Rechecked. FOCS wobbles both sides for me.
No wobble on my SB Yaqi Slope.
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Why is my Fatip OC Slant such a let-down, going against all the reviews?
- Thread starter D92
- Start date
No wobble on my SB Yaqi Slope.
FWIW, my FOCS has that slight "wobble" on both sides. I think it's part of the design.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Interesting discussion about FOCS wobble, but does it affect the shave? I have no idea.
In ranking my own razors, the highest category is Daily Drivers.
The FOCS is a Daily Driver.
My ranking system concerns itself with how the razor shaves. It's partly subjective but not totally so.
I wouldn't say the Fatips I own or have owned have been the most finely finished razors in Razordom™ but they are all metal, good looking to my eye, and good razors.
Happy shaves,
Jim
In ranking my own razors, the highest category is Daily Drivers.
The FOCS is a Daily Driver.
My ranking system concerns itself with how the razor shaves. It's partly subjective but not totally so.
I wouldn't say the Fatips I own or have owned have been the most finely finished razors in Razordom™ but they are all metal, good looking to my eye, and good razors.
The razor on the right in the photo is a Schöne which is supposedly made by Fatip. They're not made anymore I think, but you might find one. They are finished a bit better I believe. | |
If you want a Fatip with a very high quality finish and the look of jewelry various iterations are available for a price. Plisson-Joris. I need to find mine. I think this is a vendor's photograph. |
Happy shaves,
Jim
What happened to the OP (@D92)? Two posts on the forums and he's vanished?
I've owned a FOCS for the better part of a years now. I've never been particularly happy with it. For me I feels it is just too mild, while the blade aligns with the all important bottom plate, the top cap never quite aligns as I would like it to. I've shaved with it many times, I wanted to give a fair effort. It shaves OK but nothing better than that. But alas, I experience many of the gripes mentioned above about close shave on the neck, etc. I believe it has to do mainly with blade exposure & gap. Since I'm normally a 'single edge user', I refuse to get on the "double-edge" blade carousel, that seems to plays such a part of the double-edge shaving experience. Also, I have many double-edge razors like the Gillette 'NEW' that shave as well, if not better, than the FOCS, with the regular blades I use. I think the time may have occurred that it is time to part time to part company with the FOCS. I really wanted to like this razor as much. or better, as the Merkur '37. It just hasn't happened.
I happen to enjoy my shaves with the Fatip Lo Storto Originale (FOCS), the various Grandes, the two Joris and the Schöne. 
On very rare occasions I'll even pull out the Roedter 1909.
My blade of choice in all Fatip and Fatip manufactured razor sold under a different brand is the German made Bolzano.
If Fatips work for you, great.
If Fatips don't work for you, it is what it is.
The only face on which I measure the quality of a razor is mine.
On very rare occasions I'll even pull out the Roedter 1909.
My blade of choice in all Fatip and Fatip manufactured razor sold under a different brand is the German made Bolzano.
If Fatips work for you, great.
If Fatips don't work for you, it is what it is.
The only face on which I measure the quality of a razor is mine.
...If Fatips work for you, great.
If Fatips don't work for you, it is what it is.
I remember one of the Fatip posts on Facebook when the slant was first introduced. Now that's what I call truth in advertising!
It’s becoming quite commonplace here to read posts in various threads that all translate into, “ive tried the rest, give me Fatip or death.” Having now joined the FOCS Fanatics, I thought I would try to articulate my path from “there” to “here.”
I’ll keep it short - or try to. I returned to wet shaving from the Cart world maybe six months ago. Like all addicts, I promptly acquired a lot of razors and a ****-ton of blades. I bought a gold FOCS early on but put it aside so I could try all the expensive, fancy razors and highly touted blades.
I’ve been keeping a detailed journal and really have learned how to shave (face and neck only). As I type this, my Rex Konsul and Rocca 94 are selling on eBay, and a bunch more will follow. I’ve got about 150 wet shaves done since I came back (daily shaver typically). Today was the day I thought I had enough skill to go at it with the Fatip and a Wizamet blade.
