Blackland Razors AMA, September 25th, 2016

Hi Shane,

Here's a few for you...

Why did you start designing and making razors?

What made you get started with traditional shaving?

What other hobbies do you have that aren't shaving related?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Hi Shane!  

Can't wait to give the OC a try; you know I'd be first in line again!

What was your thought process and how did you feel pulling the first Kickstarter campaign, and were you nervous setting up an second campaign?  If the second campaign didn't work out did you have a 'plan c'?

Any 'behind' the scenes action/stories with Blackland that the public at large doesn't know about?

Pulling the first campaign sucked, but I knew it was the right move and I'm happy I did it. The price was too high and even if the campaign were funded it would have caused me a lot of trouble down the road. I felt great about the second campaign because the I knew most people from the first try would come back. And the much lower price meant I would actually be able to form a business around the product.

Of course, ending the first campaign was a bit embarrassing, but I was more embarrassed that I created the campaign so haphazardly in the first place. Live and learn I suppose.

The most exciting thing at Blackland right now is that we finally have custom foam inserts. Those who have been following for a year know how packaging has been a big struggle. The move to an 85mm handle has finally allowed me to get the quantity needed for some great inserts. It's going to make the customer experience a lot better and keep all that filler material off my floor. Win/win.

SE and slant are the next big things on the list. It looks like the SE will be first up. I hope to have stainless samples later this fall. Not going to give away any details on that project. Keep an eye out for that in the next couple of months.

Other than that, I'm trying to partner with a polishing company to help take on some of the polishing work. The polishing became extremely time consuming and led to massive delays so I want to cut that down.

Hi Shane,

Here's a few for you...

Why did you start designing and making razors?

What made you get started with traditional shaving?

What other hobbies do you have that aren't shaving related?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I started designing razors a couple of years ago as CAD practice. I was working on another project and decided to model a safety razor to improve my skills. After I made the first design, I started 3D printing them and I really enjoyed the shave. It continued from there and eventually I abandoned the project I was working on in favor of the Blackbird.

I know the exact moment I first learned about wet shaving. There was a Yahoo! article a few years ago that I think was about how to make your cartridges last longer. In the comments section there was a comment about how great safety razors are. I had never heard of safety razors before so I did some research and decided it looked like a lot of fun. At the time I was into old-timey hipster stuff so classic shaving fell right into the mix. My wife(girlfriend at the time) bought me a Merkur 33C, brush, and soap for my birthday. I've since reverted back to my non-hipster flip flop San Diego roots. But the wet shaving has stuck around.

My main hobbies right now are playing guitar and running. I've done a few marathons and triathlons, but I'm not in that kind of shape right now. I also love whiskey, coffee, podcasts(probably spend 80% of my day, including right now, listening to podcasts), movies, weightlifting, baseball, and hiking/camping. I'm really into physics, astronomy, and random facts about most things, but I don't think those are hobbies.

When you say SE would that be a razor with Feather Pro blades (or similar ones like the super pro, kai, dorco) or would that be with the broader GEM blades? Unless you are not willing to give that detail away of course.

Hi Shane,

Here's a few for you...

Why did you start designing and making razors?

What made you get started with traditional shaving?

What other hobbies do you have that aren't shaving related?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I started designing razors a couple of years ago as CAD practice. I was working on another project and decided to model a safety razor to improve my skills. After I made the first design, I started 3D printing them and I really enjoyed the shave. It continued from there and eventually I abandoned the project I was working on in favor of the Blackbird.

I know the exact moment I first learned about wet shaving. There was a Yahoo! article a few years ago that I think was about how to make your cartridges last longer. In the comments section there was a comment about how great safety razors are. I had never heard of safety razors before so I did some research and decided it looked like a lot of fun. At the time I was into old-timey hipster stuff so classic shaving fell right into the mix. My wife(girlfriend at the time) bought me a Merkur 33C, brush, and soap for my birthday. I've since reverted back to my non-hipster flip flop San Diego roots. But the wet shaving has stuck around.

My main hobbies right now are playing guitar and running. I've done a few marathons and triathlons, but I'm not in that kind of shape right now. I also love whiskey, coffee, podcasts(probably spend 80% of my day, including right now, listening to podcasts), movies, weightlifting, baseball, and hiking/camping. I'm really into physics, astronomy, and random facts about most things, but I don't think those are hobbies.

are you an engineer by trade?


why type of podcasts do you like? I have my grandfather's old gretsch guitar from the 60s that I started to learn to play, then got too busy with work and had to cancel my guitar lessons.

Unfortunately, the first stainless samples were not perfect so we needed to modify them a bit. We are waiting on the (hopefully) final samples before making the OC pre-orders available. That will probably not happen until mid-October. Assuming they are great, we will open up the pre-orders until the parts are ready to ship(again, late October). This means that unlike the safety bar Blackbird, there probably won't be many YouTubers or reviewers getting a first look. The good news we always offer a 30-day refund policy on all Blackbird parts. So buy the OC if you'd like, try it out, and if it's not to your liking just send it back within a month for your money back.

In the ongoing presale, there already is an option in the dropdown menus to choose an open comb baseplate. So it would seem that the open comb pre-order is already happening — is this correct?

Also, the 30-day refund policy is generous of you, and certainly makes the decision to purchase easier. I would hope that most customers end up keeping what they ordered, but since in this field everything works a little differently for each person, it is invaluable to know that a refund is possible. That’s great customer service.

