Shave Report #1
It had only been 24 hours since the Timeless Razor had done away with my stubble so I wasn't overly bearded this morning.
There was the usual scruffy feeling though running my hands across my face. My beard doesn't grow extremely dense - I'd say medium - but it's rather coarse.
I was really looking forward to trying out the SE50. It has a loading mechanism that I quite frankly have never seen before and if it's one thing I admire it's creativity and innovation in an area that sometimes seem to have stagnated.
But, it obviously also need to perform so let's have a look.
Loading the blade
As covered in the opening post the blade is places on the base plate and you slide the topcap in from the side, in a machined groove, until it covers the base plate. You then secure the head by twisting the screw a few times until its locked in place.
It's easier than it sounds but I do wish that the slots that the blade rests on on the base plate were a little bit more pronounced so that they would stay put a bit more. There is a little bit of dexterity required to load it. Having said that...today was the second time I played around with loading a blade and it took me seconds.
Once the blade is in place the sides of the head lines up very evenly. The base and top plate are exactly the same length - as opposed to the upcoming DE42.
I did notice an interesting thing though - the back of the head leaves a slight 'gap' when the head is secured. It might be a side effect of the tension lock and it doesn't seem to have any impact on the shave of course but thought it was worth calling out.
The original Rocnel SE (that takes DE blades snapped in half) was designed so that, even if the tabs were snapped off, small pieces of the blade would still protrude on the sides. It caused me - and others - some concern but after a few uses it was one of those things that stopped being an issue in reality.
Taking a closer look at the head once the, in this case a Feather Pro, blade is loaded one can see that there is a small amount of blade exposed on both sides of the head;
(Apologies for shoddy "macro" photos - lost my close-up lens )
The amount of blade extending past the head is not as significant as on the original SE and I didn't honestly see it as an issue as this amount is something I see on a number of razors - including the recent Timeless Razor.
Shaving
It became apparent within a few strokes down my face that it's rather mild razor.
If you're the kind of person who likes the idea of these SE razors using the Feather/Kai blades but feel that the Mongoose/Cobras are too aggressive this razor might be the one for you.
Mild yet surprisingly efficient.
As expected (hoped) the 'blade overhang' had no impact on the shave or how I moved the razor around my face.
After two passes (WTG and ATG) I was very clean shaven and there was never any fear of cutting myself as I often get with the other common Feather/Kai razors. Mild. Efficient. I believe it's a "P" (mild) model just as the original Rocnel SE.
The head is
huge. At 69gr it's quite something to balance during your shave.
I did find myself wishing it had been trimmed by 20gr or so to make it feel a bit more balanced.
I'll be trying it out with various handles to see if I can find a good balancing sweet spot.
So a quick summary;
- Interesting/different loading mechanism where the tabs on the base plate could be a bit more pronounced to help keep the blade in place,
- Slight blade overhang on the sides that doesn't seem to affect the shave,
- A rather mild shave that felt very comfortable and was surprisingly efficient
- A big, heavy head
I was chatting with The Cleanshaver earlier in the week about the razor as he had also received his and I made the comment that the Rocnel razors might appeal the most to "DYI"-kinda people..the model airplane builders...the tinkerers. The razors are quirky, very efficient but might require a bit more time and practice in handling and than your off-the-shelf Merkur.
That's neither good or bad - just different. And having options is never a bad thing
My shave today was great. Was it flawless? No but it was quirky, fun and gave me a clean shave.