This week I received what may very well the biggest kickstarter 'mess' this year as far as safety razors goes - the Rockwell 6S razor.... I bought this very slightly used at a nice discount from its original $80 price point and it was described as being one of the well made razors. When the Rockwell razor was first announced it had a value proposition almost second to none when it came to fully stainless steel razors. It was going to be all stainless steel, include three baseplates that all could be reversed to provide a total of six different shaving experiences - and all this for $80. Then the razor came out...and a lot of the early backers experienced everything from extreme delays in shipping to receiving razors that had quality issues to the point where they could not be used safely. There were of course also a subset of backers that received razors that were, albeit a bit crude in finish, perfectly fine to shave with and many people liked them. Some time have passed. A number of people received replacement caps. Some took their razors to their own workbench and evened out, as much as possible, the razor heads. The razor is still, I believe, available on their Etsy site for $80 and it is not too uncommon to be able to pick a cased one up on eBay for around $50. I have so far only given my razor a cursory, visual inspection but based on what I can see I feel some slight optimism that it might be 'a good one'. It's a solid, heavy razor. It has some crude areas in the finish but nowhere near as bad as I had come to expect. This s by no means a razor that can hold a candle to the likes of Wolfman and Blackland - there are some roughness/unevenness to the cast metal here that you simply don't see on artisan machined pieces. On the other hand this kit is also priced at roughly 50% of what a modern "artisan" DE razor commonly sells for. Assembling the pieces and playing around with turning the three baseplates upside down in order to get to the six available types of shave-settings was actually rather surprising - it all felt very smooth and assembled well. The oft found top-cap issues seemed to be missing from mine as, as far as I can tell from a visual inspection, everything seemed to be lining up evenly. It'll be interesting to try this razor out and I intend to do so next week. I still feel very cautiously optimistic though as 'looking' at a razor is very different to shaving with it....
It looks great! The handle alone is worth almost what you paid, and the cool box. Win! Congrats! Enjoy!
Thanks and yeah the handle is actually, as far as I can tell, in great condition and has a very nice, even finish to it. It would of course be nice if the actual heads shaves well
I have 2 of them, plus their replacement caps, for each Razor set. I put razors in all of them and didn't find any problems. But the display or presentation tins were bent.
Happy to hear you got some good ones. I'm hoping mine will fall into that category as well We'll see next week
Was able to get an afternoon shave in today - in part because I was really curious about how this razor would work out. Since it was my first day with it I started with the #1 baseplate. The casting and finish on the baseplates really is pretty crude. Miles away from a nicely machined one but hey, if it shaves well I can accept that at the 'discount' price this razor sells for. I plopped a Rapira blade into it and checked the blade alignment. I was rather surprised to see that the blade exposure was even on both sides of the head and that I couldn't detect a bend in the blade. Off to shaving I went. Two passes as per usual for me - WTG and ATG. As I start shaving with the razor I notice a couple of positive things; a) the razor feels really nice. The handle is very grippy and I like the heavier weight of it, and b) It is a very, very smooth shave. To the point where I didn't know if it was shaving me at all. A very comfortable shave. After my first pass I checked and it had indeed shaved me but not as close as I like it - there were still some stubble - so I continued with the second pass. After the second pass I'd say I was maybe 75% shaved. Well enough to face the world but when stroking my face against the grains I could absolutely feel some residual ones. Now, this was baseplate that is supposed to be the mildest one and I think it really delivered taking that into consideration - buttery smooth performance, mild (I didn't feel as if it would even be possible to cut myself) but not delivering the close shave a higher-number plate might give. So far I am very impressed and am really looking forward to checking out plates 2-6.
