RayClem's Blade Evaluations

RayClem 

I finally tried the King C. Gillette blade today in my Lupo 127. Definitely sharp, definitely smooth. Not that I'm the greatest shaver on the planet, but I do rarely get nicked. I did end up with a few after this shave. Perhaps the Gillette and 1.27 gap proved to be too much. Even with 3 days growth. I had no problem with the Wizamet and the 1.27 however. I am likely going to use the Gillette again in my Overlander next. And perhaps try it in a different reasonably aggressive razor and test my results. There is always user error!!!

I can't quantify blade corrosion and edge destruction from water and soap scum left on the blade. Maybe if you use the blade for only 3-4 tines over a week, nothing that noticeable occurs.

My routine, just in case, is to remove the blade, wipe the scum off  with a micro fiber cloth. And then I pass the blade through a soft cork twice on each side. The stropping through the cork insures the edge is dry and clean. Maybe it removes any burrs or rough spots. Don't know - but i  get 3 nice shaves with any blade and my razors are pristine, shiny, and it pisses my wife off - cigars and shaving have proven to be very effective wife repellant tools.

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Do you smoke the cigars while shaving?

Fukn A. Great idea

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RayClem 

I finally tried the King C. Gillette blade today in my Lupo 127. Definitely sharp, definitely smooth. Not that I'm the greatest shaver on the planet, but I do rarely get nicked. I did end up with a few after this shave. Perhaps the Gillette and 1.27 gap proved to be too much. Even with 3 days growth. I had no problem with the Wizamet and the 1.27 however. I am likely going to use the Gillette again in my Overlander next. And perhaps try it in a different reasonably aggressive razor and test my results. There is always user error!!!

Since the King C Gillette blade is one of the sharper blades available, it might well be that it is too sharp for use in a fairly aggressive razor such as the Lupo 127. However, since this razor is relatively new to your den, you might not yet have developed the technique needed to use this razor, especially with a very sharp blade. In my testing, I found the King C Gillette and Wizamet Super Iridium blades to be quite similar in performance, but I was using a razor significantly less aggressive than the Lupo 127. 

You might want to back off to a slightly less sharp blade and see how that performs. Once you are able to shave with the less sharp blade without incident, try the sharper blade once again. Since I do not know all the blades you have at your disposal, I won't try to suggest one, but you can pick a suitable blade from the spreadsheet. Rather than switching back and forth between the Lupo and the less aggressive Overlander, I suggest that you continue to use the Lupo until you are either confident using it or until you decide that is not the right razor for you. Every razor has a sweet spot with respect to angle and pressure. If you use it consistently for while, you will find that sweet spot. If you keep changing razors, you might never find the sweet spot for the Lupo.

Thursday's shave- Update on 2 Timeless razors

On Tuesday, I used two Timeless razors for the shave, each with its own blade. While the shave was quite close, I did get moderate feedback when applying witch hazel after the shave. I used the same razor/blade combinations today with each blade in its second use. For my WTG and XTG passes, I used a TI 0.95 razor equipped with a SharpEdge yellow blade. For the ATG and clean-up passes with buffing strokes, I use the TI 0.68 equipped with a BIC Chrome Platinum blade.

Once again I got a super close shave. Even though I used one of my 2nd tier shaving soaps for the shave, I only got minimal feedback when applying witch hazel after the shave. Had I used one of the 1st tier soaps I used during the blade evaluations, I might have gotten zero feedback. Thus, I am quite pleased with the performance of the Timeless titanium razors, at least when equipped with suitable blades. I plan to keep using the current blades until they are no longer sharp enough and smooth enough for an excellent shave. At that point, I may try an even sharper blade in the TI 0.95, but not one as sharp as a BIC CP. While I love BIC blades in milder razors like the TI 0.68, it might be too much in the TI 0.95. I will work my way up the blade sharpness level with that razor until I find the sharpest blade I can use without discomfort. If I were attempting to use that razor for my ATG and clean-up passes, then the maximum sharpness level is likely to be somewhat less.

