Errol
Razor Review Guru
A Little Project
This week is an off week with no razor review to post so here is a summary of an escapade I ventured off on last year.
Previously I’ve been challenged to create my own razor and this is the result; not built from scratch but I’ve tried to be a bit creative and come up with a custom. Ideas had been bubbling away in my head but nothing came of it till I saw a photo of a mock up handle Brian from Charcoal Goods designed. Inspired and all fired up I designed fifty handles in my head while I should have been sleeping over the next month or so. Each one better than the last, till I had a plan in my noggin as to how I was going to proceed. Even that plan changed or should I say was fine tuned one million times.
What’s the use of a handle without something special to attach it to, so I wrote down what my requirements were:
May 2019 - Cap and handle ordered.
Mid June 2019 – Blackbird cap arrived and modified to fit CG base plate. My first mock up is ready for trial. Absolutely terrible shave. First lesson - Just because you use parts from two of the most respected razor manufacturers on the planet does not mean success. The quality of shave from either manufacturer is the sum of their individual plates working in combination. Thinking cap on again. Maybe a Level 3 CG base plate but that is not even released yet. Maybe an Ikon? The Ikon stainless steel has a B1 coating and a black plate is not my first option. Karve has round blade posts.
Late June 2019 – I’ve been thinking what Brian from Charcoal Goods said about the Gen 1 and the Gen 2’s having the same geometry. I have a Gen 1, Level 3 brass base plate so the second trial is about to start. Nice. Really good, I’m happy with that Blackbird cap/ CG Gen 1 combination. My concern now is that there may be some changes between the Gen 1 Brass plate and the Gen 2 Stainless steel plate. No good worrying about it, press on.
Mid July – The release of the new generation level 3 plates from Charcoal Goods still hasn’t eventuated. Must be getting close though and my checking three or four times every day probably hasn’t helped me. I’d hate to miss out. While checking on line I’ve found a RAW RS-10 mild plate for sale. I hadn’t even thought about the RS-10. Out with my pieces but the Blackbird cap is not going to fit without major modification. Pass on the RS-10.
Late July 2019 – Cap in hand and off to the one and only machine shop in town for some lathe work on the handle. Would you believe the poor machinist was crook and not expected out of hospital for three weeks. Contacted my son and was advised that he was waiting on his tax cheque so he could buy a lathe for home. Music to the Old Man’s ears so I drew up a sketch of what I wanted and bundled the Timeless handle and some bronze rod off to him. Around this time the expected second release of the Charcoal Goods stainless steel Gen 2 eventuated so a Level 3 plate was ordered for the project. Out of the blue and Homelike Shaving out of Russia released a razor with four different plates. Looking at the photos (very technical I know) there is a chance here that one of these plates may fit also; I now might have some options.
Mid August 2019 – A trial of the Charcoal Goods Level #3 plate combined with the Blackbird cap resulted in a shave that was mild, like Karve CB #B plate mild. It may be OK but I’ll wait and see what comes out of Russia. Still waiting on the machining on the handle, I knew that would be the case.
Late August 2019 – The Homelike package arrived but not surprisingly the Blackbird cap and the Homelike plate were not compatible. Only a minor modification to the cap and I’ll have three levels of Homelike to test. Total failure with the Homelite/ Blackbird combination.
I set out to create something totally different that worked and so far, have achieved nothing other than a gaining spare parts. In retrospect I’d get a better shave if I stuck to any one of the brands; Blackbird, Charcoal Goods, Timeless or Homelite would have all delivered a better shave with far less trouble. Something that never entered my head when I set out on this escapade was that I would learn so much and appreciate the way the different manufacturers achieve their great shaves, their angles used, measurements, positive blade exposure, negative blade exposure, gaps; you name it. The knowledge gained has been invaluable. I do not have access to many simple tools here so I cannot progress with my project but the good thing is I now know what is required and will one day complete the project. A word of warning. Do not try this at home!
This week is an off week with no razor review to post so here is a summary of an escapade I ventured off on last year.
Previously I’ve been challenged to create my own razor and this is the result; not built from scratch but I’ve tried to be a bit creative and come up with a custom. Ideas had been bubbling away in my head but nothing came of it till I saw a photo of a mock up handle Brian from Charcoal Goods designed. Inspired and all fired up I designed fifty handles in my head while I should have been sleeping over the next month or so. Each one better than the last, till I had a plan in my noggin as to how I was going to proceed. Even that plan changed or should I say was fine tuned one million times.
