Raised Flat Bottom family reunion

George, those are both really nice razors. I have held off buying a #77/#88 because of the handle size. I just have a problem shaving with the small handle, but I know I'm missing out on great shaving razors. I especially like the 41' NEW with the Tech fat handle. I know that shaves beautifully. I would love to add one of those to my collection someday.

Thanks Jeff,

The advantage of the 41' NEW with the Tech fat handle is you can use a bigger heavier handle if you wish.

Dr Awkward, yes the French 88 does have corner tabs.

Cheers, George

Dr, I think I may have mislead you. I thought you meant the corner tabs on the cap. My #88 has the corner tabs on the cap but not the notches on the guard.

Cheers, George

GBinOZ said:

Dr, I think I may have mislead you. I thought you meant the corner tabs on the cap. My #88 has the corner tabs on the cap but not the notches on the guard.

Cheers, George

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You read my mind! Some day I want to get one with the corner notches ...

Btw Dr. , how is it that regular Rotbart as a shaver? Does it shave as good as it looks?

nuclearblast said:

Btw Dr. , how is it that regular Rotbart as a shaver? Does it shave as good as it looks?

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No, it does not, but it shaves quite well. It was recently replated in nickel by Dave (onotoman), so it is spectakular in the hand. Very hard to live up to those looks. Even so, I just shaved with it on Sunday and it performed quite well. My biggest complaint would be the handle. Since I shave in the shower, it is very important to me to have deeply knurled / grippy handles. The Rotbart does not work well in that department. The fat handle Rotbart, on the other hand, shaves well AND has an extra-grippy handle. As for the performance of the Rotbart head, it is very good, but if I had to pick (which I don't), I would pick the UK NEW RFB.
I'm not sure it was really built first, but in my book, the fat handle Rotbart is the Father of the RFB family.

DrAwkward said:

No, it does not, but it shaves quite well. It was recently replated in nickel by Dave (onotoman), so it is spectakular in the hand. Very hard to live up to those looks. Even so, I just shaved with it on Sunday and it performed quite well. My biggest complaint would be the handle. Since I shave in the shower, it is very important to me to have deeply knurled / grippy handles. The Rotbart does not work well in that department. The fat handle Rotbart, on the other hand, shaves well AND has an extra-grippy handle. As for the performance of the Rotbart head, it is very good, but if I had to pick (which I don't), I would pick the UK NEW RFB.
I'm not sure it was really built first, but in my book, the fat handle Rotbart is the Father of the RFB family.

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Thank you Doc ...
I'm not sure but, some English RFB have patent #s, right? While others don't. These Rotbart say patent pending, in German. Makes sense that they came up first, in my mind at least ... or am I just making a big mess out of this? Would it be safe to say these are from what ... early 30s?

In any case, I purchased one today. They look too good ... I just had to!

nuclearblast said:

Thank you Doc ...
I'm not sure but, some English RFB have patent #s, right? While others don't. These Rotbart say patent pending, in German. Makes sense that they came up first, in my mind at least ... or am I just making a big mess out of this? Would it be safe to say these are from what ... early 30s?

In any case, I purchased one today. They look too good ... I just had to!

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Yeah, I think that they are from the early 1930's and I am convinced (unless / until one of the experts sets me straight) that Rotbart started the RFB family.
BTW, I think you will love the new razor! Enjoy!

Very nice family portrait, Dr. A. Good luck with rounding out your collection of these razors.

BSAGuy said:

Very nice family portrait, Dr. A. Good luck with rounding out your collection of these razors.

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Thanks for the well wishes; I think they worked.
I just traded with another B&B member for this RFB beauty:


The was the missing family member that I was most interested in adding, so I feel pretty lucky to have found one. I think of the Hybrid as the last member of the RFB family (even though at least one version of the #77 was actually the last RFB to be produced). Even so, it is basically the last NEW and the first Tech ...

Nice!! Congrats!

Very cool, congratulations!

Nice Hybrid.

Very nice Doc. Looks to be in beautiful condition. Congrats on the find. I'm on the hunt for one as well.

The English NEW/Tech Hybrid always seemed like an oddity that I wanted to have in my collection, but I assumed that it couldn't be all that great as an actual shaving tool. After all, if it had been good, wouldn't it have been more popular?
Since trading for one a few days ago, I thought I might as well give it a try. I expected it to be like a Tech, but maybe a tad less mild. At best, I suppose I was hoping it might be almost as effective as a US NEW SC. As an avid OC advocate, I think I was biased against this SB "abomination."
Then I shaved with it and got a big surprise. Admittedly, part of the surprise might have come from the blade. I used a Kai that has been floating around my blade drawer for a few months. There might be some equals, but I don't know of a sharper blade. Anyway, the Hybrid loaded with a Kai was very un-Tech-like. It reminded me, in all the right ways, of a RFB OC. I know they are identical in every regard except the OC/SB part, but I really expected the Hybrid to be much milder.
I plan to load it tomorrow morning with a P74 because I happen to have one lying around. Or maybe I should put the Kai in a regular RFB OC ...
Erik (Taco8slo) and anyone else who has one of these Hybrids, am I crazy? How does the Hybrid work for you?

Congrats on the Hybrid Doc. No, you're not crazy. I too find the shave from the Hybrid to be remarkably similar to the RFB New. I've never tried my Hybrid with a Kai or Feather but I will have to give it a go.

I haven't shaved with an OC RFB in quite some time so I can't really speak about those comparisons. To me it does seem similar to my other pre-war techs from America, Canada, and England; although I think the Rhodium creates a bit of drag while shaving (might just be in my head), the drag seems to slightly improve the shaving experience for some reason...

I shaved with the Hybrid again this morning, but with a P74 instead of the Kai. Although reportedly "legendary" in some respects, the P74 is not as insanely sharp as the Kai. Even using a very different-feeling blade, I stand by my earlier comparison: the Hybrid shaves very much like the RFB OC. For me, that constitutes extremely high praise.
I was also very impressed with the Kai (not enough actually to buy any). I picked up a free tuck of Kai blades at the Asheville meet-up a few weeks back. Perhaps I should press them into service at some point ...

So, I tried the Rotbart today ...
I will need to use it a couple more times, but based on this one shave: good razor, not great. VERY smooth though, just lacking a little more aggressiveness.
Definitely worth having one, if nothing else, for the looks. I think it looks pretty cool.

nuclearblast said:

So, I tried the Rotbart today ...
I will need to use it a couple more times, but based on this one shave: good razor, not great. VERY smooth though, just lacking a little more aggressiveness.
Definitely worth having one, if nothing else, for the looks. I think it looks pretty cool.

View attachment 466006

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Very nice looking razor. I agree that the regular-handle Rotbart is good, but not quite as good as the English RFB razors ...