Thread: Feather Plier shavette opninons

Tell me about the Feather Plier shavette razor. I see there are 2 different blades for it; Feather Plier Hair shaper blades and Jatai Feather hair shaper blades. I assume these can also be used for shaving? Good or bad experiences? Sharp? How does it compare to the long blades of the DOVO Shavette?

Hey Vern,

That looks like a newer hair shaper/styler razor for hair dressers. It is not meant for, nor would I recommend it, for shaving. It is bound to be pretty flimsy compared to the Feather Artist Club razors that are designed for shaving.

The Artist Club razors are not cheap, but they are some of the finest replaceable blade straight razors out there and will last you a lifetime. I think Kai makes some similar styled razors meant for shaving, but I have never owned/used one.

Dovo Shavettes are an entirely different beast from the Artist Club, much like the Plier razor, they were intended for hair shaping by stylists but have been pressed into service for shaving as they use a 1/2 DE blade (you can snap DE blades in half with your fingers). They are made from thin sheet metal and are folded into shape. The Artist Club razors are made from stainless steel (I'm assuming investment cast) and are very solid. The blades are also quite thick and much wider than a DE blade, and have rounded corners to avoid "spike" type injuries. When I used my Feather, I could get about 8 decent shaves from a single blade and they were sharper than any regular straight I have ever used.

I have had two Feathers and both are now in new homes.... I prefer my regular straights.

Can you shave with these hair shapers? Yes. Should you? In my opinion... No.

Aside from the issue of blood borne diseases mandating replaceable blades that are new and sterile for each shave, should you find a barber that offers straight razor shaves, they will likely use a Dovo Shavette type razor. They do this for 3 reasons, it's cheap, readily available and the cost of 1/2 a DE blade is minimal.

Regards

Christian

JMO
I use the Feather and Kai replaceable blade razors. They are solid and have a decent weight I can control with my older hands and nervous system. Either the Folding ( Conventional straight razor style) or the Kamisori style that I like is a long term value.Blades last me a few more than 6 shaves.
JMO
~Richard
PS I have tried to shave with various hair shaper razors. If, you decide to use such; buy the stiffest blade you can find and dull the corners. JMO

THANKS ALL!! I have the Feather Plier in my wish list and I also added the Feather SS folding for Artist Club blades as well. I see what you are all saying. There are hair trimmers and then there are those made for shaving, and both called "Shavettes". I included a picture of on in my shaving drawer I have had a hard time with and pretty much turned off the idea of shavette razors. I also have a really cheap Shavette that uses 1/2 of any DE blade and very little sticks out as it is kind of sandwiched between 2 pieces and a U shape upper top hold it all together. It is prone to rusting. Seems like there are a few different Feather blades that fit the Artist Club razor/holder, which is actually cheaper at Amazon than the Plier.

You can use the Schick Proline P-30 blades in the Feather SS razor? Just wondering because I just ordered on in "green". Looked intriguing, and I'm trying their Light Blade (mildest) Pro Guard (also a milder blade) and Professional (a workhorse and most used by many). Geofatboy has an excellent explanation on how these blades are for thickness and how much they protrude, as each has it's amount of exposure. Kind of like having and adjustable, like the Merkur but instead of adjust the razor, you use a different blade. Won't know which one will be "THE" one I will like the best. Too bad they don't sell a 3-5 pack "trial" Oh well, the cat looks like it could use a shave.. LOL

Originally Posted by Gibbs

You can use the Schick Proline P-30 blades in the Feather SS razor?

Yes, you can. I think the Prolines have about the same exposure as the Feather Pros but somehow aren't as harsh a blade.

There's a newish Feather blade called the Feather SoftGuard. Same exposure as the Feather Lights, I think, but with a guard. A lot of people seem to be liking them.

I bet you're going to love the Feather SS.

Originally Posted by Boldspice

Yes, you can. I think the Prolines have about the same exposure as the Feather Pros but somehow aren't as harsh a blade.

There's a newish Feather blade called the Feather SoftGuard. Same exposure as the Feather Lights, I think, but with a guard. A lot of people seem to be liking them.

I bet you're going to love the Feather SS.

Just got done paying for 30 of the blade with the cheaper small package post. Total came to $13.00 which ain't bad.
And, yes, looking forward for Tuesday when it arrives. Nice thing about Amazon Prime... 2 day free shipping.

I also ordered a sampling of those blades, and a rectangular Alum Block.

Scratching the idea of the Plier razor... for hair, and went with 2 of the Feather Artist Club razors....

I got several different blades in from the site: Buy Individual Razor Blades for Double Edge, Single Edge and Shavettes and I also got in 2 of the Feather Artist Club razors, the folding and the straight non-folding style. Is it proper to call it a Kamisori razor? Tried the folding one yesterday with Feather Professional Pro and the Feather Pro Light blade. Nice saves, both of them, but I can see the Pro Professional being a bit more unforgiving than their light version. Tonight, not much to shave, but tried out the new Feather SS Straight Razor, non folding ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) with the Schick Pro Line blade and the Feather Pro Guard blade on one half of the face. I really like the Pro Guard, and the Pro Line Schick was a nice shave as well, but not quite easy going as the Pro Guard.

I have several more blades to try.. as I also have the Kai Captain Original the Kai Captain Titan Mild to try and then compare them to the several flavors of the Feather. I find it so much easier to use the Feather SS non folding than some of my regular straight razors, and pretty close to my Personna Lab Blue blades for sharpness. I have been told the Feather is sharper than the Personna, but I can't see it and I wish I had a Personna Lab in this "Artist Club" configuration to try.

I am surprised that no one make a single edge injector razor that take the longer blades like the Feather Artist Club. I have a Schick injector, and have some blade packs stashed away, but a wide razor would be interesting.