What’s the use of a handle without something special to attach it to, so I wrote down what my requirements were:
- Made of Stainless Steel
- Must be readily available
- Unique
- I had to like it
- It had to work
- It had to shave somewhere near what I liked
- Tall order
- Wolfman - if you could ever get one even Errol wouldn’t destroy a Wolfman just to be really unique
- I like ATT but their blade alignment and retaining requires an ATT cap - not what I’m looking for
- Timeless base plate – not for this one
- Blackbirds require Blackbird handles, not in the plan
- Running out of ideas already
- Charcoal Goods are hard to get but a drop of stainless steel razors was expected in June/ July 2019. Might fit the bill
- The Occam DE cap with the ridge back is plain ugly and not in the running and it’s sintered
- Blackbird
- Timeless Scalloped
May 2019 - Cap and handle ordered.
Mid June 2019 – Blackbird cap arrived and modified to fit CG base plate. My first mock up is ready for trial. Absolutely terrible shave. First lesson - Just because you use parts from two of the most respected razor manufacturers on the planet does not mean success. The quality of shave from either manufacturer is the sum of their individual plates working in combination. Thinking cap on again. Maybe a Level 3 CG base plate but that is not even released yet. Maybe an Ikon? The Ikon stainless steel has a B1 coating and a black plate is not my first option. Karve has round blade posts.
Late June 2019 – I’ve been thinking what Brian from Charcoal Goods said about the Gen 1 and the Gen 2’s having the same geometry. I have a Gen 1, Level 3 brass base plate so the second trial is about to start. Nice. Really good, I’m happy with that Blackbird cap/ CG Gen 1 combination. My concern now is that there may be some changes between the Gen 1 Brass plate and the Gen 2 Stainless steel plate. No good worrying about it, press on.
Mid July – The release of the new generation level 3 plates from Charcoal Goods still hasn’t eventuated. Must be getting close though and my checking three or four times every day probably hasn’t helped me. I’d hate to miss out. While checking on line I’ve found a RAW RS-10 mild plate for sale. I hadn’t even thought about the RS-10. Out with my pieces but the Blackbird cap is not going to fit without major modification. Pass on the RS-10.
Late July 2019 – Cap in hand and off to the one and only machine shop in town for some lathe work on the handle. Would you believe the poor machinist was crook and not expected out of hospital for three weeks. Contacted my son and was advised that he was waiting on his tax cheque so he could buy a lathe for home. Music to the Old Man’s ears so I drew up a sketch of what I wanted and bundled the Timeless handle and some bronze rod off to him. Around this time the expected second release of the Charcoal Goods stainless steel Gen 2 eventuated so a Level 3 plate was ordered for the project. Out of the blue and Homelike Shaving out of Russia released a razor with four different plates. Looking at the photos (very technical I know) there is a chance here that one of these plates may fit also; I now might have some options.
Mid August 2019 – A trial of the Charcoal Goods Level #3 plate combined with the Blackbird cap resulted in a shave that was mild, like Karve CB #B plate mild. It may be OK but I’ll wait and see what comes out of Russia. Still waiting on the machining on the handle, I knew that would be the case.
Late August 2019 – The Homelike package arrived but not surprisingly the Blackbird cap and the Homelike plate were not compatible. Only a minor modification to the cap and I’ll have three levels of Homelike to test. Total failure with the Homelite/ Blackbird combination.
I set out to create something totally different that worked and so far, have achieved nothing other than a gaining spare parts. In retrospect I’d get a better shave if I stuck to any one of the brands; Blackbird, Charcoal Goods, Timeless or Homelite would have all delivered a better shave with far less trouble. Something that never entered my head when I set out on this escapade was that I would learn so much and appreciate the way the different manufacturers achieve their great shaves, their angles used, measurements, positive blade exposure, negative blade exposure, gaps; you name it. The knowledge gained has been invaluable. I do not have access to many simple tools here so I cannot progress with my project but the good thing is I now know what is required and will one day complete the project. A word of warning. Do not try this at home!
