In praise of the open comb

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by The situational shaver, Jun 17, 2020.

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  1. The situational shaver

    The situational shaver Well-Known Member

    That’s why I love this forum! I post a thread praising O.C. razors, and wind up learning something.
    I didn’t know about the blade gap difference, or lack of one. I never knew about O.C.s.
    If you read the post, I never used one. I just assumed that there was more blade on your face with an O.C.
    For all I know, it could be less! But not knowing, I just thought it would be more ‘aggressive’.
    I would think most people like me, not ever using one, would think it was.
    After all, if the bar on a C.C. was no different than an open comb, then, what’s it there for?
    So, the point of the post was to guys like me, who, have never used one, but we’re thinking about
    buying one. Don’t worry about it slicing you up. It’s actually a lot smoother, to me.
    As for Primotenore, and Planofman, I’ve read your posts before, and learned a lot.
    This post was more for guys like me, who have used the same stuff for years,and we’re considering an O.C.
    I know both of you have much more experience with different razors, blades, etc.
    But since your both here, I’m sure the other viewers, like myself would be very appreciative if either of
    you gentlemen would be willing to provide some information on what the difference is between the two.
    I am very interested in the RazoRock S.L.O.C. Could either one of you tell us anything about it?
    Any info is much apprecieted.
     
    The situational shaver, Jun 17, 2020
    #21
    MR41, PLANofMAN, Primotenore and 1 other person like this.
  2. dvdhviid

    dvdhviid Well-Known Member

    Wow, open and closed plates available for this.
    How is it nobody (at least me) has heard of this before?
    Looks well made too.
     
    dvdhviid, Jun 18, 2020
    #22
  3. dvdhviid

    dvdhviid Well-Known Member

    I have the Above the Tie Slant S1 and the S2 plate on order. That is closed and open comb base plates. I've read the S2 comes across as more blade feel and efficient. I find the S1 very mild. Looking forward to comparing them.
     
    dvdhviid, Jun 18, 2020
    #23
  4. jmudrick

    jmudrick Type A Man

    It's received very good reviews. Gotta keep up if you want to hang with the cool kids

    Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
    jmudrick, Jun 18, 2020
    #24
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  5. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Well, it's a cost-cutting measure. And time saving measure. And a durability enhancement. It's not even a question of why Gillette switched, but rather, why did they wait so long to implement it. Bar guards and open comb guards for modern style "safety razors" developed pretty much side by side, starting in the late 1800's.

    Gillette used circular saws all set on a mandrel, with spacers between the blades. There was a set of saws on each side of the line, that would cut the teeth simultaneously on both sides of the base plate.

    The 20(ish) blades would need to be periodically checked and/or resharpened, or replaced. In the early part of the 1900's, circular saw blades were probably fairly expensive.

    Teeth are a lot of little extra things you need to inspect for quality control, especially when they are easily bent. Yes, easily bent during manufacture, during packaging, and most damning of all, as a mishap during use.

    The bar guard could be stamped in when you formed the baseplate, which eliminated a number of time consuming steps, it cost less to do, produced less scrap, etc.

    One last thing. Gillette made money off blades. Not razors. The more they sold blades and the less they sold razors, the more money they would make. People of that time did not "upgrade" every year. They bought something and used it until it wore out. Or broke teeth.

    Gillette would rather you buy one razor and blades for 5 years, than have you buy 1 razor, and 4 replacement razors and blades for five years. The first is a satisfied customer. The second is a disgruntled customer who thinks you make less than durable razors.

    The bar guard is way more durable, and is fairly hard to mess up. If bent, it is much easier to straighten. But... they look cheap and ugly when compared to an identical OC model, IMO.

    There might be a slight advantage to the open comb as the design allows lather to still be present at the blade edge at all times, which can translate to a marginally slicker shave feeling.

    My preference in a razor is a very low profile cap, open comb, with a virtually non-existent blade gap. This style of razor is highly maneuverable, mild, and very efficient when riding the top cap. Some notable examples (not all OC) are the Gillette Goodwill and Gillette New razors, the Cooper Monobilt, the Shake Sharp, self lubricating razors, all Gem single edge razors, and all Schick Injectors.

    I have never used the S.L.O.C. razor, but it's similar to the D.O.C. Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements razor. I wrote about both of those razors and other self lubricating razor designs here:

    https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/the-self-lubricating-razors-thread.63514/

    I'm a fan of the concept. I'm less of a fan of three piece razors in general. Modern ones are to me, deliberate anachronisms.

    It would take a self sharpening, self lubricating, one piece twist-to-open, low profile, open comb slant to really put a smile on my face.

    It could be done. I've got the design in my head. I'm not 100% sure the slant could be incorporated, but the rest of it is fairly simple stuff.
     
    PLANofMAN, Jun 18, 2020
    #25
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  6. MR41

    MR41 Well-Known Member


    I used a knock off based on the SLOC by a Chinese vendor that I had gotten great knock offs of other heads from. I found that it was a little challenging to maintain the right angle when shaving my head because the feel of the head was so different. Take this with a grain of salt because again it was a knock off-ymmv.
     
    MR41, Jun 18, 2020
    #26
    brit likes this.
  7. jmudrick

    jmudrick Type A Man

    IMR the Yaqi version was released prior to the Italian Barber, if that is the one you refer to it's not exactly a knock-off as it was apparently Yaqi doing the Razorock production

    I use mine all the time, usually combined with other baseplates like the Fatip, Pearl and Bevel clones.

    Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
    jmudrick, Jun 18, 2020
    #27
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  8. gorgo2

    gorgo2 geezerhood

    Here's a question. The OC came first, yes? Safety bar a few decades later? Since the OC is arguably a bit more efficient (in that it can take off a lot more beard w/o clogging) but really doesn't stand any greater chance of cutting you than a bar razor will, what was the perceived advantage of Gillette slowly replacing OC with safety bars? I know the machining is faster and cheaper when you can just stamp out a base plate and send it to plating, but how did Gillette market the switch?
     
    gorgo2, Jun 18, 2020
    #28
    brit likes this.
  9. jmudrick

    jmudrick Type A Man

    Thusly. Among US DEs Conrad-Barbasol and Club and others were a few years ahead of Gillette in introducing safety bars while Wardonia in UK was way ahead of them. Fixing the clogging problem posed by brushless creams was central to marketing. Same with the Gem Clog-Pruf.

    [​IMG]

    Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
    jmudrick, Jun 18, 2020
    #29
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