I just had the most satisfying shave in a long time. Feather blade with the R6 plate. Completely smooth and comfortable and efficient. This will be my go to if it feels as smooth tomorrow, too.

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That's exactly the combo I use with consistently outstanding results.
I've been an advocate of plate 6 since people are a bit scared of it, but it's the smoothest fo me and also very forgiving.

I use my Futur on six all the time, but it never works with a feather blade. The R6 sets it apart for me.

There was an update earlier today from Rockwell about the model T. Here it is.


New Campaign Update!
The Rockwell Model T Razor & Blades: Shaving Perfected team just posted.

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posted by Rockwell Razors

Jun 6, 2017 • 5:27AM PDT



May Update - Mold Success & Final Adjustments

Dear Backers,

Thank you for your patience while we prepared this update! I’m happy to announce it’s been a very productive month - let’s dive right into it:

New Mold Completion & Testing

The molds were completed in the last month, and overall we’re extremely satisfied with the parts that they are producing. The chroming quality we’re seeing is exceptional, and we’ll be sharing pictures of the new Model T in the upcoming June Update. Only one problem arose in the testing of the new molds, and that was related to the “T-Bar” piece of the Model T. We’re confident we’ve already designed a solution to this problem, which we’ll get into below:



(Stainless steel rod (left) and T-Bar (right) parts, with the "male" component of the T-Bar circled in red)

The stainless steel rod is an integral part of the Model T’s adjustment mechanism. The T-Bar “male” portion (circled in red) must fit perfectly parallel with the “female” insert at the top of the stainless steel rod. If this connection is off by even 1 degree or several thousandths of an inch, it will result in a minute skew in the fit of the razor head, changing the blade gap (and the shave performance) of the razor. In testing, the parts were kept within the +/-0.002” tolerances we required, but even this tiny variance unfortunately didn’t produce the standards we are expecting for the Model T.

Our solution is a slight modification to the mold to widen the “male” portion of the T-Bar, and then to use precision machining to produce exactly the dimensions we require in an extremely replicable manner. We’re anticipating this will address the final hurdle before we can proceed with full production and will have more news on this in the June Update!

