New SE razor - Rocnel

Good evening gentlemen. I am sorry for the delay but I am having an extremely busy time at work. I have very little free time recently but since there are many questions about this razor I wanted to use some of it and answer some of your questions with a small review.

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We started having some new wet shaving products producers from Turkey in past few years. First Tipsoft Luxury Brushes entered our lives. After that Barbaros Razors (Also accepting pre-orders for their product through their website. I was also one of the test users and waiting in the queue for my very own Barbaros razor.) and Rocnel came. Rocnel is a new razor brand but not a new company. They have been producing metal goods and components both under Rocnel brand and as OEM for many years. Company is equipped with not only one CNC machine but with a complete machine park. They are very experienced in their field. This is why they have many certificates including ISO. Chief engineer Murat Usta himself is a wet shaver and currently they have a custom made DE and currently on the production line this new SE series. Rocnel SE razor attracts a lot of attention with its $25 price tag. Some say this can't be true but it is true. They are using class 316 stainless steel, which is the hardest steel on the market but they have a big advantage in the design of this SE. This razor is one piece and the design requires very short CNC time. Therefore they are able to offer it for only $25 + shipping. And the shipping cost is around $7 for most of the world. Mr. Usta asked me to try his razor and give him some feedback before they went into serial production. I tried the razor for a little longer than a week and I need to say that I was impressed. I will try to explain you as much as possible in this review.

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Shaving Character: They are planning on offering 3 head choices. Mild, Medium (P) and Aggressive. In first production runs they will offer only P heads. I have also tested the P head and I need to say that it is mild but more aggressive than DE89/R89. For me R89 is pretty mild but good so once you go a little more aggressive I need to say that it is in a very sweet spot. But if you love extreme aggressiveness I would suggest you to wait couple production runs till they offer aggressive heads. Once loaded blade doesn't move at all. There is not even any micro chattering. Due to this design even though the blades are standard snapped in half DE blades they perform bit different than DE but little similar to a classical SE blade. You can get a very nice and clean shave in two passes. I personally would suggest pairing P head with a sharp blade.

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Loading the Razor: I saw that many people are actually confused about how the blade is being loaded and unloaded. Head is CNCed from one piece solid steel. There is a slight curve on the head and the spring tension created by this curve holds the blade in its place. You don't need to worry. It is very easy to slide the blade inside the razor but you need to push the blade to the end with some force from sides. It is very easy to put the blades in and take them out but razor really doesn't move at all once it is loaded. It doesn't even micro chatter. It is very easy to load the blade. Just snap a DE razor into half and load it to the razor from front. It doesn't matter if the DE blade brakes even or not since the head always touches the middle and the sides are always left outside. You can break these sides later if you don't find them aesthetic. I kept them on in most of my shaves and they didn't disturb me once. You can watch the video below to see how the blade is loaded and unloaded.


Weight & Balance: My first criticism about the Rocnel SE was its handle's weight and height. Handle was a little heavy for my taste and bit long for this design, making it difficult to use on neck area. Mr. Usta told me that he send me one of their standard long DE handles attached to the SE head and actual SE head will be similar size to DE89/R89. Look of the handles will be the same but it will be little shorter and lighted. I am really happy to hear it personally. I am sure final product will be more effective while shaving neck area. Leaving the handle aside, this razor has its center of gravity pointing front. Since it has a heavy head this makes an easy shave without any pressure possible. Blade cuts bristles easily like an axe.

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Production Quality: The prototype I tested was not fully polished. Mr. Usta said that small details will be takes care of before serial production. He recently shared couple pictures and I need to say that the production quality seems amazing and razor feels extremely good in hand. No need to wory about it here. I think quality is far above a $25 razor.

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General Remarks: First of all this is a first time design. I have never seen a razor for snapped in half standard DE blades. I know some people put marks on their blades to use them more than once. With this razor they don't have to anymore. It had a very different but interesting and enjoyable character. You need to use it a few times before you can completely adjust to it. Way it feels in hand is slightly different than a DE razor. This is an amazing razor for $25. Please let me know if you ever find something similar. Also, please let me know if you have any questions. I will try to answer them the best I can when I have time.
 
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