Wardonia Revelation

[mjclark]

I've seen plenty of Wardonias on the internet and thought it might be fun to try one just for the sake of experience.

Wow! I was thoroughly unprepared for what was coming though....
...Check out the blade gap:

Essentially this is a devette - the baseplate just acts to brace the blade with a big washer:

And the oblique grooves in the baseplate are intended to bend the hairs at an angle to the blade, creating the same effect as a slant.

And the result is superb. Like the devettes, it's instant guaranteed BBS with absolutely no irritation.

I'll just say that again: GUARANTEED BBS WITH ABSOLUTELY NO IRRITATION.

The only minor downside is that the pins in the head are designed for Wardonia's barrel hole blade so standard DE blades require a small mod by snapping off the inner lugs with a pair of pliers and then the blade requires a bit of alignment when you load it - it literally took me 30 seconds to do this. A good investment in time for the perfect shave!

And Wardonia recognised the brilliance of their design which uses the same principles as we're now (re)discovering with the devette.

I'm so surprised that the excellence of the Wardonia shave isn't talked about more. I'm shocked, excited and converted!

 

[782sirbrian]

Wardonia sales stand photo.

 

[DrAwkward]

My Wardonia takes regular blades. I guess after a while, Wardonia gave up on the proprietary blades. The blade gap is big, but mine is not nearly as aggressive as a devette. A very nice shaver, in any event ...

 

[mjclark]

My Wardonia takes regular blades. I guess after a while, Wardonia gave up on the proprietary blades. The blade gap is big, but mine is not nearly as aggressive as a devette. A very nice shaver, in any event ...

Do you have any photos?
I'm guessing that apart from the pin alignment, the Wardonia head geometry was the same for most of their razors.
And they made so many nice collectible sets with great Art Deco designs in various colours.

As you say, it's a great shaver, up there for me with the devette and R41 so I'm still mystified as to why there's such little general acclaim for Wardonias.
I guess this is where all that changes...

 

[mjclark]

... and second shave in with the Wardonia this morning and I'm discovering that (unlike devette and R41) it much prefers a very shallow angle nearer to an SE for an amazingly smooth shave.
I now don't think that the bold claims of the Wardonia advertisements are exagerrated!

And the idea that the grooves in the guard bend the hairs obliquely to the cutting edge, creating the same slicing effect as with a slant, is very credible.

Certainly after the shave my face feels different from a standard DE shave - the absolutely zero irritation feels weird, like I haven't shaved at all but somehow the hair has gone anyway.
This is a different feeling from the R41 and devette, so it's not just the big blade gap but must be something to do with the obliquely grooved and very chunky guard.

 

[BSAGuy]

Great post Marcus. That blade gap looks like the Grand Canyon!

 

[mjclark]

My "Ivory Pilot" set arrived today.
These are in plentiful supply and relatively inexpensive and I've seen lots of photos of these sets, but I was quite unprepared for what a lovely bit of design it is in real life.

And I'd always thought of these sets as being white but in fact it's a very attractive cream bakelite, literally ivory coloured.
This could very well be my new travel razor.

 

[Bsohm]

My "Ivory Pilot" set arrived today.
These are in plentiful supply and relatively inexpensive and I've seen lots of photos of these sets, but I was quite unprepared for what a lovely bit of design it is in real life.

And I'd always thought of these sets as being white but in fact it's a very attractive cream bakelite, literally ivory coloured.
This could very well be my new travel razor.

Did you find that on the Bay or are they still in production?

 

[mjclark]

Did you find that on the Bay or are they still in production?

It came from eBay UK.
Wardonia stopped making razors in the 20th Century.

This is a very 1930's design but I think it persisted into at least the 1950's.

 

[Bsohm]

Ahh thank you

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Pants I'm gonna end up buying one.

 

[mjclark]

Pants I'm gonna end up buying one.

Yes - these are diamonds in the rough

So the key elements to the Wardonia geometry are:

1) The "Clearance"- the very big blade gap gives an aggressive shave with zero irritation.

2) The "Flexing Boss" - the big ring on the top side of the baseplate is shaped to put a big curvature on the blade so that, in spite of that massive blade gap, the blade is braced and there's no unwanted blade flex during the shave.

3) The "Serrations" - the oblique grooves in the baseplate pull the hairs at a diagonal to the blade mimicking the "Barbers Stroke" which we might call the Gillette slide, producing the same cutting effect as a slant but by angling the hairs instead of the blade.

This explains why steep angle felt very uncomfortable with the Wardonia - I thought the big blade gap would suit steep angle shaving here but the serrations on the guard only come into play with a very shallow angle, more like an SE.

Using a very shallow angle however, the Wardonia does give a beautifully smooth and very aggressive irritation-free shave.

Magic!

 

[Dave-the-rave]

I've got a white one on the way.

 

[mjclark]

I've got a white one on the way.

Woohoo!! Please post pics, shave reports etc.

Let's generate some Wardonia love round here.

 

[BSAGuy]

Looking forward to more reports, Marcus. You are the most intrepid adventure shaver here on B&B. Always willing to sacrifice your beard for science and the benefit of the community here!

 

[mjclark]

Looking forward to more reports, Marcus. You are the most intrepid adventure shaver here on B&B. Always willing to sacrifice your beard for science and the benefit of the community here!

Thanks! There's hidden treasure out there

 

[mjclark]

And another gorgeous shave with the Wardonia tonight:

Very efficient and very comfortable so let's see how long this shave is going to last...

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Mine hasn't turned up yet mate. I have a red card though so it's probably the Wardonia at the Post office. I'll kep ya informed when it arrives.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Woo Woo it's arrived.

So it got a clean and a nice shiny new Polsilver SI and off to the races. Here's a pic of the blade with some material removed. It doesn't need much off to fit round the posts. Clearly visible is a brass thread insert in the handle. This is very nicely designed. It's Bakelite but not plastic tat.

Some pics of the blade when loaded...

So a head shave then face shave. I gorra say that's the closest head shave I've ever had. I was cautious as I usually use a less sharp blade on the dome, like a Derby, but there were no dramas. The Wardonia is light but the metal head gives it a nice top heavy feel. What a shave. Wardonia claimed ''It glides over the face''. Well it certainly glides over the head.

Face shave with the same blade. What can I say? This is an efficient razor. With a shallow angle it's smooth and gives plenty of feedback. Steep angle feels like shaving with a bastard file but man does it hammer those whiskers. Against the grain I had to resist the temptation to apply pressure. A light razor can to that to me. It doesn't need pressure because even uphill on the neck, ATG with a shallow angle it just gets the job done and very nicely. I'm sitting here with that polished marble feeling I usually only get from an SE or FAC SS. If this was my only razor I'd be very happy. It's a corker. Many thanks to mjclark for the heads up on these fantastic razors. Now I need the brown one.

 

[mjclark]

That is supercool Dave! These Wardonias are a real discovery eh?