2023 Shaving Acquisitions Thread

Phil Harmonica said:
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In my quest to discover the perfect injector razor, I received this PAL adjustable (c. 1962) this morning. After soaking the head for thirty minutes in boiling water/bi-carb soda, then another thirty minutes in boiling water/dishwashing liquid and then scrubbing it with a toothbrush (not the same one I use every day), I then attempted to insert a new Schick Proline blade. What a bugger that was, since the carbon steel blade that had been in it for who knows how many years had rusted significantly. I sprayed it with WD-40 and after waiting fifteen minutes easily removed the old blade. Once again I got out the toothbrush and soapy water to remove the WD-40 and it's now ready to go on Friday morning. Tomorrow morning in the rotation is a Schick Type-E (1935-1945).
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You shouldn't use WD-40 on any vintage razors at all, always use natural mineral oil.
 
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Aliexpress Choice Day pick up for $44. Just cheap enough to be curious enough to see if shaves a bit more efficiently than the Mamba 70 it 'emulates'. The blade gap for this razor is supposed to be 0.86mm. And... it shaves just like the Mamba70. A lot of metal 'swarf' in the thread hole of the handle that had to be cleaned out. Also thread post on the cap is a bit too long, could not close properly, needed the nylon spacer to make up the difference in length. Handle is a chonky boy. 13.4mm in diameter at the widest part, and 123g for the razor and handle together.
 
Sticky said:
Very nice. Is that 3 Juniors? And a Repeating Razor, is that a B or a C?
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According to the sale it's a Type B with new blade magazine.
I'll Google loading blades but any advice appreciated
AD got the better of me with Juniors. I missed the wooden handled Bar I wanted and scored a Junior was happy with my lot and then 2 bars became available with wooden handle being the later auction so I had to buy both :)


Gargravarr said:
The jewel in the crown there (for me) is the DRH Windsor. Love that scent. ❤️
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If it lathers anything like the Yardley I'll be very happy (y)
 
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Holiday said:
According to the sale it's a Type B with new blade magazine.
I'll Google loading blades but any advice appreciated
AD got the better of me with Juniors. I missed the wooden handled Bar I wanted and scored a Junior was happy with my lot and then 2 bars became available with wooden handle being the later auction so I had to buy both :)
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They look like some nice examples and there's nothing wrong with having more than one Gem Junior 😉.
I don't think you'll have any problem loading the B as long as you have all the internals, I think I watched a video by Razor Emporium on then to learn how. I love the repeating razors, beautiful made and a mild shave.
 
Aliexpress (I know, I spend a lot of time on there), had their 828 - 'Afterschool' sale recently and I picked up a few things on special. The Yaqi vector homage (is it a 'clone'? The head looks sufficiently different to the vector to me) has two variants, the Remus (matt) and Romulus (polished). Both the same price ($92). I got the matt version because I just wanted something different (too many polished razors). Imagine my surprise to discover that it came loaded up with a blade already (almost cut myself). Convenient? Chinese made blade of unknown origin was terrible to shave with. Very tuggy and scrapy. Not sure if that was the blade or the razor though. I should buy some AC blades, but in the meantime, I need to dig around and find some of those Nikky Proshave blades I picked up a while back.

I also picked up Yaqi's Carbon Shaving inspired 'web' Sentinel. I think the gap is .90mm? I haven't shaved with it yet, but I have a feeling that the cut outs in the top cap is going to be a gimmicky hindrance. I can imagine it getting clogged up pretty quickly.

I finally got a DSCosmetic A2S knot brush. This is supposed to be like a gen 4.5, as came after the T4 with improvements, but isn't a gen 5. It feels softer but more dense than the standard T4. It's like the T4, but better. I think this is my favourite synthetic DSC knot moving forward. If another one comes up on sale, I'll probably pick it up too.

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Bicep123 said:
Aliexpress (I know, I spend a lot of time on there), had their 828 - 'Afterschool' sale recently and I picked up a few things on special. The Yaqi vector homage (is it a 'clone'? The head looks sufficiently different to the vector to me) has two variants, the Remus (matt) and Romulus (polished). Both the same price ($92). I got the matt version because I just wanted something different (too many polished razors). Imagine my surprise to discover that it came loaded up with a blade already (almost cut myself). Convenient? Chinese made blade of unknown origin was terrible to shave with. Very tuggy and scrapy. Not sure if that was the blade or the razor though. I should buy some AC blades, but in the meantime, I need to dig around and find some of those Nikky Proshave blades I picked up a while back.

I also picked up Yaqi's Carbon Shaving inspired 'web' Sentinel. I think the gap is .90mm? I haven't shaved with it yet, but I have a feeling that the cut outs in the top cap is going to be a gimmicky hindrance. I can imagine it getting clogged up pretty quickly.

