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Post by wchnu on Jan 11, 2018 21:38:11 GMT -6
This is still a prized one. It lives in my little saftee shaving cabinet.
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Flintstone
Lather Catcher
Scraper Blade Shaver...
Posts: 908
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Post by Flintstone on Feb 2, 2019 9:25:41 GMT -6
As a new member of TCOC and a new owner of a 1902 Model 14A, I’d like to add my small contribution to the knowledgebase of this wonderful razor. This is more of a “razor-thread bump” since far more experienced folks have published some great information on these lather catchers. I’ve broken out my comments into 3 sections: metrics, experiential insights, and trivia. I want to encourage feedback and commentary from everyone, especially those with experience and/or knowledge of the razor. This is also a great thread to ask questions if you’re considering this model….and if you are that person, let me just say “go for it” -- you won’t regret it! Metrics -- I find these types of numbers interesting, but my measurements are pretty crude and I’m leaning more on the visuals and comparisons to provide more of a relative understanding. Anyone with better and/or different numbers should absolutely weigh-in. - Length. The LC always seemed short to me in pictures, but it’s fairly comparable to the Damaskeene (a little shorter) and only about a quarter inch smaller than the Micromatic.
- Weight. Here’s where you notice a difference, the LC is light compared to the Dammy and the Micromatic. I suspect that’s mostly due to the hollow handle. While the weight is mostly in the head, it’s still too light to let the weight do the work for you. This puts the amount of pressure solely in your hands. I’m fairly ambivalent when it comes to razor weight, but I know that lighter razors for me means I’ll need to pay attention to the amount of pressure I use.
P.S., if you’re interested in weights, jayaruh has done a nice job of measuring out the Micromatic line and you can find that here. And by the way, I measured my 3 Micromatics and came up with the same exact numbers.
- Blade Gap & Exposure. I think finer measurements could be really interesting, but I’m short on calipers and gauges….I’ve got feeler gauges on my list to pick up -- haven’t had to gap a spark plug in a long time, so I’m not sure what happened to mine. Without gauges/calipers, I tried to illustrate this with photography, but my photo skills don’t seem to be up to the task. To complicate things further, my LC’s teeth are a little uneven, which means my blade gap is uneven as well. From my reading (and limited experience) it seems that blade gap and exposure seem to be key drivers of a razor’s efficiency and blade feel, and since those are two things I like in my razor, I’d love to better understand both better.
I believe blade gap is that distance between the blade and the guard/comb. In terms of blade gap, I tried to look at the LC against an MMOC and a Dammy (pics below), but the blade gaps appear pretty similar between the 3 razors (to my eye, and low-end photography) even though I find the blade feel to be vastly different between the 3. If I associate gap with efficiency, then the visuals make some sense since I find all 3 to be highly efficient razors. As for blade feel, the LC provides the most (hands down), so perhaps the difference in blade feel is more to do with blade exposure than gap.
Blade exposure is more difficult for me to articulate (much less understand). I’ve seen it defined as the amount of blade that sticks out from the top cap. Which sort of makes sense, unless you don’t have a top cap, like my LC. So perhaps an LC has the maximum blade exposure possible, which certainly explains the blade feel. While I’ve been reading about both gap and exposure in various places, I’m hoping to hear other perspectives on these two razor attributes in general, and how those attributes affect the LC specifically.
Experiential insights -- might be better to call this “my lessons learned” with a strong YMMV caveat. - Blade type: I haven’t used a traditional wedge blade yet (although I recently managed to secure a couple of unsharpened ones, and I have an offer to borrow a local one that has been honed), so my experience has been limited to modern GEM blades: Treet (carbon blades) and GEM SS (PTFE coated). I like both blades, and the Treet’s are smoother feeling right out of the wrapper (the PTFE needs at least 1 and preferably 2 shaves before it smooths out), but my best shaves have been with a broken-in PTFE. For me, when a razor has lots of blade feel and significant blade exposure, I prefer an extra-sharp blade. The Treets didn’t tug, but at times it felt like the blade was skating more than cutting (likely not enough pressure on my part). It’s not a stark difference between the 2, and my last shave with a Treet in this razor was flawless -- plus I prefer them in my later model Gems (Micromatics, and Heavy Flat Top) -- but in my overall experience, the PTFE’s slightly edged out the Treets for the LC.
