The lkon thread

Boaz said:

Taken From the Ikon Facebook today 18.02.2014

it would appear there is someone from Ikon keeping an on people's picture, the first has the B&B signature and must belong copyright of someone here.

edit: I have just followed the link from a few posts up and can see they belong to Bosseb

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@ VolpeVerde: There you have your very clear answer to how Ikon will handle your complaints.

The easiest way to avoid this kind of behaviour from Greg is to not buy Ikon products.

Unfortunately Greg again proves himself incapable of handling customer complaints. I am sorry to have opened this particular can of worms, I should have known better from experience. This is not the way to build a successful company and my prediction is that all evidence of this copyright infringement will be cleaned away swiftly. I don't have a Facebook account nor do I intend to get one so I will leave this matter now.

As a last note on the matter I would like to point out to new members that long standing members will unfortunately not be surprised by this turn of events. There is a solid reason as to why Greg is banned on B&B.

I do not wish to discuss this company or its products ever again, not on these pages nor anywhere else.


One last word of advice: keep an eye on the BST in case I get really upset. Look what happened last time : http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/340989-PIF-Bad-Karma-off-my-property-NOW

Wow… I think I speak for many here when I say that your Ilmarinen, Bosseb, is perhaps the greatest application of Ikon components that I've ever seen. I wouldn't give this a second thought. Just enjoy your beautiful system.

Fussy blade alignment - the pins are a little too thin. I started off getting decent shaves, but found the quality deteriorated after a while - seems counter-intuitive, but I ended up selling the head.

In response to OP, I find the Ikon Slant works better with Personna Lab Blue and Feather than Astra SP, even though Astra SP is my goto blade with several other razors including the Merkur 37C. In the Ikon, the Astra drags quite a bit more than in other razors. The Ikon requires me to be much more careful while shaving than the 37C, and of course zero pressure seems to be particularly important with both slants. My take on this is that the domed shape of the Ikon head gives you much finer control over the blade angle, while the shape of the Merkur head seems to find a reasonable blade angle almost by itself. The upside is greater control with the Ikon, but this also allows for more operator error in getting the blade angle wrong.

One other comment, and I apologize in advance if my tone seems tutorial, but ... some blades drag more and you feel more resistance which requires more force or weight to cut through whiskers. There is a tendency to apply some small amount of additional pressure toward the face as you pull the razor head parallel to the face and through the whiskers. And of course this inward pressure can have brutal consequences particularly with a slant. OTH, it is possible to overcome the drag without inward pressure using shorter quicker strokes almost like a buffing motion.

My suggestion is that you shave with the Ikon in the quietest environment you can manage, and use great care in keeping the blade angle more shallow, as shallow you can and still hear anything.

ailevin said:

My take on this is that the domed shape of the Ikon head gives you much finer control over the blade angle, while the shape of the Merkur head seems to find a reasonable blade angle almost by itself. The upside is greater control with the Ikon, but this also allows for more operator error in getting the blade angle wrong.

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I agree with this assessment 100%.

Badger Bill said:

Don't know for sure, but from what I've heard (or not heard), it doesn't sound like it.

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Well, I haven't heard anything.

It's not all bad though. I spent some time this past weekend gently sanding and polishing the underside of the cap to smooth out the areas that rest on top of the blade. Now both edges of the blade are much smoother when the cap is tightened. I also polished the top of the cap a bit more. It still has the coppery coloring that is shown in my pictures, but now sports a beautiful mirror-like finish.

I used it Monday morning and although it was my first use of a slant, I got a very good shave. But I think it may be a bit too aggressive for my tastes. I'll have to play with it some more.

I don't know if it was worth the cost. I wouldn't buy another.

Wow - I think we are witnessing a manufacturer committing suicide. This forum is not the place you show your butt and expect to keep customers. I almost pulled the trigger on the Ikon Slant, had any US vendors had any in stock, I would have. Instead I bought a 39C. After reading through this thread, and with no response from Ikon, I can't imagine anyone here buying any more Ikon product. Too bad for the US vendors, they may get stuck with a bunch of Ikon stock. I'm happy to wait for Stan's slant.

indy_tdi said:

Too bad for the US vendors, they may get stuck with a bunch of Ikon stock.

