7 day review of the Hone type 15a

Blademonkey

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image.jpg image.jpg I received my Hone 15a yesterday , nicely packaged in its black box with white sleeve with the company name Hone emblazoned on it.
When I opened the box and picked up the razor I thought wow this is light, if I did not know it was aluminium I would have thought it was some sort of plastic! I have the standard short handle as is my preference .
Not only will I be reviewing it as a stand alone razor but I will also be comparing it with it's older brother the Hone type 15 (brass)

first shave. Day one.

Ok, on with the shave, because I'm comparing it to the 15 I will use the same blade as I use in in the 15 an Astra SP.
After my normal routine of hydration I whipped up some slick OSP spice road soap.
One my first pass WTG the only difference I noticed was the weight or lack of it , it was easy to use and felt good in hand although I must say I did not have any problems with its heavier brother. It seemed to remove the same amount of stubble.

Second pass ATG, one thing I noticed was a little drag from the top cap, not too much but it was not as slick as the brass cap.
This was not down to the soap I'm using, OSP is super slick so it's got to be the black finnish on the cap. Again about the same amount of stubble removed.

Third pass, ATG, again I felt just a little drag on my cheeks from the cap but not so bad that it ruined the shaving experience for me. Again my face felt the same as if I had been using the 15, a little clean up in the usual areas and shave done.

The 15a shaves very well indeed but not any better for me than the 15 does.
This may be down to the blade so tomorrow I will try a feather blade and see if this gives it the extra aggression we were promised.

The blade gap appears to be the same on both razors and when put side by side I am hard pressed to find any difference between the two razors apart from the top cap on the aluminium is ever so slightly thinner and the thread pitch is not the same, otherwise the same! ( apart from metals used )

Please feel free to ask me any questions and please remember this review is how I see the razor, it is my opinion and yours may differ.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's instalment. Over and out.




 
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View attachment 20458 View attachment 20453 I received my Hone 15a yesterday , nicely packaged in its black box with white sleeve with the company name Hone emblazoned on it.
When I opened the box and picked up the razor I thought wow this is light, if I did not know it was aluminium I would have thought it was some sort of plastic! I have the standard short handle as is my preference .
Not only will I be reviewing it as a stand alone razor but I will also be comparing it with it's older brother the Hone type 15 (brass)

Ok, on with the shave, because I'm comparing it to the 15 I will use the same blade as I use in in the 15 a Astra SP.
After my normal routine of hydration I whipped up some slick OSP spice road soap.
One my first pass WTG the only difference I noticed was the weight or lack of it , it was easy to use and felt good in hand although I must say I did not have any problems with its heavier brother. It seemed to remove the same amount of stubble.

Second pass ATG, one thing I noticed was a little drag from the top cap, not too much but it was not as slick as the brass cap.
This was not down to the soap I'm using, OSP is super slick so it's got to be the black finnish on the cap. Again about the same amount of stubble removed.

Third pass, ATG, again I felt just a little drag on my cheeks from the cap but not so bad that it ruined the shaving experience for me. Again my face felt the same as if I had been using the 15, a little clean up in the usual areas and shave done.

The 15a shaves very well indeed but not any better for me than the 15 does.
This may be down to the blade so tomorrow I will try a feather blade and see if this gives it the extra aggression we were promised.

The blade gap appears to be the same on both razors and when put side by side I am hard pressed to find any difference between the two razors apart from the top cap on the aluminium is ever so slightly thinner and the thread pitch is not the same, otherwise the same! ( apart from metals used )

Please feel free to ask me any questions and please remember this review is how I see the razor, it is my opinion and yours may differ.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's instalment. Over and out.



Nice one Paul, first impressions - too light maybe?
 
Finally got a chance to read your review...Anyone think I was at work.:rolleyes:

Good write up and nice photos. So far the Brass Hone is favourite for my next purchase. It'll be interesting to hear your thoughts over the next 7 days.
 
Finally got a chance to read your review...Anyone think I was at work.:rolleyes:

Good write up and nice photos. So far the Brass Hone is favourite for my next purchase. It'll be interesting to hear your thoughts over the next 7 days.
Thank you Rob, so far all I can say is the 15a is a very good lightweight razor but for me the brass 15 has a lot more going for it.
There is still time for me to change my mind, with only one shave completed it would be rash of me to make my mind up yet.
I will keep you posted as far as my views are concerned.
 
I've noticed that some materials do tend to either slide or stick to the face / lather when shaving.
It should not have surprised me so much after all the handle has the same coating and does not slip and slide with wet hand's.... Good for a razor handle but not so good for a top cap on a razor but fortunately it's not so bad as to make it unusable.
 
image.jpg Day two, Review of Hone type 15a Thursday 1st September 2016.
Soap used...OSP spice road

Today I used a feather blade to see if I could find the extra aggression with this razor compaired to the type 15 ( brass )
First pass WTG I could feel I had fitted a feather almost straight away, I always find these blades sharp but not smooth and for all of its sharpness it still did not out perform the Astra SP.

