January - Shavettes and Jeeves!
January 4
Razor - Feather SS Artist Club (pain stick)
Blade -
![[IMG]](https://theshaveden.com/forums/attachments/artist-club-small-professional-blades-jpg.182839/)
(1)
Soap - Jeeves of Hudson Street Bay Rum
Brush - 30 DC LE
Post - Alum
After two shaves on the DX it's time to switch to the SS and see if I can tell what, if any, differences there are. My plan is to go two shaves with the SS to give it time for me to detect any subtleties. I'm using the same soap and just rotating my synthetic brushes to keep the lather consistent. Fresh Feather Pro blade for the SS. Should be a fair comparison of the difference in the actual razor head design.
So, when it comes to detecting subtleties, let me just cut through the fog and say it straight. It isn't a subtle difference after two days with the DX. The difference between these two is, well, not quite night and day but certainly early morning and late afternoon. The SS, which I have used now for at least 3 years, is a rough customer compared to the DX. I felt like the razor was actually dragging - once I finally got the angle right to get beard reduction. I tried to determine the cause of the drag. It wasn't the blade, as I'll explain in a second. It's coming from two possible sources. Either it's caused by the extra lip on the razor (supposedly put there for safety) as it creates friction following the blade, or it's caused by the slightly steeper angle needed to keep the blade cutting without coming off of the face due to the lip being there. Perhaps a combination of the two. Whatever it is, it's real. Also, starting each pass was a process of setting down then rolling into place to get it cutting. With the DX I could set down at an angle flush with the head and it was ready to go. You have to slightly roll over the lip on the SS to get the angle. Any slight deviation to shallow it up causes it to stop shaving and any deviation to steepen it causes drag and puts you in a more likely position to cut yourself.
After the first pass I decided to test my theory a bit and get a head start on the CJB comparison. I did half of the second pass with the SS. Same issues as the first pass. I then loaded the CJB with its DX clone head and did the other half. Smooth as silk, no feeling of being "off the angle" and a much better finish. Clearly the design of the SS, while usable with a lot of practice, has some built in flaws that create drag, make angles more difficult and not only reduces effectiveness (potentially) but also increases risk of bloody messes.
Figuring out the exact differences has made my discomfort with the SS over the past few years more understandable. I have often picked it up then switched to the Kai or CJB telling myself I shouldn't ignore them. In the back of my mind, though, I was struggling with less than perfect shaves with the SS and memories of some nasty cuts as well. It's all starting to become clear!
Tomorrow I'm going to do a full shave with the CJB just to give it a full run. It is a clone of the DX but is not the same build quality. In fact, when drying it tonight I accidentally knocked the sliding door off sending the blade flying across the room. Not a great thing to happen. It's much harder to do that with the Kai or either Feather as the doors fit flush and more tightly. But, I'm interested in the shave result. Build quality is just a hazard you sometimes deal with.
Have a great weekend everyone!
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