I have seen the terms online but what is really the difference? And what's the advantage and disadvantage of each?
From what I've heard both will give you a great shave. If you already use a DE, you can pick up a shavette for cheap and use the blades you already have snapped in half. Shavettes are generally thought of as less "forgiving" than a straight razor. Shavettes also require no stroping/honing. A lot of people will recommend to just get a straight if you want a straight. I skipped on the Shavette after looking at them for a while. You might find some more info here: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/shavette-questions.31769/
A shavette is shaped like a straight, and used like one, but it has a replaceable blade. Sometimes it's half of a DE blade (Parker, for instance), sometimes it's a special longer blade that approaches real straight length (Dovo, which will also take a DE blade with the right holder, and Feather). In general, the factory can sharpen blades sharper than we can, so shavettes are pretty sharp, and in straight shaving that's not always a good thing. Consequently, in using them you have to be a lot more careful, and some common straight techniques are more dangerous with a shavette. On the other hand, shavettes' sharpness works for them in places that are hard to get to or have strange hair growth. There's a spot under my chin that's difficult to cut with a straight that one pass in just about any direction with a shavette will take care of. Prospective straight users often think of the shavette as a cheap entry to straights, but since the skills are different and the shavette path can be a bloody one at first, it's probably not a fair introduction. Some straight shavers use shavettes for travel because you don't have to worry about damaging the edge and then not being able to rehone it on the road, or they're worried about the TSA or hotel staff damaging their straight. You can buy a basic Chinese shavette on Ebay for under $5, with blades, shipped. I see in the other thread that there's concern about DE blades being flexible. In a shavette, almost the entire blade except for just a mm of edge is firmly held--more real estate than in many DE razors, and there really isn't any flex at all.
I see. Thanks a lot for the introduction. Now I know what I am using is a shavette. I just purchased a Japanese made butterfly shavette. However, it's not a DE blade that it uses. It's a disposable blade they made that is slotted into the spine. My worries is that the shop might stop selling the blade and I would be helpless. Shall I switch to other brand like dovo or parker? Do their shavettes allow using other brand's DE blade?
The Chinese clones of the Parker can be purchased for only a couple$'s. they're basically the same and use 1/2 of the SE. You might want to try them.
Big fan of shavettes here. I use Weck, Durham Duplex, Dovo, Parker, Feather SS, Majestic, Sanguine, CoolCut, and Olympic Trading Company shavettes. By far my two favorites are the Weck and the Feather.
fanhui23, I think there are only two or three types of blade used among the various brands. Do you have a picture or link to the one you have?
That looks a lot like a Personna hair shaper blade: http://www.ussalonsupply.com/Person...ftrk=gdfV22437_a_7c751_a_7c4159_a_7cBDR442171 I'll try to remember to measure one of mine at home tonight.
A straight razor was speciffically developed over 100's of years to shave one's beard A Shavette was designed to emulate a SR, to be Sanitary and mostly designed to Razor Cut one's hair (on the head) they can be used for a beard also, Some systems like the Feather AC were designed more for the beard.. The biggest difference is in Honing and Stropping (or lack there of) the weight and balance are different on most but not all
There's a sharpness issue, too. I found when I was starting that I liked the shavette because they're reallllllly sharp. As I get more practice with a straight, I'm finding that where initially I was concerned with ultimate sharpness, now I'm finding that I don't even necessarily want that in a straight.
The difference in "Ultimate" sharpness bewteen a Machine Ground edge and a SR can be as little as .01 Microns, There is very little difference in actual "Sharpness" between the .50 Microns where edges start to cut hair and the .37 Microns that was found to be the "sharpest" of the Machine Ground edges that Verhoeven tested.. Shaving comfort is detemined by many other factors also...
I'd say if they fit, they work. The Personna hair shaper blade is 52mm long, 13mm high, the flap on the top is 5.5mm of that, and the flap itself is 1.5mm thick. Regarding sharpness, the difference between .37microns and 50microns is 25% or 33%, depending on which way you look at it--not a small difference.
Please re-read the post, You are also trying to put a percentage on a percentage of a total, besides that fact that you are talking about 1/100th Micron measurements here.. It is all a small difference Then it would probably behoove you to search out and read the Verhoeven paper, if you are truly intrested in "Sharp" in relation to razors... However the full paper isn't quite as easy as it once was to search out online... I know I have linked it a few times over at SRP
So what shavette have you had the best experience with--which would you recommend, based on your experience?
Check this thread out. http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/shavettes-the-truth-about-disposable-straight-razors.29942/ Lot of useful info on the topic. I think plan of man recommends two different razors. One that uses shaper blades and one that uses half a DE. Which type of blade would you rather use?
