I just started using a DE safety razor last week. I bought an inexpensive non-adjustable Feather razor for around $ 20 on Amazon.com with an assortment of DE blades. The shave seems to be very smooth like my Gillette M3 Power razor, but it is not very close, albeit similar to my Gillette. I am using the 7 o'clock blades first and have about 5 shaves on it. I am only shaving with the grain except for the neck area where I go up and against the grain. I am thinking if I like shaving with the DE razor, I may spring for an adjustable Merkur or Mergress safety razor. It is between the Merkur Futur, Progress or the Mergress Progress, which is the most expensive. Does anyone have any experience with these razors. I assume with an adjustable you can control the closeness and smoothness of the shave. The assortment of blades I have are 7 o'clock, Wilkinson Sword, Shark, Derby, Feather, Astra, and Blue Bird. Is this a good assortment? It's nice to have a choice of blades instead of only the Gillette M3 blades which are around $ 4 apiece when you buy 5.
...to The Shave Den family! Be sure to stop by The Shave Den "Master Sticky" thread to familiarize yourself with the rules and different areas of The Shave Den! I've used the customized Progress known as the Mergress. It was a fine razor. The adjustability on any razor allows you to have less or more blade exposure and let's you dial in on what works for you. To that end, any of the vintage Gillette adjustable razors (Slim, Fat Boy, Toggle, black long handle and short handle Super Adjustable models) are, IMHO, better quality and can be had for much cheaper excepting the Toggle which costs anywhere from what 2 to 6 of the Merkur adjustable models cost.
Welcome to TSD! You'll find once your technique gets better, the shaves get closer than you can get with a Mach 3 or Fusion. With an adjustable you can indeed adjust the blade to be either milder or more aggressive. If you're interested in trying an adjustable you can also keep an eye out for any of the vintage Gillettes (Slim Adjustable, Fat Boy, or Black Handled Adjustable) which tend to be cheaper than modern adjustables but are just as good - if not better.
Welcome to the Den. We know you'll fit right in. So grab yourself a comfy chair, and give our threads a spin! Burma Shave
Welcome to the Den!! While I can't comment on the newer adjustables since I don't have one (yet), but I do have a Fatboy and a long black handled Super Adjustable and they shave great(usually I set them on 5,but that varies depending on the blade).
Welcome amigo. I use my dad's '63 Gillette Slim and have it set on 2. It's a great shaver and great razor to start out on. If you get any adjustable, make sure the silo doors (the place where the razor goes) is open. Otherwise, you'll mess up the internal working parts of the razor. Once again, welcome I think you'll like it here and the people are real nice.
Hi and welcome to the then, Yes you have a very good assortment of blades, I use mainly Astra sp's as my main blade, the futur razor is a good razor as is the progress and its modified counterpart which essentially is the same, but more refined, im sure you would be happy with either and get closer shaves