, though, that's new for me. It's a chunky head, which is fine because it's superbly mated to the handle - as it should be - and it somehow doesn't feel over-large when working beneath and beside the nose. And the way it releases lather! The massive lather ports definitely help, yet the engineering genius has to do with the way the cap arches over the base plate, allowing you to run water right down the center of the cap/plate to clear everything away. Water just flows, taking all the extraneous lather and whisker bits with it.
All that said, I'm very happy with the Rockwell and I think it's a steal at $100 for such a quality razor. You get adjustability, great balance, wonderful geometry, efficiency and no-nonsense utilitarian beauty. My favorite razors are my Slim on 3 or 4 and my Old Type head on a Tech ball-end handle. The Rockwell gives me a shave that is more efficient, with less effort or irritation, than either of those. While those two won't leave the den, they'll be spending a lot more time "resting".
This morning, I used the 4 plate for a quick one-pass shave and a little clean-up, and I'm certainly at SAS or better. It probably helps that I used the 6 plate yesterday, meaning there wasn't that much to remove today, but the results are the results. I'll stick with the 4 plate for a good while longer, using the 6 plate on days when I know I won't shave for the next day or two.
And who knows - maybe I'll get get tired of the 4 plate, move to the 5 plate and realized it was what I needed all along.
The Numbers:
- Full razor, 2/4 plate, no blade: 118g
- Full razor, cap on the scale: 73g
- Full razor, handle on the scale: 45g
- Cap and plate only: 48g
- Handle only: 70g
Thanks for hanging in there with me and allowing me to share my thoughts. YMMV!
Last edited:
Let's all give FoolishMortal a standing ovation, a hearty round of applause !
A wonderfully informative review of a terrific razor, and for me and my face,
a nice reinforcement of why I love my Rockwell 6C, plate 4, with a Nacet.
A wonderfully informative review of a terrific razor, and for me and my face,
a nice reinforcement of why I love my Rockwell 6C, plate 4, with a Nacet.
This has been a great read. Thank you.
Great review, FoolishMortal.
I think R1 might be meant for body shaving. They're trying to cater for a wide base, but if they put out an R7/R8 plate, I'm sure there would be buyers.
You inspired me to give R6 another try:
Preshave: Hot washcloth, Nuage oil
Soap: Palmolive, bowl-lathered
Brush: Cheap Men-U boar
Razor: Rockwell 6S with R6 plate
Blade: Astra SP #4
Post-shave: Nivea Balm, Brut AS.
After using the GC.84P for several days running, I was expecting the R6 plate (0.79mm) to feel like a milder option, but it didn't. There was a fair amount of blade feel. It did an efficient job, and gave me more or less a DFS, but mostly I was reminded of why I liked R5 better.
Once the novelty of the Game Changers has worn off, I'll probably use the Rockwell regularly again as well, with R5.
I think R1 might be meant for body shaving. They're trying to cater for a wide base, but if they put out an R7/R8 plate, I'm sure there would be buyers.
You inspired me to give R6 another try:
Preshave: Hot washcloth, Nuage oil
Soap: Palmolive, bowl-lathered
Brush: Cheap Men-U boar
Razor: Rockwell 6S with R6 plate
Blade: Astra SP #4
Post-shave: Nivea Balm, Brut AS.
After using the GC.84P for several days running, I was expecting the R6 plate (0.79mm) to feel like a milder option, but it didn't. There was a fair amount of blade feel. It did an efficient job, and gave me more or less a DFS, but mostly I was reminded of why I liked R5 better.
Once the novelty of the Game Changers has worn off, I'll probably use the Rockwell regularly again as well, with R5.
I have the GC.84P as well, and I switch back and forth between that, my 6C on plate 5, and my Progress the most out of my collection. The 6C would be replaced with a 6S if it rots.Great review, FoolishMortal.
I think R1 might be meant for body shaving. They're trying to cater for a wide base, but if they put out an R7/R8 plate, I'm sure there would be buyers.
You inspired me to give R6 another try:
Preshave: Hot washcloth, Nuage oil
Soap: Palmolive, bowl-lathered
Brush: Cheap Men-U boar
Razor: Rockwell 6S with R6 plate
Blade: Astra SP #4
Post-shave: Nivea Balm, Brut AS.
After using the GC.84P for several days running, I was expecting the R6 plate (0.79mm) to feel like a milder option, but it didn't. There was a fair amount of blade feel. It did an efficient job, and gave me more or less a DFS, but mostly I was reminded of why I liked R5 better.
Once the novelty of the Game Changers has worn off, I'll probably use the Rockwell regularly again as well, with R5.
- Thread starter
- #49
Thanks, you are too kind. This is all just one guy’s opinion.
- Thread starter
- #51
Feel free to send one to me and I'll be happy to do the review.
Enjoyed the daring review, well done. I've settled on the 3 plate on my Rockwell 6C but think I will try the higher plates again after reading your report.
Great review, I enjoyed you're daily plate reviews and final thoughts.
A great review of a great razor. Well done sir. I agree with every word but couldn’t have expressed it so eloquently.
This was a very good read, thanks for the time and effort you put into it.
Excellent review! It was very analytical and impressive.
I was very close to get one, but I would not like to pay for 3 plates and use one in the end.
I was very close to get one, but I would not like to pay for 3 plates and use one in the end.
I switch up all 3 plates on occasion my self, depending on the blade I'm using. Nacets get 3, 4, or 5. Things like a Dorco Prime or a 7 O'Clock Green SS, I'll use up to plate 6.
- Thread starter
- #59
I understand. The flip side, though, is that you're virtually guaranteed to find a plate that works for you, unless you like an absolute monster of a razor. If you splash the cash for one of the other high-end razors (Karve, Timeless, Wolfman, etc.), you're hoping that the geometry works for you, unless you've managed to try before you buy.
Thanks for your kind words.
It was like reading a story from a book with chapters and stuff. I couldn't wait to get to the next one, to see what happens with the next blade! I loved the review and documentation of your shaves and the razor.
-Cheers
-Cheers
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