Western Razor Co

[filobiblic]

Another new razor hits the market: the Western Razor. US$33 and shipping to the States only.

Type: 3 piece
Weight: 132g

The head is zinc alloy with chrome plating.
The handle is stainless steel with chrome plating.

 

[eggbert]

False advertising on the page you linked to then:
STAINLESS STEEL CONSTRUCTION in big bold writing and no mention of the head being made of anything different.

Doesn't look a bad deal for the price, but I wish they didn't feel the need to intentionally mislead you.

 

[Nick the Knife]

I'd bet thats being made by one of those Indian companies that makes the Matador, Maggard etc.

 

[filobiblic]

False advertising on the page you linked to then:
STAINLESS STEEL CONSTRUCTION in big bold writing and no mention of the head being made of anything different.

Doesn't look a bad deal for the price, but I wish they didn't feel the need to intentionally mislead you.

Yes. I agree. It's very false advertising. I had to watch the videos, and in the second one (comparing with a Merkur razor) he mentions it's chrome plated steel for the handle and chrome plated zinc alloy for the head. It's very bad to not state clearly what material it is...

 

[JugV2]

Really what changes or ground-breaking advances can they make in 3 piece razors?

Stainless steel shaft...decent head...vary the weight a bit maybe for a different result and watch the fanbois gush over it.

Meh.

 

[borked]

Really what changes or ground-breaking advances can they make in 3 piece razors?

Stainless steel shaft...decent head...vary the weight a bit maybe for a different result and watch the fanbois gush over it.

Meh.

Sounds like a case of spudism!
Pick up something solid, hefty, metal and ancient for a shot of treatment towards that mate

 

[Leisureguy]

I bought it, and it's not a bad razor, but more or less a standard example of the Maggard and (modern-day) Apollo Razor: stock stainless handle (good heft) usual chrome-plated zinc alloy head, selling somewhat above normal prices. The marketing style is not to my taste, but the razor's okay. He's apparently working on a stainless model.

He showed up on Reddit's Wicked_Edge to a somewhat cool reception, but I thought he seemed serious about wanting to make a razor with broad appeal and become a presence in the DE market. I did make one suggestion in the linked thread:

One idea, sort of odd: if you could build some resonance into the head design---some sort of mini-soundbox that would amplify the cutting sound---I think that would have a lot of appeal, and not only to new shavers---and it's something a cartridge razor cannot offer. The Merkur adjustables (Futur, Vision, Progress) have this to some degree, but it seems to be by accident rather than design. But with some thought and CAD work (perhaps with the help of a luthier) it would be interesting to have a razor where you can easily hear the cutting sound. It would have some practical application in making the angle easier to find, but mainly it would simply be intriguing. And I do know that some/many men like to hear the sound of the cutting. And it requires no moving parts, just some clever design.

I know: it's odd. But no odder than designing buildings to remove the shadows between them, like this . And it might be patentable.​

He also posted that he's working on a stainless-steel razor and had a clear picture (at the link) of the handle with the head fuzzy because it's still being worked on---but of course handles are easy, heads are hard. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with.

I rate razors now not on "mild" vs. "aggressive," but on two dimensions: Comfort and Efficiency. The two seem somewhat independent, and "mild" seems to be used mostly to describe razors that are comfortable and relatively inefficient, while "aggressive" describes that are efficient and somewhat uncomfortable. The ideal, of course, is a razor that is both very comfortable and also very efficient---the Wolfman Wr1-SB certainly qualifies, as do the new slants, the Feather AS-D2 with a Feather blade, a Gillette Tech with a Feather blade, the Parker 24C or 26C, and others. It seems to me that the code for making razors in the comfortable and also efficient quadrant has been figured out, so that it's not quite so hard to find them. Shawnsel made a chart of razor characteristics and I filled in the entries for the Comfort and Efficiency columns, so you can see that the sweet spot is becoming populated.

 

[stillshunter]

I bought it, and it's not a bad razor, but more or less a standard example of the Maggard and (modern-day) Apollo Razor: stock stainless handle (good heft) usual chrome-plated zinc alloy head, selling somewhat above normal prices. The marketing style is not to my taste, but the razor's okay. He's apparently working on a stainless model.

He showed up on Reddit's Wicked_Edge to a somewhat cool reception, but I thought he seemed serious about wanting to make a razor with broad appeal and become a presence in the DE market. I did make one suggestion in the linked thread:

One idea, sort of odd: if you could build some resonance into the head design---some sort of mini-soundbox that would amplify the cutting sound---I think that would have a lot of appeal, and not only to new shavers---and it's something a cartridge razor cannot offer. The Merkur adjustables (Futur, Vision, Progress) have this to some degree, but it seems to be by accident rather than design. But with some thought and CAD work (perhaps with the help of a luthier) it would be interesting to have a razor where you can easily hear the cutting sound. It would have some practical application in making the angle easier to find, but mainly it would simply be intriguing. And I do know that some/many men like to hear the sound of the cutting. And it requires no moving parts, just some clever design.

I know: it's odd. But no odder than designing buildings to remove the shadows between them, like this . And it might be patentable.​

He also posted that he's working on a stainless-steel razor and had a clear picture (at the link) of the handle with the head fuzzy because it's still being worked on---but of course handles are easy, heads are hard. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with.