This is going to be fun!! I shaved twice this evening... or rather 2 passes, no nicks and no big issues. Using the Kamisori style Feather razor. Love the way the blades load and held in place. Found a place that sells blades by the each and have some more to try. Right now leaning pretty heavy at the Pro Guard blades, but that place also has the newer Soft Guard blades, at $2.15 each. Feather - Soft Guard Blade - $2.15 each - Double Edge Razor Blade

Hey Vern,

I would call the non folding Feather razor a kamisori "style" as it is not an asymmetrical grind which is typical of kamisori razors.

As for single edge razors taking Feather and Kai blades, there are plenty. I think most gents refer to them as SE razors. Of course, back in the day, we used to take Feather blades, snap off one end and load them into Shick injector razors. If you search for SE razors on the net you will find reference to the Cobra, Mongoose, OneBlade not to mention the italian barber has some RazoRock SE razors that are fairly inexpensive by the looks of things. This type of razor has been discussed by a few gents on this board.

My favourite blade was the Professional Super... they gave me 8 full shaves. I never cared for the guarded ones as I found they didn't shave quite as close as I liked.

These Feather razors are to be treated with respect, I found my skin began to "thin" with several weeks of shaving.... to the point that my skin almost started weeping... not bleeding, just so paper thin it seemed like body fluids would seep through the skin!

If you can shave with a Feather straight, there's no reason you could not shave with a traditional straight razor. You WILL not find them as sharp as a Feather, they tug a bit more, but they are more *fun* in my eyes, and there's nothing quite like shaving with an edge you honed yourself.

Regards

Christian

Originally Posted by Gibbs

Scratching the idea of the Plier razor... for hair, and went with 2 of the Feather Artist Club razors....

I got several different blades in from the site: Buy Individual Razor Blades for Double Edge, Single Edge and Shavettes and I also got in 2 of the Feather Artist Club razors, the folding and the straight non-folding style. Is it proper to call it a Kamisori razor? Tried the folding one yesterday with Feather Professional Pro and the Feather Pro Light blade. Nice saves, both of them, but I can see the Pro Professional being a bit more unforgiving than their light version. Tonight, not much to shave, but tried out the new Feather SS Straight Razor, non folding ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) with the Schick Pro Line blade and the Feather Pro Guard blade on one half of the face. I really like the Pro Guard, and the Pro Line Schick was a nice shave as well, but not quite easy going as the Pro Guard.

I have several more blades to try.. as I also have the Kai Captain Original the Kai Captain Titan Mild to try and then compare them to the several flavors of the Feather. I find it so much easier to use the Feather SS non folding than some of my regular straight razors, and pretty close to my Personna Lab Blue blades for sharpness. I have been told the Feather is sharper than the Personna, but I can't see it and I wish I had a Personna Lab in this "Artist Club" configuration to try.

I am surprised that no one make a single edge injector razor that take the longer blades like the Feather Artist Club. I have a Schick injector, and have some blade packs stashed away, but a wide razor would be interesting.

This is going to be fun!! I shaved twice this evening... or rather 2 passes, no nicks and no big issues. Using the Kamisori style Feather razor. Love the way the blades load and held in place. Found a place that sells blades by the each and have some more to try. Right now leaning pretty heavy at the Pro Guard blades, but that place also has the newer Soft Guard blades, at $2.15 each. Feather - Soft Guard Blade - $2.15 each - Double Edge Razor Blade

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

Hey Vern,

I would call the non folding Feather razor a kamisori "style" as it is not an asymmetrical grind which is typical of kamisori razors.

If you can shave with a Feather straight, there's no reason you could not shave with a traditional straight razor. You WILL not find them as sharp as a Feather, they tug a bit more, but they are more *fun* in my eyes, and there's nothing quite like shaving with an edge you honed yourself.

Regards

Christian

Christian, I have shaved with straight razors. A few years back, just before going with a large collection of DE blades of Gillette, Merkur and the like I also have an adequate supply of straight razors. New razors when I got them, Dovo (2) Revisor (3), Wacker, Gotta 120, and many nearly new vintage like Wade & Butcher and others, mostly German Soligen origin. I even have one that was made in America dated 1854 and honed and shaved with that one. Think of it, a razor that may have shaved someone in the North or South during the Civil War. I also have a 12K Chinese wet stone I got at Woodcraft, a 1k, 4k, 8k Norton stones, a Frictionite 00 (dual sided grit) an Emerald Pike a barber hone (reddish brown), and some Belgian Coticules.... and an old stop.

I don't like the tugging and when I tried an Israeli Personna in DE one time it was so smooth and cut so clean that I now have several DE razors and a host of Blades for the next 20 years, which is good, since I'm already 64. My favorite is the Personna Lab blade, and have several others I have tried from India, Pakistan, Germany, and Russia.

In all honesty I thought the Feather would be sharper than what they are. I didn't think they were as sharp as my Personna, yet some people say they are the sharpest. You can only make a blade so sharp. Hair cuts at .5 micron and about .37 or so micron is all you are going to get out of razor blades (per Glenn) I think it's not how sharp, it's how smooth the edge is once sharp. Too sharp and you'll end up bending the very edge over pretty quick. Also I wonder if when I use the razor on my home built balsa wood "strop" that has the green polishing compound on it I might be filling the voids as well as polishing. Filled scratches (valleys) may give it a bit more smoothness in shave than just honing by itself.

I work at a Winery in Michigan as Assoc Winemaker. We filter our sweet wines and some reds through a sterile membrane filter at bottling, which is 0.45 Micron. For perspective, yeast is around 8 micron and at .45 we filter out that and most bacteria. So a blade at .40 micron or smaller is very little material at the edge.