Irving Barber Co (IBC) Shavette

I had a nice little chat with the owner of IBC today as I was driving in to work. Got some more information on the razor, and confirmed that mine shipped this morning.

The body (or 'blade') of the razor is made of Zinc 3, or as is more commonly known on the shaving forums by it's trade name, Zamak.

Zinc is regrettably, not the best material to use, but it is the most cost effective, and if one is going to use Zinc, the best metallurgical blend for razor use is Zinc 3, owing to it's hardness. The blade is chrome plated, and hopefully done well.

The handle of the razor is made of aluminum, to balance out the blade. This makes it blade heavy, and not handle heavy, so it will feel more like a traditional straight razor.

I asked him why he hadn't opted for including shaper blades as one of the blade options. The main reason is that he doesn't use them. This razor was made to replace the three different types he normally had to carry during barbering. He also said that the spine of the blade was too wide to use in this shavette, and the blade length was a tad bit too long.

He also confirmed that DE blades were not the best choice for face shaving. He recommends using those for the back of the neck and sideburn lining. Injector blades (mini hair shapers) are for face shaving, and Feather blades are for face and head shaving.

It's clear that this man spent a great deal of time getting every detail of this razor exactly the way he wanted it. I'm really looking forward to giving it a try.

 

Including the owner.
I asked him how sales had been, and he told me they had been about what he expected for this early. He's counting on word of mouth and reviews to drive further sales. He obviously has a lot of confidence that his razor is a great product, and that confidence really showed in his voice during our conversation.

I'm going to wait to review the razor until I've had a couple of shaves with it. It's been about six months since I shaved with a straight razor, and I don't want my rustiness to influence the review. On the other hand, if I have a great shave right out of the gate, I'll post the review up much sooner.

 

Got the razor in the mail today. Haven't had a chance to shave with it yet. I'll post up my initial thoughts on it up later when I have a minute.

Initial impressions are very favorable though...

 

All right. Initial thoughts time.

I'll start off with things that could be perceived as negatives, then move on to the positives.

The Cons:

My biggest concern, for barbers especially, is the chrome plating. When you have two points of friction, in this case, the two halves of the blade holder, the potential for wear is fairly high. From personal experience, if the plating is breached on the inside or along the edge, corrosion will rapidly take place, especially if these spend long amounts of time in Barbacide.

The plating on this razor looks really good, though there are a couple spots near the edge of the blade holder that look a tiny bit rough.

The laser engraving on the button looks like a missed opportunity to add enamel to make the logo really 'pop.' This may have to do with the aforementioned repeated immersion in Barbacide. I'm not sure how well paint or enamel would hold up to that.

The 'blade' doesn't naturally center itself in the 'scales,' though a light push will center it. This is due to the use of plastic bushings. This isn't a cause for concern in my opinion.

And I'm out of time. My next post will go over the Pros, and there are a lot of those. I'll post that up in the next couple of hours.

 

Photos will have to wait until I get near my WiFi, and will have to wait until I get home, but yes, I plan to include photos.

The Cons continued:

It's a bit of a fingerprint magnet. The whole thing is shiny, with few exceptions. Those being the stainless steel bits.

It's quite ergonomical from a barber's viewpoint, lending itself well to a flat grip. From a self shaver's traditional straight razor three fingered hold viewpoint, some jimps or knurling on the tang and tail of the 'blade' section would have been much appreciated.

The Pros:

While the quality of this razor isn't in the same league as, say, a Feather Artist Club, it is miles better than a CJB Kamisori. Or a Parker, or a Dovo Shavette, or any of a half dozen different types of disposable blade straight razors.

The thumbscrew design is genius. It would be the next best thing to impossible to get it to bind up on you.

The 'blade' profile is actually very similar to the long discontinued Dorko shavette, which was made for the Australian barber market in the 40's and 50's, as best I can tell. That could be a really good thing, depending on the amount of blade exposure. It's certainly less 'blade' heavy than the Dorko, which I attribute to the aluminum 'scales'/handle.

To be continued...

 

a) I will try loading Injector/mini hair shaper blades in it when I get home. I suppose I can also load a split DE blade in it too for the sake of completion. I don't have any Feather Artist blades, (yet) otherwise I'd give those a go as well. As far as cost/savings vs. quality of shave, Injector blades will almost always win.

b) I have a coolcut 4, which is the same razor you posted above, though with stainless scales. I was too appalled by the shave it gave to notice any deficiencies in the scales. I will report on the comfort of the IBC's scales when I have a chance to shave with it.

As for blade loading, (I've seen the same video) it looks fairly straightforward. I don't anticipate any issues. Again, that will be something I will address when I actually use it.

The Pros continued:

The balance is very good. In the hand, it feels very much like a 'real' straight razor.

It has magnets to hold the blades in place while you tighten everything down. I don't know if that is strictly necessary, but I do know that is one of the key parts of their patent application. I'll lump that feature into the "nice to have" category.

From a design standpoint, the razor is both elegant and graceful. It has a "Lord of the Rings" movie elven artifact look to it (or would if elves grew facial hair).