I rate razors now not on "mild" vs. "aggressive," but on two dimensions: Comfort and Efficiency. The two seem somewhat independent, and "mild" seems to be used mostly to describe razors that are comfortable and relatively inefficient, while "aggressive" describes that are efficient and somewhat uncomfortable. The ideal, of course, is a razor that is both very comfortable and also very efficient---the Wolfman Wr1-SB certainly qualifies, as do the new slants, the Feather AS-D2 with a Feather blade, a Gillette Tech with a Feather blade, the Parker 24C or 26C, and others. It seems to me that the code for making razors in the comfortable and also efficient quadrant has been figured out, so that it's not quite so hard to find them. Shawnsel made a chart of razor characteristics and I filled in the entries for the Comfort and Efficiency columns, so you can see that the sweet spot is becoming populated.

The music box razor is a gem of an idea - I can't believe you gave it out for nicks mate. Funny thing this new internet paradigm of Creative Commons, GNU, etc.

Totally agree with your 'comfort' vs. 'efficiency' spectral analysis. I'd hasten to add the Standard to that list...a razor I know you've tried mate.

 

[Leisureguy]

Well, I have no interest or ability to implement it, and the idea itself is worth very little: ideas are a dime a dozen. The value (and the difficulty) is in realizing them: working out the details, going through prototypes and fixing problems and so on. The ones who do that rightly deserve the reward. But ideas are pretty easy to come up with. I came up with that one on the spot, trying to figure out what a new razor vendor could bring to market that would not be so difficult to make well as a slant (the first idea that occurred to me). Edward De Bono has several good books I've read on how to be creative, and if you read them you learn how to be creative on purpose, rather than waiting for an accident.

When you think about it, BTW, cartridge razors don't have a lot to offer as razors: they can't do the resonance thing, of course, and they don't have an adjustable, and thy can't do a slant. So they tinker around the edges with LED lights, vibrators, battery-level indicators, ball joints: nothing really concerning the razor function itself.

I believe the Standard is in shawnsel's razor chart: very comfortable, very efficient.

 

[filobiblic]

Very interesting idea of the distinct audible feedback. In this day and age, designing something like that ought to be entirely possible. There are a LOT of new razors coming out and not much distinguishing between them. Something like this (or magnets, or size...) would make one standout.

 

[stillshunter]

Well, I have no interest or ability to implement it, and the idea itself is worth very little: ideas are a dime a dozen. The value (and the difficulty) is in realizing them: working out the details, going through prototypes and fixing problems and so on. The ones who do that rightly deserve the reward. But ideas are pretty easy to come up with.

Hmmm...I reckon there'd be more than a few geeks from around Silicon Valley way would look back at the 70's and not agree entirely with you mate....well Bill Gates not being one of them of course.

When you think about it, BTW, cartridge razors don't have a lot to offer as razors: they can't do the resonance thing, of course, and they don't have an adjustable, and thy can't do a slant. So they tinker around the edges with LED lights, vibrators, battery-level indicators, ball joints: nothing really concerning the razor function itself.

Yeah sure you can add more and more blades. I'd also have appreciated them bringing back push clean technology too. I absolutely hated the tap, tap, tap....tap, taP, TAP, TAPPPP!! Jeez it's all coming back to me now. Thanks mate!

believe the Standard is in shawnsel's razor chart: very comfortable, very efficient.

Who is this Shawnsel you speak of and were does he and his standards reside?

Very interesting idea of the distinct audible feedback. In this day and age, designing something like that ought to be entirely possible. There are a LOT of new razors coming out and not much distinguishing between them. Something like this (or magnets, or size...) would make one standout.

Yeah a magnet in the base of the handle to pick-up blades. Brilliant! Well done Fil....wait a second. Hey I wonder why no other manufacturers copied this idea? Is Eclipse's patent still binding...surely not?

 

[Leisureguy]

I gave the link to shawnsel's razor specs chart in a post elsewhere. Here it is again, in clear: https://www.reddit.com/r/ShavingScience/wiki/de-razor-comparison-list

The magnet in the base of handle is something easily done with some razors---e.g., the Merkur 34C if you get a small round magnet and some epoxy. It's a cute idea and from a marketing view terrific, but in practice hasn't proved to be that big a benefit. Still, the advertising copy practically writes itself: "Tired of slashing your fingers when you try to pick up a blade??!! FINALLY, a solution to protect you and YOUR LOVED ONES!!!"

Actually, I learned the low value of an idea from a Silicon Valley geek about 1985 or 86. She was a product manager, and she said an idea was worth maybe 2% to 4%, not more. The work is in the implementation. It was easy to have the idea of porting basic to a microcomputer. Probably a lot of people had the idea. But to bring it off was a lot of work. And the OS was something Microsoft mostly just bought from someone.

The idea of a soundbox razor sounds nice, but to get it to work well, in a head that also delivers a good shave, and work out the details of materials, manufacturing, supply, distribution: many 100-hour weeks there. You would pretty much have to go Zamak to get the sweet spot on pricing, which means making expensive molds, so you would want to do a lot of CAD and testing... I'm too old. I'm happy to throw the idea out in hopes that someone will pick up on it.