Wolfman WR2 Head Discussion

Jimmy,

Have you tried the BIrd riding the cap?
Lifting very slightly so the safety bar barely even touches the skin?
This reduces blade feel and the Bird really flies!
After the first release Blackbirds people grumbled at the feel of the sharp edges of the safety bar and blade forward feel, Shane then dulled the edges of later Blackbirds.
lifting slightly changes the geometry very slightly giving a shallower blade angle smoothing everything out. YMMV

I shall try this in time with the Wr2 as I get more shaves in,
Anyone ride the cap of the Wr2?

Indeed yes, I have found riding the cap reduces the feel. It's a great razor, just mentioned the exposure since in the past I hadn't noticed it particularly.

Round 2:

SOTD:
Wr2 1.25 + 3x shims. (Error! See below posts)
Eufros Sandalo
Romera Manchurian
Platinum blade

Todays shave has left me non plussed and indifferent, I now have more questions than answers.
The purpose today was to get a feel for the higher gap 1.55 Wr2
For me the shave was smooth, close, a little more blade feel than the std 1.25, perfectly acceptable, no irritation at all, similar skin feel for me to the Timeless .95.
A Better shave? No, not for me, not on 48hrs growth, same result as 1.25, however on 4-5 days growth this would have been a different story for sure.
I need to reflect now & get several more shaves in with different blades to find my personal preference.

No doubt the Wr2 is a superb razor and I shall certainly keep one in my top 5 rotation-it makes the grade easily, I just need to settle on my ideal combination of blade and gap for the way I like to shave, 1.55 gap is probably overkill for me personally.
THE BIG QUESTION:
How often would I really use a 1.55 in my rotation?

As always YMMV

To be continued here..........

HOLY COW!!!

Re: 1.25 Wr2 + x3 shims......
Maybe I should have measured before throwing the shims in!

ANYONE ELSE SHAVED WITH A Wr2 1.72 GAP?!



Have I set the record here?

I think this proves that for the record I may have gone past the sweet spot haha! 

And no bleeders or cuts!

I believe you can go up to 1.95 before you drop below the sweet spot. Problem with shims are they aren't exactly a complete match against having a truly higher gap and get more inaccurate as you add more. However am glad to hear 1.72 wasn't too aggressive for you!

So I just measured my Wr2 with no shims,

I have a 1.45 Gap Dc! Damn 
I bought it as a 1.25 but hey, I'm ok with this, even the OC was ok for me on my first shave.

It all makes sense now...............REALLY............

I prefer the shave I get from the Wr2 1.45 to the 1.72.....
This also confirms what I have previously stated re: opening blade gaps which increases blade angle-causing a less smooth & efficient shave, effectively dragging the blade some.

Really you got a wrong Gap, or at least different from what you purchased? That would be crazy.

Really you got a wrong Gap, or at least different from what you purchased? That would be crazy.

Yea but to Clarify,  NOT direct from the Wolfman stable,
This shall remain a happy mystery to me....

Really you got a wrong Gap, or at least different from what you purchased? That would be crazy.

Yea but to Clarify,  not direct from the Wolfman stable,
This was bought from a fellow shaver here in the UK,
Perhaps he forgot what he bought? Or something else,
After all, how many people measure their blade gaps for confirmation?

Oh thank you for clearing that up. I wish those razors all had the gap stamped on the base plate.

I believe you can go up to 1.95 before you drop below the sweet spot. Problem with shims are they aren't exactly a complete match against having a truly higher gap and get more inaccurate as you add more. However am glad to hear 1.72 wasn't too aggressive for you!

For me the sweet spot was passed, my last 2 shaves showed the 1.45 to give the same result for me on 3 days growth as the 1.72 did on 2 days growth, for me, sweet spot passed.........so far........
& yes, 1.72 not too aggressive but effectively not as efficient as 1.45 based on these early results for me personally.

Is anyone game for shimming their 1.45/1.55 to compare results?

I believe Tester28 shimmed his 1.45 before he decided to buy a 1.55; correct me if I am wrong sir. Shims are great for testing additional blade gaps but definitely adds different variables compared to the real thing. Example being that each shim flexes at a different rate due to the nature of metallurgy. As no metals are pure the heat treating process all are inadvertently creates a different metal even within the same batch. Think of Damascus for example you will never find a pattern that is 100% the same as another; each their own beautiful snowflake. This variable in the flex of each shim messes with how the two plates are design to torque the blade, adding blade rigidity, and thus you get a different outcome. In addition each increase in blade gap is essentially James shaving down the blade guard vs being completely redesign for each respective gap. As the blade guard is minimize it more precisely places pressure on a more narrow point on your face giving a minutely better skin scretch; which might or might not be the reason why going up in gap increases efficiency vs the actually blade / gap exposer itself as the shaving geometry remain the same. This was why I was saying adding shims might not see the true benefits oh higher gaps. You might get 90% or so of the experience at one shim with deminishing return when adding more.

However, even with three shim you should see some benefits outside of the shave characteristics like it clogging less with more beard growth and the ease of rinsing out gunk when running it under your faucet. I do think this is a good experiment to show others though that 1.55 isn't necessarily the limitand the higher gaps shows little signs of danger in regards to nicking themselves. I am glad you got a 1.45 though!!!!! Quite a turn of luck if I do say so myself.