Wow what a great phone call, we spoke for an hour. Far from giving up, Eric is full steam ahead. He readily admits to making a key mistake at the end: A late tester commented that on 9 the prototype was still mild and he wished there were more settings up to 12. Eric's solution was to widen the range of adjustment to give more efficiency at the highest settings. The unexpected result as we know was too much aggression across all settings except the lowest.
Eric's biggest problem with production has been the machine shops. They are all swamped with regular work. They make the most money by machining simple parts in large numbers, ordered by large companies. The shops he has worked with have been so busy with other work that they regularly delayed his project. Most shops he has spoken to have said "sure we can do that" but when they see the complexity of the parts and the small numbers, they balk at taking on the work, or they don't have the capability in the first place.
So Eric is changing his strategy from working with a machine shop as a supplier to partnering with a machine shop that has the capability, expertise, and equipment, plus the marketing and customer support capabilities that are required. There are companies that already make razors and have their own shops and marketing divisions and he is seeking that type of partner who will have a vested interest. Finding them is the key to his continued effort. By the way he has had numerous offers from overseas companies (mostly China) to machine his parts but he does not want that sort of long distance relationship. He personally supervised machine setup for first runs of parts with his local machine shops and realizes his partner company may not be local, but does not want to go overseas with it.
V2: This part really knocked my socks off. Eric's new design for V2 has 10 machined parts, down from 19. I don't see how he managed to do that but I am no engineer. The LE has over 30 parts if you include springs and tiny pins. Blade exposure will be dialed back across the range of settings. The V2 profile will stay the same as the LE but the knurling will be different and the adjustment dial detent will be improved. The finish will be done using electropolish technique vs. mechanical polishing and will result in a very bright (chrome like he said) finish that will cost less to achieve and be more uniform. By the way he praised James Dufour for his incredible skill mirror polishing the Wolfman razors. Eric said if he ever needed a hip joint replaced he would ask James to polish it for him.
Eric told me that his main goal is to make the machine shop partnership happen so he can get V2 out there. And although I can't share specifically how he will do it he wants to make sure every LE owner (even the folks who sent theirs back) is a happy camper on the release of the V2 to make up for shortcomings of the LE. He wants all his customers to be happy in the end. All depends on him finding a suitable partner to have V2 produced.
I was worried that Eric would not continue. Unfortunately the Janus Prototype will not be produced again but V2 most likely will be and it could be a winner. Eric learned from his mistakes and now knows the economics of machine shops and the finer points of what we are all looking for in a razor. End cost will be determined by cost to manufacture but Eric stated he will not cut corners.
He admits he is not good at customer support but he takes calls from LE owners. Texts are a good way to get in touch but he has a regular day job and spends most time on the weekends with his family. LE owners have his number and it is in the thread somewhere. He said anyone can call and talk to him about the project though.
A note about the prototype I shaved with today: I was surprised to hear that it is not a bare steel finish but is actually platinum PVD. (Physical Vapor Deposition.) Electrons bombard platinum and the part in a vacuum chamber. Hot plasma reacts with chlorine gas and platinum atoms creating a molecular vapor which is deposited on the steel surface. It is not just plated but metallurgically bonded, is extremely hard, and resistant to corrosion. How cool is that?
Looks like the story of the Janus New Toggle has more chapters to be written.
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