Feather All Stainless AS-D1 DE Razor Review

[bubbathemoose]

Perhaps a little more agressive???? The tameness seems to have been am issue with many people

Like I said in my review of the Feather AS-D1, razor aggressiveness is such a personal thing and as always YMMV. Granted the AS-D1 is a pretty mild razor, and this combined with the steeper blade/shaving angle may cause problems for some users, initially at least. At such a high price point it's a lot of money to spend only to find out that you genuinely can't get on with it.
Personally I find it gives me excellent shaves, but there again I'm not an aggressive razor kind of guy.
Maybe Feather will up the aggressiveness or alter the blade angle (perhaps both) on the new model.
Unfortunately if the new model is priced similar to the out going AS-D1 then I doubt very much weather I could justify purchasing it, just to find out, especially as I really like the current one (even more so than my Gillette TV Rocket!!!).

 

[Sencha]

Saw this on B&B don't know if its legit

I asked a vendor and apparently Feather was having production issues with the heads. Every fourth head, or so, would come out inconsistent and blades were slightly skewed to one side when the head was screwed together.
Feather recalled the remaining razors from vendor who still had them in stock. The new model should be shipping in a few weeks. I'm not sure if will look different.

 

[bubbathemoose]

Saw this on B&B don't know if its legit

I asked a vendor and apparently Feather was having production issues with the heads. Every fourth head, or so, would come out inconsistent and blades were slightly skewed to one side when the head was screwed together.
Feather recalled the remaining razors from vendor who still had them in stock. The new model should be shipping in a few weeks. I'm not sure if will look different.

It may well be true who know's. Maybe Feather will use this 'problem?' to completely overhaul the AS-D1 design to make it more appealing to a bigger proportion of DE shavers.
Iv'e had a good look at the head assembly of my razor in detail, and all is as it should be, no uneven blade exposure or alignment. If there is a problem lets hope that it only affects a small number of razors.

 

[bubbathemoose]

I have recieved the below email from Feather regarding the materials used in the manufacture of the AS-D1.

=====================================================
Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for your e-mail dated January 19, 2013.

We very much appreciate your interest in one of our products, all stainless
steel razor, and we are pleased to inform you that the material it is made
of is indeed one of the stainless steels that are compliant to Japanese
Industrial Standard.

We are sorry that we are not able to give you further details of the
materials of our products.

Thank you again for your interest in our products.

Best regards,


==========================================
Tsuyoshi Ishiyama
FEATHER SAFETY RAZOR CO., LTD.
OVERSEAS TRADE DIVISION

FEATHER BLDG.5TH FL. 1-5-2, DOJIMA
KITA-KU, OSAKA 530-0003, JAPAN
TEL: +81-6-6452-5518 FAX: +81-6-6452-5651
E-MAIL: feather3@estate.ocn.ne.jp
URL: http://www.feather.co.jp/
==========================================

So it seems that the AS-D1 is indeed made from stainless steel (although what grade or type is still open to debate) and from other postings floating about it does indeed seem that a satin chrome finish is applied as well.
Personally I don't mind this finish, and am a lot happier knowing that the 'base' razor is stainless steel.
So there you go, make of it what you will.

 

[Sencha]

Cheers for the update. I presumed the base was SS. I know some people were complaining about the coating but it wouldnt bother me. I've never seen one chipped or anything.

Some one said if it is coated then they shouldnt call it "all stainless steel" but I noticed that they don't. It just says "All stainless razor" or something to that effect.

 

[bubbathemoose]

Cheers for the update. I presumed the base was SS. I know some people were complaining about the coating but it wouldnt bother me. I've never seen one chipped or anything.

Some one said if it is coated then they shouldnt call it "all stainless steel" but I noticed that they don't. It just says "All stainless razor" or something to that effect.

Thinking about it you're correct, its only some vendors who are calling it an 'all stainless steel razor' as you say Feather themselves just call it an 'All Stainless Razor' (just checked mine and the packaging that it came in).
The biggest majority of today's razors are plated, normally in chrome, nickel, or gold and petty much all vintage DE's are also plated and they seemed to have survived the test of time pretty well. Personally I don't see the point of being concerned about the satin chrome finish on the AS-D1, as by the time it starts to show signs of wear it would have probably out lasted the owner anyway.
I wouldn't be surprised at some point to see or hear that someone has had their AS-D1 re-plated in shiny chrome or gold just for the sake of it.