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Apparently not, seeing as how it's sold out everywhere.

VolpeVerde said:

It still has the coppery coloring that is shown in my pictures, but now sports a beautiful mirror-like finish.

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I'm glad to hear you've found a way to salvage your slant! Antics of the manufacturer aside (which I think are TOTALLY unreasonable btw), I actually think that it's a really great razor that performs very well. I'd love to see a picture of your slant cap's "new look" if you get the chance.

Badger Bill said:

Apparently not, seeing as how it's sold out everywhere.

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I was referring to all the other products. Which are not sold out. Like the OSS

indy_tdi said:

I was referring to all the other products. Which are not sold out. Like the OSS

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Haha ok fair enough!

I had planned on buying an Ikon slant this company for a long time has just been leaving a bad taste in my mouth, so I will not. Stan at Bull Goose and Joe at Italian Barber will get my business. I would love shaving vendors to say they will not carry these products until they can be certain what they are made of.

I am really glad that I found this thread because I was going to purchase an Ikon razor.....Now I am glad that I waited and just now purchased a razor from Webber.

Badger Bill said:

Wow… I think I speak for many here when I say that your Ilmarinen, Bosseb, is perhaps the greatest application of Ikon components that I've ever seen. I wouldn't give this a second thought. Just enjoy your beautiful system.

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+1 Just roll with the punches

Badger Bill said:

Wow… I think I speak for many here when I say that your Ilmarinen, Bosseb, is perhaps the greatest application of Ikon components that I've ever seen. I wouldn't give this a second thought. Just enjoy your beautiful system.

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I might enjoy my system razor or I might not.

I will however never in public speak of, mention or reference the maker or the brand thereby endorsing the brand in front of newer members of this board. This is my obligation towards this community that has given me so much enjoyment and knowledge.

As a final word on this I must say that I feel really sorry for the owner of this brand; it cannot be easy to feel that you are stuck on that schoolyard at the age of 11 and everybody is bullying you. It is not easy under those circumstances to release your own potential and reach your capacity as a human being.

As Dalai Lama puts it: Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

That's all I have to say about this as Forrest Gump would have said.

bosseb said:

I might enjoy my system razor or I might not.

I will however never in public speak of, mention or reference the maker or the brand thereby endorsing the brand in front of newer members of this board. This is my obligation towards this community that has given me so much enjoyment and knowledge.

As a final word on this I must say that I feel really sorry for the owner of this brand; it cannot be easy to feel that you are stuck on that schoolyard at the age of 11 and everybody is bullying you. It is not easy under those circumstances to release your own potential and reach your capacity as a human being.

As Dalai Lama puts it: Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

That's all I have to say about this as Forrest Gump would have said.

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I hear you! didn't mean to stir anything up. Thanks for the heads up though.

This isn't the first time I've seen Greg post something childish on Facebook, the last time was rubbishing the quality of ATT's razors which is plainly codswallop. I've resisted jumping on the "I hate iKon" bandwagon up until now, but move along guys, make room for one more.

Things like this just make the decision easier when deciding on a new razor...simple as that.
So many excellent options on the market, why bother?

I have a iKon Deluxe OC razor. I would want to buy a SB base plate for it also. This thread makes me really hoping to buy one second hand instead of supporting this company further.

In response to allevin. I'm happy to recieve a tutorial on the slant given my difficulty. I kept at it with the razor for the past few weeks and found that revisiting Personna Labs was a good call, as I started getting nice shaves with them as well. I think my issue stemmed mainly from the weight of the razor- usually I let the complete weight of the razor do the work for me- with the ikon it's just so heavy I actually now actively ease off the weight that the razor puts on my face, once I started doing this my shaves improved dramatically.
Still afraid to try with an Astra though!