Experimenting…using a personna platinum blade I set aside with 2 shaves on it in my rex envoy,yesterday I took the razor and shaved a 3 rd time,perfect,smooth shave,rinsed under hot water,,gave a shake without blowing away the moisture
and put in the cabinet,today I just shaved and have major horrible razor burn,stubble,and some weepers.Never ever has this happened with only 4 shaves using any persona blade…sometimes after 4 shaves I’ll get an ok shave with a personna and the slightest razor burn,that’when I change the blade.7 great shaves with a rockwell blade in a Karve c plate,time to load up a fresh blade and I’ll just rinse without blowing the water away and see what happens.i’m thinking the chemicals in the water are damaging the edge of the blade and chipping away on the first pass.

Update on my Blade order.
I ordered from Razor Blade Club on the 18th and they made a label for my shipment right away. Now its the 25th and they still haven't shipped my order. This does not make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. LOL. Maybe paying a little bit more in cost by ordering from the Razor Company might have gotten my order sooner.

BTW, I did order the Wizamats from The Razor Company this evening along with 2 others names. I'm hoping I will get better service. I will keep you all informed. I've had 3 shaves with the Wiz blades and it holding strong. 4 shaves on one blade is average for me. But if I can get 5 or 6 out of these blades then they will become my go-to blades.

Thanks again to Ray for all his hard work in this and making the Spreadsheet for us to go to and help others to know what a blade they may be wondering about is like. Still hoping you get a chance to link the reviews of each blade onto the Spreadsheet. I think that would be very helpful.

Experimenting…using a personna platinum blade I set aside with 2 shaves on it in my rex envoy,yesterday I took the razor and shaved a 3 rd time,perfect,smooth shave,rinsed under hot water,,gave a shake without blowing away the moisture
and put in the cabinet,today I just shaved and have major horrible razor burn,stubble,and some weepers.Never  ever has this happened with only 4 shaves using any persona blade…sometimes after 4 shaves I’ll get an ok shave with a personna and the slightest razor burn,that’when I change the blade.7 great shaves with a rockwell blade in a Karve c plate,time to load up a fresh blade and I’ll just rinse without blowing the water away and see what happens.i’m thinking the chemicals in the water are damaging the edge of the blade and chipping away on the first pass.

Do you have super hard water? If so you might consider trying water purified by distillation or reverse osmosis for your shave. 

My community has super hard water (around 500 ppm TDS and 20 dGH). However, I have an ion exchange water softener that replaces the calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions. It is much better for showering, lathering and shaving.

If your water is super hard, the water might be evaporating from the blade leaving behind a deposit of minerals and calcium soap film that will interfere with subsequent shaves. If that is what is happening then thoroughly rinsing all soap film from the razor head and blowing out excess water might help.

With my very soft water, I do not believe it is necessary. If I use the same blade for all four of my passes, I typically get about 4 good shaves from most blades. However, when I use a different blade for each pass I get about six-eight WTG passes with a blade. However, I might get 16-20 clean-up passes using a single blade as there is less stubble remaining to damage the edge of the blade.

Update on my Blade order.
I ordered from Razor Blade Club on the 18th and they made a label for my shipment right away. Now its the 25th and they still haven't shipped my order. This does not make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. LOL. Maybe paying a little bit more in cost by ordering from the Razor Company might have gotten my order sooner.

BTW, I did order the Wizamats from The Razor Company this evening along with 2 others names. I'm hoping I will get better service. I will keep you all informed.  I've had 3 shaves with the Wiz blades and it holding strong. 4 shaves on one blade is average for me. But if I can get 5 or 6 out of these blades then they will become my go-to blades.

Thanks again to Ray for all his hard work in this and making the Spreadsheet for us to go to and help others to know what a blade they may be wondering about is like.  Still hoping you get a chance to link the reviews of each blade onto the Spreadsheet. I think that would be very helpful.

Remember that the Razor Blade Club is located in Sweden. Thus, your order has to arrive from across the pond. RBC indicates they ship within 24 hours. Since you got your tracking information quickly, they likely met their 24 hour shipping commitment. Many shippers now use multiple carriers to deliver packages. The first legs of the journey might be performed by one carrier only to transfer the packages to another carrier like USPS when the package nears the final destination. I have gotten numerous shipments that started with carriers like DHL, UPS and FexEx Ground, but were delivered to my mailbox by USPS. For some carriers the most expensive part of the delivery is the final few miles, so they pay the post office to do that part since they come to you house every day. In many cases, the package might be moving towards its destination with no update in the tracking information. That is even more likely with a shipment from Sweden.

