Thread: Newby's thoughts on a Filly for Stubear

About 3 months ago I posted an introductory message here that was received with very welcoming replies. One of the things I brought up is that I had caught the RAD bug and had already purchased a filly 14. I was initially drawn in by the EPBD 14, purely on aesthetics only and what I had heard but ended up with a rescaled Doble Temple with carbon fibre from Robert Williams (a really great guy which I am sure you all know). After learning and reading more I thought oh shit I've spent alot without knowing too much. This is really big blade I may receive it and not be able to use it. I'm sure you can imagine what I thought as I went from everything is incredible to knowing a little bit more about razors and shaving in general, discovering personal preference etc. It turns out however that this razor is actually incredible and the best razor I have shaved with (that is compared with a 5/8 palmer, 6/8 grelot, 6/8 half hollow novelty cutlery, 13/16 Wade and Butcher and a 5/8 henckels - my vintage swedish frameback comes very close, that too is an incredible shaver). I know I don't have much credit to say this and that on paper it really shouldn't work, this blade is huge but I am just being honest, it really goes through whisker like nothing else I have ever tried. Of course this also could be (and is most probably really) because of honing, prep or even just my shaving getting better over time but I really just wanted to post this as a response to stubear who asked how it went with my filly when I originally posted in this subcategory. Thanks for all the great support over the last 3-4 months SRP, I do appreciate all the wealth of knowledge that comes flowing out of this river. With warm regards, b

Good that you like the filly 14 .... you can buy them all day long on ebay for between $500 and $700 last time I looked . Kidding aside, I like mine too.

haha hey jimmy - at that price i think i didn't do disastrously. While it may not be 4 to 5 times better than the other brands there is something in that steel. Now to go completely off topic. I couldn't get the Naniwa's (they are an export item only and japan doesn't have them) so i recently snagged a norton set in the classifieds and also a shumate barbers hone (I still really want the Naniwa 12k but that will come in time - yes you did a correct premature diagnosis RAD to HAD with a little bit of BAD too). So here is the completel unrelated question to the filly (but I thought you would be the perfect one with an answer - though I'm sure many could help) Can I lap a barber's hone with the norton flattening stone? Thank you, I think I'm gonna have a beer and shave now - though I really should get a new bandage for that cut on my hand (surprisingly unrelated to shaving!)

Originally Posted by ganboyi

Can I lap a barber's hone with the norton flattening stone?

It might be ok to flatten a stone with another, but unless you want the wrong stone to get uneven wear, you have to be sure which one is harder. The stone that is softer gets all the wear.
I flatten my stones with a 400 - 800 sandpaper glued on a sheet of glass.

Thanks Sailor, this is what I will try as someone also reccomended this. Cheers!

just read an old thread that said the norton lapping stone is not all that great so you are right i should just do the sandpaper glass or tile option. cheers.

yes, don't lap the barber's hone with the norton lapping plate.

Glad you like your Filarmonica! Any chance of some pics? I like the sound of those carbon fibre scales...!

Here you go Stu,

I was waiting to post some photos as a Shave of the Day (which I may do later, I cut my hand pretty bad on Thursday so have been keeping it out of water and have not shaved since then actually). Fun fun fun today though with some nice stubble to get into. Sorry I digress here are the photos. I love this blade, the carbon fibre are so perfect in terms of balance and I think they look really nice as well. No excessive design, classic Williams shape that just go perfect with the nice fat square point as well as the gold leaf. Plus I think the pins are beautiful (I'm not too much a fan of brass pins). Yeah I am pretty pleased as you can tell and for me it really was about the shave more than anything else that really surprised me. As I mentioned I can't really say that is entirely to do with the Filly (and I couldn't safely say it was 4 times better than a Henckels for example - if we are relating performance to price). Yes, so many other things come into play but I am happy.





Hope you like the photos.