Don't forget to come back and let us know what you went with and how it's working for you. I'm in the same boat as you. I would like to find a good condition NEW because I've seen very few negative reviews. The ones I have been tracking on the bay seem to be going for $30 - $40, so I was thinking about a Cadet or even a Fatip.
Since it appears that we are drifting into $30 range, I would highly recommend a Parker 24c/26c. This is a fantastic razor for the price. Excellent handle. It is a three piece. Parker suffers from its reputation of the past, but seem to have addressed their QA/QI issues. They knocked it out if the park (yes I did that intentionally with this one). I love mine. Mild and efficient shaver.
I think I might go for the RazoRock jaws, but if the Parker can be had at a good price and free shipping from Amazon, I may go that route.
Now that I have used it, I think my Gillette New Long Comb is my new favorite OC. What can I say? lol
Ended up going for the Parker 26c. When I figured in shipping from the Italian barber it was only a few dollars more. I'd rather spend money on a razor rather than shipping. Now I just have to let Amazon prime so its thing!
Had my first shave with the 26c today. It looks nice and feels nice in the hand and although it gave me a good shave it was kind of uncomfortable. I used the shark blades that came with it and I've never used them before so I'll experiment with some others and see. I figure it will be good with the right blade.
The same thing happened to me. One thing that was very useful was a shallow blade angle. I put the top cap on my skin and slowly lower the handle until I just feel the blade start to cut. The shaving angle is much more shallow than my other razor. Of course, it may need a different blade for you, but I found that adjusting my angle made all the difference with this razor.
