Thanks,
@Boycie83 .
Nothing contrary or deleterious about the Muramasa, but a little explanation of the foibles I mentioned, and a couple of things I've found when using it. It would be interesting to know if you find them, disagree, or whatever.
Firstly, purely on how it shaves, I find it effective, smooth, comfortable and it ticks all my boxes for a razor that works 100% for me.
Before buying, I mugged up on the specs. published by Tatara, and initially, thought that the maximum setting was going to be "too little", but that's not so. I can't see myself using it much on the lowest settings, but that's no problem. Some people have suggested that the settings should start "higher", but I doubt that's possible. The design is such that a higher gap and the stepwise linked exposure +- would end up with wicked exposures, out of kilter with the gap. The numbers on the Tatara website are well worth a look.
I also have a Masamune Nodachi CC, which has a .90 gap and .13 exposure, and I find it can be uncomfortable work with some blades. "5" on the Muramasa is also .90 gap, with .17 exposure, so it should in theory be a tad "fiercer", but it shaves just as well as the Nodachi, and feels a lot smoother. "3" is .75 gap/0 exposure, and the lower numbers have negative exposure but .60 and .70 gaps, which are pretty standard. I don't mind a bit of blade "feel", which is why I gravitate to the higher numbers. I'd say, overall, that it caters for most preferences.
A number of owners or testers have reported that they find the tiny setting window hard to read, but I can manage it. With any adjustable, I normally set to what I think is the best setting for the blade/beard combination, and stick with that throughout the session. Some have suggested a series of coloured dots rather than white numbers on black, but that involves remembering which colour is which, and, for myself, that's the kind of eidetic memory I rarely use first thing in the morning.
The adjustment is quite interesting, especially if you have both modern and vintage adjustables. The Pearl, and the two Rex models go "up the numbers" as you turn the adjustment collar clockwise. The Tatara does the opposite, and clockwise winds down the numbers, and shares this feature with my Gillette Black Beauty, FatBoy and Slim.
As I don't tend to readjust mid-session, it's not a problem, but when trying it, I find that the adjustment is quite stiff, despite dismantling it with the tool provided and putting some silicone grease in. I prefer not to hold the top cap sides when adjusting, although the concave cut-outs on the head are ideal for gripping it between thumb and forefinger, and in a dry run, makes adjustment easy. If, however, I hold the lower handle and twiddle the adjuster anticlockwise to a higher setting, it is easy to suddenly find that I'm unscrewing the head from the handle (as if to load or remove a blade). Obviously, this doesn't happen if I'm turning clockwise to adjust down, as the screw effect is "opposing", thus tightening head to handle.
It's fair to say that the razor has some little idiosyncrasies, which can easily be mastered, but in all other respects it's a super thing. Fit and finish are first class, and the grip, weight and balance ideal. As an example of quality, I note this. The adjustment is clickless and stepless, so you can turn it to a point between the 1-5 numbers in the window. However, if you adjust in either direction so that each number appears in the window, you will find that the lines of dimples, which twist down the head collar and then to the handle, decreasing in size to the handle butt-end, always line up exactly, with the last collar dimple matching to the first handle one, and the twist continuing. This denotes attention to detail and very tight manufacturing tolerances.
It's not inexpensive, but it's a thing of beauty that does what it's made to do very well, with a lot of clever thought having gone into the design.
It now just makes me want it even more.
