Shave review of Janus Adjustable razor and Shave Off vs Gillette F4 Toggle

Thanks Eric. The update is much appreciated. I think you should ship on Feb 29th. Leap year.

It's nice to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Looking forward to seeing it all polished up.

Wow.

These updates have been just fantastic. The pictures are beautiful. I failed to pre-order, and now I really wish I had.

I hope these make it into production and that I can jump in at some point. Never thought I would spend this kind of money on a razor and I never have before, but I'm thinking I'll take the leap. I may have to sell a lot of my gear in order to do so, but that's ok with me. Most of it I don't use, anyway.

Funniest part of the story is that I haven't used a DE for anything except jawline/chin clean-up after my shavette shaves since August of last year. I have exclusively been using the Feather SS for every shave. What kind of a warped person would even consider spending $500+ on a razor that might be relegated only to clean-up duty, or perhaps used for a full shave maybe once a month? LOL. I look at myself in the mirror and I see a loon. But here we are. I've been dreaming of finding an elusive toggle in the wild for over a decade. I never had a desire to buy one off ebay. I wanted to find one in the wild. It never happened. Somehow, buying a modern version of the toggle seems great, even though just buying a toggle over the internet never appealed to me.

We are a weird group, aren't we?

Any more teaser shots just to tide us over! Can't wait, but glad you're doing it right.

Eric thanks for the transparent and regular updates. It is much appreciated and unfortunately lost on several of your Northern artisans. I too am looking forward to the ultimate step of delivery and given your hands on approach I expect a perfectly delivered razor - I only wish you success and hope you will be able to expand and scale up while maintaining such a personalized supervision.

Thanks AJSharp.

The 9th PN is done; 7 to go on the Swiss list. The 9th PN on the list was a thin walled ring with custom threads – simple looking but challenging for the shop because of the tendency to warp/flex out of round during machining. 
 
The black ring on the Fatboy & Toggle is even thinner and I’m guessing even more challenging to make. I’m always amazed by the Fatboy & Vintage Toggle manufacturing. Those guys were really really good. I’m learning that some of the simplest parts to design take much longer to set-up. Obviously, I don’t wanna generalize here since what is challenging for one shop is OK for another.  
 
Next up is the toggle knob seat and then the handle/barrel.

January Update

Here is the latest on the Janus. Two (the toggle knob and the spider stem) are from the Swiss list of 16 part numbers (PNs). The 3rd PN is the door.





Half of the packaging (box & ‘handbook’) is done. I’m waiting for a finished assembly to dial-in the fit of the razor and Kai blade pack cut-outs on the packing foam insert.





[font=Helvetica, sans-serif]Project Schedule
[/font]
I’m well past the half-way mark and onto the home stretch. It is not lost on me that it has been a crazy long wait for folks. Here is the timeline for the remaining bits which are pushing out the shipping timeline by a week. 


Except for the machining work, the remaining bits are simpler day long tasks because of the legwork that has already been done. So, no time is being wasted reinventing processes.

For example, the laser marking scripts are already programmed. I’m anticipating small tweaks during laser marking set-up before running the dial knobs and the safety guards. 


[font=Helvetica, sans-serif]The polishing process is an improvement of the process used for the Janus prototypes. The changes are on type of polishing media being used and polishing time to try to get closer to Wolfman polishing which I consider the gold standard.     [/font]

The Janus parts are getting a standard passivation treatment that other 316 stainless steel parts with a passivation callout get. 

The 2D waterjet path to cut the packing foam insert is programmed and ready to go. I’m anticipating just one quick tweak after the first insert is cut.

We have had practice assembling the different sub-assemblies using the finished PNs. So, when it comes to the final assembly, there will be lots of familiar aspects.

The machine shop is cranking away at Janus parts in between other projects. This part of the project has truly tried my patience. I'm always treading the fine line of being assertive without being aggravating/annoying because not a lot of shops can do or are open to taking on such a project. 

We are onto the home stretch here and it is not lost on me that it has been a crazy long wait for folks.

Bravo Eric, Bravo......

I have enjoyed every single update with the thorough and transparent presentation of all stages. Certainly one of the finest if not the finest engineered razor to date. 

You get mad respect from me and many others here including any other forums you frequent. I truly appreciate the effort and work put forth on the Janus Toggle.

Bring it home!!!

Mid-February Update

Here is what has taken place this month.

The shop has started set-up the toggle stem. I've seen photos of the set-up progress that started late yesterday. I will be at the machine shop on Tuesday (02/18) evening for a progress check.

I pulled polishing & passivation forward and already dropped off all the machined parts. This will be done on 02/18 (into 02/19 perhaps). I also pulled forward the laser marking (dial knob & adjuster plate) which will now be done right after the polishing & passivation (02/19 latest). I will be present for the laser marking. This shop has some line time open up a little earlier than they had scheduled me so I took it.

We were able to cut & dial in the packing insert yesterday by using a partial assembly that has everything except the remaining parts. I will have an update with photos of everything that is completed so far on 02/19.

What hasn't been worked on yet - the doors milling & toggle knob (and of course the polishing & passivation). I will be at the shop on 02/18 and will have a better read on the remaining bits. I'm pushing without driving them crazy since we are close to the end.

Janus Razors 


Eric any estimated drop date yet?

Hope all is well with you and yours my friend!

Janus Razors 


Eric any estimated drop date yet?

Hope all is well with you and yours my friend!

I'm still pushing for Feb shipping hence why I moved some tasks forward. The only bottleneck is the machine shop cranking out the remaining parts. The other shop (for stuff besides machining) has their end covered. I will get a better read on 02/18 when I stop by the shop.

Great news Eric.. I'm really looking forward to shaving with the production version.

The anticipation is building. What we've seen of the razor thus far looks amazing.

Your attention to detail is impressive. I feel confident that this is going to be an impressive razor.

Eric You are doing a Tremendous job, really appreciate it.