Standard razor - a revelation

chris.hale said:
My Standard Razors black arrived this morning, great service from Gallant and Klein, and another site to add to my shaving bookmarks.

I went with Tabac this morning and loaded the black with a one-day lab. The shave was... different. To be honest I'm not feeling the love. The weight, or lack thereof is an issue, it just doesn't feel right. I'm used to stainless razors so it felt really alien to be using something that light and it just didn't glide like my Weber for example. The end result is good, and as a tool it works but somehow I just didn't enjoy the experience. I'll give it another couple of goes but at the moment it'll be heading for the BST.
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That's pretty much the feeling I had when I opened this thread - that something so lightweight, lighter than an aluminium Tech, could do the job whilst feeling right.

Apart from a couple of beard-growing episodes, I've been shaving for half a century. In that time I reckon I've bought and used most of the DE, SE and other similar razors sold over that period in the UK, along with vintage tools. None were so light. Hence my initial scepticism over the Standard, and my pleasure to find it misplaced.

Each to his own, but I grew to love it the more I used it. Perhaps you will too.
 
Received mine yesterday and this morning for the first time. Paired it with a new Gillette silver blue and it was fantastic. I'll try and get a full review up in the appropriate section later but had to leave a quick comment.
 
I hope so Ferrum. I probably wasn't entirely in the right mood for it either because I'd had an epic shave the day before with my Weber and was kind of looking forward to using that again. While the actual shaving experience with the Standard wasn't particularly enjoyable I can't argue with the end result, which was an extremely comfortable and close shave. I really need to give it a fair crack of the whip, and I could always try it with a bulldog handle.
 
chris.hale said:
..... I really need to give it a fair crack of the whip, and I could always try it with a bulldog handle.
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That's a problem because of the handle to head fitting.

The "sex" of the handle and head threads is, of course, reversed. That in itself isn't a problem, as it would be easy enough to put a piece of M5 rod (the usual thread for handles and heads), with a screw slot cut in the top, into the female part of another handle, thus reversing the fitting to the male handle and female Standard head.

However , the screw fitting on the Standard is 3.5 mm diameter, and the thread doesn't look like a metric one to me, but more like a UNC (no doubt someone in the Forum will know for sure). That rules out using any standard (Ikon etc) or bespoke (UFO etc.) bulldog (or other) handle as a straight swap.

It would be possible to make an adapter with 2 thread forms and sizes as I outline above, and I plan on having a go at this, mostly as a proof of concept, as soon as I can identify the Standard thread form. The other option is to have a bespoke handle made with fittings exactly to the Standard type.

It's clear that a lot of thought has gone into the design of the Standard, and the use of this non-standard fitting isn't just a whim. I rather think that it's been made that way so that the razor by default can only be used in its designed production form; which, after all, is what most people will do anyway.
 
Aha, but the screw fitted to the handle is a double-ended one, and the thread on the handle end is M5. I was able to remove the screw from the handle pretty easily by gripping it with a rubber band, and can confirm that this will allow attaching a standard handle.
 
chris.hale said:
Aha, but the screw fitted to the handle is a double-ended one, and the thread on the handle end is M5. I was able to remove the screw from the handle pretty easily by gripping it with a rubber band, and can confirm that this will allow attaching a standard handle.
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Good thing there are some clever chaps hereabouts!
 
Better late than never here's my review of the standard razor.
I received the black version from Gallant &Klein. I was a bit surprised at first that it didn't come boxed but was wrapped in bubble wrap, but the sample of wickhams soap more than made up for it. The razor itself looks very classy. Beautiful black finish on the aluminium and everything tightens up nice and smoothly. As mentioned before it looks like a razor apple might make.
I used a new gillette silver blade and razorock soap. The first thing I noticed was that even though the handle was smooth it had excellent grip when soaking wet. The blade exposure looked much greater than my DE 89 but I found the shave to be on a par or even milder. I know most people like the much heavier handles but this was my first aluminium razor and I loved the light feel. I found the lightness of the razor made control and adjustment of the pressure and angle much easier to control. This is also a very noisy razor which I believe is termed acoustic feedback by these in the know. It's very useful to hear that it's cutting through the hair and let's you know you have the sweet spot.
As I already said it feels very mild and I got a BBS with three passes and some touch ups. I had little or know razor burn. That's not say it won't scythe through a few days growth. I got a little careless and very easily nicked my neck. Today I had a quick 2 pass DFS in a rush for work and it felt very safe.
I have just received a weber polished head with the bulldog handle but it is going to have to be very special to knock this off the no1 spot. I can see this being my go to razor for daily use.

