Wilkinson Sword Empire - first shave.

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I recently acquired a WS Empire razor and I finally got around to honing one of the blades that came with it, and as far as i can tell it was pretty good, passed the hanging hair test and tree topped hairs on my arm. So onto the shave this morning, under whelmed is my impression, the razor is very top heavy and not particularly well balanced, the roller at the front works well and adjusting the blade gap does make a significant difference to the shave. I suspect that with a bit of practice i could get a much better shave by experimenting with the blade gap.

In summary, stroppable blades in razors, Valet did it better. Honeable wedge blades, Rolls did it better. An interesting razor for collections but definitely not a daily driver.
 
By curious coincidence, you can actually use a GEM blade in these razors!

I kid you not! Pop the spine off the back, slide the catch aside on the razor and the blade will sit all the way back. With a little effort, the catch will slide back in place.

In the much later days, slim blades were issued ... kinda like Personna shaper blades but a little smaller.

Likewise, despite a really good and honed wedge, the shave was cumbersome at best to downright awkward. It's a phenomenal piece of kind and a curious piece of history. Good on you for trying it out.
 
By curious coincidence, you can actually use a GEM blade in these razors!

I kid you not! Pop the spine off the back, slide the catch aside on the razor and the blade will sit all the way back. With a little effort, the catch will slide back in place.

In the much later days, slim blades were issued ... kinda like Personna shaper blades but a little smaller.

Likewise, despite a really good and honed wedge, the shave was cumbersome at best to downright awkward. It's a phenomenal piece of kind and a curious piece of history. Good on you for trying it out.


Thanks for the explanation, i had heard you could but it didn't look likely on mine. I will most likely try this out at some point, not in a huge rush though.
 
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