Finally I tried a Treet black beauty with the bakelite model. Unfortunately, waaaaay too mild for me. I hardly achieved one shave with an edge, at the second shave I was scraping and shaking and scraping and shaking... Hopeless. Or maybe I should use hot water to prep my skin, while with SS blades I only use cold water, which works better on my neck. Well, maybe I will give the black beauty another chance...
Ryan was kind enough to lend me both the first and second generation models. I've yet to use them, but I absolutely love the head design. The sharpener thing is hokey and I am going to ignore it. But the hinged loading mechanism on the Gen 2 is really incredile. Gen 1 almost feels like a prototype in comparison. It is clunky, unrefined, and quite a pain to load. Can't wait to test these out!
I should clarify that I don't really doubt it whether it will work or not. I'm just more interested in the shaving geometry than the ability to sharpen blades.
These have a broad shaving angle. They were designed to be used with the top cap against the face, and in that mode they provide a mild to moderate shave. Lift the top cap off the face and go for a more Gillette style 30° angle and you will find that the shave becomes very aggressive and the audible feedback ratchets up a lot. Some people have referred to this as a "manual adjustable razor" in which the angle, dictated by you, determines the aggressiveness. This ranges from Gillette Super Speed levels to 2011 Mühle R-41 levels.
Sound advice. I kept it pretty mild for the first go today. Tomorrow or Monday I'll ratchet it up a notch and try some more aggressive angles.
First shave. Helluva great shave. Only complaint is that for me the blade is harder to properly secure than in my Bakelite version (posts not as tall maybe). Minor complaint, it's a stunning performer.
Death Match Shake Sharp v1 vs Shake Sharp v2. The Bakelite v1 is equipped with two stacked Permasharp blades, the chrome v2 with one. Winner is the more aggressive hacked Bakelite, delivering BBS without any irritation on the head shave where the v2 does produce a little where buffing was required on the crown stubble. The hinged cap on the v2 does not fit as securely as the pressure fit hacked v1 which may well account for the difference.
Tonight I am getting ready to try a Shakesharp for the first time. Thanks to @jmudrick for loaning me his. I figured to go full bore and load up 2 Super Iridiums. Wish me luck I will report back later tonight. Tom Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
WOW Ok here it goes. I made a nice slick lather with some WSP Lavenderwood using my boar brush. Grabbing the Shakesharp it felt very nice in my hand. Very similar to my Gems. Finding the angle was effortless. After the first stroke I could tell this was going to be a stellar shave. Finishing my first pass and inspecting the reduction. I would say it is on par with any of my SE's, not quite injector reduction. I proceeded thru my last two passes without ever feeling any tinge of this razor bitting me. I did my final rinse and inspected the results. I needed to re lather my neck and do a clean up pass there. The end result was a BBS All over. I am curious to see if it has the lasting power of my injectors. I am wondering if the 2 blades are actually cutting. Or if the top blade is just making the bottom blade stiffer. Resulting in a blade that is as stiff as a SE or injector blade. I will try some variations out to see what happens. This is a razor that I will now actively look for. It is a winner in my book. Thank you @jmudrick for your generosity. Tom Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I know of an antique dealer that has a mint example, with the case, and he is asking a reasonable price for it. Tom, based on your write up, I might make a visit there tomorrow.
For me it is a great razor. Still smooth as silk 9 hours later. Tom Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Make sure it's a version 1.0 Bakelite with the unhinged cap. The later versions are great but the 2.0 has posts on the base which are too short to hold two blades securely thus the twin blade hack won't work. The 1.5 Bakelite with hinged cap I'm not sure about. I mean buy em all just know the hacked v1.0 will beat the 2.0.
We'll, I just tried the bakelite handled shake sharp razor with two blades. I used the two blades for the first pass and went to one blade for the second. Using two blades definitely changes the face feel of the razor, though not (for me) in a good way. I prefer the single blade experience. There's nothing I could really put my finger on, but having two blades made the razor feel more aggressive and less responsive. The blades used were Wilkinson Sword, modern production. I did notice when I seperated the blades, quite a bit of hair had become lodged between the blades. Makes me wonder if a shim stuck between them would be effective? Edit: I find the bakelite version to be a tad bit more aggressive of a razor than I prefer, so factor that in to my above comments. I prefer the Shake Sharp 2.0's.
Strange, my feeling is just the opposite, substantially less aggressive feel with the two blade with no less efficiency. Go figure. I've tried with Feather, Permasharp, and Personna 74 blades.
