I finally broke down and overpaid for a vintage Bohin razor. Considering how hard it is to come across one of these maybe this is going rate for not being able locally source one in a shop either way without putting out an number if I wanted to trade this razor straight up for another vintage razor in the price range you see on a certain auction site it would be a Gillette toggle. This razor is a fine example french engineering and form follows function and unlike modern eye art candy razors that are designed to look pretty but don't function at a level you'd expect for what you pay this one should have them all beat there to, more on that once I get to shave with this razor. This razor unlike modern adjustables doesn't use an adjusting knob and only a single base plate for 4 different gap settings, what this does that no other adjustable I can think of is you can also adjust the blade exposure to at least 3 settings all done by eye. There is a minimal exposure, maximal exposure and if you line it up right using the crease where the open comb starts a middle exposure between the 2. If you line the middle up correctly the min and max exposure gap only deviates .001 inch from the middle in either direction. So in all at least 6 different gap settings when you factor in blade exposure changes. The one major con to this razor though it is really easy to misalign the blade because of how it is designed. You don't just put the blade on the shoulders and tighten down. The best way is to sit the blade on the plate and shoulder tighten down the handle just enough to catch the shoulders in the cap, angle the razor then adjust the blade for exposure on the side pointing towards the ground for max exposure and minimal the opposite then tighten down completely. The middle is more tricky and easy to misalign though when you find about where that is and it loads uneven just back off the handle maybe an 1/8 of a turn and re-align until even then tighten down it shouldn't move the blade then. To the adjustable part. First off the base plate is reversible and each side is hand machined differently. What allows to exposure adjustment is the fact the shoulders are slightly angled and ovular. Obligatory pics of the razor and alignments best my camera can show. The last 2 pics one shows the base plate with less distortion even though more blurry and the other shows the angle on the shoulders better.
Congratulations. I ordered the the Barbaros copy of the handle so I can put it on my Rockwell (with its patented flippable plates) and pretend....
As you can see nothing new here with Rockwell a company I wouldn't fart in their general direction after seeing how they scammed investors with that Rockwell model T fiasco. There is no reason they couldn't have delivered on that razor when they should, someone either skimmed that take and lined their own pockets or their financials were really bad and they used the money to keep the company afloat long enough knowing they wouldn't have to pay them back if it didn't work and the company folded since they would have been unsecured creditors and would have gotten pennies if that in a bankruptcy court. Anyone with an adequate skepticism would have picked up on the baffle them with brains bedazzle them with technical jargon routine they pulled to drag out the time to actual delivery. But enough on that. I went and learned enough french to find one of these since they never seem to keyword on Bohin. Based on the past few sales there won't be any bargains anytime soon since there seems to be a healthy amount of bidders on the auctions. Frankly I don't think this razor is worth the price strictly as a razor so I am looking at it as an investment at the same time like buying a piece of functional art and hope it doesn't depreciate in value if I decide to sell later on. French razors are really in a class all their own the more I study them even the clone types of other razors.
This one I wish Ikon would copy with better tolerances, they could get around the Rockwell patent as the Bohin clearly represents prior art which should not be restricted.
Based on what I measured on the razor the tolerances being what they are is quite remarkable considering this was a hand machined razor. This is what makes this more so a work of art done by a craftsman than these modern machined razors done by programs and an operator pressing a few buttons after loading into material to be cut and shaped.
I have one and I’m struggling to get a good shave out of it. I got lucky on the price but considering the difficulty I’m having with it, it may be leaving my den
Check the blade exposure. I was playing around with mine just to work out shave angles and noticed right away the less exposure you need a really steep angle to make contact when dragging over some stubble on the face. When set opposite it makes contact with almost no angle needed. Didn't seem to matter which side either so I assuming the gap in this case will determine efficiency for each side more so than cutting angle. If the blade exposure isn't the problem try a shim if the angle is the problem then. Just take another blade and trim back the blades so they have enough room to slide always staying on the edge of the base plate above the open comb edge but not interfere with the cutting edge of the other blade.
I have been after one for many years, just an unlucky combination of events has made me not get one yet, ie money on paypal but none listed, some listed but no money on PayPal, I got just get one I know, but I never wanted to spend that much on a DE when I use a straight 98% of the time, it it would have to dislodge my Brit TV superspeed, to be used as my designated none straight, and the money always seemed better spent on a new hone or strop, straight razor, coupled with my general none preference towards open comb razors, but they still look so awesome I still kinda want one. just maybe not as much these days. I hope it works out well for you.
Just used mine for the first time today, on "A tres pres"... it's a smooth shaver. Think I scored on this one, big time! Sent from my SM-G977U using Tapatalk
Forgot the obligatory pic! This was in the bin with the L'Essor Le Supreme, 2x Gibbs No.15, Leresche 85, bakelite Ben Hur, Apollo Fix and about 50 others...I bought a lotto ticket that day as well, but my luck had run out! Sent from my SM-G977U using Tapatalk
