Errol
Razor Review Guru
Trowell T8 (China)
An aluminium presentation case option was not available when I went to purchase so I was pleasantly surprised when the Trowell arrived in a hard plastic case. What a pretty little razor it was that presented itself when I opened the lid; every visible surface has been professionally polished, the multi-faceted offset top on the cap stood out but the highlight of the package is the purple insert in the channelled out handle. I immediately grabbed the spiral grip near the end of the handle to inspect the pieces, but it came to a stop after about one turn; emm, that’s the adjuster. On investigation, there is smaller grip, about 5mm thick at the very end of the handle for disassembly; this grip can be difficult to grasp, it has a 3mm shaft running completely through the handle to engage and screw into the centre post.
Looking like it was originally designed to be a slant razor, the cap is covered with a mismatch of flats covering its top. Trowell utilises the Gibbs spring loaded dual plate design for adjustability, however there are no end guides between the two pieces of the plate, the top piece can be rotated when the cap is removed; the round blade posts on the cap provide the alignment to the plates when the razor is clamped down. Safety bar and open comb plates are available, but mine has the dual sided plate. In front of the adjuster are the settings #1 through to #8 with a line between the marked numbers. Trowell have included a special two pronged tool for changing the plates and to remove the purple insert, also included is a full set of nylon seals. I stripped it down to have a look but under normal conditions I cannot see why there would be any reason to.
This is a unique design which is pleasing to see for a Chinese razor. My first complaints about the razor started with the dot on the adjuster, it’s missing. I screwed the adjuster to a stop and marked the #1 position with a permanent marker. The setting numbers are small, and only lightly etched making them very difficult to read, with my reading glasses I struggle to read them. My marking of position #1 on the adjuster may have been done when the razor was fully open and not fully closed because as I went up through the numbers, the efficiency became less; well, I initially thought it did. My finding in the table below may be in reverse to what they should have been had there been a clear marking on the adjuster. What on earth is happening, bloody adjustables, second shave and I got totally different feed back to the first shave. Position #3 was the most efficient shave on the scale; both directions from #3 and there was less efficiency, it shouldn’t happen. Those weird-angled flats covering the top of the cap had little to no bearing on the shave, however I did note something on one occasion, so in the overall scheme of things they are not a consideration. There is an issue with the disassembly screw on the end of the handle, it is too small and too thin to grip, I had to use a towel to get purchase on it to clean the razor at the end of the shave. Trowell have done a creditable job with the finish and presentation of the T8 but it has its quirks and requires the adjusting numbers to be engraved larger and marked in black, it needs an indicator on the adjuster, something done with the disassembly screw to get some purchase on it, and the efficiency. Maybe the next model will have all these bugs have been ironed out.
Material – Titanium
Weight – 55.1g
Blade Tab – Covered
Head Width – 43.04mm
Handle Length – 81.03mm
Handle Diameter – 11.46mm
Availability – Trowell
Final Word – Another adjustable
An aluminium presentation case option was not available when I went to purchase so I was pleasantly surprised when the Trowell arrived in a hard plastic case. What a pretty little razor it was that presented itself when I opened the lid; every visible surface has been professionally polished, the multi-faceted offset top on the cap stood out but the highlight of the package is the purple insert in the channelled out handle. I immediately grabbed the spiral grip near the end of the handle to inspect the pieces, but it came to a stop after about one turn; emm, that’s the adjuster. On investigation, there is smaller grip, about 5mm thick at the very end of the handle for disassembly; this grip can be difficult to grasp, it has a 3mm shaft running completely through the handle to engage and screw into the centre post.
Looking like it was originally designed to be a slant razor, the cap is covered with a mismatch of flats covering its top. Trowell utilises the Gibbs spring loaded dual plate design for adjustability, however there are no end guides between the two pieces of the plate, the top piece can be rotated when the cap is removed; the round blade posts on the cap provide the alignment to the plates when the razor is clamped down. Safety bar and open comb plates are available, but mine has the dual sided plate. In front of the adjuster are the settings #1 through to #8 with a line between the marked numbers. Trowell have included a special two pronged tool for changing the plates and to remove the purple insert, also included is a full set of nylon seals. I stripped it down to have a look but under normal conditions I cannot see why there would be any reason to.
This is a unique design which is pleasing to see for a Chinese razor. My first complaints about the razor started with the dot on the adjuster, it’s missing. I screwed the adjuster to a stop and marked the #1 position with a permanent marker. The setting numbers are small, and only lightly etched making them very difficult to read, with my reading glasses I struggle to read them. My marking of position #1 on the adjuster may have been done when the razor was fully open and not fully closed because as I went up through the numbers, the efficiency became less; well, I initially thought it did. My finding in the table below may be in reverse to what they should have been had there been a clear marking on the adjuster. What on earth is happening, bloody adjustables, second shave and I got totally different feed back to the first shave. Position #3 was the most efficient shave on the scale; both directions from #3 and there was less efficiency, it shouldn’t happen. Those weird-angled flats covering the top of the cap had little to no bearing on the shave, however I did note something on one occasion, so in the overall scheme of things they are not a consideration. There is an issue with the disassembly screw on the end of the handle, it is too small and too thin to grip, I had to use a towel to get purchase on it to clean the razor at the end of the shave. Trowell have done a creditable job with the finish and presentation of the T8 but it has its quirks and requires the adjusting numbers to be engraved larger and marked in black, it needs an indicator on the adjuster, something done with the disassembly screw to get some purchase on it, and the efficiency. Maybe the next model will have all these bugs have been ironed out.
- #1 – Useless
- #2 – Karve CB Level #C
- #3 – Under Karve CB Level #D – Very comfortable
- #4 – Karve CB Level #C
- #5 – #8 - Very little happening
Material – Titanium
Weight – 55.1g
Blade Tab – Covered
Head Width – 43.04mm
Handle Length – 81.03mm
Handle Diameter – 11.46mm
Availability – Trowell
Final Word – Another adjustable