PAA Aluminium Alpha Ecliptic Slant - Review

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Exeter
I purchased this razor recently and thought that I'd do a review on it based upon my initial experience with it over the last few days.

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The razor comes in the same packaging as the Bakelite razor, the most obvious difference being that this razor is made out of 7075 Aluminium and is available in two anodised finishes - black and bronze.

The razor designed is a copy of an earlier Walbusch slant razor which, I believe, dates from the 1930's. The main difference with many other slants is that this design torques the blade (as opposed to twisting it) and uses a humpback design to enable the blade to be placed diagonally on your face. This took some getting used to and wasn't as intuitive a process as I first thought it would be. The key is to lead with the hump first as the razor gives far better shaves this way.

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I've tried the razor with four different blade combinations - smooth blades (Sputnik and Astra) and sharp blades (Feather and Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow) and on each occasion the razor has felt somewhat rougher than I originally had hoped it would be. I would place it as being below an ATT S1, Ikon B1 Stainless and Merkur slant in terms of smoothness and more efficient than a Merkur slant (but not as efficient as an Ikon B1).

I was expecting to notice a marked difference in smoothness between the blades I used (as usually occurs with most DE's in my collection), however, this did not really prove to be case. The smoothness didn't change that noticeably, although I could feel a minor difference between a Feather and 7 O'Clock Yellow (with the Gillette blade being the harshest of the four blades I used).

The QC on the razor is, on the whole, pretty good. The handle fits snugly and everything slots into place nicely. I did, though, notice one issue; the blade reveal on the razor I have is unequal. This can be seen in the photos below:

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I was expecting that this would give a problematic shave and I was surprised that this wasn't the case with this razor. It handled multiple passes of two of the sharpest blades out there without any nicks, weepers or irritation. The only difference I've been able to detect between the two sides of the head in use is that one side sounds louder than the other when shaving. I suspect that this is down to the way the blade is firmly clamped in place:

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It would appear that the difference in blade reveal is caused by the top cap not having been machined correctly as one side of it is noticeably shorter than the other (as can be seen in the picture above).

The more I've used this razor the more I've come to like it. I suspect that some of the roughness is actually caused by the anodised aluminium finish. It feels very similar to the oxidised finish on a Blackbird in use (with the same vacuum-type effect when shaving) and I'm unsure as to whether this will improve over time or not.

The area where this razor has most impressed me though, is head-shaving. It performs this task efficiently and well and it's great to be able to add another head shaving slant into my collection.

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this razor as it shaves well and is, in my opinion, worthy of the relatively high price tag given the quality of materials used. Thankfully, the blade reveal issue caused by the uneven machining of the top cap does not affect the shave to any great degree (and is, in this sense, purely cosmetic) otherwise I suspect that my conclusion would have been somewhat different. :)
 
I've had some more great shaves with this razor and have enjoyed it so much that I've ordered another one in the bronze finish. [emoji41]

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I'm really starting to get to grips with this razor and am starting to appreciate is effortless efficiency. This was also the smoothest shave I've had with it so far. The key was to only shave WTG and ATG (avoiding any XTG strokes) - this seems to be the best way to use the razor.

I've also noticed that the cosmetic top cap issue has actually turned out to be a good thing as it enables me to work out which side of the razor I need to use on the different parts of my face with a quick glance rather than having to line up the hump each time. [emoji846]


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