Quality DE razor recommendations needed...

StratMan

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2018
Location
Australia
so now that I have now experienced a quality DE, the Wolfman, i want a nice high end razor.

My first experience was quite an eye opener and now understand why people spend so much money on a quality razor. Going back to the Karve today has reinforced this thought.

Unfortunately the limited research i have done online suggests a new Wolfman is not a razor that is easily acquired so i am looking elsewhere.

The timeless razors have caught my eye, they seem good value for money but how would these compare against say the Wolfman i tried?

How does the bronze timeless compare with the SS version?

I like an efficient razor, currently use R5 on a rockwell as my daily driver and felt that the Karve D was a tad mild.

Not sure what plate aggression the Wolfman was but it felt very efficient and 'mild' at the same time, if that makes sense. So with this in mind, what blade gap should i be aiming for in a timeless?

Are there any other high end razors that i should be looking at?

any feedback and suggestions would be much appreciated..
 
so now that I have now experienced a quality DE, the Wolfman, i want a nice high end razor.

My first experience was quite an eye opener and now understand why people spend so much money on a quality razor. Going back to the Karve today has reinforced this thought.

Unfortunately the limited research i have done online suggests a new Wolfman is not a razor that is easily acquired so i am looking elsewhere.

The timeless razors have caught my eye, they seem good value for money but how would these compare against say the Wolfman i tried?

How does the bronze timeless compare with the SS version?

I like an efficient razor, currently use R5 on a rockwell as my daily driver and felt that the Karve D was a tad mild.

Not sure what plate aggression the Wolfman was but it felt very efficient and 'mild' at the same time, if that makes sense. So with this in mind, what blade gap should i be aiming for in a timeless?

Are there any other high end razors that i should be looking at?

any feedback and suggestions would be much appreciated..

As mentioned so many times, choice of hardware and software is subjective.
I have been trying to score a wolfman for a while now with no luck. ( If anyone has a spare WR1 SB with WRH7 Wolfie let me know :p)
S/S Timeless razors are readily available. If you prefer a efficient/aggressive the 0.95 head would be a good choice. Three plates available, Solid bar, Scalloped and OC being the most efficient.

Cheers
N
 
As mentioned so many times, choice of hardware and software is subjective.
I have been trying to score a wolfman for a while now with no luck. ( If anyone has a spare WR1 SB with WRH7 Wolfie let me know :p)
S/S Timeless razors are readily available. If you prefer a efficient/aggressive the 0.95 head would be a good choice. Three plates available, Solid bar, Scalloped and OC being the most efficient.

Cheers
N

I’m assuming the Wolfman WR1 was a .61 plate that you used. If you want a little more aggression I would suggest a Blackbird over the Timeless 0.95 head. The Blackbird is not as thick in the head as the Timeless and a bit more menevoueable but otherwise the shave is similar. A new brass Blackbird is to be released this Saturday and you also have the stainless steel version. Both should shave very much the same.

The bronze Timeless is a totally different razor to the stainless steel or titanium version. The bronze is CNC machined while the other two are wire cut.

My personal recommendation is again the RAW RS-10 but get both plates.
 
I’m assuming the Wolfman WR1 was a .61 plate that you used. If you want a little more aggression I would suggest a Blackbird over the Timeless 0.95 head. The Blackbird is not as thick in the head as the Timeless and a bit more menevoueable but otherwise the shave is similar. A new brass Blackbird is to be released this Saturday and you also have the stainless steel version. Both should shave very much the same.

The bronze Timeless is a totally different razor to the stainless steel or titanium version. The bronze is CNC machined while the other two are wire cut.

My personal recommendation is again the RAW RS-10 but get both plates.

The RAW RS-10 is a nice bit of kit.
Brass Blackbird, sooo tempting. :p
 
Also have a look at Above The Tie. They also have some great razors, comparable to Timeless in my opinion. I have a couple, both with the regular plates, which suit me just fine. If you don't want to drop too much coin, ATT also has aluminium versions of their razors, and a seconds section.

Other suppliers:
  1. Charcoal Goods, but you have to join a waitlist (i've been on it for over a year) I have 5 of his and love them all.
  2. Supply razor company
  3. One Blade
  4. Hone shaving ( I have one of these but it is too heavy for my liking and am looking to sell)
Enjoy
 
Thanks for the replies.. never considered the RAW RS-10, ATT or Blackbird, the brassbird looks nice too. Cant be arsed waiting on any list, and reckon one of those will be awesome.. Going to take my time here, find out as much as i can and hopefully the exchange rate improves in the meantime :)
 
I have both an Open Comb and Solid Bar Wolfman and also a Solid Bar Guerilla (previously also owned the OC Guerilla) and also have a Polished Head Weber. I have also tried the ATT R1 as well as a Timeless 0.95. For me the Wolfman razors are a level above nothing else. Great razors and the quality of the workmanship is at a level above the rest. The Weber is also an amazing razor although also difficult to find. Personally I would hold out for a Wolfman above an ATT or a Timeless. I have also tried the Karve but I am holding off on comment on that. Short story is I am in no hurry to rush out and buy one.

For further reference I also own and enjoy using (in no particular order):
Razorock Mamba
Razorock Baby Smooth
Razorock Wunderbar
Razorock v4 Stealth Slant
Fine Superlite Slant
 
Very subjective area.
But you have an experienced reviewer pointing to the Raw Shaving RS-10.
That is my next razor too when I see the right price point. Also readily available. He is also not using the supply vs demand to justify his own price point, which says enough. He stands by his product's ability and the reviews show this too.


