I've had a few shaves with the Nodachi now. I don't have anything to add on finish or build quality that hasn't already been stated, but I will say that the handle looks better in person than in the pictures. I still prefer the look of the original handle though. One thing I've noticed is that the blade feel increases as the angle is moved from shallow to steep, so I think the wide range of comments about blade feel have to do with the angle used. I used the Nodachi handle for the first 2 shaves. The first pass was smooth, but the second pass was a little rough with both shaves. There was too much blade feel on the second pass and it left some irritation. I don't like long handles, so I switched to my UFO Colibri for the next shave and the second pass was better, but the threads on the top cap are just a little too long for the Colibri, so it didn't lock the blade in as well as the stock handle. I have used my Weber Bulldog handle for the last 2 shaves. It locks the blade in like the Nodachi handle, but the shorter length is much more comfortable for me. I used a shallow angle on the first 4 shaves, which provided smooth shaves (once I found the right handle) with some blade feel, but not too much. I did get some delayed irritation with this approach once my hair started growing back. I think it left a sharp edge on my stubble. I decided to change things up today to see if I can get rid of the delayed irritation. I started with a shallow angle on the first pass and used a steeper angle on my second pass. This is my usual approach, but it took me a few shaves to feel comfortable doing that since the blade feel increases with the steeper angle. I have enjoyed using it, but it's not as efficient as I thought it would be. The results are good after the shave, but I have more hair to shave the next day than I do with my more efficient razors. This may have to do with not getting the full benefit of the blade gap since I've been using a shallow angle.
Dave in KY likes this post