Thread: Project: "Shave with Eight SE hoe razors in a row"

That is a fascinating collection, @Darkbulb. Thanks for sharing the test. How are the blades stropped with these razors?

Have you ever used a Rolls Razor, by the way? I also got that "Wow" thing after my first shave with a proper-sharp blade and, like you found, also nice in tough/tight spots.

Originally Posted by MisterMoo

That is a fascinating collection, @Darkbulb. Thanks for sharing the test. How are the blades stropped with these razors?

Have you ever used a Rolls Razor, by the way? I also got that "Wow" thing after my first shave with a proper-sharp blade and, like you found, also nice in tough/tight spots.

Thanks, never used a Rolls but I've heard great things about them.
I'll post a short video this week showing the blade being stropped

Will that blade work in all of those razors? I would have thought there would be differences in width/length!
I just got a rolls blade from an expert honer (Bayamontate). Wow! Another of my favorites is an Everite Saftey razor. The handle screws in from the side for honing/stropping. Amazing shaver! Good to see others waking these old things up and using them. Big fun! Great shaves!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Will that blade work in all of those razors?

I actually don't know yet - it LOOKS like it will fit but I haven't physically tested the one honed blade I have into all of them.
It does seem to be a rather standard size for the French hoe razors made during that time period so I'm hoping it will work in them all....we shall see

Use caution if it hangs out too far !

Shave report #2 - Tip Top




Next up to bat is the rather striking looking "Tip Top". Another French hoe razor. There's not a whole lot of information about this brand available.
If I had to guess I'd say around the 1930's as far as years of manufacturing goes.

It does have a very, very neat feature and that's a knob on the back of the head that allows you to adjust the blade exposure to be exactly the way you want.

Here's a short video trying to demonstrate that:


Video link for Tapatalk users

Anywho, since this was my second time using the freshly honed REX wedge blade I decided to strop it as well a bit prior to using it.
I promise I am not really this terrible at stropping normally (as you can see the spine is sometimes not flat against the strop on the return stroke, etc) but with having to shoot the video at the same time as stropping I had to secure the strop flat to a table (as opposed to the doorknob it's normally attached to). Excuses, excuses



Video link for Tapatalk users

I'm sure @gssixgun is crying inside seeing how his blade is abused here

Popped the blade into the razor and off to the den we go.



I fiddled around with the adjustment knob quite a bit - unsure of 'where to start' but settled on something that looked ok and had at it.
Ouch, turned out that my guesstimating was a tad off - felt way too aggressive. Dialed it back a turn or two and it felt a whole lot more comfortable.

The razor doesn't have that same fantastic feeling of solid quality that the L'Essor for instance have. Don't get me wrong it's a very sturdy razor but if I had to guess I'd say it would probably had been a less expensive option back in the days.

Completed one pass and once again - just like when I used the L'Essor - it strikes me how much this feels like shaving with a straight razor. The blade is a bit more 'forgiving' I think than a modern SE/DE blade.

I lather up some more of the fantastic i Coloniali Mango soap and complete a second pass (ATG).
End result: Pretty clean shaven. Some touch ups required on the neck and under the chin but very passable.

Between the two razors I've tried so far I'd say the L'Essor holds the lead but it's hard not to give a nod to the Tip Top and its blade adjusting mechanism.

Tip Top: The Original Fat Boy. Neat stuff, Darkbulb.

I have several rapide's but have not successfully won another style of hoe razor. I thought I had a Wilkinson and it came with seven days of wedge blades but the razor was one of the Empire models, but the blades are the same size as the Rapide blades, and I have seen Dorko boxes of 6 NOS a few times also. The Rapides are great shavers, I can only presume the rest will be too.

Shave report #3 - Roger

I was hoping I'd get lucky in that the one wedge blade I have would fit into all of these eight razors - unfortunately that wasn't the case for the French Roger razor.
The REX blade is just about 2mm wider than the original Roger blades (of which I have two).
See comparison photo below where you might be able to see that difference (REX to the left, Roger to the right).



So I guess that means two things;
a) I can't include it in this little shave project, and
b) I'm going to have to get one of my two Roger blades honed.

Hopefully the remaining five razors will work better with this blade

Shave report #4 - Rapide



After the no-go with the Roger I decided to take a gamble on the only German razor in the lot - the Rapide.

I did a bit of stropping - about 25 or so - and loaded the blade into the Rapide and it fit perfectly.



Loaded with the blade:


The Rapide has a visually rather intimidating 'grill' under the razor but during the shave it worked really well as sort of a lather catcher which I assume was the intent of the design.

Lathered up some i Coloniali Mango (apart from that I love this soap in general I've also found it to be really slick which helps with these shaves) and went to work.

Even though these razors all have a lot in common design wise I've also come to realize in a short amount of time that they are still very different beasts to actually shave with.
The Rapide has a much longer and skinnier handle than the L'Essor and Tip Top that I've shaved with so far and as I started my first pass (WTG) that made it self apparent in that the blade 'vibrated' more than with the other razors. I assume it's due to the pole-like structure and it did make the razor feel a bit less 'solid' when shaving and my strokes were a bit more choppy. I tried adjusting my grip to be closer to the head but that only made a small difference.

I re-lathered and went for the second pass (ATG). Exactly the same impressions as from the first pass - a bit more wobbly and choppy. If I wasn't comparing this razor to others in this way - w/in a very short timeframe - I don't think I would had noticed it much but as it was the difference was very noticeable.

I ended the second pass and even though I wasn't completely smooth it was still a very passable shave (well, I hope so as I have a thing downtown tonight)

Of the three razors (not counting the Roger of course) I'd say it was the one I favored the least but it was by no means a bad razor - just not as, subjectively, good.

On to the remaining four....