DS Cosmetic AX: Yet another Wolfman knockoff/clone/copy?

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by ShaversRUs, Mar 13, 2023.

  1. Hembree

    Hembree Not as pretty smelling

    This handle looks identical to the Dscosmetics Destorer handle and it is $19.00.
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/1153909414...ar=415438477080&widget_ver=artemis&media=MORE
     
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  2. Hembree

    Hembree Not as pretty smelling

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  3. Hembree

    Hembree Not as pretty smelling

    :signs011:
     
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  4. Hembree

    Hembree Not as pretty smelling

    We are apparently running several rabbits at the same time. :scared011:
     
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  5. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    Yes, it should be a perfect "T" shape. Sometimes I've looked at my razors and could swear it wasn't perfectly perpendicular, but then I flipped it around and it seemed to slope to the same side, which wouldn't make sense if there was indeed a problem.. I wrote it off as a combo of an optical illusion and being paranoid.
     
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  6. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    Thanks! Great tip! Keep it quiet lest other people get upset that we want to buy copies/clones. I'm not holier than thou. If I took the time to investigate every product I buy, and reject it based on country of origin, their business practices, how the company's CEO treats his wife, the type of dogs he likes etc., I'd probably not be able to buy a darn thing.
    :transport022:
     
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  7. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

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  8. Hembree

    Hembree Not as pretty smelling

    Copied or did they come out of the same manufacturing facility? :scared003:
     
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  9. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    My guess: The Wolfman WRH1 came first. Then RazoRock made the Super Knurl. Then DS Cosmetics made The Destroyer for itself and other Chinese distributors.
     
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  10. Ron R

    Ron R Well-Known Member

    Correct you are. This is my favorite way to hold this razor as shown below.
    SOTD March 1st 2023 .jpg
    Have some great shaves!
     
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  11. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    I'm still missing something. If the screw-post of the cap is a perfect "T", and the screw-post-hole in the handle is straight, how could a perfect "T' not be formed when the head is attached to the handle? If those first 2 things are off-kilter, all a washer would do is make the handle flush with the baseplate by filling in a gap, not straighten out a crooked "T". I guess I'm not understanding something.

    Thanks
     
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  12. Ron R

    Ron R Well-Known Member

    Everyone keeps talking about clones with the Wolfman 2 and when a person does a little investigating it could also be a clone or copy design of the LA BBS-1 & Aluminum Personna BBS-0 looks very similar to the modern Wolfman W2 before the W2 even existed. I have mentioned this on other threads & forums all razor ideas get copied or cloned with a few changes seems to be what happens as a historical view I have studied from my limited research.
    https://sharpologist.com/bbs-1-razor/
    Have some great shaves!
     
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  13. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    That is a nice handle as well. It has a very vintage look too it, too. I'm on the fence now about buying a Wolfman clone and/or a new handle.
    Do I get a DS Cosmetic head (topic of this thread), a Yaqi head (but which one? Sentinel (WR2) or SB (WR1)? Do I get a Wolfman clone handle, or something like a Yaqi Teardrop? Or do I just stick with the stainless steel handles I have? (From the Feather AS-D2, the Rockwell, the Maggard MR5 and MR11)? They're all classic-looking but samey except for the Mr5.

    Or just enjoy the tools I already have?
     
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  14. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    Yes, I've heard of both those razors, but next to impossible to get one, at least at a *reasonable* price.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The following is not intended to be a reply to @Ron R

    And yes, getting one's knickers in a twist because one razor company "copies" another company's design is tiring. I have better things to worry about. If I can obtain goods legally that's all that matters to me. Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others.

    If manufacturer X is upset and feels their ideas/designs, etc. are being stolen by company Y, then let X and Y's lawyers duke it out in court, even if said court is an international one. If customer Z has a stong feeling about it, customer Z can choose not to buy it. If customer Z wants to do more, he can help fund X's legal fees, either with his/her own money, or by starting something like a Kickstarter project.

    I'm in the U.S. It allows the Aliexpress app on my iPhone to function here by accessesing servers in China (or wherever they may be.) Aliexpress allows companies like Yaqi and DS Cosmetic to sell these razors on their site. Aliexpress allows you to use Paypal (and other payment methods.) Paypal allows you to pay Ali. The U.S. accepts the shipment from Aliexpress in China. The USPS delivers the package to your door. If there is something *wrong" with a person buying one of these razors, then all it takes is one of those links in the chain to stop allowing it. As far as I know, no laws are being broken.

    As I said in the first post of this thread, if buying Chinese copies/clones/knock-offs bother you, than please move on to the next thread.

    As @Ron R mentioned, Wolfman is using designs that existed before Wolfman (or at least the WR2) existed. The first Wolfman was actually inspired by a Baili 131.

    Not my feelings, but:
    -------------------------
    Gillette still makes the Tech in China and India. Therefore, it still is an in-production deisgn. So no one should by a Wolfman then, either.

    Merkur, Muhle, and EJ still make their standard SB heads. So don't buy the clones from Parker, Maggards, or anywhere else, including the King C. Gillette.

    Razorock is copying Wolfman designs, so don't support their business.

    All DE blades use the same design. Was Gillette the first to use this design? If so, they are still making blades, so only buy DE blades made by Gillette.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

    See, you can't pick and choose and still be "holier than thou."
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2023
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  15. Ron R

    Ron R Well-Known Member

    I'm a journeyman machinist retired and it is not as simple as you might be thinking because you have to allow for the threads to machined identical on the the same position top cap to handle for the safety bar and the handle flat and then you have to allow for the thickness of the blade of 3.5/1000 thousands of a inch so the thread would have to be offset on the handle thread.
    What razor manufactures would do(Darwin razor example) is machine a little off the top of the handle to correct position. Most folks do not own a lathe to make it perfect so a washer is a easy alternative to correct this problem if a person is fussy. The washer protects surfaces and corrects the handle positioning if made correct.
    (Photos below kind of explain what I use and works excellent for over 6 years of shaving. The electrical fitting is a 10/32 (5mm)screw size.)
    Washer 1.jpg Washer 2.jpg
    Have some great shaves!
     
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  16. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    Note well, for those who don't read the entire thread.
     
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  17. ischiapp

    ischiapp New Product Bloodhound

  18. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    Oh, so in other words you're saying that as you screw in the handle, at some positions it is at 90 degrees, and at others it may be 91 or 89. So the washer is made to stop it when it is at 90 degrees (or whatever angle you prefer) with a blade loaded. Now I get it.

    So now the trick is to file down the washer so it is at the exact thickness to stop it at the right place. Sounds like a lot of trial and error to get it just right.

    Now, what I don't understand is why it is harder to get right for a square shape like the Darwin as opposed to a rounded handle? The end of the handle is still a flat surface in both cases.

    So, when we put those nylon washers on, we are changing the point at which the handles is supposed to stop. Therefore, it may not sit at 90 degrees. Same as when you put a different handle on a head. I've never realized nor thought of these things before. Thanks.

    What about when people loosen the handle to get more aggressiveness? I guess it will not be exactly 90 degrees either (assuming it was when tightened snugly.)
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2023
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  19. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    Nice!
    Is that strictly a forum or a vendor as well?
    The first 2 gaps are out-of-stock the last time I looked on Ali.
     
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  20. ShaversRUs

    ShaversRUs Well-Known Member

    Now that I understand what @Ron R is saying, maybe it is because I use nylon washers.
     
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