The Israeli Personna in the 200 pack say Swedish steel on the box and they're known to make many off brand blades so that's my best guess.
Rockwell Razor Club
- Thread starter KodiakAttack
- Start date
The Israeli Personna in the 200 pack say Swedish steel on the box and they're known to make many off brand blades so that's my best guess.
Fantastic review thus far. I haven't used my 6s yet (only arrived the other day) but am thinking I'll start with plate 3.
Looking forward to the next parts of the review.
Looking forward to the next parts of the review.
Today I tried the #5 plate. The #3 plate was very smooth, but it did not provide the closeness of shave that I like.
I figured I'd move up to the #5 so I would have a new setting to try regardless of how I felt about it. I could try #4 next or #6.
For this shave I used Stirling Glastonbury and the same Gillette 7 o'clock yellow blade (this is its 2nd use). I did not shave yesterday since I want to see what the plates can do with some growth first.
Again the lather came out great, so I wasn't going to be able to blame it for anything!
The #5 is certainly more efficient than the #3. You can feel the blade a bit more on the face.
But a light touch and careful angles lead to a very good shave! I would put the #5 at about the same efficiency as my Weber PH but its a bit smoother.
After a WTG pass an a XTG pass I had a DFS! I wanted to complete the comparison and see if I could get a BBS without irritation, so I lathered up for a final ATG pass and it went great. I did a couple small touchups around my adams apple and chin and I was done.
I followed with the alum block again. This time there was a little bit of stinging but nothing bad. The glastonbury aftershave splash didn't have any stinging at all. Normally if I hit my face with alum first the aftershave will only burn if I was irritated with the shave (though if I skip the alum I usually get some burn from an alcohol based AS splash...).
So far the #5 is easily my favorite plate. I have a hard time believing I will want to use the #6 as my daily driver, though I am going to try it. If I can get as close of a BBS out of the #4 I could see myself using it when I shave on consecutive days, but I won't know for sure until I try it as well.
This is a very nice razor.
I figured I'd move up to the #5 so I would have a new setting to try regardless of how I felt about it. I could try #4 next or #6.
For this shave I used Stirling Glastonbury and the same Gillette 7 o'clock yellow blade (this is its 2nd use). I did not shave yesterday since I want to see what the plates can do with some growth first.
Again the lather came out great, so I wasn't going to be able to blame it for anything!
The #5 is certainly more efficient than the #3. You can feel the blade a bit more on the face.
But a light touch and careful angles lead to a very good shave! I would put the #5 at about the same efficiency as my Weber PH but its a bit smoother.
After a WTG pass an a XTG pass I had a DFS! I wanted to complete the comparison and see if I could get a BBS without irritation, so I lathered up for a final ATG pass and it went great. I did a couple small touchups around my adams apple and chin and I was done.
I followed with the alum block again. This time there was a little bit of stinging but nothing bad. The glastonbury aftershave splash didn't have any stinging at all. Normally if I hit my face with alum first the aftershave will only burn if I was irritated with the shave (though if I skip the alum I usually get some burn from an alcohol based AS splash...).
So far the #5 is easily my favorite plate. I have a hard time believing I will want to use the #6 as my daily driver, though I am going to try it. If I can get as close of a BBS out of the #4 I could see myself using it when I shave on consecutive days, but I won't know for sure until I try it as well.
This is a very nice razor.
Contrary to what I said earlier about the Rockwell audio feedback, I have a feather in mine to test out on #3 and it was very quiet. Baffled the hell out of me. It's loud with almost every other blade. Sorry OP.
Jon - 6S; R41.13;DE89LBL, some old Gillettes. Croma, Astra & Voskhod
Jon - 6S; R41.13;DE89LBL, some old Gillettes. Croma, Astra & Voskhod
I've been using my new Rockwell exclusively for a few weeks...just changed out the blade. I've been using the #4/#2 base.
Used a fresh GSB today. Had a nice BBS shave. But as much as I want to like the GSB based on all of the raving it gets, it's not nearly as smooth as PermaSharps, for me.
The Rockwell, however, is so close to perfect in performance, weight, dead-on perfect angle...get one!!
Used a fresh GSB today. Had a nice BBS shave. But as much as I want to like the GSB based on all of the raving it gets, it's not nearly as smooth as PermaSharps, for me.
The Rockwell, however, is so close to perfect in performance, weight, dead-on perfect angle...get one!!
I certainly agree about the GSB. They seem to be loved, but I found them inferior to me in the razors I tried compared to Astra SPs or Gillette 7 o'clock yellows. I probably need to buy another 5 pack and try them again to see if I still have the same opinion!