Second pass XTG I felt a very slight bit of drag from the top cap but it did not interfere with the shave at all.
It mowed through my stubble in much the same manner as the type 15 would.

Third pass ATG this for me was not as comfortable as it should have been this blade is not the smoothest of blades, I picksd up a couple of small nicks, one on my neck and one on my jaw line.
Anyway I finnished off this pass and did a little clean up and again was left with a really smooth face.

The shave and finnish I am getting with this wonderful lightweight razor is nothing short of fantastic but no better than my type 15 (brass). Tomorrow I will for a bit of fun use both razors one for each side of my face and compair the difference if any. I will also be going back to using the Astra SP blade which I find to be both sharp and smooth.
Please remember these are my own personal findings and opinions yours may differ. Untill tomorrow , over and out.


image.jpghttp://theshavingroom.co.uk/community/index.php?members/blademonkey.7465/
 
image.jpg image.jpg View attachment 20485 View attachment 20485 Day three, Review of Hone type 15a Friday 2nd September 2016

Today for real time comparison between the 15a and the 15 I will shave one side of my face with the 15a and the other with the 15, both razors fitted with a Astra SP blade second use.
Again I have used the OSP Spice Road shaving soap.

To keep this short I will give you my overall impressions, in short, the feel of the shave felt the same, very smooth indeed, the amount of stubble taken off with each pass was the same.

For me the face feel was better with the 15 because of the heat retention and zero drag from the top cap.

The weight of the 15a made it a little easier to throw around but only a little for me, if you have problems with heavy razors though the 15a is very light.

Both razors felt safe to use with wet hands giving plenty of grip.

The end result was the same as far as the shave was concerned both razors took the same amount of stubble and both were smooth in action and left my face really smooth with zero irritation.

The 15a wins if you like a lighter razor, it wins on price £65 compaired to £110 for the 15. The finnish black or silver will stay looking good if looked after.

However the 15 for me feels better for its heat retention, it feels so good to have a really warm razor against my skin and I prefer a heaver razor and I like the fact that over time the brass will tarnish and leave a wonderful patina that will be different for every user.

Tomorrow I will continue to use the 15a, this time I will try a Gillette silver blue blade and see if that changes anything as far as the shave is concerned.

Once again, these are my findings and opinions yours may differ.

Until tomorrow , over and out .
 
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image.jpg Day four, review of the Hone type 15a...Gillette silver blue #1
Saturday 3rd September 2016.

So today I'm trying the 15a with a Gillette silver blue blade to see if this improves the aggressiveness of this mild razor.

Today I will be using P&B Albion...my first use of these soaps.

Again I will condense this somewhat for ease of reading.

I performed all three passes plus clean up and found it was still performing well but again no better than the type 15 (brass)
This blade felt a little harsh in this razor compaired to an Astra SP, although it felt fine in the 15....strainge, I will continue to evaluate this great lightweight razor with another blade, I think a 7 o clock yellow for tomorrow and we will see how that performs.

I really wanted this razor to be the slightly more aggressive razor that it was supposed to be but so far it has fallen short of that, saying that doesn't change the fact that it is still a great razor and produces good smooth shaves and it shouldn't put you off , if you are looking for a mild ish lightweight razor that looks fabulous and at a good price this could be the razor for you .

The P&B soap was wonderful, another great soap to go along with my others!

Untill tomorrows instalment with another blade, over and out.
 
@Blademonkey Thank you for the great write ups and pictures. Its really interesting to read the side by sides, I like your descriptions :)

I agree the change between the two razors is very subtle. Just to give a little more information on the changes that I made here is a side by side in CAD of the 15 cap in red, and the 15a cap in blue, with a blade in place. The idea was to give more access to the blade, so when your skin is between the guard and the cap it contacts more of the blade. I was trying to account for the weight difference, without creating something that was too harsh so it still had the Type 15 mild character. I think it did add a touch more feel, but I agree completely it is still not aggressive. :) Can't wait to read more, thank you so much for taking the time to write such detailed and solid reviews.

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Thankyou Andrew, it has been my pleasure to review both of your razors,
Although not as aggressive as I had imagined it would be it is still a wonderful lightweight razor which has the great looks of the original 15, there are always people who will prefer the heaver brass Hone ( me) but equally there are people who prefer the lighter razor so you have pleased both camps with this new razor.
I am sure I am not the only person looking forward to hearing about your next razor design.
Good luck for the future, Paul.
 
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