New Karve has arrived.

Blackie

Blackie

The guy from over the ditch
Joined
Jun 23, 2017
Location
Richmond, New Zealand.
My new stainless steel Karve razor and stand have arrived.
Will get first go tomorrow.
Lovely workmanship on these. I am surprised at how 'dainty' the razor head is.
In photos the head looks a tad chunky, but in hand it's quite light and slim.
Better than I was expecting. I thought it would be more like the Timeless in size/weight.
I bought the SB plates #C and #D (last minute change as originally I was going for the OC plates).
Hope that's all I need as I really don't want another wait of 2 months just to get an extra base (maybe I will find that I need a #E or #F).
So tomorrow morning it's the Yaqi Rainbow 26mm Pony knot, 'The Gentlemen's Quarter' Bay Rum soap, a GSB blade, and the Karve with #C plate.
Will be good to compare the experience with my stainless Timeless.
Now I only have to await the arrival of the Wolfman!
 
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First shave today. Went well (as expected).
I've been using the Timeless .68 OC with a GSB too, and the two razors are very much similar in smoothness and cutting ability.
That's with the #C plate in the Karve. I'll give it a few days more and then go to the #D plate.
I think that should give me 'something' in the middle of the range of the Timeless...somewhere between a Timeless .68 and .95 (and that's what I was looking for).
The Karve is lighter for sure. I am used to the weight and solidity of the Timeless.
Both are great razors, and equally well made.
My razor shelf will be down to just 4 razors soon.
The Karve, Timeless, Wolfman (when it gets here), and the Mamba.
Why the Mamba? Because it's well made, looks great, and it's sort of like a faithful wee pet.
I couldn't just put it away in a box and ignore it. So it gets to stay with the big boys!
 
Did you actually get shipping notifications or anything from this mob?
I placed an order a little over a week or so and haven’t heard anything..
 
Yes, invoice arrived first then the shipping advice.
Took 3 weeks to get to NZ.
Did you order stainless? That can take a month before they get around to your order.
 
Blackie said:
Yes, invoice arrived first then the shipping advice.
Took 3 weeks to get to NZ.
Did you order stainless? That can take a month before they get around to your order.
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Brass and it’s radio silence :(
 
congrats @Blackie!!! there an excellent razor and I was tempted to get a karve but will just wait to hopefully get a wolfman.. have you already placed you order for a wolfman or still waiting?

let us know how the D plate goes
 
Hi @StratMan Yes, placed an order for the Wolfman the day after I mentioned on here that the online order form was open. So, I'm a day behind the other forum members who got in first (while I thought about 'Do I want a Wolfman or not'?).
My face feel right after the shave and later in the day tells me that the #C plate Karve is cutting a tad closer than the .68 Timeless. Can feel the difference.
The #D should be getting towards the Timeless .95 feel I think.
I'll give it another couple of days before going on to try the #D though. Just to get a good comparison.
 
yeah i placed my name on the form also but, that is just to register your interest. have you been contacted actually put the order through to begin making it?
 
Blackie said:
No, no other contact.
I'm figuring on a year long wait!
Hey, it might arrive in time to be my 2020 Xmas present to myself.
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no worries i thought you actually got the order happening and i got a little worried.. for me the longer the better cos i really dont want to splash more $$ out right now
 
Blackie said:
My new stainless steel Karve razor and stand have arrived.
Click to expand...

Hurrah - my stainless Karve has also arrived (last week)

First impressions are/were pretty good.

That said, after two uses, came to swap the blade out and the top side of the C plate has a couple of rust spots on it. Kind of expected better after only owning it a week.
 
yeah, can's say I was too impressed to find them..
Gave it a good scrub with a toothbrush and a coat of mineral oil, but you can still see them. gets any worse and it will be going back to Canada.
 
What's to stop a guy (OK...that's me) polishing the heck out of the stainless Karve to make it shine just like my Timeless?
I have the polishing buffer, etc. Would need care not to polish too hard on essential areas that can stuff up the gap, etc, but the cap top, handle, and parts of the base plate should be OK to do.
Who needs that 'passivate' thing anyway?
 
Blackie said:
What's to stop a guy (OK...that's me) polishing the heck out of the stainless Karve to make it shine just like my Timeless?
I have the polishing buffer, etc. Would need care not to polish too hard on essential areas that can stuff up the gap, etc, but the cap top, handle, and parts of the base plate should be OK to do.
Who needs that 'passivate' thing anyway?
Click to expand...
Depending on the tolerances of the razor you might change the blade gap significantly!

Although never confirmed I strongly believe, polishing (or aggressive polishing) is the reason for the wavy blade issues with Weber for example.
 
Yes @alfredus I wouldn't go anywhere near a tolerance critical area.
Maybe just the handle, top of the cap only (not the underside), and maybe just the ends of the bottom plate, but I'll probably leave that 'as is'.
Trying the #D plate tomorrow. The Karve is sitting there with a new GSB loaded.
Hopefully will be as smooth as the C# plate.
 
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