I was just perusing ebay and saw a Weishi razor with a scalloped edge instead of a str8 bar. Actually the scalloped edge is on this side of the silo doors. Just wondering if anyone here has tried this yet and if so, did it make any difference in the shave? It would seem to me with a scalloped edge, it would have more blade exposure with each inward slope and less on each outward slope.
Dan

Hmmm. I'm having a bit of trouble picturing what you mean. All the Weishi razors I know of have silo door edges that are straight and parallel to the guard. The top SURFACE of the silo doors are curved or sometimes beveled, but not the edges along the blade edge or the guard. It could be that the one you were looking at was damage/bent. Can you provide an image, linke or ebay item number?

If you're refering to the shape (little indentations) of the safety bars, no they don't alter the shave in a noticable way. I like my Weishi, though some find them too mild. I understand the version with a premium finish (such as my Gunmetal version and the various gold, brushed,etc. versions) are slightly different than the basic chrome model but still very similar. I honestly like mine most as a head shaver because it is so mild. If you have a thicker than average beard, you'll likely find it too mild to give a close shave. I feel my beard is rather average and it's just barely agressive enough to give me a nice face shave.

Im going to give a link a try here to show you what I mean.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Weishi-Safety-R...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c51a922e8
Hope this works. Its at Shaveabuck if it doesn't work.

OH! I get it now, thanks to Erik. Deeper larger scalloped guard is called a closed comb. The idea of open (teeth) and closed comb guards is 1) to leave more lather behind for the blade, and 2) to let the hairs get closer to the blade. The over all effect on aggression or exposure also depends on other aspects, but Generality warning!) open comb razor tend to be more aggressive than bars. Closed come fall between the two.

Some bar guards have a roughened/gnarled surface, small lines on the guard perpendicular to the blade edge. These don't have any effect on aggression. I think the idea is to slightly increase friction to facilitate skin stretching.

Ahhhhhhh Thank you ! Really had my mind blown when I saw it. Learn something new everyday!
Thanks again

That picture clearly isn't just a textured safety bar! Never seen anything like it and I'm not even certain it's a Weishi razor as described at your link, Shaveabuck says it's a Ming Shii. I'd tend to lean with it being a Ming Shii looking at the apparent quality (or lack thereof) of the finish.

If this design was from a manufacturer with a well established high quality standard (Muhl, Edwid Jagger, Merkur) I'd be tempted. I'm really not sure what purpose the wavy edge on the silo doors could serve. I'm guessing it's just a gimick that either has no benefit or would actually make the shave worse. But that's just my best guess, never know until you try it.

That IS different. I don't think it would have the hair scooping effect you suggested, since the surface of the silo doors trails the blade edge. I'm not sure if it would open the exposure, or if the edge-guard gap is the only thing that effects the exposure.

Aside from more easily seeing if there is a blade in it, as Joanna suggested, maybe it helps rinsing off lather. I don't know.

Strange! I've never seen anything like that before.

I just checked the link again today, and now its listing it as a Ming Shi rather than a Weishi as it did originally. Either way, odd looking style.

I've got one of these. It's decently made and a mild shaver. The scalloped doors make no difference to the quality of the shave.

goshawk

Thanks for the answer. Sounds like it's on the better end of what I'd expect. I'd guess it's a usable razor, but not great.

I do believe that Jeff (Crackstar) has one of these in his rotation. I ordered one from Joe at Shave a Buck and it just showed up today. First impression are pretty good, haven't shaved with it yet, and it may have to wait since this is Adjustable week. Comes in a nice little dark blue case with a mirror inside, kinda like the Weishi, except there is no cleaning brush. Construction seems pretty solid, and the doors open and close smoothly.

The outside of the box says "Shaving Factory" which is the online sight for the Derby International, the blades and cream maker, and its manufactured in China.

Yep, that about covers it.

It comes with a spiffy case - much like the one the Weishi comes with.
Compact and solid with a mirror and a space for a 5 pack of blades. A really good little travel case that would also fit a Superspeed or a Tech.

goshawk

Since the aggressiveness depends on the gap between the blade and safety bar that scalloped door would not effect is.. is that correct?

Fuzzy

You've got it.

Best Regards

goshawk

I don't agree. If I'm wrong, please show me the error of my ways.

If you connect the edge of the doors to the edge of guard with a flat surface, then measure from where that surface intersects the plane of the blade out to the edge, that's the exposure. If the razor is place on the face so the edge of the doors and the guard touch the skin, and there is no pressure, in theory, this plane is where the skin will be. The distance the blade extends beyond that place will determine how much contact there is between the blade and the skin, i.e. the aggressiveness. The angle of contact also plays a role, so the curvature of the door surface will effect aggressiveness too.

All else being equal, retracting the edge of the doors SHOULD increase contact between the edge and the skin. I think the position of the guard has a greater effect on exposure than the position of the doors. That's how they can get away with the scalloped edge on the doors. And, I'm sure they position the guard so this is still a mild shaver, even though there is lots of blade visible.

Imagine grinding off one edge of a cap on a three piece and smoothing the resulting corner on the top surface. I'm pretty sure the shorter side of the cap will be more aggressive.

Hmm... I'll see if I have a junker three piece I can modify to see if this is right.

You could expose the whole top of the blade seems like.. but if the gap between the blade edge and bar is the same it would not change the shave.. just my thinking.

Fuzzy

I think the part of the heat above the blade that touches your face is important. So exposing the entire top of the blade wouldn't work IMHO. But, between where the head touches skin and the blade edge, I don't think it would matter.

I wondered about this myself when I first got the razor, but as far I can see the scalloping doesn't make the doors any narrower since the points of the scallops extend as far as the whole door would if it were unscalloped.


Best Regards


goshawk