Feather Artist, Gimmick?

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178
Hi Guys,
I have been DE shaving for a good few years now and I think I have my shave skills to a fairly high standard.
My question is about the Feather Artist, I have an SS (with Pro-guard blades) which I bought a few years ago when my DE shaving was pretty good and I started thinking about a straight. My first few attempts were pretty dismal and I soon gave up and went back to perfecting my DE shaves.

Moving on three years and I thought I would give it another go. My technique must have improved a lot, although I still have to think about which hand to use for each section. I can get a pretty decent shave but it takes a long time and a lot of concentration, not so great for work days.

So my question is, is this just a phase that most of us go through and then either return to DE shaving or move to a proper straight, or have any of you stuck with these razors for your daily shave? The reason I ask is because I think it will take quite a bit of time to try and perfect this, but if its never quite going to be as good as a straight or DE then what's the point? I am prepared to work at it for as long as it takes, but only if the results will come with time.

What do you think?

Cheers,
BR
 
Agree with both the comments above.

I use a Folding DX and a Non Folding Kai Excelia regularly and can get great shaves from them.
I don't it takes a particularly long time to dial them in and I was quite surprised how quickly I managed learn how to use them.

The blades in an SS have less exposure compared to a DX/RG.
By using a Proguard you are making it milder still and probably less effecient.

Try it with some Professional blades.
 
Thanks for the replies. It's funny how things go! I had a couple of days growth to get rid of this morning and my question inspired me to dig out the artist and have another go. The shave was very good, as good as one of my better DE shaves and that made me look at the DX that was recommended above. Well one thing led to another and before I knew it I had bought a wood handled DX from Japan via Ebay. Not a bad price compared to the others but still stupidly expensive for what it is.
I started all of this because I was so disgusted at the price of multi-blade cartridges. If I had stayed with them I could have saved a fortune :cool:

Cheers,
BR
 
I usually find using a blade for the first time can be a little harsh.
A quick palm strop before hand usually sorts it out.
 
A Feather RG was my introduction to straight razor techniques. I still use it occasionally for old time's sake. I think they work perfectly well, although like most people I rapidly moved on from the ProGuard blades to the normal ones, and nowadays I go for the super which have a wee bit more blade exposure.

Thinking about it, I'm off for a short break next week, and I might take the RG as a travel razor. :)
 
When I acquired my Feather SS, I used it exclusively for thirty days. I tried just about every blade available between Kai and Feather. I found the Feather Pro and the Pro Super to give me the best shaves. By the end of that month, I was getting consistently good shaves and could do both WTG and ATG with it. This razor just takes some practice and has stayed in my rotation.
 
Another good shave this morning on a work day as well! The WTG pass is sorted, no issues but the XTG technique changes every time I do it. The same with the clean up pass! I seem to be cack handed with my left hand and not as safe. On the other hand, no cuts, no weepers, so it can't all be bad :cool:. This blade is on about shave 10 or so. I'm not sure what a palm strop is, in any case I don't have a strop. I guess the cork just takes the newness off the blade. Does any cork work? Looks like the consensus is the Pro blade so I will be getting some of those soon once my wallet recovers lol

Cheers,
BR
 
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