SharpSpine's OneBlade Journal (now w/ CORE)

Thank you.

I just got myself a nos valet auto strop and some nos blades.

I will start my hunt for the feather SE razor.

I bet it's safe to say I'm kind of a serous collector, especially that I'm completely fascinated with the SE's now and I think, will get rid of all my DE's.

It was a eureka moment when I tried the mongoose and the Oneblade. To me it's a perfect match as far as style of shaving and type of beard/skin.

Hi jmzeitouni, from what I understand the Feather FHS SE blade does not need to be modified to work in a Valet razor. In fact, it is the only blade that works in all Valet models besides NOS Valet blades. I do believe despined GEM's will work in a couple of the Valet models.

As for the Feather SE razor, it has long been discontinued. It is one of the rarest razors in the Western Hemisphere. But you can see pictures and read discussion of it in the following two links:

http://theoriginalsafetytoo.com/thread/1...-se-razors

http://straightrazorplace.com/razors/665...razor.html

Unless you are a serious collector of the rarest of razors, you may drive yourself crazy trying to collect one. You would probably do better getting a Valet instead for the shave experience, because the Feather SE was modeled after the Valet.

There also should be no concern that Feather will discontinue the FHS SE blade. They continue to make the blade decades after discontinuing their Valet style razor. Also, the fact that they, just months ago, rebranded and reboxed this blade from the 5 pack to the 10 pack, tells me they're in it for the long haul.

I suspect that the FHS and FAS blades are sold more for medical and laboratory usage than shaving. So, as long as medicine and labs aren't going anywhere, neither are these blades.

Plus, in modern machining, it is very easy to re-calibrate machines to cut or mold any type of blade that you have specs for. So as long as Feather continues to make blades of any type, it doesn't cost them anything to re-calibrate their machines into the type of blade that are low in stock. The only way I'd be concerned about not getting these blades is if Feather as a company went out of business. In which case, I would de-spine a GEM PTFE SE. But there is no reason for anyone to worry that traditional length single edge blades, that do or can be made to fit the OneBlade, will ever stop being made.

Yes that is correct Len. I have the 4 different versions of the auto-strops and the feather blades fit in them. I could never get a decent shave out of those razors and they are sitting in a box somewhere in my house. That is why I was hesitant to order the oneblade,but when I read this journal (thanks Sharpspine) I decided to order one because the Gem is one of my favorite blade. Anyhow the oneblade should be here this week and I'm excited

Thank you.

I just got myself a nos valet auto strop and some nos blades.

I will start my hunt for the feather SE razor.

I bet it's safe to say I'm kind of a serous collector, especially that I'm completely fascinated with the SE's now and I think, will get rid of all my DE's.

It was a eureka moment when I tried the mongoose and the Oneblade. To me it's a perfect match as far as style of shaving and type of beard/skin.

I totally agree and I too have sold all my DE's --To me,the blades (Gem and Feather artist clubs) makes the difference. No DE blade I ever used is as good IMO

I totally agree and I too have sold all my DE's --To me,the blades (Gem and Feather artist clubs) makes the difference. No DE blade I ever used is as good IMO

I'm very sympathetic to this, and actually when I look at my collection now, having sold/given away a bunch of razors, I think the SEs outnumber the DEs, which is funny because all my SE-style razors are new to me from the last few months. I have to give credit to a few DEs that still work great for me though, like my NEW SC or my Wolfman open-comb. Both of these (especially the Wolfman) hold the DE blade especially well, giving it extra rigidity, and rigidity is I think the key (along with sharpness) for my face and coarse whiskers.

Yes that is correct Len. I have the 4 different versions of the auto-strops and the feather blades fit in them. I could never get a decent shave out of those razors and they are sitting in a box somewhere in my house. That is why I was hesitant to order the oneblade,but when I read this journal (thanks Sharpspine) I decided to order one because the Gem is one of my favorite blade. Anyhow the oneblade should be here this week and I'm excited

I would caution other people that they should not judge the OneBlade razor, or the Feather FHS blade, by their experience with the Valet. (And there are both lovers and haters of the Valet.) Sometimes what you might attribute to a blade is actually caused by the razor. I think you will find that if you fall in love with the OneBlade, you will like both the Feathers and the GEM's in it. You may, or may not, develop a preference for one over the other (OneBlade users seem kind of split as to their blade preference), but if you love the OneBlade as much as most of us do, you'd happily take either the Feather or GEM to use in it. Try both, and report back.

