Ultimate Karve Buyers' Guide

[Haiku]

Why would this be the Ultimate Karve Buyers' Guide you ask? Well, for vintage Gillette users, I believe it is. Read through to the end and I think you'll agree.

By way of background, I have found my Gillette Rocket HD 500 and my Aristocrat Jr. razors provide me with superb shaves. I started to wonder whether a Karve Christopher Bradley could compare and if so, what guard to buy. So I wrote to them and asked which guard compared to those razors and how the guards compared to the settings on a fat boy. Here's what Chris Kirchen, the man who designed and who makes the Christopher Bradley wrote back. Read it and I think you'll agree, for those of us who use vintage Gillettes, better advice cannot be had.

Hey There,
I took a quick look online and here's what I've come up with for blade gaps:

• Gillette Fat Boy
  • 1 - .022"
  • 2 - .025"
  • 3 - .027"
  • 4 - .030"
  • 5 - .033"
  • 6 - .036"
  • 7 - .039"
  • 8 - .042"
  • 9 - .045"
• Gilette Rocket
  • .020"
• Gilette Aristocrat
  • .025"

Here are the blades gaps for my baseplates:

• AA - .018"
  
• A - .023"
• B - .028"
• C - .033"
• D - .038"
• E - .043"
• F - .048"

I came from Gillette DE razors when I first designed my razor, so for the most part, the cross over is fairly consistent (i.e. gap = gap), except that I designed my razor to have a lower blade exposure than what is 'average', so I find that customers can usually go up to the next plate.

For example, my favorite Gillette is a Fat Tech, which has a gap of .027". That puts me at a B on my razor, but I find that a C plate is good for daily shaving.

Cheers,
Chris Kirchen @karveshavingco

So there you have it. The Ultimate Karve Buyers' Guide.

 

[shaverjoe]

Timely thread for me. This was the information I was hoping for the help me choose the best single plate to try. Thanks again.

Joe

 

[Shavemd]

Excellent job. Unfortunately for me I had to go thru trial and error. Should help a lot of people

 

[cryhavoc]

Great info, thanks for sharing that!

 

[pwheeler]

I'm going to copy and print this to PDF to have on hand. Good info!

 

[MaineYooper]

Great help! And my experience with the Christopher Bradley Karve razor compared to my Slim is precisely what Chris wrote, I can go up a plate for a comfortable and closer shave than the comparable gap setting.

Sent via my Samsung

 

[Graydog]

I really like My Karve Razor ,,,But it is a Razor .
I am Vintage guy all the way and find that technique plays the biggest roll in a great shave
new or Vintage you need to know your razor.

 

[bdehne]

Thanks for this. It should help me and many others. The Karve has my attention for sure.

 

[Keto]

Why would this be the Ultimate Karve Buyers' Guide you ask? Well, for vintage Gillette users, I believe it is. Read through to the end and I think you'll agree.

By way of background, I have found my Gillette Rocket HD 500 and my Aristocrat Jr. razors provide me with superb shaves. I started to wonder whether a Karve Christopher Bradley could compare and if so, what guard to buy. So I wrote to them and asked which guard compared to those razors and how the guards compared to the settings on a fat boy. Here's what Chris Kirchen, the man who designed and who makes the Christopher Bradley wrote back. Read it and I think you'll agree, for those of us who use vintage Gillettes, better advice cannot be had.

Hey There,
I took a quick look online and here's what I've come up with for blade gaps:

• Gillette Fat Boy
  • 1 - .022"
  • 2 - .025"
  • 3 - .027"
  • 4 - .030"
  • 5 - .033"
  • 6 - .036"
  • 7 - .039"
  • 8 - .042"
  • 9 - .045"
• Gilette Rocket
  • .020"
• Gilette Aristocrat
  • .025"

Here are the blades gaps for my baseplates:

• AA - .018"
  
• A - .023"
• B - .028"
• C - .033"
• D - .038"
• E - .043"
• F - .048"

I came from Gillette DE razors when I first designed my razor, so for the most part, the cross over is fairly consistent (i.e. gap = gap), except that I designed my razor to have a lower blade exposure than what is 'average', so I find that customers can usually go up to the next plate.

For example, my favorite Gillette is a Fat Tech, which has a gap of .027". That puts me at a B on my razor, but I find that a C plate is good for daily shaving.

Cheers,
Chris Kirchen @karveshavingco

So there you have it. The Ultimate Karve Buyers' Guide.

Now I'm confused, as his site has these gaps, what am I'm missing here? To me it's two different specs, or is it something else?

 

[Shavemd]

millimeters vs inches

 

[Keto]

Oh yep I missed that one thank you.

 

[luv2shave]

Why would this be the Ultimate Karve Buyers' Guide you ask? Well, for vintage Gillette users, I believe it is. Read through to the end and I think you'll agree.

By way of background, I have found my Gillette Rocket HD 500 and my Aristocrat Jr. razors provide me with superb shaves. I started to wonder whether a Karve Christopher Bradley could compare and if so, what guard to buy. So I wrote to them and asked which guard compared to those razors and how the guards compared to the settings on a fat boy. Here's what Chris Kirchen, the man who designed and who makes the Christopher Bradley wrote back. Read it and I think you'll agree, for those of us who use vintage Gillettes, better advice cannot be had.