You package should eventually arrive. I doubt you are going to run out of razor blades before they arrive. 

Of course, some packages never get delivered. I ordered something from Amazon last Friday that was supposed to deliver on Saturday- next day. The package made it to an Amazon facility about 32 miles from my home. It was loaded on a truck for transfer to another Amazon facility about 15 miles away where the Amazon final delivery vehicles are stationed. The package never arrived at the delivery facility even though Amazon kept promising it would deliver the following day. Wednesday morning I cancelled the order and requested a refund. We did have some nasty weather in the Chicago area, so the truck might have gotten stuck, gotten in an accident, or even gotten hijacked and ransacked as that has happened in the Chicago area. Robbing Amazon vehicles is the modern equivalent of holding up a stage coach in the Old West.

RayClem 

I finally tried the King C. Gillette blade today in my Lupo 127. Definitely sharp, definitely smooth. Not that I'm the greatest shaver on the planet, but I do rarely get nicked. I did end up with a few after this shave. Perhaps the Gillette and 1.27 gap proved to be too much. Even with 3 days growth. I had no problem with the Wizamet and the 1.27 however. I am likely going to use the Gillette again in my Overlander next. And perhaps try it in a different reasonably aggressive razor and test my results. There is always user error!!!

Since the King C Gillette blade is one of the sharper blades available, it might well be that it is too sharp for use in a fairly aggressive razor such as the Lupo 127. However, since this razor is relatively new to your den, you might not yet have developed the technique needed to use this razor, especially with a very sharp blade. In my testing, I found the King C Gillette and Wizamet Super Iridium blades to be quite similar in performance, but I was using a razor significantly less aggressive than the Lupo 127. 

You might want to back off to a slightly less sharp blade and see how that performs. Once you are able to shave with the less sharp blade without incident, try the sharper blade once again. Since I do not know all the blades you have at your disposal, I won't try to suggest one, but you can pick a suitable blade from the spreadsheet. Rather than switching back and forth between the Lupo and the less aggressive Overlander, I suggest that you continue to use the Lupo until you are either confident using it or until you decide that is not the right razor for you. Every razor has a sweet spot with respect to angle and pressure. If you use it consistently for while, you will find that sweet spot. If you keep changing razors, you might never find the sweet spot for the Lupo.

I've had no issues using the razor with other blades, Wizamets included. I may try the KGC one more time, if not I have some of the slightly less sharp blades you have reviewed to try with it. So far everything I have used with the Overlander has worked well. I swear it's a magic razor. Since the KGC are rated at 4.5 for sharpness, I'm not sure if I should just scale down to a 4 or a 3.5. I believe I have blades that fall into both levels of sharpness.

Update on my Blade order.
I ordered from Razor Blade Club on the 18th and they made a label for my shipment right away. Now its the 25th and they still haven't shipped my order. This does not make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. LOL. Maybe paying a little bit more in cost by ordering from the Razor Company might have gotten my order sooner.

BTW, I did order the Wizamats from The Razor Company this evening along with 2 others names. I'm hoping I will get better service. I will keep you all informed. I've had 3 shaves with the Wiz blades and it holding strong. 4 shaves on one blade is average for me. But if I can get 5 or 6 out of these blades then they will become my go-to blades.

Thanks again to Ray for all his hard work in this and making the Spreadsheet for us to go to and help others to know what a blade they may be wondering about is like. Still hoping you get a chance to link the reviews of each blade onto the Spreadsheet. I think that would be very helpful.

I have not ordered from RBC yet. I want to but have so many blades already and a couple I have not even tried yet. As for The Razor Company, I believe you should have no issues with them. They are pretty efficient at getting orders out, I have ordered from them many times. I got my Wizamets from them. I usually chuck a blade after 3 shaves, but I believe 4 is doable and maybe 5 or 6 could happen. Depends on a few factors. Either way, the Wizamets are excellent and are a go to blade for me now.