sonoma95446
Active Member
I've used DE Razors mostly Gillette adjustable for 37 years. Tried Merkur adjustable and own a Progress, Vision and a Futur and use Feather blades although I have tried them all. I found the Single edge artisan Blades to last longer get narrow spots better (they are longer but less then half as wide. Own a Asylum Stainless DX, Above the Tie SE1 and SE2, Colonial General 316L, Razor rock aluminum, El Jeffe Ikon, Claymore Stainless and have tried the One Blade and Gems from friends etc. You are stuck with it's blades unless you want to get custom blades. I find that the Single edge or SE blades are stiffer but sharper more consistent and last longer. The Asylum while a beautiful razor is a bit to aggressive for me. The One core is not aggressive but probably would work for somebody with money to burn and little or no experience with such things as it's relatively safe. I regularly use both ATT SE1 and SE2 and Love the new and inexpensive El Jeffe by iKon but with a Weber Stainless steel bulldog handle. Whether short or long I have 2 of each and these handles are great. The iKon that I bought with the El-Jeffe is countersunk and tends to want to strip the threads unless your careful although it's visual and measurements are extremely close to the iKon. I have sold most of my 3 piece DE razors including Merkur’s and Muhler’s and find the Vision (no longer made and another beautiful razor to be too heavy and never liked the shave and after a week have put it in the box and will sell it when I get around to it. The Progress and the Futur are great if you want a double edge. The Maggard 3 piece DE is a great deal. By the way Maggard has nice fountain pen stands that are 13.5mm for those same Bulldog handles from iKon and Weber. The Razor rock SE aluminum is less then $30 with handle but the single is not at all right for me. So in short, if your tight on money the $45 head on the El Jeffe Heavy aluminum alloy head $45 combined with a stainless handle which is around $25 is a great start and the Above the Tie or ATT SE1/SE2 works for most people although the open comb design of the se2 is great and they can be bought together with a handle for less then $200 in Stainless. The Feather Pros, Kai Captain Milds, and Pro Guard if you want to start with training wheels are all great and I highly recommend going to tryablade.com and getting a Artist SE starter pack with a 11 different single edge blades for around $21 with shipping to see what you like. They also have a 110 different double edge DE blade pack to try for $38.30 with shipping. Whether its 11 different or 110 different it beats the one type with the OneBlade. The Roconol SE Just became available and I just cant shell out $230 for it but it probably rocks. Tried the whole mess and keep ending up using the ATT SE2 or if my skin is a little pimpled the El Jeffe. I used the fine part opf an emery board to smooth out the bottom of the ATT SE2 plate as the CNN cuts were a bit harsh. Now it glides nicely. In closing, I have to point out that even with though it’s made with a heavy aluminum alloy and doesn’t fit perfectly, the El Jeffe is my favorite with the Weber Bulldog handle.