Tolerances are pretty tight on this razor. Nothing looks ill fitting or loose. While not exactly seamless, it's closer than the Dorko shavette.

And now we come to 'The BOX.'

It's pretty epic in a bad/funny sort of way. It's a hinged and latched box made from that rough finished wood that looks like balsa, but is actually some sort of pine or other softwood.

It's the kind of thing you add so that you can say that the item comes in a real 'wood presentation box.' It's the same type of box they sell cheap French corkscrews to American tourists in. It has a foam lined lid, and a foam lined bottom. The sides are unlined, which is probably why the razor came wrapped in tissue paper and tape.

Normally, I get excited about wood boxes (you can ask @ShaneS about that ), but this one leaves me pretty unimpressed. I can't help but think that for the same price, he could have gotten a nice thick cardboard box with a laser cut foam insert, with maybe a little gilding or faux leather look.

That brings me to the end of my initial impressions. Photos and more thoughts to come later tonight.

 

I've had a chance to sit down with it and load a couple of blades. One thing that deserves a mention is that there are little nubs that prevent the two halves of the blade from rotating. Because of the location of the thumbscrew, if you tighten it as tight as it will go (with a DE or Injector blade installed) it will cause the rearmost portion of the blade half to come away from the rest of the blade, disengaging one of the nubs. This is dangerous, as it will let the blade holder part pivot, along with the razor blade.

The key here is 'snug' not 'finger-tight.' If you just screw it snugly together, it's far more secure than if you try to tighten it as much as you can.

The magnets are actually useful after all. You drop one end of the blade on the magnet, which holds the blade while you push the blade into place from the side.

And now I'm off to have a shave with it while the photos upload to Photobucket. I am officially going to be out of "No variation November."

Edit:
The magnet also holds the blade in place when you loosen everything up for the mandatory Barbacide dip and swish, and for the razor rinse afterwards. At this point, I'd say the magnets are mandatory.

 

What do you think?

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a one pass shave, no touchups, DFS. It would have been BBS if I'd dared shave ATG. No nicks, cuts, gouges, weepers or other assorted fleshly ills caused by sharp objects. The two red marks on my neck were from this morning's hasty Fatboy shave.

Razor burn was minimal, surprising me. It's been quite some time since I shaved with anything resembling a straight razor.

I gave The Shave Doctor Shave Gel Oil (received for free at the Seattle Shave Con) it's maiden voyage with this shave. That was the extent of my pre-shave prep. It has a nice lemony smell.

So:
Pre-shave: The Shave Doctor Shave Gel Oil
Shave Cream: Kiss my Face Key Lime Moisture Shave
Razor: IBC disposable bladed straight razor
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: New Forest 2001 High Mountain
Post shave: Farina Gegenūber Original Kölnisch Wasser (Eau de Cologne)

I'm wallowing in a citrus mélange right now.

 

The BOX.








My hand is actually clean. The blackness takes a couple days to wash out. Welders suffer the same type of curse as blacksmiths do. If you work with gold, you are a Goldsmith, silver, a Silversmith, iron or steel, you're a blacksmith, because you end up covered in carbon.

Sorry for the detour. More photos:



Remember what I said about over tightening it? This is what happens:

See the gap there? You don't want that, so don't over tighten.

Comparison photos for @Darkbulb next post.

 

The three razors being compared are the IBC on the left, a normal straight razor in the center, and a SLiCKE Coolcut 4 on the right.

I'll confess, I don't exactly know what you meant by "too wide" so I took pictures from every angle. At the pivot, the 'tang' is a millimeter or two thicker than a normal straight razor, but it tapers down. Where your fingers would normally rest when shaving with a straight (on the tang and rat tail) it is the same thickness and width as a normal straight razor. I had absolutely no issues with it during the shave.

This razor is an exceptional value, well worth the asking price. It does a great job of replicating the feel of a wedge ground straight razor. My biggest issue with it is the lack of jimps, and I'll be calling IBC to let them know that. Until they address that issue, this is not a razor to handle with wet fingers.

Edit: For those who don't speak 'straight razor,' jimps are the cuts or notches filed or machined into the edge of the tang to aid grip. You can see them on the center razor in the last photo.

 

What Darkbulb said. And no, you couldn't buy a pretty good straight at that price point (not new anyways and not shave ready, and not with a full size blade). I would say this costs about half as much as a decent new straight razor.

There are many reasons to choose a shavette over a straight, not just due to ease of use. When you factor in strops and hones, the price of a straight can double or triple. Also, people with disabilities or impairments might find the maintainance cycle for a real straight beyond their abilities.

High end shavettes typically take other blades than a snapped in half DE, which is another reason to choose them over a basic shavette design.

This is the cheapest, really good option for a shavette that uses Injector or Feather Artist Club blades. If you are just looking for a cheap good shavette that takes large blades, then a vintage Weck Sextoblade with modern Hair Shaper blades will do you just fine. Probably a little better, if the truth be told, because it isn't trying to wear so many hats.