When you say SE would that be a razor with Feather Pro blades (or similar ones like the super pro, kai, dorco) or would that be with the broader GEM blades? Unless you are not willing to give that detail away of course.

I'll get into the SE stuff at a later date. Working with the machinists on getting it ready for production.

Hi Shane,

Here's a few for you...

Why did you start designing and making razors?

What made you get started with traditional shaving?

What other hobbies do you have that aren't shaving related?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I started designing razors a couple of years ago as CAD practice. I was working on another project and decided to model a safety razor to improve my skills. After I made the first design, I started 3D printing them and I really enjoyed the shave. It continued from there and eventually I abandoned the project I was working on in favor of the Blackbird.

I know the exact moment I first learned about wet shaving. There was a Yahoo! article a few years ago that I think was about how to make your cartridges last longer. In the comments section there was a comment about how great safety razors are. I had never heard of safety razors before so I did some research and decided it looked like a lot of fun. At the time I was into old-timey hipster stuff so classic shaving fell right into the mix. My wife(girlfriend at the time) bought me a Merkur 33C, brush, and soap for my birthday. I've since reverted back to my non-hipster flip flop San Diego roots. But the wet shaving has stuck around.

My main hobbies right now are playing guitar and running. I've done a few marathons and triathlons, but I'm not in that kind of shape right now. I also love whiskey, coffee, podcasts(probably spend 80% of my day, including right now, listening to podcasts), movies, weightlifting, baseball, and hiking/camping. I'm really into physics, astronomy, and random facts about most things, but I don't think those are hobbies.

are you an engineer by trade?


why type of podcasts do you like? I have my grandfather's old gretsch guitar from the 60s that I started to learn to play, then got too busy with work and had to cancel my guitar lessons.

You might try justinguitar.com for great free lessons. Justin is awesome. I like a broad selection of podcasts. My current favorites are:

• Freakonomics
  
• Hardcore History with Dan Carlin. Just finished his WW1 series and it was absolutely incredible.
  
• Stuff You Should Know
  
• Sawbones
  
• My Favorite Murder
  
• The Tim Ferriss Show
  
• The James Altucher Show
  
  And a bunch of others, including a lot boring and informative business and science podcasts.
  
  

Unfortunately, the first stainless samples were not perfect so we needed to modify them a bit. We are waiting on the (hopefully) final samples before making the OC pre-orders available. That will probably not happen until mid-October. Assuming they are great, we will open up the pre-orders until the parts are ready to ship(again, late October). This means that unlike the safety bar Blackbird, there probably won't be many YouTubers or reviewers getting a first look. The good news we always offer a 30-day refund policy on all Blackbird parts. So buy the OC if you'd like, try it out, and if it's not to your liking just send it back within a month for your money back.

In the ongoing presale, there already is an option in the dropdown menus to choose an open comb baseplate. So it would seem that the open comb pre-order is already happening — is this correct?

Also, the 30-day refund policy is generous of you, and certainly makes the decision to purchase easier. I would hope that most customers end up keeping what they ordered, but since in this field everything works a little differently for each person, it is invaluable to know that a refund is possible. That’s great customer service.

The open comb pre-order is not currently happening. It will occur later in October. I may get rid of that drop down option to prevent confusion, but keeping the drop down is helpful on the back end for inventory management.

The 30-day refund is just common sense to me. Razors are viewed very subjectively and I only want happy Blackbird owners. I would much rather issue a refund than have someone keep their razor begrudgingly.

Have you thought at all about offering the Blackbird in other metals? A small run of brass maybe?


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The open comb pre-order is not currently happening. It will occur later in October. I may get rid of that drop down option to prevent confusion, but keeping the drop down is helpful on the back end for inventory management.

Thanks for the clarification. The things that show up on sites — because of inventory management — can sometimes be a little confusing. There are several examples from other sites in the past. (For example, something being indicated as “Sold Out,” when it hasn’t even been in stock yet.)

Two questions from someone who hasn’t used the Blackbird: 1) How do you determine the best angle for shaving with the Blackbird? 2) Is the Blackbird finicky about said angle?

I have seen various responses to similar questions on the forums, but it would be nice to hear from the designer himself.

Have you thought at all about offering the Blackbird in other metals? A small run of brass maybe?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I would like to do that, but I want to first get to the point where I can maintain inventory.

The open comb pre-order is not currently happening. It will occur later in October. I may get rid of that drop down option to prevent confusion, but keeping the drop down is helpful on the back end for inventory management.

Thanks for the clarification. The things that show up on sites — because of inventory management — can sometimes be a little confusing. There are several examples from other sites in the past. (For example, something being indicated as “Sold Out,” when it hasn’t even been in stock yet.)

Two questions from someone who hasn’t used the Blackbird: 1) How do you determine the best angle for shaving with the Blackbird? 2) Is the Blackbird finicky about said angle?

I have seen various responses to similar questions on the forums, but it would be nice to hear from the designer himself.

What's interesting is that my own perceptions of the razor have changed recently. It was originally designed to be used with a shallow angle and that's still how I recommend people start off. However, I've lately been using a fairly steep angle with great results after a friend told me that's how he uses the Blackbird. So it's more versatile than I initially planned and I've been really enjoying trying new angles out.

I would say the "best" angle is just the one that works well for you. I recommend starting with the cap against the cheek and lowering the handle until you feel the blade. That's a great angle to start. Once you get a feel for the razor you can certainly start to vary that angle and try new techniques. Had you asked me a few months ago I would have said the shallow angle is the best. I'm now convinced there is a lot more wiggle room.