Well, after delay after delay the Janus Razor is finally in the mail.
Probably towards the end of next week I'll give a preliminary review of the thing.
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So fast forward to Saturday and the thing was in my mailbox today so a few preliminary comments today.
I didn't do any pics. If you want to see it go over to the Janus Site. He has better pics than I can do plus he explains it all.
So, by way of background, originally this was a crowd funding thing which didn't gain enough support. He was going to do a bunch of differing finishes but in the end only did one. Basic polished stainless with a few accents here and there. He made about 50 razors as a limited run and that's it. These he did via his own site.
So remember this is a $500 razor which is probably the most expensive DE I know of. Wolfman DEs can be more but that's for the more exotic materials.
This is an all stainless adjustable DE kind of like the original Gillette Toggle.
So it arrives in pretty plain cardboard packaging with an instruction book and an LE certification and a 5 pack of Kai blades.
Finishing on the razor is perfect and the feel and balance is perfect too. The length and thickness are perfect for my hands and the patterns cut into the shaft are as good as they come. The razor has good heft to it. The toggle mechanism is smooth and light and the adjustments are precise with clickstops 1-9 and inbetween.
So far I give it a 5 out of 5. The shave comes tomorrow so I'll report back initial shave impressions.
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So today is Sunday and a chance to take the Janus for a spin.
The shave-Janus Razor on setting 5 (out of 9), Kai Blade, Meisner Tremonia Ice Menthol Shave Soap, Shavemac Ebonite 2 bander brush and Sebum Gold A/S preparation.
I've said many times each time they come out with a new razor using the latest tech there is that forward march to "does it shave as good as a straight?".
I think my first stainless was the Feather which though well made and good looking was a very mild razor and gave a so so shave, I tried the Mongoose and it gave a great shave but on the aggressive side, The Above The Tie Slant which was a tad better, then the Timeless which I thought had the best combo of mildness and giving a really close shave and finally the Rockwell Model T which though having some rough edges surrounding it's mechanism gave a really great comfortable shave. I thought it was impossible to design something to shave closer without the aggressiveness of the original R-41 which I still feel gave the absolutely closest shave and came so close to a straight shave.
Well, I can finally say the nexus between a straight and a DE has been breached. If I had shaved with a straight I would not have gotten any closer or more comfortable a shave. Yes it's that good period. Is it worth $500? That's something you have to decide for yourself. It is a lot of money even for "Thebigspendur".
After shaving my entire face was BBS including my neck and the usual more difficult areas. I shaved almost 12 hours ago and my face still feels exactly the same. No hint of an stubble or roughness anywhere. We will see how long that lasts before stubble appears. The only caveat I'll mention and I think I said the same about the Rockwell Model T is you must use a really good soap or cream with lube in spades. Both razors have this quality where without lube they seem to adhere to your face as you shave. Don't even think of shaving with just water or even doing a water only pass. You must have that lube on your face at all times. Come to think of it I've had straights that do the same thing. Maybe that's the secret of teir shave ability. I don't know.
These were made in a run of around 50 and he offered folks their money back after the last delay so if you want one contact Eric on his site. I guess if he gets enough requests he might do another run.
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So another update here.
I had been using the Kai blades supplied with the razor. Kai's are interesting blades. They are thicker than any other blade I've used and they have no coatings on them which should mean the actual blade finishing should be better because they don't rely on the coatings to provide the quality of the shave.
I found with the 3rd shave from the same blade the Kai's started to exhibit a tad of roughness. The shave quality was the same but in my book that means 3 shaves per blade and no more. I've switched to Feather now and I found at setting 5 it was definitely a bracing shave. I could probably set it back to setting 4. The feathers are certainly sharper than the Kai. We'll see how long they last. The shave quality appears to be the same with both blades.