I started with #3 plate, went to #4, and now use #5. I tried the Rockwell blade but found it wasn't cutting my beard. Switched to Personna Med Prep blades and the shaves have been outstanding. Yesterday I tossed the Med Prep blade after my 6th shave.
I have them in my regular blade rotation. They are sharp and provide a comfortable shave.
The review of the Rockwell plates, continued:
Plate #4:
With this plate, its really difficult to compare with the Slim, but Id roughly put it at 5.5-6 of 9.
Plate #5:
With the Slim as a baseline, Id estimate the sensitivity around 6-6.5 of 9. A rough estimate, at that.
Plate #6:
Id guess the sensitivity of this plate is like a Slim at around 7.5 of 9.
CONTINUED - The Rockwell Blade
Plate #4:
- This plate is ideal if BBS is your goal. Shave lightly. My shave was face-rubbingly close - not far from my results with the Muhle R41. (But I remember that my old R41 would sometimes cause me minor irritation - and significant post-shave alum burn.)
- With this blade and plate, I noticed something new. If I shave slowly with this plate, the blade drags a bit. To correct this, I increased the speed of the shaving strokes - and that seemed to fix the problem. (The reason this works is that it keeps the blade from resting on your skin too long.) Despite this, the shave was still comfortable...but avoiding pressure is easy enough with this razor/plate combo. And this was shaving ATG!
- After shaving, I applied alum to my face to see if there was any irritation. The alum tingle lasted for about twenty seconds, and dissipated. I took that to mean that the shave itself was relatively mild.
- The shaving sound is still very quiet - like a soft scrape during shaving. Quite different than razors like the Red Tip or ATT.
- My vintage non-adjustable Gillettes are milder than Plate #4 of the 6S. Among modern razors, Id say the ATT with the M1 plate is close, especially considering the weight and balance. But thats just an estimation.
With this plate, its really difficult to compare with the Slim, but Id roughly put it at 5.5-6 of 9.
Plate #5:
- Plate #4 shaved me very closely, but #5 is closer yet - though the improvement is frankly minimal.. On the mustache area, it's even more important that you avoid pressure, because the plate is more aggressive. This is the first 6S plate I didnt care for.
- Avoid pressure, because that increases your chance of small nicks or cuts with this plate.
- At night, I noticed that the #5 plate keeps the shave longer than #4; no perceptible growth on the mustache in particular. Its fairly close to the ATT with the M2 plate. Personally, I prefer the #4 plate for an ultra-close shave, and rely on technique,
- Maybe I over-shaved a bit, but I got three small nicks, and strong alum burn.
With the Slim as a baseline, Id estimate the sensitivity around 6-6.5 of 9. A rough estimate, at that.
Plate #6:
- This is pretty close to the ATT with the R2 plate, but this plate feels rougher to me. Theres so much blade exposure that I have to shave super-lightly on the first pass..
- This razor/blade combo still doesnt have a singing sound common to razors like, say, the ATT. But from what Ive been reading, different blades may have different sounds. Thats something to look into.
- With this plate, I tried to use near-zero pressure, but Plate #6 is so aggressive on my face that nicks and cuts are a given - especially if you have s light beard. Shaving-wise, I cant tell much difference between Plates 4 and 6.
Id guess the sensitivity of this plate is like a Slim at around 7.5 of 9.
CONTINUED - The Rockwell Blade
Hmm. You say plate 6 is like a Slim at around 7.5 of 9, so I guess I won't order it. I'm not interested in anything milder than a Slim on 9.
Today I used my Rockwell 6S for the third time. Since the #3 and #5 plates were both smooth and easy shaves, I decided to try the #6 plate.
I still used my Simpson Colonel XL brush but today I chose the Fine American Blend shave soap. Again I got some really great lather today. Maybe the best lather I've gotten out of this soap, and it always produces good lather.
This was also my third shave with the same Gillette 7 o'clock Russian yellow, but I've never had a problem getting at least 3 good shaves out of these blades. I generally toss any blade after the third shave as I'm not interested in waiting until I get a bad shave to replace the blade!
This shave started out just as smooth as the #5 plate was. I didn't notice a lot of difference until near the end of the shave. I got a very close shave almost everywhere, but something about this baseplate and my shaving angles left more touchups than normal needed around my jaw line. In my quest to make sure I was BBS everywhere I ended up getting some minor irritation in the areas I touched up.
So this is the first baseplate that I think I likely need a little bit of practice to get a great shave everywhere. The alum stung a bit more today and it was enough that the Fine American Blend aftershave splash also left my face a bit red for a few minutes.
It's about 3 and 1/2 hours after the shave as I write this, and I still have a BBS everywhere but my upper lip where I don't get a true ATG pass (dang nose!). There's no lingering irritation at this point.