Very excellent write up. Also i really do have to agree with your statement: "The casting and finish on the base plates really is pretty crude. Miles away from a nicely machined one but hey, if it shaves well I can accept that at the 'discount' price this razor sells for." I ended up with two sets and was going to give one to my Brother in Law for his birthday and am really having second thoughts. but I have a friend that is a machinist, I talked to him about these Razors and he said he might be able to clean them up. As too the cost he said for all the Beer and Pizza he could consume in an afternoon. (be better off just get my Brother in Law 2 7 pc Above the Tie Razor sets) my friend can consume mass quantities. (we got asked to leave a Sir Georges Smorgasbord once ! after he and I and another friend all ate almost all of the Prime Rib they had on a Tuesday night.)
Shave Report #2 This morning I stepped it up to base-plate #2 (there are six in total that each are supposed to be increasingly aggressive). I must admit it's kind of neat/fun to play around with the plates and figure out which configuration will work the best for you. The shave yesterday was with base-plate #1 and although it gave a very comfortable shave it felt a bit too mild to me and I found it to be hard to get completely clean-shaven in two passes (something I'm able to do with a number of razors). The #2 plate felt different as soon as I started my shave. More audible and more aggressive. It still felt very comfortable and once again I felt that there really was no way I could cut myself. Completed the two passes I normally do (WTG and ATG). I checked the blade alignment again with this base plate and all looks good [to me]. I couldn't see any warping/bend of the blade and it came out even on both sides of the head. There might be a small distortion in the photo below due it being taken with a phone-camera that close to the subject but looking at it in person it all looked straight. Positive: Very comfortable shave/feeling against my skin as I shaved More aggressive than #1 and since I prefer a more aggressive razor I liked it Negative: Even after two passes I still wasn't as clean-shaven as I can get with a number of my razors. There were some traces of stubble left - especially under my jaw. I'm looking forward to stepping it up to #3 tomorrow to see how that will work out for me. I'm still very impressed by this thing - even though I feel as if I shouldn't be
It looks like a nice razor and an interesting concept. I look forward to seeing how it goes with the other Base plates.
That's really a very nice looking razor and a very innovative concept. If the plate could be polished to a bright finish or even a matt finish or wire brush type finish, the razor and concept would be great.
I think if you have some very fine steel wool, I think that could be accomplished. Or maybe some jewelry polishing compound.
Did a quick Google search on the Rockwell 6s, and it appears the latest razors have a very nice finish. Looks very nice and much improved. I think I'll wait a while until all the bugs are out, and then buy one.
Shave Report # 3 Third shave with the Rockwell and continuing to stepping up the aggression-level - now to base plate #3. The first couple of plates I've tried had both resulted in comfortable shaves - but they both left a bit of stubble, so I was rather excited to try yet one more level of 'aggression'. Blade still aligned well as far as my visual inspection went. The shave was my regular two-pass shave (WTG and ATG). After two passes I was 90-95% clean shaven. For some reason the razor still have some issues with my neck/below jaw area. I re-lathered and was able to clean those areas up in a few seconds though. End-result: A very clean and comfortable shave. I really like this razor. Love the weight and feel of the handle and the shaves are extremely comfortable - never any perceived risk of cutting myself. If the base plates weren't to hideous looking I'd be tempted to call it an 'amazing razor'. But...then again, it really is all about how it shaves and not how it looks so maybe it does deserve to be called that. To me it has so far performed flawlessly and I find it really fun to experiment with the base plates. I like it! To summarize my feelings on the three base plates I've tried so far; #1 - Extremely smooth and comfortable shave, very mild. Left a fair bit of stubble after two passes #2 - Equally smooth/comfortable but quite a bit more aggressive. Probably a 50% jump. Still some stubble under the jaw. #3 - Still smooth/comfortable. The best plate so far for me. Two passes left me 90% clean shaven. The remaining stubble (neck/under jaw) were dealt with with one clean-up pass there. I feel that base plate #4 might be where I find my personal sweet spot. Excited to find out. If the increase in "aggression" is similar plate-to-plate then the #5 and #6 are going to be a bit intimidating to shave with.
Whilst this sounds like a positive outcome for you Sir....I am very sceptical about these Backer Kickstarter Razor projects...Its like a weather forecast and or a horse winning a race forecast....Its a forecast and only a forecast .... In other words its a Gamble.... Billy
