Errol
Razor Review Guru
Sorry, the whole razor is stainless steel.
Weekly Razor Review
- Thread starter Errol
- Start date
klinker
... seems to have LOTS of brushes
That's amazing. I don't know of any other Merkur Progress copies that are made of stainless steel.
If Merkur put out an all-stainless Progress, I would find it hard to resist.
I get fantastic shaves from my Mergress XL, which has only the bottom knob in stainless steel, but has been tuned. Some say this makes no difference, but it is a wonderful performer for me.
klinker
... seems to have LOTS of brushes
I have the regular size Mergress and love it!
Errol
Razor Review Guru
Urkunet Assassin - 2.00mm (China)
Urkunet - strange bloody name, sounds like it might be from the Ukraine. Those poor bastards have been copping the rough end of the pineapple lately; I’d better check this one out. A little investigation and I find that it is from a sister company to Oumo Shave Brushes from China. Three different efficiency plates were on offer, I am unlikely to ever use the mild plate, so I left that one out and purchased the 2.0mm and 2.5mm plates, mid and high efficiency. Three handles were also on offer; they all have a similar profile but there is enough change to differentiate between them; for no particular reason I chose the Fuxi. And just to add to the woes of the razor buyer, there were three different levels of finish; polished this time thank you.
While I can see likeliness’s to features on other razors, and it is highly likely that borrowed features were incorporated into the final rendition, I’m going to say that this is an in house design. Wide flats on the cap slightly overlap the corresponding flats on the top of the plate, however, there remains ample area for blade clamping. A flat machined at the top of the cap reduces its profile and makes it look almost flat, no shave angle dictating cap on this one. In premium razors I like to see elongated blade posts, another tick to the Assassin. These blade posts protrude through the plate finishing flush with a circular recess machine from the back of the plate. There is a pattern machined into the forward section of the handle and after that the handle basically tapers toward the end to a tapered knob. Another big tick to Urkunet, your threads are fantastic, perfect engagement and smooth. It wouldn’t be a Chinese polish job if they didn’t over-run the polishing machine to the point of losing features. Urkunet call it hand polished, but I think the jury might still be out on that decision.
What better efficiency to start with than mid-way and the 2.0mm plate. For a handle with very little meat towards its rear end, it proved easy to control and secure in use; my little finger easily found the knob at the end of the handle and rested comfortably there. Despite Urkunet’s best effort to rid the handle of all grip in their polishing machine, enough remained. I was immediately impressed by its Karve CB Level #D efficiency and a slightly higher level of positive blade than expected, resulting in a shave that was both smooth and very comfortable. There will be no resit with the 2.5mm plate, I’ve found my fit with the 2.0mm one. Urkunet has presented an almost premium product that provides practical options in handle choice, three levels of efficiency and the desired finish, but best of all, a bloody good shave.
Material – 304 Stainless Steel
Weight – 85.5g
Blade Tab - Exposed
Head Width – 41.97mm
Handle Length – 90.05mm
Handle Diameter – 11.98mm
Availability – Urkunet Razors
Final Word – Performance personified
Urkunet - strange bloody name, sounds like it might be from the Ukraine. Those poor bastards have been copping the rough end of the pineapple lately; I’d better check this one out. A little investigation and I find that it is from a sister company to Oumo Shave Brushes from China. Three different efficiency plates were on offer, I am unlikely to ever use the mild plate, so I left that one out and purchased the 2.0mm and 2.5mm plates, mid and high efficiency. Three handles were also on offer; they all have a similar profile but there is enough change to differentiate between them; for no particular reason I chose the Fuxi. And just to add to the woes of the razor buyer, there were three different levels of finish; polished this time thank you.
While I can see likeliness’s to features on other razors, and it is highly likely that borrowed features were incorporated into the final rendition, I’m going to say that this is an in house design. Wide flats on the cap slightly overlap the corresponding flats on the top of the plate, however, there remains ample area for blade clamping. A flat machined at the top of the cap reduces its profile and makes it look almost flat, no shave angle dictating cap on this one. In premium razors I like to see elongated blade posts, another tick to the Assassin. These blade posts protrude through the plate finishing flush with a circular recess machine from the back of the plate. There is a pattern machined into the forward section of the handle and after that the handle basically tapers toward the end to a tapered knob. Another big tick to Urkunet, your threads are fantastic, perfect engagement and smooth. It wouldn’t be a Chinese polish job if they didn’t over-run the polishing machine to the point of losing features. Urkunet call it hand polished, but I think the jury might still be out on that decision.
What better efficiency to start with than mid-way and the 2.0mm plate. For a handle with very little meat towards its rear end, it proved easy to control and secure in use; my little finger easily found the knob at the end of the handle and rested comfortably there. Despite Urkunet’s best effort to rid the handle of all grip in their polishing machine, enough remained. I was immediately impressed by its Karve CB Level #D efficiency and a slightly higher level of positive blade than expected, resulting in a shave that was both smooth and very comfortable. There will be no resit with the 2.5mm plate, I’ve found my fit with the 2.0mm one. Urkunet has presented an almost premium product that provides practical options in handle choice, three levels of efficiency and the desired finish, but best of all, a bloody good shave.
Material – 304 Stainless Steel
Weight – 85.5g
Blade Tab - Exposed
Head Width – 41.97mm
Handle Length – 90.05mm
Handle Diameter – 11.98mm
Availability – Urkunet Razors
Final Word – Performance personified