Titan ACRM-2 Quick review

[Biltong & Boerewors]

Ordered this on Ali-express about three weeks ago and last night when I got home after work the package was there.

Straight out of the box I could see that this is not great, but for $26 you can't expect much. Very sturdy scales made from hard plastic. What caught my eye at a glance is that the blade geometry is far from perfect, it seems to be narrower towards the point.

Thumb test, yes it's sharp, like a pocket folder, and attempting to top some arm hairs confirmed the suspicion. As expected.

Straight to the hones! Here is where I was really disappointed. It suffers from the, all too familiar, GD complaint. The shoulder is too high and catches on the hone preventing an even hone right to the heel, giving feedback like the blade is wobbly on the hone. Surely at 5 times the price of a GD66 they could have taken care of this issue.

I did persist and after progression on the stones and stropping on pasted balsa, I achieved an edge that I would consider shave-ready.

Shaved with it and it gave a good shave. Feels good in the hand with the sturdy scales.

Conclusion: You get what you pay for. After some attention it gave a good shave, but then so does a GD66. When I have more time, I will remove the shoulder, and I am sure it will sit right on the hones without the annoying wobble.

Would I recommend it to someone starting out? No, unless you can have it honed by someone with experience. Even then I think there is better value for money to be had.

Comes with a nice case though!

 

[Polarbeard]

Thank you for a very informative and well written review.

 

[LJS]

Good review - thanks for that. Fits how it looks and quality/knowledge of manufacture.

 

[rbscebu]

I have been using my Titan ACRM-2 now for about four months. I agree that it does not come shave ready like most new factory-honed SRs. If you want a factory-new SR that is shave ready out of the box, pay 10 times more.

I now have six of these blades with timber scales (with two more in transit) and none of them have any blade geometry problems. Yes, the shoulder takes a little getting used to when honing but nothing as bad as the GD 66. If you are use to honing shoulderless blades, I can understand.

I find that the blade steel is relatively easy to hone to shave ready and offer better corrosion resistance than GDs.

Once properly honed, the edge on an ACRM-2 is easily maintained with 50 laps on a 0.1u pasted hanging balsa strop after each shave, and even improves over time.

I find the Titan ACRM-2 good value for the money at well under USD 20 on AliExpress.

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

I had more time today and decided to spend some time with the Titan.

Started by measuring the width of the blade at the heel and the point, and it confirmed what my eyes showed me at a glance. The width at the heel is 20mm and 18.6mm at the point, so 1.4mm difference.

Got the Dremel out and went to work on the shoulders. Didn't take much and I didn't remove the shoulders completely. Just enough to have it sit flat on a hone. Took at most 10 minutes.

Back to the hones, and it was easy to set the bevel and progress from there. Finished the usual way and ended up with a excellent edge that easily popped hairs right of from at least 5mm.

I didn't need to shave with it to know it will give an excellent shave, but I did and it was an excellent shave.

You may ask why I bought a razor that I didn't expect to be great if I do have razors that are a lot more expensive? The answer is simply that I believe that straight razor shaving shouldn't be only for the exclusive few that can afford to spend hundreds of Dollars on showpieces that requires hours of dedicated skilled work to produce. Surely with the available technology and the fact that good steel is no longer expensive, someone can produce a razor that is affordable and functional.

With my limited skill-set I was able to turn the Titan into something that I will enjoy using. The problem I have with it is that it is not something that I would recommend for the first-time straight razor user. If the people that made it spent a few extra seconds addressing the small issue of the shoulders, it would have met all the criteria for such a razor.

 

[rbscebu]

....
Got the Dremel out and went to work on the shoulders. Didn't take much and I didn't remove the shoulders completely. Just enough to have it sit flat on a hone. ....

Would you please post some pics of your modified shoulder? I am genuinely interested in what you have done.

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

Would you please post some pics of your modified shoulder? I am genuinely interested in what you have done.

Sure, as soon as I have time again. Working in a power station, so looks like we are going to be locked in at work. Someone has to keep the lights on!

 

[rbscebu]

Here is the shoulder of one of my Titan ACRM-2 blades (unmodified). This was my first SR and my first honing job.

​

The edge stops where it starts to curve upward at about 6mm (1/4") from the shoulder. This has never affected my shaving as I have no need or desire to use the very heel of my blade when shaving. I also have never found that this shoulder interfered with the honing of the blade.

This blade has been honed to tree-topping edge condition and now should never need honing again as after each shave, the edge gets 50 laps on a 0.1u pasted hanging balsa strop.

I am also curious as to why you think a non-consistent blade width is detrimental. You would probably be shocked with a blade like this that has also been honed to tree-topping sharp.

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This blade has the following widths:

Heel = 20mm
Mid-length = 18mm
Toe = 22mm

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

I am also curious as to why you think a non-consistent blade width is detrimental.

Read again, never said that. Simply an observation which you questioned by saying you never had issues with blade geometry. So I measured it to confirm it was not an optical illusion, or a biased eye.

You would probably be shocked with a blade like this that has also been honed to tree-topping sharp.

No I am not shocked, it's like that by design, I own one and it shaves very nicely. The Titan on the other hand should look like the picture I posted on the first thread. That's not the way it came out of the box.

I don't know why you feel the need to defend them. If the guys at Titan are passionate about their product, they should simply consistently make a razor that doesn't require the use of power tools to be functional.

Maybe I am just unlucky to get the one in a million that's a dud. With luck like that I wouldn't chance another order from Titan.

 

[rbscebu]

Thanks for clarifying your geometry statement for me.

I am not trying to defend Titan in any way. I have also received the odd failure from them, VG10-HZ blade. Fortunately they promptly replaced it FOC.

All my Titan ACRM-2 blades look like your OP pic, so l would say that you just got a dud. It happens.

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

I never said it's junk. It's not, and there is a lot I like about it. It is solidly constructed, centers perfectly and feels good in the hand. Bulletproof is the word that comes to mind. Takes a good edge and will probably keep it for a long time. I am not an expert in metallurgy and can't put a number on it, but subjectively it felt harder on the stones than German vintage blades.

If it wasn't for the shoulder issue I would have recommended it to anyone starting out. Even without addressing it, I was able to get a reasonable edge. It did influence the honing experience, and that is part of the enjoyment of a well-made razor, for me.

 

[rbscebu]

I don't know the hardness of vintage German blades either. I have tested the hardness of my ACRM-2 blades and they all come in at about 59 to 60 RHC.