Its an offputting feeling when the purchase price of a razor you are about to purchase is less than the cost of the postage and that is exactly what happened when I fired off the payment for the Fendrihan Adventurer Mk II. To be fair though, the postage was express and for me that is not all bad. Instead of waiting the usually three or four weeks for a delivery (remote Northern Territory) the Fendrihan was in my hands in a week.
You’ve heard the term ‘a bit rough around the edges’ and this was my initial thought when I laid eyes on the Fendrihan. The whole razor is stainless steel with a well made and nicely proportioned machined handle (95mm x 13mm) but the head is cast. The supplied head had been factory polished but there were minor castings ‘dags’ on the edges of the cap and base plate, small but detracting. Before I used the razor I got a sheet of 1200 grit emery on a large flat piece of glass and removed the dags off the leading edges. It would have been a bee’s dick of material that was removed so I’m confident I never changed any design factors too much. I then hand polished the whole head. The razor came up really well, shining like a new pin and looking 100% better than when I received it. I was left with one dimple about 1mm in dia close to the edge of the cap that was too deep to polish out. It does not affect the clamping of the blade but is visible and annoying.
There does not appear to be a lot of information available on the Fendrihan. Even the Fendrihan description of the razor only says ‘less aggressive shave’. Less than what? With the loaded Wilkinson blade, I am pleased to say the shave was just so smooth and fantastic. Three passes and no weepers, I was left with a very close shave. In my mind I have developed my own aggression scale based on the Above The Tie heads using:
ATT M1 head – 2
AAT R1 head – 5
ATT H1 head - 9
I would rate the Fendrihan as a 4.5 in my aggression scale. My intention is to call this my travel razor but I would have no problem in picking up the Fendrihan Adventurer II as a regular razor.
WARNING – I have been advised the glass on the dining table is not the place to de dag a ‘stupid razor’.
PS – It works well though
PPS – Next month I’m going to visit the grand kids and I’m confident I will then be able to post some photos.
You’ve heard the term ‘a bit rough around the edges’ and this was my initial thought when I laid eyes on the Fendrihan. The whole razor is stainless steel with a well made and nicely proportioned machined handle (95mm x 13mm) but the head is cast. The supplied head had been factory polished but there were minor castings ‘dags’ on the edges of the cap and base plate, small but detracting. Before I used the razor I got a sheet of 1200 grit emery on a large flat piece of glass and removed the dags off the leading edges. It would have been a bee’s dick of material that was removed so I’m confident I never changed any design factors too much. I then hand polished the whole head. The razor came up really well, shining like a new pin and looking 100% better than when I received it. I was left with one dimple about 1mm in dia close to the edge of the cap that was too deep to polish out. It does not affect the clamping of the blade but is visible and annoying.
There does not appear to be a lot of information available on the Fendrihan. Even the Fendrihan description of the razor only says ‘less aggressive shave’. Less than what? With the loaded Wilkinson blade, I am pleased to say the shave was just so smooth and fantastic. Three passes and no weepers, I was left with a very close shave. In my mind I have developed my own aggression scale based on the Above The Tie heads using:
ATT M1 head – 2
AAT R1 head – 5
ATT H1 head - 9
I would rate the Fendrihan as a 4.5 in my aggression scale. My intention is to call this my travel razor but I would have no problem in picking up the Fendrihan Adventurer II as a regular razor.
WARNING – I have been advised the glass on the dining table is not the place to de dag a ‘stupid razor’.
PS – It works well though
PPS – Next month I’m going to visit the grand kids and I’m confident I will then be able to post some photos.