I purchased this razor recently and thought that I'd do a review on it based upon my initial experience with it over the last few days. The razor comes in the same packaging as the Bakelite razor, the most obvious difference being that this razor is made out of 7075 Aluminium and is available in two anodised finishes - black and bronze. The razor designed is a copy of an earlier Walbusch slant razor which, I believe, dates from the 1930's. The main difference with many other slants is that this design torques the blade (as opposed to twisting it) and uses a humpback design to enable the blade to be placed diagonally on your face. This took some getting used to and wasn't as intuitive a process as I first thought it would be. The key is to lead with the hump first as the razor gives far better shaves this way. I've tried the razor with four different blade combinations - smooth blades (Sputnik and Astra) and sharp blades (Feather and Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow) and on each occasion the razor has felt somewhat rougher than I originally had hoped it would be. I would place it as being below an ATT S1, Ikon B1 Stainless and Merkur slant in terms of smoothness and more efficient than a Merkur slant (but not as efficient as an Ikon B1). I was expecting to notice a marked difference in smoothness between the blades I used (as usually occurs with most DE's in my collection), however, this did not really prove to be case. The smoothness didn't change that noticeably, although I could feel a minor difference between a Feather and 7 O'Clock Yellow (with the Gillette blade being the harshest of the four blades I used). The QC on the razor is, on the whole, pretty good. The handle fits snugly and everything slots into place nicely. I did, though, notice one issue; the blade reveal on the razor I have is unequal. This can be seen in the photos below: I was expecting that this would give a problematic shave and I was surprised that this wasn't the case with this razor. It handled multiple passes of two of the sharpest blades out there without any nicks, weepers or irritation. The only difference I've been able to detect between the two sides of the head in use is that one side sounds louder than the other when shaving. I suspect that this is down to the way the blade is firmly clamped in place: It would appear that the difference in blade reveal is caused by the top cap not having been machined correctly as one side of it is noticeably shorter than the other (as can be seen in the picture above). The more I've used this razor the more I've come to like it. I suspect that some of the roughness is actually caused by the anodised aluminium finish. It feels very similar to the oxidised finish on a Blackbird in use (with the same vacuum-type effect when shaving) and I'm unsure as to whether this will improve over time or not. The area where this razor has most impressed me though, is head-shaving. It performs this task efficiently and well and it's great to be able to add another head shaving slant into my collection. In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this razor as it shaves well and is, in my opinion, worthy of the relatively high price tag given the quality of materials used. Thankfully, the blade reveal issue caused by the uneven machining of the top cap does not affect the shave to any great degree (and is, in this sense, purely cosmetic) otherwise I suspect that my conclusion would have been somewhat different. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Can you explain the "torque vs. twist" difference a bit further? I've seen these two techniques referenced with other slants, but am having a time wrapping my head around it all.
A member on another forum has pointed out to me that the terms torque and twist are synonymous (I thought that torque was the action of rotational force being applied as I screwed the handle into the razor and clamped the head to the blade but it transpires that this is not the case). The general idea of a slant is to get a razor to cut on a diagonal angle (as it's far more efficient this way) and there are two main ways (that I am aware of) to do this. The first is by angling the head of the razor to the desired angle (i.e. the method used in the PAA Alpha Ecliptic and other Walbusch-inspired razors) and the second is by twisting the blade into the desired angle (which is the method Merkur and a number of other manufacturers use). The twisting method uses rotational force (torque) on the blade as the handle is tightened. The original patent for this design of razor should hopefully show this: Essentially, they all perform the same task - it's just they use slightly differing ways to achieve the same end result.
I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this to be the case with other Aluminum Alpha Ecliptic. I have the Bakelite Alpha Ecliptic, and visually the Blade seems to line up perfect on both sides. This might be the case. I've only used my Bakelite version twice (still getting used to it) and it seemed very smooth. But I have not used any other slant razors so I don't have that comparison point.
How is the fit and finish ? I purchased a Bakelite slant and the fit and finish sucked. I could have dealt with the oversized pegs, but the blade was wavy. @ 20 bux I just counted it as a lost.
The fit and finish (other than the cosmetic issue with the top cap) are great. There are no problems with the locating pegs and no issues of waviness with the version I have. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've had some more great shaves with this razor and have enjoyed it so much that I've ordered another one in the bronze finish. I'm really starting to get to grips with this razor and am starting to appreciate is effortless efficiency. This was also the smoothest shave I've had with it so far. The key was to only shave WTG and ATG (avoiding any XTG strokes) - this seems to be the best way to use the razor. I've also noticed that the cosmetic top cap issue has actually turned out to be a good thing as it enables me to work out which side of the razor I need to use on the different parts of my face with a quick glance rather than having to line up the hump each time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