Paul.
 
themadremmy said:
Better late than never here's my review of the standard razor.
I received the black version from Gallant &Klein. I was a bit surprised at first that it didn't come boxed but was wrapped in bubble wrap, but the sample of wickhams soap more than made up for it. The razor itself looks very classy. Beautiful black finish on the aluminium and everything tightens up nice and smoothly. As mentioned before it looks like a razor apple might make.
I used a new gillette silver blade and razorock soap. The first thing I noticed was that even though the handle was smooth it had excellent grip when soaking wet. The blade exposure looked much greater than my DE 89 but I found the shave to be on a par or even milder. I know most people like the much heavier handles but this was my first aluminium razor and I loved the light feel. I found the lightness of the razor made control and adjustment of the pressure and angle much easier to control. This is also a very noisy razor which I believe is termed acoustic feedback by these in the know. It's very useful to hear that it's cutting through the hair and let's you know you have the sweet spot.
As I already said it feels very mild and I got a BBS with three passes and some touch ups. I had little or know razor burn. That's not say it won't scythe through a few days growth. I got a little careless and very easily nicked my neck. Today I had a quick 2 pass DFS in a rush for work and it felt very safe.
I have just received a weber polished head with the bulldog handle but it is going to have to be very special to knock this off the no1 spot. I can see this being my go to razor for daily use.

Paul.
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I'm sorry about the lack of packaging, Paul but that's how they are shipped from the manufacturer. To be fair, I was a bit disappointed when we first got them as well. I think this razor deserves a nice box. Hopefully they will have one in the future.
 
No problem. Wasn't criticising just a comment.
Paul.
axelk said:
themadremmy said:
Better late than never here's my review of the standard razor.
I received the black version from Gallant &Klein. I was a bit surprised at first that it didn't come boxed but was wrapped in bubble wrap, but the sample of wickhams soap more than made up for it. The razor itself looks very classy. Beautiful black finish on the aluminium and everything tightens up nice and smoothly. As mentioned before it looks like a razor apple might make.
I used a new gillette silver blade and razorock soap. The first thing I noticed was that even though the handle was smooth it had excellent grip when soaking wet. The blade exposure looked much greater than my DE 89 but I found the shave to be on a par or even milder. I know most people like the much heavier handles but this was my first aluminium razor and I loved the light feel. I found the lightness of the razor made control and adjustment of the pressure and angle much easier to control. This is also a very noisy razor which I believe is termed acoustic feedback by these in the know. It's very useful to hear that it's cutting through the hair and let's you know you have the sweet spot.
As I already said it feels very mild and I got a BBS with three passes and some touch ups. I had little or know razor burn. That's not say it won't scythe through a few days growth. I got a little careless and very easily nicked my neck. Today I had a quick 2 pass DFS in a rush for work and it felt very safe.
I have just received a weber polished head with the bulldog handle but it is going to have to be very special to knock this off the no1 spot. I can see this being my go to razor for daily use.

Paul.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry about the lack of packaging, Paul but that's how they are shipped from the manufacturer. To be fair, I was a bit disappointed when we first got them as well. I think this razor deserves a nice box. Hopefully they will have one in the future.
Click to expand...
 
themadremmy said:
No problem. Wasn't criticising just a comment.
Paul.
axelk said:
themadremmy said:
Better late than never here's my review of the standard razor.
I received the black version from Gallant &Klein. I was a bit surprised at first that it didn't come boxed but was wrapped in bubble wrap, but the sample of wickhams soap more than made up for it. The razor itself looks very classy. Beautiful black finish on the aluminium and everything tightens up nice and smoothly. As mentioned before it looks like a razor apple might make.
I used a new gillette silver blade and razorock soap. The first thing I noticed was that even though the handle was smooth it had excellent grip when soaking wet. The blade exposure looked much greater than my DE 89 but I found the shave to be on a par or even milder. I know most people like the much heavier handles but this was my first aluminium razor and I loved the light feel. I found the lightness of the razor made control and adjustment of the pressure and angle much easier to control. This is also a very noisy razor which I believe is termed acoustic feedback by these in the know. It's very useful to hear that it's cutting through the hair and let's you know you have the sweet spot.
As I already said it feels very mild and I got a BBS with three passes and some touch ups. I had little or know razor burn. That's not say it won't scythe through a few days growth. I got a little careless and very easily nicked my neck. Today I had a quick 2 pass DFS in a rush for work and it felt very safe.
I have just received a weber polished head with the bulldog handle but it is going to have to be very special to knock this off the no1 spot. I can see this being my go to razor for daily use.

Paul.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry about the lack of packaging, Paul but that's how they are shipped from the manufacturer. To be fair, I was a bit disappointed when we first got them as well. I think this razor deserves a nice box. Hopefully they will have one in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I know you weren't. :) I was just commiserating about the lack of packaging. I actually sent them an email suggesting they add one although that might increase the price. We'll see.
 
DamianJ said:
Liking the look of the all black razor.

Can anyone compare the Standard razor to an Edwin Jagger DE89? Is it more aggressive or similar?
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It's weird, it doesn't really feel like it's doing anything much at all, but it's very efficient. It feels less aggressive than the EJ, but you end up with a closer shave. It really doesn't feel like any other razor I've used.
 
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