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Sad days of SE shaving

I am raising the white flag. Tried hard to like SE shaving. Razors look so sweet, and there has been a recent surge in SE popularity in this forum which is great to see.

Alas, appears to be not for me.

I went all out, got pella blades and shaved with every SE from an early lather catcher to a featherweight, with several 1912s, micromatics and a g-bar in the mix.

More proof that YMMV. I could get a fiarly close shave, but not as good as with my beloved old types and new, and some ended in a comical and bloody affair (g-bar in particular, which was unexpected).

Now you know my sad story, thanks for reading.
 
Strong work for trying and give it a good effort.
Some people are not that bold (me for one).

+1 on that mate.

A Micromatic was included in an eBay auction I had won a few months ago, but it ain't for me.

I've been thinking of doing a PIF on it so someone else could use it rather than collecting dust in a drawer.

Cheers.
 
Can some one explain to me, the difference between a single and double edge razor?

I appreciate that the double edge has two blades, and the single edge has one, but from what I can tell, the double edge just has two single edge 'faces', only one blade cutting at any one time anyway.

I should probably make a thread, but this one prompted me to ask!
 
The SE blades are made of thicker steel and with the reinforcing back, are stiffer than DE blades. Prevailing thought seems to be that this stiffness makes the SE blade shave more like a straight, which is considered to deliver the best shave available when used with proper technique.
 
I am raising the white flag. Tried hard to like SE shaving. Razors look so sweet, and there has been a recent surge in SE popularity in this forum which is great to see.

Alas, appears to be not for me.

I went all out, got pella blades and shaved with every SE from an early lather catcher to a featherweight, with several 1912s, micromatics and a g-bar in the mix.

More proof that YMMV. I could get a fiarly close shave, but not as good as with my beloved old types and new, and some ended in a comical and bloody affair (g-bar in particular, which was unexpected).

Now you know my sad story, thanks for reading.

If I were you, I would wait a few weeks or months before I made up my mind. For my part, I simply cannot believe how razors that I couldn't use with any ease in the past have become real favorites.

I love my fatboys, but I never could get better than a very good quite decent shave out of them. I thought I was getting great shaves until I tried a slant. I immediately found that I could get BBS from a slant with no effort, but that was just not the case with the fatboy. And I more or less stopped using fatboys. Then one day a few weeks ago, I gave one a try and it was like a light being lit in a dark room: I got BBS with no irritation and with no effort.

I have no real explanation but it may be that my technique has become more refined.

Put the SE's aside for a bit, and in a couple of months you may well find you won't want to put them down.
 
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Hold your head high for giving them a fair chance. I also agree with Ontario in that it wouldn't hurt to wait a while, then give them one last shot before bailing out all together.
 
If I were you, I would wait a few weeks or months before I made up my mind. For my part, I simply cannot believe how razors that I couldn't use with any ease in the past have become real favorites.

I love my fatboys, but I never could get better than a very good quite decent shave out of them. I thought I was getting great shaves until I tried a slant. I immediately found that I could get BBS from a slant with no effort, but that was just not the case with the fatboy. And I more or less stopped using fatboys. Then one day a few weeks ago, I gave one a try and it was like a light being lit in a dark room: I got BBS with no irritation and with no effort.

I have no real explanation but it may be that my technique has become more refined.

Put the SE's aside for a bit, and in a couple of months you may well find you won't want to put them down.

plus won.
 
Thanks for all your comments.

I got a lot of help from Dave and Tom in the past and it was and still is much appreciated.

I've made several attempts with a sevral month break accross the whole span. Used to have a skin irritation that is now gone.

Its more the process. I really enjoy the way the gillette shave goes. The gem, not so much now, but this is a personal thing, just a little sad.
 
and you say youve tried a lather catcher? :huh:


oh, well i see your problem right there: tom had a hand in this. no wonder.









:lol::lol::lol: j/k. :tongue:
 
V

VR6ofpain

The funny thing is a had myself a shave with my 1912 this morning. Using a PAL blade for the 3rd shave. I don't really care for these blued PAL blades, but hey the shave was good. No cuts/irritation and a super smooth shave to boot. Two passes and you are BBS (except for a few spots on the neck this time) and ready to roll. The NEW I shaved with yesterday nicked me twice and didn't get as close after two passes as the GEM. Go GEM!
 
I shaved today with my 1912 gem loaded with a gem persona. I am noticing my shaves with a gem getting far better with each shave. Finding the right blade and angle have really made the gem a real shaver. Falling in love :blushing:
 
so what blades are favoured in the SE community? For reference in DE I use Derby and Feather...V good. Tried the Astras......no good. Better still, what blades to avoid in SE world.
 
For me so far I would avoid Gem Blue Star Blades. They are super dull and corrode instantly. I literally finished shaving and there was rust spots all over my blades.

I cant say much for all the SE blades out there but I do love the Gem personas and the Gem PTFE Coated. I am leaning a bit more on the personas but its to early to tell.
 
I've tried GEM blades from Walgreen's, GEM blades from Ted Pella, PAL supers, and Treets. There's a lot of guys who say Walgreen's and TP's are the same, maybe my Walgreen's orders from a different source because a quick visual inspection shows two very different blades. At any rate, I'd have to rank the blades as Walgreen's the best, followed by TP's, Treets, and finally PAL. Having said that I agree with VR6ofpain's comments about how even the PAL blades can give a superior shave when compared to some DE blades.
 
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