Hey There,
I took a quick look online and here's what I've come up with for blade gaps:

• Gillette Fat Boy
  • 1 - .022"
  • 2 - .025"
  • 3 - .027"
  • 4 - .030"
  • 5 - .033"
  • 6 - .036"
  • 7 - .039"
  • 8 - .042"
  • 9 - .045"
• Gilette Rocket
  • .020"
• Gilette Aristocrat
  • .025"

Here are the blades gaps for my baseplates:

• AA - .018"
  
• A - .023"
• B - .028"
• C - .033"
• D - .038"
• E - .043"
• F - .048"

I came from Gillette DE razors when I first designed my razor, so for the most part, the cross over is fairly consistent (i.e. gap = gap), except that I designed my razor to have a lower blade exposure than what is 'average', so I find that customers can usually go up to the next plate.

For example, my favorite Gillette is a Fat Tech, which has a gap of .027". That puts me at a B on my razor, but I find that a C plate is good for daily shaving.

Cheers,
Chris Kirchen @karveshavingco

So there you have it. The Ultimate Karve Buyers' Guide.

Thank you for the share. It would get much better if you could add the mm in brackets next to inches as a lot of readers wouldn't have to calculate or convert to understand their way of figuring out razor gaps .

Sent from my MI MAX using Tapatalk

 

[BigJ]

Great info in this thread!!

 

[Joncr]

Just ordered the 3.5 inch handle with the E plate, yesterday got an irritation free BBS with a Gillette Slim on 7 so should be pretty similar. Thanks for confirming the E was the right choice for me.

 

[Capisco Capisce]

This is a very informative post. However, there's more to head geometry than blade gap. There's blade exposure, for one, as Chris referred to in his the email.

 

[Cal]

Thank you for the share. It would get much better if you could add the mm in brackets next to inches as a lot of readers wouldn't have to calculate or convert to understand their way of figuring out razor gaps .

Hey luv2shave, seeing you couldn't be bothered, I did it.

Here's what Chris Kirchen, the man who designed and who makes the Christopher Bradley wrote back. Read it and I think you'll agree, for those of us who use vintage Gillettes, better advice cannot be had.

EDIT: millimeter dimensions added in brackets. Red = converted from inches, Black = Karve dimensions.

Hey There,
I took a quick look online and here's what I've come up with for blade gaps:

• Gillette Fat Boy
  • 1 - 0.022" (0.56mm)
    
  • 2 - 0.025" (0.64mm)
    
  • 3 - 0.027" (0.69mm)
    
  • 4 - 0.030" (0.76mm)
    
  • 5 - 0.033" (0.84mm)
    
  • 6 - 0.036" (0.91mm)
    
  • 7 - 0.039" (0.99mm)
    
  • 8 - 0.042" (1.07mm)
    
  • 9 - 0.045" (1.14mm)
• Gilette Rocket
  • 0.020" (0.51mm)
• Gilette Aristocrat
  • 0.025" (0.64mm)

Here are the blades gaps for my baseplates:

• AA - 0.018" (0.47mm)
  
• A - 0.023" (0.60mm)
  
• B - 0.028" (0.73mm)
  
• C - 0.033" (0.85mm)
  
• D - 0.038" (0.98mm)
  
• E - 0.043" (1.10mm)
  
• F - 0.048" (1.23mm)

I came from Gillette DE razors when I first designed my razor, so for the most part, the cross over is fairly consistent (i.e. gap = gap), except that I designed my razor to have a lower blade exposure than what is 'average', so I find that customers can usually go up to the next plate.

For example, my favorite Gillette is a Fat Tech, which has a gap of 0.027" (0.69mm). That puts me at a B on my razor, but I find that a C plate is good for daily shaving.

Cheers,
Chris Kirchen @karveshavingco

So there you have it. The Ultimate Karve Buyers' Guide.

 

[luv2shave]

 

[Shavemd]

Thanks for doing this Very helpful

 

[ischiapp3]

I'm not used to inch measures.
But from what I see in the converter, the figures do not match.

Those in millimeters in first place are the dimensions that are read on Karve Shaving's website.
Those in second place are from the converter.

AA | 0.018" | 0,47mm | 0,4572mm
A | 0.023" | 0,60mm | 0,5842mm
B | 0.028" | 0,73mm | 0,7112mm
C | 0.033" | 0,85mm | 0,8382mm
D | 0.038" | 0,98mm | 0,9652mm
E | 0.043" | 1,10mm | 1,0922mm
F | 0.048" | 1,23mm | 1,2192mm

I think the correct measures are those in inches, since they are the standard in the USA.
And therefore the conversion into millimeters on the site is incorrect.

 

[muzichead]

I'm not used to inch measures.
But from what I see in the converter, the figures do not match.

Those in millimeters in first place are the dimensions that are read on Karve Shaving's website.
Those in second place are from the converter.

AA | 0.018" | 0,47mm | 0,4572mm
A | 0.023" | 0,60mm | 0,5842mm
B | 0.028" | 0,73mm | 0,7112mm
C | 0.033" | 0,85mm | 0,8382mm
D | 0.038" | 0,98mm | 0,9652mm
E | 0.043" | 1,10mm | 1,0922mm
F | 0.048" | 1,23mm | 1,2192mm

I think the correct measures are those in inches, since they are the standard in the USA.
And therefore the conversion into millimeters on the site is incorrect.

If your inch measurement was in 4 or even 5 decimal, which I would tend to believe Karve probably measures by, you would find his #'s do match up...
.0185" / .47mm
.0236" / .60mm
.0287" / .73mm and so on...