My $60 Wapienica...

What do you do with a $12 razor that outshaves your $60-$100 razors? Why, send it to Joe Chandler for a set of horn scales... :D

I love my Wapienicas, and I thought one deserved to be promoted to a very special place in my rotation.

Joe made a set of black horn scales, which turned out beautifully. He was kind enough to humor my requests on the shape of the scales and on the red spacer, a nod to the razor's Soviet bloc past. :)

I asked for him to engrave my initials, and he selected this font, which I think is perfect.

Thanks a million, Joe! You are an artist.

Josh

Good grief! I love it! :bow Thanks for sharing.
Ernest

My too. I can't stop staring at it. :)

Josh

I like it :D

Cheers
Ivo

Wow... looks amazing.


Must.... resist...

That's beautiful.

How did he do the engraving? was that an acid etching, or a true engraving?

I love it.

I have one Wapienica with black ebony scales on it, and it looks nice. I have to remove them, and put a gloss finish on them though...

Nenad

Wow Josh - that's come up amazing! These Wapis - is there anything they can't do :bow

James.

What a great upgrade. How does it feel with respect to balance now it no longer has CS scales?

I guess the etching means this one won't be sold to a newbie sometime in the future? :D

Wow! Simple yet very, very cool. I see the metal used in those hold Start Treaty dismantled ballistic missiles is much better than the steel in those Russian T-34 tanks in Pakistan! Woooo Hoooo.

Great looking razor and great value for the money!

Nope, this one won't be going up for sale in the BST forum any time soon. :)

If there's a newbie out there with the initials JJE and $10,000 to throw around, I guess we can talk. :)

Josh

Josh,
I've been really enjoying my Wapienicas, also. Great job to you and Joe. :bow
I was wondering about the balance with the new scales. How does she drive with her new dress on?

Very nice Job Joe, and a great idea to do with something you love to have in your rotation.

The font looks very stylish and modern in the steel (Almost like the chique ness of ppl and their stainless steel appliances) lol.

Awesome font

Nice work Joe

I wonder how many pm's Joe has waiting for him ;)

Yeah, with everyone here ordering half a dozen Wapis at a time, I'm sure his box will fill up quickly... :)

I'm not sure about the balance, since I haven't had a chance to shave with it yet. It feels a lot better in my hand, though. That was my only beef with the original razor--the scales made some of my shaving strokes difficult. I'll let you know, though. :D

Josh

Wow Josh great looker!

:tu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JoshEarl

I'm not sure about the balance, since I haven't had a chance to shave with it yet. It feels a lot better in my hand, though. That was my only beef with the original razor--the scales made some of my shaving strokes difficult. I'll let you know, though. :D

Josh

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Has anyone removed that big ol' chunk of metal from the end of the scales on these things? I'm thinking if you replace it with a piece of plastic or the like it should help even up the balance a lot. Devo sells these replacement stainless steel scales (http://www.classicshaving.com/i/DOVO..._stainless.jpg).
If they were out of balance with the blade I don't think anyone would buy them, and Devo not a need to make them. Seems like you could pick up a piece of plexi glass from Home Depot and grind out a replacement in minutes using the "big ol' chunk" as a stencil.

I Had a pair of the dovo stainless handled razors& I found the balance to be worse than the Wapi's .I think the stainless handles are ment to be used in an auto clave so they can be sterilised for hospital use. Paul

Nice one Josh, that looks impressive.

Nice work as usual Joe, now tell me can you etch it with this?

Cheers
John

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...olidarnosc.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sharp&Shiny

I Had a pair of the dovo stainless handled razors& I found the balance to be worse than the Wapi's .I think the stainless handles are ment to be used in an auto clave so they can be sterilised for hospital use. Paul

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That's a good sign. If the balance was worse than the Wapi's I would bet that if you removed that chunk of lead at the end of the Wapi's scale and replaced it with something lighter it would help a bunch. I do not find the Wapi scale weight to be unbearably dreadful. I can feel a bit of pull coming from the end of the scales. To me it's a little annoying but nothing to loose any sleep over.

That is a lovely piece of work there Josh, I love it.

I hope Joe has some time in the near future for some ideas I have for my wappys :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by johnmw1

Nice one Josh, that looks impressive.

Nice work as usual Joe, now tell me can you etch a hammer & sickle?

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Better would read:

Solidarność

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bth88

Better would read:

Solidarność

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Hey you are absolutely correct, I'm having a senior moment, I don't know what made me think they were Russian. I think it was something about one of Josh's comments and the red wedge, and my mind put two and two together and came up with six.

I shall remove it straight away.............geez what kind of fool am I:cen

Cheers
John

John- That was fricken quick! Btw, that would look cool on one of those blades. Get some sort of white/red scales???

:cool:

Honed my new Wapi last night and just tried it today. I think the shipping was more than the actual cost of the razor and this thing kicks my dovo's ass! I think the metal handle is a bit strange so ordered some of the Pakkawood replacement handles from classic today. These things are great :tu

I haven't shaved with it yet, but I honed up my Joe C. Wapienica tonight. The razor handled like a dream on the hone--it kept the pressure light all by itself. :)

Stropping it was also very nice. The balance is much improved; it feels like an entirely different razor, but it takes the same edge as before. The balance point is just forward of the pin if you straighten the razor out. Joe would have used a heavier spacer material if I hadn't requested something red... :) That would have brought the balance back a bit. At this point I don't have a preference; I'm still developing one.

It took a frightening edge--can't wait to shave with it in the morning. :)

Josh

Had to close the loop on this one... I shaved with the razor this morning, and it was fantastic. The balance was so much better--it handled like a completely different razor, but shaved just like the old one. :)

The lighter scales made my weird across the grain/scything strokes under my chin much, much easier.

Two thumbs up. Way, way up. :D Thanks Joe!

Josh

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JoshEarl

Nope, this one won't be going up for sale in the BST forum any time soon. :)

If there's a newbie out there with the initials JJE and $10,000 to throw around, I guess we can talk. :)

Josh

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Where does one purchase one new? Thanks.
K.

This eBay seller has the whole stock of them.... :)

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=9950

Josh

I'm liking this blade and can't wait to get new scales. I'm a little curious about its origin though. You said these are from russia? Also, open_razor said in his item description that these aren't available anymore so I take it this company is closed down right?

sorry, I feel like an idiot :gth

he shipped it from poland so I take it these are from poland right?

Wow, Josh, that's gorgeous. I hope you don't get mixed up and send it to me by mistake! :tu

Kyle,

I was looking everywhere for my new razor this morning--now I know what happened to it. :D

Seriously, this thing continues to impress me. It strops like a dream.

Josh

I had to change my handle to J.JonE to make the initials work out right.

Orderd razors and strop from ebay seller a couple of weeks ago. I have emailed him 5 times to get him to combine shipping, still no response. Did you guys have a similar experience?

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Originally Posted by vcowman

Orderd razors and strop from ebay seller a couple of weeks ago. I have emailed him 5 times to get him to combine shipping, still no response. Did you guys have a similar experience?

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My request and subsequent (non)response from the seller was similar. However, he came through honorably. Everything came within two weeks, and sent as a single well-cushioned package. I'd certainly order again from him.

I've ordered from him half a dozen times and consider the experience to be exemplary. He has never failed to combine shipping. In fact, once I ordered some DE blades from him. He emailed me to tell me that the blades I ordered weren't the best quality and allowed me to cancel that portion of the order. Best experience I've had from any vendor on this site (although Tony Miller was a close second!)