Stainless Steel Model T

We had hoped to have more news on the viability of this project in this update for the subset of backers potentially interested, but the degree of precision required to cast the head components (especially the doors) require significantly more evaluation than originally expected. We should be able to cover this in the June Update.

~~~

Thank you for all your ongoing support! Please reach out to us at info@rockwellrazors.com if you have any questions about production before the next update on June 30th.

Gareth
Co-Founder, Rockwell Razors



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This is awesome! Thanks for sharing I'd like more info.
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Ok, here is the story.

Initially Rockwell got samples from companies and found a manufacturer that could give them exactly what they wanted. The razor looked and performed great and was everything they were looking for, unfortunately the company said that the razors came out as cast but in reality they had CNC machined the samples to make them look better. They did not disclose this to Rockwell. These first units were sand cast out of molten steel rather than injection molded with metal powder then sintered in a furnace as they are now made.

After the Kickstarter Rockwell put in the orders. These were the V1 razors, good but not great. Rockwell were new to the whole manufacturing game so they stayed up in Canada and let the company do QC and ship the units off to a fulfillment company. Unfortunately since they were new to everything they did not have a proper contract with outlined minimum acceptable specs etc so the company produced the full order of very shitty razors.

As a side note, the V1/V1.5 handles are AMAZING, the knurling is a lot sharper and grippier. Some people complained so they toned it down for the V2 handles

After the first batch went out and people started complaining Rockwell was dismayed to find out what they were shown and what was ordered were completely different. When they took it up with the manufacturing company they were basically told "LOL, get rekt noob" and shown the door. They took pretty much all the money Rockwell had and there was nothing they could do about it.

Rockwell took the V1 razors and started searching for machining companies that could fix the razors satisfactorily. The biggest issue was the vast majority of them had warped top caps. The machinist did a few pieces up and they came out great and gave a reasonable quote. Rockwell agreed and signed a deal.

The machinist then sent every razor out to a 3rd party who ground the ever loving shit out of every sing top cap and face of the safety bar. These are what I started calling and what eventually caught on as the V1.5 razors. Again, Rockwell tried to take it up with the machinist but due to a really bad contract they were screwed out of the last of their funds.

After that Gareth cashed out his investments, took out loans and maxed out credit cards to get the V2 made and he went down and personally inspected razors and manufacturing before sending things off to the fulfillment company. Literally days upon days of sitting in a office staring at parts to make sure nothing is wrong with them.

Check out the pictures from @McHale in post number 440 on the page before this. There was also a design flaw in the plates. It is possible that this could have worked with perfect caps, but coupled with the uneven edges on those, it was a disaster. Version 1 and 1.5 did not support the blade all the way across the plate. The blade was supported by the raised areas on the left and right as you looked towards either of the blades cutting edges. On version 2 the ridge supports the blade from one end to the other.

Thank you AverageJoe for briefing us.

It's enlightening to know the story behing our beautiful razors and also makes me even more appreciative of Gareth's honesty and perseverance making damn sure, his backers were supported all the way through the ordeal. He finally came out with an outstanding product and I hope he recouped the loss by now. I rest assured however that with the 6S, everyone into DE shaving will eventually get one. There is no escape. If you are into DE shaving and haven't shaved with a 6S, you have missed out on one of the greatest shaving experiences and one of the greatest razors ever produced.
Now what we can expect of Gareth having acquired the necessary skills of partner choosing, also how to produce to the best possible advantage, we can look forward to great achievements from Rockwell. They will certainly have my backing money.

I am well aware of the non raised area in the middle, I still have mine. It actually it worked very well even with the non supported are in the middle, it was just the flawed top caps that made the blade wavy. Another cap such as an EJ DE89 makes the blade straight and one of my friends used his that way for at least 8 months and got amazing shaves.

One question,
If you put the top cap of the 6S onto the V1 or the V1.5, will it shave the same as the 6S?

I haven't tried it since my base plates were warped, but since the angles of the top cap and base plates are different I would expect it would not be as good as a shave as a V2.

I use my V2 top cap on the V1 and it doesn't shave as smoothly but it shaves OK. For all practical purposes, it works as advertised. There is a little blade chatter. V1.5 is like shaving without a safety bar. I wouldn't recommend it.

I still shave with the V1 on occasion for grins.

It's truly an incredible story and knowing this makes me want to support such a venture. He really put max effort into it, though he constantly got screwed around by the very same people that were supposed to help him. It ended good.

That is why I said "coupled with". Both issues needed to be addressed and were. I am not trying to criticize Gareth. Quite the opposite. He definitely made things right with anyone who had version 1 who asked for the improved razor. He could have put everything on the people who were machining the razor, and they were sending him very poorly made parts, especially caps, but he also admits that he was notified by users about the plate design and then had that changed on v2. I also think he wasn't happy with the finish on earlier versions.

Speaking of which - what AverageJoe wrote was one of the reasons I invested in Rockwell back then, because it seemed like a company with responsible people behind the steering wheel. I remember reading the story somewhere and decided to try out the razor.

Oh, he went above and beyond that. The vast majority of the people were only asking (and hoping) for a new top cap. EVERYBODY whether they asked for it or not got a V2, free of charge. And you're right, Rockwell did listen to users and fixed the issues that users had with the design - 1. new baseplate should not have the gap 2. the safety bar should have support in the middle to alleviate warpage 3. finish.

The story makes me want a T, even though I am very happy with the 6s.

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Gareth seems like a great guy who does the right thing and doesn't have a giant ego getting in the way of that. And I repeat, you guys are making my decision on my next razor pretty easy.

you can actually see people getting irritated requesting their razor and never read the updates...

Considering what the company went with their first razor and finally got the 6S where they wanted with the MIM process it gives me little bit of hope for the SS Model T because he only considers the MIM process. What gets me worried is the part that they have problem finding manufacturer because it looks like that some parts off the head are complicated even for MIM processing of SS....

I have faith that they will find successful manufacturer and that they will deliver, but I wont be disappointed if it turns out that is not feasible and he ends up refunding all of us who chose the SS version. It is what it is, sometimes things happen, but you have to look on the bright side at least we are almost 100% sure he will be successful with the zinc/SS version, at least 80% of the KS pledgers will be served and us who wanted the SS version we will be ok because I'm sure everybody in the 20% have plenty of high quality razors. Lets see what happens the next update, I personally wont let it drag too long and leave my money there longer than 2-3 more months, if in 2-3 months he has no info regarding the MIM molds for the head then it means is time to leave the ship cause its sinking.

Did you just say that you had ordered it, awaiting delivery?

Okay okay, it's easy for me to say GO GO GO , but truth is, it's a fantastic razor. Is it worth 100 USD? To me, yes. But I believe it's a lot of money also. Be ready to accept very minor blemishes from the molds and be happy if none exists. But rest assured you'll receive, blemish or not, the best shaves on the market, with the right blade. It has a very tool-like appearance. It looks "better" in photos on the net, but in the hand it feels solid, assuring and "let-me-last-a-lifetime"-like. I love the satin finish and the finer knurling. My Weber Bulldog and iKon Bulldog have coarser knurling, but I prefer the Rockwell's more laid back.

Get the 6S, stand included, sheath included, forget about the Rockwell blades. I'd say that combo could kill all future razor purchases.

I had 15 razors not so long ago (that's many razors to me, but only a starter kit for many others.. haha). I'm now down to just 4, Rockwell included. And more are going out the door. Rockwell all the way, baby!

I just received an email notification from Gareth that he is prepping for shipping replacement 6C Gunmetal razors. What a standup guy! He didn't have to do that, but it just goes to show the level of customer service that Rockwell provides. Just awesome.