Overall I will revisit this blade, but my first impression is that I'm likely to settle for the #5 as a daily driver, but I still have to try #4.
#3 was a bit too mild for me, so I can't imagine that I'm going to love the #1 or #2 plates, but I do plan to try them as well.
As a point of reference, when I first went from the 34C to the Weber PH I received a LOT more irritation than I have with any of the Rockwell baseplates. But my Weber has more blade protrusion than the Rockwell even on the #6 plate.
I still used my Simpson Colonel XL brush but today I chose the Fine American Blend shave soap. Again I got some really great lather today. Maybe the best lather I've gotten out of this soap, and it always produces good lather.
This was also my third shave with the same Gillette 7 o'clock Russian yellow, but I've never had a problem getting at least 3 good shaves out of these blades. I generally toss any blade after the third shave as I'm not interested in waiting until I get a bad shave to replace the blade!
This shave started out just as smooth as the #5 plate was. I didn't notice a lot of difference until near the end of the shave. I got a very close shave almost everywhere, but something about this baseplate and my shaving angles left more touchups than normal needed around my jaw line. In my quest to make sure I was BBS everywhere I ended up getting some minor irritation in the areas I touched up.
So this is the first baseplate that I think I likely need a little bit of practice to get a great shave everywhere. The alum stung a bit more today and it was enough that the Fine American Blend aftershave splash also left my face a bit red for a few minutes.
It's about 3 and 1/2 hours after the shave as I write this, and I still have a BBS everywhere but my upper lip where I don't get a true ATG pass (dang nose!). There's no lingering irritation at this point.
Overall I will revisit this blade, but my first impression is that I'm likely to settle for the #5 as a daily driver, but I still have to try #4.
#3 was a bit too mild for me, so I can't imagine that I'm going to love the #1 or #2 plates, but I do plan to try them as well.
As a point of reference, when I first went from the 34C to the Weber PH I received a LOT more irritation than I have with any of the Rockwell baseplates. But my Weber has more blade protrusion than the Rockwell even on the #6 plate.
The 5 plate is my favourite. It's both smooth and efficient. I can't go ATG on my mustache area with the 6 plate. For me, it's not smooth. The number 4 plate is the smoothest for me but I have some touchups that I don't have with the #5.
With the 6S, the blade makes all the difference for me...but each plate has something to recommend it.
With a GSB, a #3 plate is just fine - smooth and sharp.
With a Rockwell, it looks like I'm going to have to move up to a #4 plate, or beyond.
The big advantage to the 6S is that you can change plates according to your needs.
With a GSB, a #3 plate is just fine - smooth and sharp.
With a Rockwell, it looks like I'm going to have to move up to a #4 plate, or beyond.
The big advantage to the 6S is that you can change plates according to your needs.
Great, now I have to try everything over again with a variety of blades 
Right now I have on hand:
Rockwell Blades - never tried in any razor
Gillette 7 o'clock yellow - one of my favorites in EVERY razor I've used
Astra SP - also a good blade in every razor I've used
Personna Lab Blues - Sometimes I love these blades and sometimes I hate them. I haven't found a common denominator for razors, so I'm considering that maybe the blades themselves have a higher variance than some others. I just don't know.
Gillette 7 o'clock Blacks - Never tried them, but I'm eager to
Right now I have on hand:
Rockwell Blades - never tried in any razor
Gillette 7 o'clock yellow - one of my favorites in EVERY razor I've used
Astra SP - also a good blade in every razor I've used
Personna Lab Blues - Sometimes I love these blades and sometimes I hate them. I haven't found a common denominator for razors, so I'm considering that maybe the blades themselves have a higher variance than some others. I just don't know.
Gillette 7 o'clock Blacks - Never tried them, but I'm eager to
It's the best razor in my den. I am happy with #3 and Polsilver combination.
I am absolutely loving the 6S.
Daily BBS with zero irritation and it also made my blade last much longer! 13 shaves from a Polsiver when I normally get around 7 in my Progress!!
Plate #4 is my daily but sometimes when in the mood, I put Plate #3 on my heavy bulldog handle and that's also a great combination!
Daily BBS with zero irritation and it also made my blade last much longer! 13 shaves from a Polsiver when I normally get around 7 in my Progress!!
Plate #4 is my daily but sometimes when in the mood, I put Plate #3 on my heavy bulldog handle and that's also a great combination!
One thing I'm noticing is that that the 6S is very blade sensitive. While a Gillette Aristocrat Junior doesn't change much between blades, there's a big difference between a 6S on a sharp vs mild blade (and that's before you start playing around with the plates).
However, the Merkur Futur or Vision are thought to be more aggressive, and probably more suited to your needs.
