Am I nuts that I want to have my Hawk V3 plated in Palladium? It shaves really well, I just love shiny things so much. Would I be risking changing the great shaving dynamics?
I don't know. They lay that plating on 2-3 inches thick. I seriously doubt it. Edit to add: change the way it shaves, that is.
Hanging around here you're probably nuts. But that doesn't have anything to do with wanting a shiny razor to shave with. tp
My Hawk is supposed to be here tomorrow afternoon via OOPS (UPS). I got the Standard Hawk in stainless. I too have thought about doing some plating. I hear it is not all that hard. Just make sure the thing ya wanna plate is all polished and shiny before ya do it.
That's the one I got. Standard Hawk, HD Handle. I think you'll really like it. This was my first jump into AC style razors, and I really like it. Easy to get under the nose, smooth with the Proline or KAI Pinks. I used a DE today as I was packing up the Hawk to send to Back Roads Gold, and I was thinking how much different the shave is. I'm not saying I'll get rid of my Schick injectors, or my DE razors (I have 6000 blades for goodness sake), but it may be in the category of "if you could only have one razor..."
I had a very pleasant shave using the ProGuard blade. It is really tame with this blade so, I will try a Light blade tomorrow. All loaded up! Lots of blade exposure here! It was easy to find the correct angle. VERY fine razor! If I had to choose only one razor, this would be the one for me! I have already placed an order for the Professional blades.
It holds the blade really well. I do prefer a short handle like the Hawk came with. I am looking forward to using the GEM soon too. I am waiting for the blades!
My brother-in-law's PAA Ascension. Rose gold and rhodium. He swears it smoothed out the razor. I had to explain that it was the pre-plating polishing process that did the smoothing. He doesn't believe me. It's his money, and it made the razor shiny. In my opinion, plating a razor does not change the shaving characteristics. Over polishing the razor before plating can. I doubt you will notice any difference.
Why would you want to plate stainless steel?? Just polish it up, if you want shiny. Unless you desire different colors, then plate it.
not plating for the Hawk....I meant re-plating other things. Plating is not hard. The Hawk is just fine as it is. I get zero feedback from alum bar after shaving with it. I used a light blade today but have Professional & Super Professional blades on the way! Very NICE razor!
Good luck with it. I tried to like the OC plate but just could not. I have one here if needed. The Aggressive plate is just a touch more so than the standard and less than the OC plate. All are nice, but the OC is just too much for me.
I have Professional blades coming but I also have a couple packs of ProGuard blades that I use in my Feather DX that should tame it down some.