dang, I got mine, and, although it is a beauty... it will not close properly with a blade in it.
Have you contacted James? Any chance of some photos so that we can see what's happening?
dang, I got mine, and, although it is a beauty... it will not close properly with a blade in it.
Looks awesome Williabe, that is a thing of beauty. Can't wait to hear your thoughts compared against your SS OC. Is there a noticeable difference in weight?
I have 6 shaves so far on my WR1-OC, each one continues to get better. My trouble spots where I have to spend a lot of time to get a close shave are my goatee area and my jawline. With the efficiency of the Wolfman I find that I am able to modify my pass technique and get a closer shave in significantly less time/effort with this razor than any of my previous ones. For my first pass I go north to south which is WTG for the most part (my goatee area grows towards my ears). For the second pass I do a WTG/XTG hybrid diagonal direction from my ears to my chin (XTG on goatee area). Third pass is XTG from ears to nose (ATG on goatee area).
I'm convinced I will never have a true BBS because of how coarse my beard is, but shaving with this 3-pass stroke pattern, without needing to do any touching up, results in a closer and smoother shave than I've ever had.
Last week I got 5 comfortable shaves out of an Astra SP, and today I gave a Voskhod a try for the first time in the WR1. So far they both did well, the Voskhod seemed a little smoother but I also had more growth for this morning's shave so tomorrow will be a better comparison. I'll be surprised if I get as many uses out of the Voskhods as I do with Astras, but time will tell. Next week I plan on trying either a Personna Lab Blue or a Gillette Silver Blue, I've never tried either of those blades before.
molon_labe - Yes there is a minor difference in weight between my SS OC and Brass SB razors. I attribute this to the handles. My SS WRH3 is a lighter overall spec than the WRH1.
I am a huge fan of the WR1-OC, love the comfort to efficiency ratio. I asked James for a slight increase in efficiency for this Brass WR1-SB razor. The normal gap from blade to guard for a WR1 razor head is .024"(.61mm). Mine is .029"(.74mm).
I think you'll enjoy the GSB blades. They are my #1 blade and have worked for me in all my razors. I like Personna Med Prep as a second choice, a smidge sharper than GSB, but not as smooth.
I decided to order a pack of the GSB from tryablade.com because of your recommendation. I see a lot of guys like them and it's one I've wanted to try but never got around to. I stopped exploring different blades since waiting on the Wolfman because I figured I'd be doing it all over again when it arrived anyways.
The only drawback with the GSB are the wax blobs on the blade which hold the wrapper in place.
So I decided not to finish out the week with the Voskhod blade and instead today I used one of the Gillette Silver Blues I received yesterday. It was impressive, reminds me a lot of Astra SPs but noticeably smoother, particularly on the 2nd and 3rd pass. It is not quite as smooth as the Voskhods to me, but the shave was definitely closer and equally as comfortable when all was said and done. Had yet another effortless near-BBS 3-pass this morning, let's see how long the stubble stays away.
The true test for me will be how many shaves I can get out of the silver blues, if it's like the Feathers and I can only get 1 or 2 comfortable shaves I don't think it is something I could switch over to. If this blade lasts through Saturday's shave I may just have to make a bulk order.
Thanks for the recommendation Williabe.
Here it is, my Brass WR1-SB & WRH1:
View attachment 574232
View attachment 574233
View attachment 574234
View attachment 574235
View attachment 574236
Superb build quality - full review to follow after a half dozen or so shaves!!
For those fellas that have received their razors, what was the approximate wait time on the waiting list??
To anyone who has the WRH3 handle...the bottom end is 14.2mm diameter and the knurled section is 12.8mm. Does this difference have any effect for anyone? If layed flat (without head on), can you even tell? A 1.4mm difference is like less than 1/16" isn't it?
So I decided not to finish out the week with the Voskhod blade and instead today I used one of the Gillette Silver Blues I received yesterday. It was impressive, reminds me a lot of Astra SPs but noticeably smoother, particularly on the 2nd and 3rd pass. It is not quite as smooth as the Voskhods to me, but the shave was definitely closer and equally as comfortable when all was said and done. Had yet another effortless near-BBS 3-pass this morning, let's see how long the stubble stays away.
The true test for me will be how many shaves I can get out of the silver blues, if it's like the Feathers and I can only get 1 or 2 comfortable shaves I don't think it is something I could switch over to. If this blade lasts through Saturday's shave I may just have to make a bulk order.
Thanks for the recommendation Williabe.
Today was Shave #8 on a Gillette Silver Blue. I've been using these the past few weeks and like them a lot. A nice smooth shave and 7 shaves minimum for me.
I made an initial inquiry April 3. James confirmed in a subsequent email that I am on the list. This was during his transition to new machines (I think) so it's probably a worst case scenario in terms of wait time. About a month ago he said production was going great and that although he was sticking to a two month expectation, he didn't think it would take that long.For those fellas that have received their razors, what was the approximate wait time on the waiting list??