Long story short, the ease and quality of today’s shave with no cuts, nicks, irritation or weepers was immediately pronounced superior by the alum block. I’m not qualified yet for BST, so, a bunch of really nice razors are headed for the “shave grave” (eBay) - bye Rockwell, bye Feather, bye Razorock, bye Muhle etc. All on account of a humble, cheap, brilliantly designed razor that has its quirks - but it works - and which I shirked until now for all the wrong reasons.
No comments about mileage - they’re cheap enough to buy and try. I’m smiling from ear-to-ear, with nothing but BBS skin in between.
I’ll keep it short - or try to. I returned to wet shaving from the Cart world maybe six months ago. Like all addicts, I promptly acquired a lot of razors and a ****-ton of blades. I bought a gold FOCS early on but put it aside so I could try all the expensive, fancy razors and highly touted blades.
I’ve been keeping a detailed journal and really have learned how to shave (face and neck only). As I type this, my Rex Konsul and Rocca 94 are selling on eBay, and a bunch more will follow. I’ve got about 150 wet shaves done since I came back (daily shaver typically). Today was the day I thought I had enough skill to go at it with the Fatip and a Wizamet blade.
Long story short, the ease and quality of today’s shave with no cuts, nicks, irritation or weepers was immediately pronounced superior by the alum block. I’m not qualified yet for BST, so, a bunch of really nice razors are headed for the “shave grave” (eBay) - bye Rockwell, bye Feather, bye Razorock, bye Muhle etc. All on account of a humble, cheap, brilliantly designed razor that has its quirks - but it works - and which I shirked until now for all the wrong reasons.
No comments about mileage - they’re cheap enough to buy and try. I’m smiling from ear-to-ear, with nothing but BBS skin in between.
Hi and welcome to B&B. According to some here you have now became part of the Fatip cult
It would be strange if you were measuring it on someone else's face.The only face on which I measure the quality of a razor is mine.
Ahem. Some?
Of course he has now become a part of it. Call the High Priest to ordain him.
My point exactly.
Thanks for the welcome, gents! I’m up for being ordained as long as it doesn’t leave any weepers or bleeders!It would be strange if you were measuring it on someone else's face.
Ahem. Some?
Of course he has now become a part of it. Call the High Priest to ordain him.
Seems to me like he was here to only open the can of worms.
Seems to me like he was here to only open the can of worms.
Maybe, difficult to know for sure, but it has all the signs...
Definitely agree.
- Thread starter
- #76
I never flat out claimed my unit was defective. At least that was not my intention. In my initial post I laid out my thought process and how I came to choose an open comb slant. I later shared that wobble observation which I thought would be interesting to people here that know and care way more about razors than I do. Perhaps it was new relevant information. But okay, seems it's nothing out of the ordinary then.
Ultimately I'm merely investigating what might've gone wrong in my journey, instead of simply shrugging and leaving it at 'oh well, my mileage varied'. Which is always true to a certain extent, but I believe that addage is more justified in cases where a reviewer's advice was blindly taken at face value without taking one's own skin/beard/prep situation into account.
That was indeed my assumption. My Merkur 39C (the only other slant I worked with) is completely flat and straight after all. It's just oblique for that guillotine cutting action. Could you link me to any articles that explain the helical twist and how that would translate in a closer and/or more comfortable shave? I'm trying to wrap my head around this, so bare with me, but how does that helix, that curvature away from your face, not mess with your optimal shaving angle/pressure/etc that we're all so desperate in maintaining?
I don't care about any brand per se. I was just interested in an open comb slant because of certain assumptions which I now understand to be incorrect.
Yeah I think that's also what's at play here. The FOCS exposure and gap is much larger than what I was used to from my trusty Merkur. It could very well be that my skin and beard type just don't like that.
Yep and once I give it another go I will be trying other, milder blades as well. I will report back if anything interesting comes out of that
I never flat out claimed my unit was defective. At least that was not my intention. In my initial post I laid out my thought process and how I came to choose an open comb slant. I later shared that wobble observation which I thought would be interesting to people here that know and care way more about razors than I do. Perhaps it was new relevant information. But okay, seems it's nothing out of the ordinary then.