- Blade loading: There are three blade stabilization mechanisms on the razor: blade stops, side spring retainers, and back retaining clip. This was initially difficult and is still a little bit of a finicky process; but that is because I have one blade stop that is about 75% missing. If I don’t catch the brass just right, the blade hops over the stop when I’m trying to lock it in. On the plus side, the blade does lock-in once the placement is right. One thing I have to be careful of is side to side alignment. I’m not alone in this, here is a post in the “old site” highlighting this as well. I suspect my tiny blade stops exacerbate the issue, and if I’m not careful, the blade can easily be skewed closer to one side than the other -- visually it’s barely noticeable. I did completely ignore the slightly offset alignment once, as well as the subsequent strange sensation while shaving, only to discover post-shave that I had given myself cat-scratches on my neck. No broken skin and the scratches were barely noticeable and gone the next day, but I’m careful with side-to-side alignment now and no further incidents.
As for the back retaining clip, it is REALLY finicky. It does rest against the back of the blade, and it holds it in place, but it is not a snap-tight type of sensation, and once I found it had slipped out of place. I’m still not 100% sure I’m putting it in place correctly. If I attached the clip-end to the razor, it does not touch the back of the blade at all, so it has to be “unclipped” to make contact with the blade back. A pic would probably help, but I haven’t taken one yet. Overall it seems to work, but it is my least favorite part of this razor's mechanics.
- The shave: The first one was good, but my later ones have been better and better. Technique seems to greatly matter with this razor....probably because of the light weight, blade gap and exposure, etc. And once you’ve used it several times, you learn it’s likes and dislikes and the experience becomes second nature. I equate this razor to a feline versus a canine. I like both animals, but my preference runs towards felines. They tend to have very unique and mostly audacious personalities, and that works for me. This razor has a feline personality, and it has gained my respect and affection.
Now for a little trivia. Like many who gravitate towards the vintage stuff, I like thinking about what the world was like back when this razor came into being. I always start with the price. Mine was $2.00 at the time -- assuming the tin does indeed go with the razor, and I’ve no reason to believe it doesn’t -- which equates to $53 in 2019. That fascinates me, given the paychecks were undoubtedly small for the vast majority of folks. Of course, I also collect tools from that time period, and the price of a wrench was crazy high relative to today….but people didn’t expect to buy multiples of the same tool, and the tools were made to last at least one lifetime and usually many. I also thought it was interesting that according to Waits’ Compendium the price decreased in 1904 from $2.00 to $1.50. This not only helps me to tighten the range on my razor (1902 to 1904), but also shines a potential light on the market dynamics at the time. A new unmentionable was making the scene around that time, so it’s entirely possible that Kampfe Bros were making a play to undercut the competition with a price reduction, and gain as much market share as possible. That said, I thought the initial unmentionables were introduced closer to the $5.00 price mark, so the LC was already significantly cheaper. Anyway, enough about unmentionables….they’ve already been mentioned too much! Top Songs from 1902 - just a sample, and I’m highlighting those I’m very familiar with...it was a great year for music. - Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” -- ragtime is a favorite genre of mine and for you non-ragtime folks, the song was featured in the 1973 movie “The Sting” (one of my all time favorite films)
- Arthur Collins’ “Bill Bailey (won’t you please come home)”
- JW Myers’ “In the Good Old Summer Time”
The President in 1902 was Teddy Roosevelt, and this razor would have been John Steinbeck’s birth year razor. Obviously much more can be said about that time period, but I like having at least a snippet of culture and history in my head when I’m using a razor. If you made it this far -- or maybe you wisely jumped to the end -- please feel free to weigh in with your thoughts on anything above or maybe there’s something I’ve forgotten or just plain misstated…..any and all comments are welcome!
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Post by wchnu on Feb 2, 2019 21:20:03 GMT -6
Very nice write up Fred! Thanks for taking time for that.
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Flintstone
Lather Catcher
Scraper Blade Shaver...
Posts: 908
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Post by Flintstone on Feb 2, 2019 21:53:22 GMT -6
Very nice write up Fred! Thanks for taking time for that. Thank you -- I enjoyed doing it.
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Post by jayaruh on Feb 3, 2019 7:14:30 GMT -6
I am still on the lookout for my next lather catcher. I must adopt out some more brushes.
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Flintstone
Lather Catcher
Scraper Blade Shaver...
Posts: 908
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Post by Flintstone on Feb 3, 2019 8:11:06 GMT -6
I am still on the lookout for my next lather catcher. I must adopt out some more brushes. I hear that. They certainly are addictive, and the addiction seems to be spreading since the market feels pretty overheated. I've put in what I thought were crazy-high bids, only to find the final sale amount is over twice what I bid. I've even "chased a few rabbits" into the stratosphere, but since I have a fear of heights and limited funds, I've bailed out before entering the mesosphere...okay, I've beaten that mixed metaphor to death.
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