I finally got a DSCosmetic A2S knot brush. This is supposed to be like a gen 4.5, as came after the T4 with improvements, but isn't a gen 5. It feels softer but more dense than the standard T4. It's like the T4, but better. I think this is my favourite synthetic DSC knot moving forward. If another one comes up on sale, I'll probably pick it up too.

N8rbe1o.jpg

wZA5phV.jpg

7w9dYX3.jpg

QXQaeS6.jpg

Lvhltpb.jpg

zZZiO2I.jpg
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Hmmmm, another take on the Yaqi Excalibur/Raster, interesting. Looks like they're getting much more expensive though. :unsure: That blade is a Chinese No-Name. They're actually quite good for a one-and-done approach, but who knows what that one has been through if it was already loaded. I don't understand DSC's version numbers. I have one of their most numerically advanced G7 knots, but it doesn't outperform my other G5 brushes.
 
Bicep123 said:
Aliexpress (I know, I spend a lot of time on there), had their 828 - 'Afterschool' sale recently and I picked up a few things on special. The Yaqi vector homage (is it a 'clone'? The head looks sufficiently different to the vector to me) has two variants, the Remus (matt) and Romulus (polished). Both the same price ($92). I got the matt version because I just wanted something different (too many polished razors). Imagine my surprise to discover that it came loaded up with a blade already (almost cut myself). Convenient? Chinese made blade of unknown origin was terrible to shave with. Very tuggy and scrapy. Not sure if that was the blade or the razor though. I should buy some AC blades, but in the meantime, I need to dig around and find some of those Nikky Proshave blades I picked up a while back.

I also picked up Yaqi's Carbon Shaving inspired 'web' Sentinel. I think the gap is .90mm? I haven't shaved with it yet, but I have a feeling that the cut outs in the top cap is going to be a gimmicky hindrance. I can imagine it getting clogged up pretty quickly.

I finally got a DSCosmetic A2S knot brush. This is supposed to be like a gen 4.5, as came after the T4 with improvements, but isn't a gen 5. It feels softer but more dense than the standard T4. It's like the T4, but better. I think this is my favourite synthetic DSC knot moving forward. If another one comes up on sale, I'll probably pick it up too.

N8rbe1o.jpg

wZA5phV.jpg

7w9dYX3.jpg

QXQaeS6.jpg

Lvhltpb.jpg

zZZiO2I.jpg
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I have a love hate relationship with aliexpress. I hate that I love it. Their shipping may be long but more often than not more reliable than AusPost :ROFLMAO:

I have the Raster V3 (?) and I consider it a very good shaver for the price. It is no Vector clone tho in terms of feel and behaviour.

I see the price hike is due to it now being in stainless steel. Previous version was zamak. Hmm... it also looks like the head geometry is different, closer to a vector.
 
Gargravarr said:
Hmmmm, another take on the Yaqi Excalibur/Raster, interesting. Looks like they're getting much more expensive though. :unsure: That blade is a Chinese No-Name. They're actually quite good for a one-and-done approach, but who knows what that one has been through if it was already loaded. I don't understand DSC's version numbers. I have one of their most numerically advanced G7 knots, but it doesn't outperform my other G5 brushes.
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I thought about purchasing the Raster at the time it was released, but wasn't sure how long that half thread post was going to last if it was cast zamak. The Remus is machined stainless, likely 316. It's normally $115+GST, but I waiting until it was 20% off and then used coupons to cover the GST. The Vector is US$220. Let me know when the AUD gets back to +75c, otherwise, I guess I'll just stick to Chinese made cheapies.

The DSC G7 is basically their gen 5, and it doesn't outperform other gen 5 knots such as Oumo. You can think of this A2S as an improved version of the T4 (gen 4) and I like it better than my other Oumo synths. I'll be buying more of this knot as it becomes available.
 
neongas said:
I have a love hate relationship with aliexpress. I hate that I love it. Their shipping may be long but more often than not more reliable than AusPost :ROFLMAO:
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'Choice' vetted stores on Aliexpress guarantee their shipping now. You even have the option of not releasing funds until it arrives. These came in about 10 days after purchase. Aliexpress shipping is better and quicker than from the US.
 
Bicep123 said:
I thought about purchasing the Raster at the time it was released, but wasn't sure how long that half thread post was going to last if it was cast zamak. The Remus is machined stainless, likely 316. It's normally $115+GST, but I waiting until it was 20% off and then used coupons to cover the GST. The Vector is US$220. Let me know when the AUD gets back to +75c, otherwise, I guess I'll just stick to Chinese made cheapies.

The DSC G7 is basically their gen 5, and it doesn't outperform other gen 5 knots such as Oumo. You can think of this A2S as an improved version of the T4 (gen 4) and I like it better than my other Oumo synths. I'll be buying more of this knot as it becomes available.
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I used the Raster last night with a Shick proline and the shave was (y) Do let us know your thoughts on the Remus.
 
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