My high end modern are:
Guerrilla SB & OC
Paradigm 17-4
BlackBird OC

And a ton of others.
RazoRock GC
RazoRock Mamba & Baby Smooth etc
PAA Everything etc
Vintage blah blah (sorry @Mark1966 to skip over them)

Awaiting to try the Wolfman but think from my mixed view reading it will be efficient but too mild for me (YMMV).

Edit - no to anything brass. Smell gets to me.
 
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I have both an Open Comb and Solid Bar Wolfman and also a Solid Bar Guerilla (previously also owned the OC Guerilla) and also have a Polished Head Weber. I have also tried the ATT R1 as well as a Timeless 0.95. For me the Wolfman razors are a level above nothing else. Great razors and the quality of the workmanship is at a level above the rest. The Weber is also an amazing razor although also difficult to find. Personally I would hold out for a Wolfman above an ATT or a Timeless. I have also tried the Karve but I am holding off on comment on that. Short story is I am in no hurry to rush out and buy one.

For further reference I also own and enjoy using (in no particular order):
Razorock Mamba
Razorock Baby Smooth
Razorock Wunderbar
Razorock v4 Stealth Slant
Fine Superlite Slant

And that Wolfman Guerrilla OC is beautiful to use....😎😎😎
 
how does one actually go about obtaining a Wolfman? Any time that I have been on the site, they are always sold out. What's the secret?

Sacrifice your first-born
 
so now that I have now experienced a quality DE, the Wolfman, i want a nice high end razor.

My first experience was quite an eye opener and now understand why people spend so much money on a quality razor. Going back to the Karve today has reinforced this thought.

Unfortunately the limited research i have done online suggests a new Wolfman is not a razor that is easily acquired so i am looking elsewhere.

The timeless razors have caught my eye, they seem good value for money but how would these compare against say the Wolfman i tried?

How does the bronze timeless compare with the SS version?

I like an efficient razor, currently use R5 on a rockwell as my daily driver and felt that the Karve D was a tad mild.

Not sure what plate aggression the Wolfman was but it felt very efficient and 'mild' at the same time, if that makes sense. So with this in mind, what blade gap should i be aiming for in a timeless?

Are there any other high end razors that i should be looking at?

any feedback and suggestions would be much appreciated..

I would suggest you use the karve some more as it took me several uses to get it right.

After the first few shaves, I had actually put it away with the intention to sell it. I came back to it and persisted and now it's my best ever razor.

I say this because I found your Rockwell comparison interesting...

I find with the Rockwell R6 plate, the shave is not quite as close as with the karve D. In addition, the karve is so much smoother, like I'm actually using an R3 plate, but with the efficiency of an R6+.
 
From my personal experience, I prefer nimble low profile heads.

The Timeless head is too large for me and so is the Rockwell.

The Blackbird is for me way more aggressive than the Wolfman.

I have not tried the RAW nor the Paradigm yet - but their head profiles do look very promising.

Looking at your preference for the Wolfman and Progress, the REX might be an interesting option.

I would also consider the ATT R1 or R2 - their head design is great and I personally find them to be great razors and currently very underrated.

As for materials - if we take stainless as base line, the same razor in:
Al would be less than half the weight (even a third)
Ti would be roughly half the weight
Brass would be very similar (maybe a tad heavier)
Bronze would be ~10-15% heavier

Depends of course on the exact alloys used.

Just from a point of maintenance and the hard Adelaide water I would stick for now to stainless steel...

I don't think any of lower high end razors (if that makes sense) would satisfy you, if you want Wolfman quality.
 
Never ceases to amaze me how different we all are.
@nav1 has good point, it takes time getting the right technique to get the best out of a razor.
Personally, I prefer a hefty razor and the Timeless fits the bill nicely.
 
@nav1 i completely agree with your point about finding the razor.. i actually didnt like the Rockwell at the beginning and kept going back to my DE89 until i found the sweet spot with the Rockwell. I personally felt the R5 on the rockwell was more aggressive than the D plate of the karve so it might well be the angle i shave at with the karve.. unfortunately i have run out of time and believe you need a good week or two with one razor to learn it. Regardless i dont want to go after another mid range razor, after my wolfman experience i really want that luxurious feel to my shaves so that is all i will be after from here on in


@alfredus, the wolfman proved to me that i also like low profile heads. So from your recommendations i would be discounting the timeless and looking into the ATT1 R1 & R2

@Errol and @RustyBlade i will certainly bee looking into the RAW Shaving RS-10, had a look at in online and it is a very good looking razor.

@nsavage i would love to just get a wolfman, especially since i have shaved with it and know exactly what i will get, but there's no way im gonna wait two years on a waiting list to hopefully acquire one. I would rather just wait for the exchange rate to improve and purchase from a vendor that makes their product available to those that want to buy them.




So i had a look at ATT and coudlnt find any info on R1 or R2, i could find info on a Windsor SSR1 but nothing on anything R2 so not sure if its an old design?

from what i read the Windsor cap is wider to you get no blade hang, which apparently also reduces vibration aiding in a smoother shave. The R1 base plate gives a 0.58 mm blade gap that sounds a bit mild but i understand that you shouldn't just go by blade gaps as the head design will make the gap more or less effective depending on its design.

Also comparing against the wolfman's gap of 0.61 mm, i found the aggressiveness perfect, and going just by the numbers the R1 plate on the ATT is 0.58mm which is pretty close and by the sounds of it the right plate to go for.

The H1 ATT plate has a gap of 0.91mm which is a fair bit more different.

@alfredus (or anyone) have you tried both the ATTR1 or even H1 against the wolfman if so how to they compare?

also @Errol how does the wolfman WR1-SB compare against the RAW RS-10? and have you tried the ATTR1? how does this compare with either the wolfman or the RAW?

sorry about all the questions guys, but i really do value your opinions and would love to base a purchase on this wealth of experience.
 
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