After hearing @imatabor expound the virtues of his Wilkinson Pall Mall, I began my search for one because I know John is not a high drama type person. ;-) Well, I found one recently that looked in good condition that came with a wedge blade and that wasn't going to cost a car payment and so I had to get it.
When I got it, it was in very good condition, but I wanted to clean it up anyway and so did the Dawn soak and then a couple of cycles in the ultrasonic cleaner. To my surprise, the small areas of tarnish truned into bigger areas and so I lightly sanded those areas, which only took off the gold plating. Not a good intro to my Pall Mall. Anyway, I stopped before completely wrecking my razor and put aside the wedge blade to hone later.
I reached for my spare Kampfe wedge blade and immediately found out that it was too large. I put the blades side to side and found the Wilkinson wedge blade to be slightly skinnier than the Kampfe (just enough to make it not fit). I pulled out my Dorko blade that I got from @Deelyte which I knew it was shorter, and it fit , but the spine was thicker and rounder and so I don't know how secure it will be in a real shave. So, for tonight's shave, I ended up using a Gem PTFE blade. I later found out that the Wilkinson blade is slightly longer than the normal wedge blades and so would not fit my other wedge blade razors. Don't know if you notice the difference in the pic.
First thing I noticed with the razor was that it had a roller guard , like most of the other Wilkinsons did, but it was not adjustable like my Empire. I kind of enjoy those roller guards and so set in to my shave. I loaded one of my boar brushes with my HSC Kaimu shaving soap and got to work. First pass was WTG and like all my other wedge blade razors, I used a very steep angle with the blade almost resting on my face. The roller guard surprised me because it almost propelled the head across my face like a set of wheels. I noticed that although it was not a lather catcher design, there was enough space in between the blade and the base plate to pass the lather through so it would not accumulate. The razor was compact and slightly lighter and more maneuverable than my Kampfe or Rapide wedge razors.
Second pass was ATG, which felt slightly rougher as I could feel the blade cutting. Usually I would experience this on the WTG pass, but there was a lot of things different with this razor. I did not have to do a third pass, but I did have to do some touch up.
Overall, I had a great experience with this razor. I just need to clean and hone the blade and see how it shaves with it's original blade. I would also try it with the Dorko blade just to see if it changes the shaving characteristics. Right now, I would put it in a tie for second place among my wedge razors with the Rapide coming in first, the Wilkinson and Kampfe second, and my Gem Jr LC and Wilkinson Empire coming in third.
When I got it, it was in very good condition, but I wanted to clean it up anyway and so did the Dawn soak and then a couple of cycles in the ultrasonic cleaner. To my surprise, the small areas of tarnish truned into bigger areas and so I lightly sanded those areas, which only took off the gold plating. Not a good intro to my Pall Mall. Anyway, I stopped before completely wrecking my razor and put aside the wedge blade to hone later.
I reached for my spare Kampfe wedge blade and immediately found out that it was too large. I put the blades side to side and found the Wilkinson wedge blade to be slightly skinnier than the Kampfe (just enough to make it not fit). I pulled out my Dorko blade that I got from @Deelyte which I knew it was shorter, and it fit , but the spine was thicker and rounder and so I don't know how secure it will be in a real shave. So, for tonight's shave, I ended up using a Gem PTFE blade. I later found out that the Wilkinson blade is slightly longer than the normal wedge blades and so would not fit my other wedge blade razors. Don't know if you notice the difference in the pic.
First thing I noticed with the razor was that it had a roller guard , like most of the other Wilkinsons did, but it was not adjustable like my Empire. I kind of enjoy those roller guards and so set in to my shave. I loaded one of my boar brushes with my HSC Kaimu shaving soap and got to work. First pass was WTG and like all my other wedge blade razors, I used a very steep angle with the blade almost resting on my face. The roller guard surprised me because it almost propelled the head across my face like a set of wheels. I noticed that although it was not a lather catcher design, there was enough space in between the blade and the base plate to pass the lather through so it would not accumulate. The razor was compact and slightly lighter and more maneuverable than my Kampfe or Rapide wedge razors.
Second pass was ATG, which felt slightly rougher as I could feel the blade cutting. Usually I would experience this on the WTG pass, but there was a lot of things different with this razor. I did not have to do a third pass, but I did have to do some touch up.
Overall, I had a great experience with this razor. I just need to clean and hone the blade and see how it shaves with it's original blade. I would also try it with the Dorko blade just to see if it changes the shaving characteristics. Right now, I would put it in a tie for second place among my wedge razors with the Rapide coming in first, the Wilkinson and Kampfe second, and my Gem Jr LC and Wilkinson Empire coming in third.
There are a lot of LOVERS OF SINGLE EGDE RAZORS(LOSERS)