Regardless, I'm very happy for you beisler, and can't wait to hear your thoughts on your new prize! Congrats! You have both a winner and a beauty on the way!      

Yes that is correct Len. I have the 4 different versions of the auto-strops and the feather blades fit in them. I could never get a decent shave out of those razors and they are sitting in a box somewhere in my house. That is why I was hesitant to order the oneblade,but when I read this journal (thanks Sharpspine) I decided to order one because the Gem is one of my favorite blade. Anyhow the oneblade should be here this week and I'm excited

I would caution other people that they should not judge the OneBlade razor, or the Feather FHS blade, by their experience with the Valet. (And there are both lovers and haters of the Valet.) Sometimes what you might attribute to a blade is actually caused by the razor. I think you will find that if you fall in love with the OneBlade, you will like both the Feathers and the GEM's in it. You may, or may not, develop a preference for one over the other (OneBlade users seem kind of split as to their blade preference), but if you love the OneBlade as much as most of us do, you'd happily take either the Feather or GEM to use in it. Try both, and report back.

Regardless, I'm very happy for you beisler, and can't wait to hear your thoughts on your new prize! Congrats! You have both a winner and a beauty on the way!      

Thanks again Len. I most certainly will report back to you guys and since I have a lot of both the Feathers and Gems in stock I can take my time with both.--Thanks again for your knowledge and input.

I too would like to share my experience with the one blade. I don't mean to hack somebody else's journal, but I think it might be interesting to share the different experiences between the 4 blades (feather FHS, GEM coated, Feather Seikan and Valet NOS) in the OneBlade.

I've already been shaving with the first 2 (like many others I think) and have the others coming in the next few weeks. So I'll take my time and write a report.

About the Valet NOS, how far are they reusable ? Do I strop between every shave ?

Just popping in to say Hi!

Let me first say that if you ever have the opportunity to get a whole house water conditioning system, then do it. Don't even try to talk yourself out of it. Your shaving hobby deserves it. Not only is it so much easier to get an amazing UltraLather, but all of the scents are so much more vibrant now. I can pick out so many more of the notes now than I could just a week ago.

It has almost been 3 months since I received my OneBlade. There have not been many shaves in that time where the OneBlade was not employed. I expect in the near future that I will set it aside as I test out some other things, but until that time I simply have no desire to use anything else.

I still try to use a Feather Hi-Stainless blade from time to time. I get a couple excellent shaves before the edge degradation starts to irritate my skin. The "smiling" GEM PTFE remains my blade of choice, but I've yet to really push it to see how many shaves I can get. So far 10 or 11 has been my max.

With my more aggressive razors I developed a 2-pass routine with some minor touch-ups which worked splendidly. As of late, however, I have returned to a full 3-pass shave with brilliant results. The mildness of this razor affords me the ability to do this without added irritation. This also seems to coincide better with the geometry of this razor as it is tough to really push it in regards to increased efficiency. By no means is it inefficient, I just have found that a relaxed 3-pass is working better for me than a pushed 2-pass+.

I'm excited to see more people giving the OneBlade a shot. Recently, a fellow vintage SE enthusiast named Ron gave it a try. I honestly didn't think he would like it, but then again I didn't expect to like it either. After his first shave he was hooked and by the end of his second shave he was declaring it his everyday razor. This is another example of how we sometimes need to creep out from behind our safe logic walled box and try something new.

Until my next OneBlade rambling...

stop fighting the GEM PTFE blades...you know they're going to win out.

stop fighting the GEM PTFE blades...you know they're going to win out.  

Yes, I do realize this. Yet so many people are sticking with the Feathers for a single shave or two. I go back to the Feather in an effort to understand why people will put up with such an inferior blade. All I can come up with is the cop out "YMMV". SMH