FEATHER Aritst Club Blade Info

From what I see, the Feather Artist Club razor blades that fit the folding and non folding Japanese stye Artist Club razors have one thing in common, and that is the edge in sharpness. From there, thickness, guards, and exposure define the blade to the individual.

I'm posting a picture of the blades most common and their dimensions:

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The Feather Artistry Club Pro Light blade (in Japanese)
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Information regarding the A.C. ProGuard blades that have the same overall height of the Professional at 8mm but are a bit thicker, and have added guards to help with sensitive skin. NOTE : There is more blade exposure on the DX razor than the SS razor with this blade.
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There is also a newer blade, called the Artist Club Professional SoftGuard blade. It has the most safety of all the Artistry Club blades, and I would imagine that the edge sharpness would remain the same "sharp" as the rest of their line up. Good for newbies, women, sensitive skin, new barbers.. you get the idea.

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I am assuming that all of them would have the same level of sharpness as it is necessary for a good cut of hair/whiskers. Interesting system in that on my Gillette adjustable razors, the razor adjusts for blade aggressiveness and exposure, and here, since it is a pseudo strait razor, which has no way to adjust, the adjustment is done by the actual blades used. This is what sets them apart from the DE break-in-half kind of razors and others. You can only select blades for the sharp/smooth aspect of the different DE blades, but from there, all the holder does is hold the blade, and has no control over exposure or how much flex (thickness) if being used.

I got in a few of the Feather Pro Soft Guard blades from Buy Individual Razor Blades for Double Edge, Single Edge and Shavettes and tried one on Monday night. WOW!! What a soft shave it was!! Was it still sharp? Yes, of course, whiskers came off and I did manage to get a small nick, but nothing to write home about. Face is smooth and irritation free. Shaved again Tuesday night, 1/2 of the face with Soft Guard and the other side with Pro Guard. Definite difference, but the Pro Guard was a nice shave as well. These are hard to find locally in America (Soft Guard) where the Feather Pro Guard are pretty easy to find all over. Used Geo. F. Trumpers ALMOND Shaving Cream I got in on Monday and love the creamy texture. It has a tendency to dry a bit fast, but a hot wet brush revitalizes the shave, and smells oh so wonderful.

I prefer the pro blades. My wife prefers the proguards.

I'm curious, how do these razors shave compared to a traditional hone it yourself razor? I'm a fair hand with a stone and strop, and my razors are sharp, is there any advantage to using the replaceable blade razors besides not having to sharpen them?

Wes

I have yet to see any honed and stopped razor compare in sharpness, to the Feather Pro blades, or even some others like the Schick injector (yes for Feather Artist Club) blades. Some say the Feather are "too" sharp and takes a couple of shaves to get them tamed down. I just know that I can shave easily and fairly quickly now, with the Feather non folding razor and blades, with no nicks or other blood issues compared to some of my best straights. I would LOVE to get my straight to the same level of sharp that these are after a couple of shaves.

Good luck with that! Mechanical badass is so much sharper than I would ever lay to my face.
I have no use for those. A wrecked face for me. Too sharp! ;)

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Originally Posted by HappyMan

I'm curious, how do these razors shave compared to a traditional hone it yourself razor? I'm a fair hand with a stone and strop, and my razors are sharp, is there any advantage to using the replaceable blade razors besides not having to sharpen them?

Wes

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Among the Artist Club razors, I prefer the DX series, as they come IMO closest to a classic straight razor. I use them mainly when travelling, occasionally at home.
My standard blades are the Professional and Super Pro blades; the latter have some more blade exposure, but I found that it does not make much difference to me and they handle pretty much alike.

New blades have a harshness that I am not used to see on my classic straight razors, but this levels off after 2-3 shaves, or the blade can be tamed by some palm stropping (not as dangerous as it sounds) before first use.
The blades are much stiffer than safety razor blades and give me, with the usual pre-shave prep, around 10-12 shaves, maybe a few more.

I am generally not a fan of shavette type razors; the blades are highly flexible and I look at these contraptions as mere adaptations of the hair scrapers that barbers used for removing neck hair after a haircut (Dovo shavettes enthusiasts, please take no offense at my strictly personal opinion), but the Feather DX falls in a different category that I make an exception for.


Still, nothing gives me a closer, more comfortable and more rewarding shave than a properly honed and stropped straight razor.


B.

I never knew they had some with guards on. Pretty neat!

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

I never knew they had some with guards on. Pretty neat!

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I've been using a Feather for the last two years save for summer because I've been living away from my primary residence. In those two years, I wasn't able to use up my stock of blades which is too bad because a friend of mine who I trust and has no reason to need a blade with guards, swears by them saying its the most comfortable shave period.

That's HIGH praise. I'm really looking forward to trying it one day... but I can't wait to get back to my straights either.