DECember 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I used a SS blade. I saw your video with the blade that had a few "spots." Despite everything I have tried, I can't seem to keep a CS blade from getting lots of spots. In fact after a day or two, it seems to have spots of steel rather than rust.

 

Awesome scales on both these shiny razors, guys!

Great write-up, Neal. I believe I have also read that some consider there to be an inherent design flaw in the Toggle. Have you heard that as well?

The Delta Echo finish looks fantastic, John! Does the adjustment knob feel any different with the finish?

Great combo this morning, Brian! Good job on the porch as well....

That Fat Boy looks to be in great shape. Very nice.

Another great pic, Jim! There may be better aftershaves out there than CL, but I've yet to try them.

 

Ahhh The Wabbit of Seville...nothing better!

 

SS works too. Woo.

 

Thank you, Gentlemen.

 

Great 'Menthol Monday' choices, Gentlemen, and some darn fine photos. I chose the same soap, with the Proraso label.

 

SOTD December 18th


RazoRock Baby Smooth
Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (3)
Satin Tip 'The Purest'
Stirling Spice in Old Spice mug

This week I am trying something new with my shave routine. Instead of shaving at night before bed (and missing out on 6+ hours of faceturbation) I am shaving in the shower in the morning. I got a nice heavy load of the Stirling Spice with the Satin Tip and went into a face lather. Very interestingly the lather seemed to pull the moisture it needed out of the air and I didn't need to add any additional water to it to make it a very creamy, shiny, slick lather. This was one of those shaves where I could have sworn that I didn't have a blade in the razor, so smooth and effortless! After 3 passes I was left with a very solid DFS and my sample of Stirling spice is so strongly scented that I am still catching whiffs of it even now (no AS applied). Have a great day my friends!

 

I have, yes, though I haven't been able to document exactly what that would be. The issues most people complained about were the length, knurling, and a bit of confusion on the two positions of the toggle - rinse and open. I haven't found anything that indicates that one particular part of the razor was defective or caused the public to reject it.

Interestingly, when they were testing the Toggle they were also testing the bottom dial adjustables, named Aqoss. 30% of test subjects stopped using the Toggle while only 13% of Aqoss users stopped. 60% of all users preferred the Aqoss in spite of its tendency for the head to loosen, the dial was too close to the TTO handle and a few other concerns. Gillette moved the dial up to the head, fixed the problems and the 195 was born. They also fixed the knurling on the Toggle, shortened the handle from its original length and added the full range of 9 adjustment settings. They also improved the toggle lever.

One difference that we haven't mentioned was price. The Fatboy sold for $1.95 in 1960, which is $16.41 in today's market. The Toggle was more expensive, though by how much I haven't determined. A razor that people preferred for feel and function, and that was cheaper than the one they liked less? That's always a product death march.

 

Great setup and photo Jim.

Another great photo Andrew.

 

Thank you Andrew and Jason.

 

I remember where I saw it- Razorplate had a blurb about why he wouldn't replate Toggles anymore, and did mention design flaws:
http://www.razorplate.com/p/the-gillette-toggle.html

 

Jason.

 

The Standard Toggle sold for $10.00. The Red Dot Fatboy was $2.49...if memory serves.

 

Thank you, Jason! I agree on the CL AS, it is the best I have tried as well.

 

He seems to indicate the mechanism itself is flawed. It really is just a lever pulling and pushing the doors. The mention of the brass problem is interesting. He also doesn't specify which model of Toggle. They made different razors depending on the development. Could the earlier versions have the brass problem as they were really just for testing so may have been made more cheaply? Inquiring minds want to know.

Now, having said that, Chris did the replate on this one prior to his decision to stop. He did a magnificent job but I can see where the rubbing on the toggle end would eventually wear down the nickel plate. Or any other metal for that matter. I checked Razor Emporium and they don't mention the Toggle specifically.

 

Great picture, Andrew! I'll he interested to hear how the shower shaving goes. I could see that being a possibility around here.

 

Something told me you'd have some numbers. Yeah, $10 or $1.95 or even $2.49 for the Red Dot. And I like the Fatboy better anyway. Guess which one I'm NOT buying if I'm in 1960 land?

 

Thank you, Clint!

 

Thanks Jim! On workdays time is at a premium for me and I think a quick shave in the shower may be the ticket as opposed to the longer shaving ritual that I normally do. Even if i shave right after the shower at the sink the process seems to take 2-3x times longer. In the shower this morning I would say that my shave took at most 5 minutes.

 

Smart man. Take the Fatboy.

The two F4 Toggles are interesting, especially the Chrome Toggle. I don't get why, 2 years after the 1.95 is introduced, Gillette threw a different razor design in the mix. They already had the Standard Gold design...just plate it in nickel, right? Nope....totally different design doing the same thing.

And I totally did skip right over the Bottom Dials. Toggle prices keep most people from ever having one, but to me, they are still fairly accessible to most. Bottom Dial prices are so high, I just have no love for them. The price keeps them out of reach...and I'm sure I'd put one of them in my hand and not be able to see an appreciable difference in performance.