Ultimately I'm merely investigating what might've gone wrong in my journey, instead of simply shrugging and leaving it at 'oh well, my mileage varied'. Which is always true to a certain extent, but I believe that addage is more justified in cases where a reviewer's advice was blindly taken at face value without taking one's own skin/beard/prep situation into account.
That was indeed my assumption. My Merkur 39C (the only other slant I worked with) is completely flat and straight after all. It's just oblique for that guillotine cutting action. Could you link me to any articles that explain the helical twist and how that would translate in a closer and/or more comfortable shave? I'm trying to wrap my head around this, so bare with me, but how does that helix, that curvature away from your face, not mess with your optimal shaving angle/pressure/etc that we're all so desperate in maintaining?
I don't care about any brand per se. I was just interested in an open comb slant because of certain assumptions which I now understand to be incorrect.
Yeah I think that's also what's at play here. The FOCS exposure and gap is much larger than what I was used to from my trusty Merkur. It could very well be that my skin and beard type just don't like that.
Yep and once I give it another go I will be trying other, milder blades as well. I will report back if anything interesting comes out of that
I'm glad you're interested in why things work (or don't), and how they can be made to work better. That's great. It just seemed you were blaming the razor when you encountered some initial difficulties. Anytime a person changes their routine, problems can show up. With some time and practice, though, the problems might be overcome.
Better than posting a link to an article, you can discover for yourself though first-hand observation and experience how a helical slant works.
Take a note card or a business card, hold it at each end and twist it into a mild corkscrew shape. This is a model of what the helical slant is doing with the razor blade. You'll notice the edge of the card is now very slightly curved (but only slightly). When shaving, the surface of the face is not made up of rigid flat planes, but many curved sections. The curve of the helical slant blade is very small in comparison to the curves of the face. The skin is also elastic, so it can move as the razor guard passes over it. So, a very slight curvature is not going to make much difference in shave results. It makes much more difference how the razor is held and moved over the face.
Going back to the note card model, you'll notice that the edge of the card is more rigid when the card is twisted. The blade in the helical slant is similarly more rigid, which means it does not deflect or vibrate so easily as the flat blade would. It acts like a thicker blade, which cuts better when it encounters resistance (the whiskers). This is why a slant is often recommended to people with heavy beards or who shave less frequently.
Another slant advantage is the cutting action has a slicing, or scything type of motion. This cuts easier and smoother than a straight chopping type of motion. Compare cutting a tomato using a slicing action vs. chopping it straight on -- slicing is much easier and smoother. It's possible to get a similar type of slicing action with a standard razor, using the "Gillette Slide" technique, where the razor is moved in a diagonal motion. With the slant, this is all automatic.
BTW, the Merkur slant with the safety bar is also of the helical type. It's just that the safety bar has been made straight. If you look closely, the edge of the blade is still slightly curved because of the twist. With the FOCS, the teeth follow more closely the edge of the blade. The "gap" of the FOCS is also quite small compared with the Merkur.
I'd suggest coming back later and trying again with the FOCS. Maybe try a different blade, something a little gentler than a Feather. It may work better for you with some practice.
Well explained up there ^^^ All that plus the slicing action in theory exerts less pressure on the hair follicles reducing the potential for skin irritation. For this reason, slants may be well suited for shavers with more sensitive skin.
FOCS quick, amazing, BBS shave today! New Wizamet blade, Rockwell shave oil, Proraso pre-shave, Holy Black shave soap - two quick passes - WTG AGT. No blood and no irritation. I noticed that the Wizamet blade required no adjustment or alignment. I wonder if the FOCS posts were designed for Gillette tolerances? The Voskhod had more “slop” in the fit. I’m still in awe of how comfortable shaving is with my beloved Fatip crooked razor!
You would be better posting this in the Shave Of The Day (SOTD) thread. Or maybe start a Journal. More people will see it that way
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