Thread: Feather AC user looking for recommendation on a real straight

I use the Feather AC on a daily basis and love the shaves that I get from it.

I have tried twice to get into using a traditional straight and have found the shaves to be very disapointing. The two razors I tried where a 4/8th Keen Kutter that was honed by a fellow SRP member and a Griffon Carbo magnetic 5/8th that was honed my Lynn.

The feeling I got from both razors was that the blade seemed to be very flimsy, and felt as if they just werent sharp enough to give me a bbs shave.

I like the Feather because there is no flex in the blades and it slides through my hair effortlessly. I was just curious if anyone may have a recommendation about what kind of razor I could try that might approach the shave I get from my Artist Club.

Thanks.

Any decent straight can do the same job, but you have to be aware of the variables:
1) How was it honed? Ideally, you'd want the edge to be honed well and then given a good polish on abrasive pastes. I don't think this would be an issue with a hone-job by Lynn though.
2) Straights have a different technique than the AC. Even though a sharp straight is also supposed to be used with "no pressure" the AC is used with even less pressure.
3) No matter what they tell you, the AC will still be sharper than a straight but you can achieve the same results as long as you pay extra attention to the directionality of the growth.
4) How did you strop it? Poor stropping technique may deteriorate the edge.
Even though the methods are similar, they're not the same and you have to keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by JBahn

The feeling I got from both razors was that the blade seemed to be very flimsy, and felt as if they just werent sharp enough to give me a bbs shave.

I am a newbie here, but as far as feeling flimsy: maybe a 7/8 half hollow or 7/8wedge would feel more solid in your hands?

I have a full-hollow 5/8 myself and it is indeed very light and thin. The scales are plastic so that makes then even lighter.

Bruno,

A wedge is what I was thinking.

I just picked up a decent Dubl Duck SatinWedge off ebay so I am hoping this will work nicely for me.

I shall see...

Originally Posted by JBahn

Bruno,

A wedge is what I was thinking.

I just picked up a decent Dubl Duck SatinWedge off ebay so I am hoping this will work nicely for me.

I shall see...

Be sure to have it honed, or you might be disappointed for the wrong reasons.
Btw, is your avatar from 'an officer and a gentleman'?

Yeah...I am definately going to see if I can get Lynn to hone it for me.


Bruno: My avatar is of R. Lee Ermy in the movie "Full Metal Jacket". Ermy has always been a favorite candidate of mine.

As a fellow Feather AC user (and still relative newbie to traditional str8 shaving), I'll toss my 2 cents worth in... (OK, probably more like a $ worth given how long-winded I am...) I also made the switch from a DE to a Feather initially, thinking that it offered some pretty obvious benefits - low maintenance (no honing or stropping), longevity (replaceable blades), keenness of the edge, etc. And, in fact, the Feather does offer all those benefits. My problem initially was that it was a little too sharp for me at first. But, I stuck with it and now I've more or less mastered it - I heeded the sage advice of one of the senior members in here (Joe Lerch) to "respect and enjoy" the sharpness of the Feather.

On the other hand, I always sort of felt like I was missing out on the 'full' str8 shaving experience. For me at least, a big part of the allure of traditional wetshaving with a str8 is the whole process - preparation, shaving, maintaining your razors, taking your time… So I decided to broaden my horizons into traditional str8s as well. And, like you, I definitely had a few false starts. The reality, as Ilija said before me, is that there will always be a difference in the edge of a Feather blade and traditional str8. I have various razors honed by Lynn, Bill Ellis, and Joe Chandler – and none are as sharp as the Feather. That is of course by no means a knock on their honing skills – they all truly do put the “meister” in “honemeister”! It’s just that a traditional blade will never be exactly as sharp a blade that’s machine made to very high tolerance and honed by a precision laser. Which is of course perfectly OK. As long as you’re willing to take a little time to learn which type of blade (grind, size, weight, etc.) works best for you, and get yourself the necessary hardware to maintain it (a good strop, maybe a high grit finishing hone or a NOS barber hone to just touch up the edge when needed…), you’ll be well on your way to really enjoying all that traditional str8 shaving has to offer. (Also, if you have not already done so, I would highly recommend that you purchase Lynn’s “World of Straight Razor Shaving” DVD. It will be the best $20 you ever spent…) I now have a nice rotation that includes both old school str8s and the Feather, and I’m enjoying my daily shave more than ever!

In my personal experience (and of course YMMV…), the traditional edge that I’ve found so far that “feels” the most like the Feather is a really clean Dubl Duck Goldedge that I got on eBay. It’s just a fantastic blade, and damn near as sharp and smooth as a Feather IMHO. Of course, it also came to me nearly shave ready, so all I had to do was disinfect it, touch up the edge with a few strokes on a 16K Shapton water stone, strop it up and go. The first shave was utterly fantastic…

To put it another way – I have a one year-old Japanese luxury SUV, and a 16 year-old German sports car. The Japanese car is wonderful – tight as a drum, beautiful fit and finish, nice comfortable ride, all the coolest gadgetry… The German car has a few little squeaks and rattles, requires more regular TLC, is more costly to maintain, and leaves me little reminders on the garage floor every now and again that it’s not a spring chicken any more. But, the smile-per-mile ratio of the German car is about 50X that of the other one…

Originally Posted by entropy

In my personal experience (and of course YMMV…), the traditional edge that I’ve found so far that “feels” the most like the Feather is a really clean Dubl Duck Goldedge that I got on eBay.

You should try a Lynn-honed Wonderedge. Or a Robert Williams razor finished on Chrome Oxide. Or a few others I could name but won't because I still haven't gotten enough of them myself.

In my experience, a well-prepared straight is a joy to use. A Feather Artist Club also is a treat. Use 'em all!

Gentlemen,

Thank you all for your comments and thoughts

I did end up getting the DD WonderWedge off ebay for 14.00, which I thought was a steal. It had very little wear on it and was in excellent shape so I sent it off to Lynn to be honed.

I just got it back last night and put it to the test. I must say that I do believe with a little practice this razor will become one of my favorites. With the other straights I had tried, all full-hollows, I was never able to complete a shave due to the fact that the blade never seemed stiff enough and every shave was very uncomfortable. With the WonderWedge the blade seemed very controllable and easy to work. If I had to compare it to something I would say it shaved like an Feather, but with much more feedback.

As always Lynn put an outstanding edge on it to make the experience all the more pleasureable.