Lets Talk Adjustables

[dappershaves]

That Rocnel seems like like a solid unit, Clouds. Was after a unit myself when they were launched but lost interest after DHL or Aramex quoted me for shipping

Never read a bad comment on that Sailor Series

Its is solid.
The only bad thing to say about the 2019 series is that they are not "mindless" shavers, you do need to take things carefully. I don't reach for it if I going to be rushed.

If you are still interested in a 2020 version get in touch with Murat on Instagram and order it directly from Turkey.

Hi Claudio, super useful info and tread. Do you have a handle name for Murat?

[RiverValleyTrading]

Great shaves Clouds. Your collection of razors is fantastic.

[Clouds]

Hi Claudio, super useful info and tread. Do you have a handle name for Murat?

Thanks Jacques. He is Rocnel on Instagram

Great shaves Clouds. Your collection of razors is fantastic.

Thanks (and thanks) RVT

[BLES]

Rocnel Sailor 2019

Four words best describe this razor - Big, Chunky, Heavy and Efficient.

Rocnels 2019 sailor is the third in their Sailor series. There was supposedly only 100 made and the first batch was sent out late 2019. Adjustability starts at Medium and goes up from there.

How does it shave:
This is one that I do need to take my time with it. Its super efficient and a 2pass is the norm.

SOTD200829.jpg

Now that is what I call a razor.

[Clouds]

Vikings Blade "Emperor"

Its the same razor as the Meiji on page 8 except that it has a longer handle. I bought both of them together, I just had to try the shorter handle first.

They have pretty much copied the Gillette adjustables except that the dials are continuous. It has the same issues that the Meiji has with the doors not opening wide enough and the work-around is the same. The knurling on the adjustment dial is uneven and the silver colour seems to highlight it.

The alignment issues - This one must be a dud because there are no blade alignment issues at all.
Aesthetically, I prefer the look of the silver. As with its shorter counterpart, it's also a heavy razor

How does it shave
I learnt my lesson with the Meiji and fed it a new blade and it's a pretty easy 3pass BBS razor. It also suffers with the "not so smooth" little notches.

SOTD200902.jpg

[RiverValleyTrading]

Vikings Blade "Emperor"

Its the same razor as the Meiji on page 8 except that it has a longer handle. I bought both of them together, I just had to try the shorter handle first.

They have pretty much copied the Gillette adjustables except that the dials are continuous. It has the same issues that the Meiji has with the doors not opening wide enough and the work-around is the same. The knurling on the adjustment dial is uneven and the silver colour seems to highlight it.

The alignment issues - This one must be a dud because there are no blade alignment issues at all.
Aesthetically, I prefer the look of the silver. As with its shorter counterpart, it's also a heavy razor

How does it shave
I learnt my lesson with the Meiji and fed it a new blade and it's a pretty easy 3pass BBS razor. It also suffers with the "not so smooth" little notches.

SOTD200902.jpg

Interesting razor there clouds!

[Clouds]

Now that is what I call a razor.

A shaving machine...
Between it and the Janus, they are probably the most efficient adjustables out there at the moment.

Interesting razor there clouds!

Yip it is.
JMHO - Rather buy a Gillette. They "copied" it but didn't quite get there

[Clouds]

M. Peroni

There are a fair few of these around but not much info on them. We know thats it was manufactured in France likely from the early 1940's. If I look at the head it's very similar to the differental head Gibbs so we speculate that it was manufactured by them. The heads don't interchange (pity). Excluding the handle its a three piece design.

Its Tilt adjustable via a ball and socket joint, loosen it, set the angle and re-tighten it.

How does it shave:
I use it in Tilt mode. I find that if I watch the head I tend to adjust for the tilt. Its a mild razor.

SOTD200905.jpg

[RiverValleyTrading]

M. Peroni

There are a fair few of these around but not much info on them. We know thats it was manufactured in France likely from the early 1940's. If I look at the head it's very similar to the differental head Gibbs so we speculate that it was manufactured by them. The heads don't interchange (pity). Excluding the handle its a three piece design.

Its Tilt adjustable via a ball and socket joint, loosen it, set the angle and re-tighten it.

How does it shave:
I use it in Tilt mode. I find that if I watch the head I tend to adjust for the tilt. Its a mild razor.

SOTD200905.jpg

Nice one Clouds!

[Clouds]

Segal Adjustable

The Segal company manufactured locks and decided to go into the razor business. They designed a one-piece razor that took proprietory blades. It has a unique opening mechanism. It was patented and introduced in July 1931. Gillette managed to get their patent declared invalid in 1933. That ruling was overtuned in 1939, not that it mattered. Their razor never took off and they were done selling razors years before. The same company still exists today and still manufacture locks.

How does it shave:
It has three settings and I find very little difference between them.
I used it with a Rockwell with a few shaves on it and find it a pretty mild shaver. It needs a revisit using a sharper blade, I just need to get the jig out and modify a few different blades.

SOTD200906.jpg

[RiverValleyTrading]

Segal Adjustable

The Segal company manufactured locks and decided to go into the razor business. They designed a one-piece razor that took proprietory blades. It has a unique opening mechanism. It was patented and introduced in July 1931. Gillette managed to get their patent declared invalid in 1933. That ruling was overtuned in 1939, not that it mattered. Their razor never took off and they were done selling razors years before. The same company still exists today and still manufacture locks.

How does it shave:
It has three settings and I find very little difference between them.
I used it with a Rockwell with a few shaves on it and find it a pretty mild shaver. It needs a revisit using a sharper blade, I just need to get the jig out and modify a few different blades.

SOTD200906.jpg

Nice one Clouds. Helluva opening mechanism on those one piece razors.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Tapatalk

[dappershaves]

Great stuff Claudio! IME this is the single most informative and useful thread on this forum. Well done sir.

[Clouds]

Gibbs 15/17 Reglable

I've left the champ to last. I shave with it at least 3-4 times a month. Its my desert island razor.
The one on the left has had no mods done to it, the one on the right is how I like it to be - all work done by me.

JMHO here - there are only two issues with a Gibbs. The first is the modifying of the blade, which I have sorted out, and the second is that I feel that the standard handle is not robust enough. The weight of it you can get used to.

How does it shave:
I think that you all know my feelings on it.....

Gibbs.jpg

[Clouds]

Nice one Clouds!

Thanks RVT

Nice one Clouds. Helluva opening mechanism on those one piece razors.

Thanks again RVT
It has, hasn't it. Its truly unique, Probably a little complicated to manufacture and it doesn't surprise me that it never took off. Segal obviously banked on selling blades, but going up against Gillette would have been a HUGE task.

Great stuff Claudio! IME this is the single most informative and useful thread on this forum. Well done sir.

Thanks Jacques, appreciate it.


I have covered all my current adjustables and I hope that whoever goes through this thread in the future will get some useful info out of it. I do like that fact that Admin allowed me to edit the first post - It has kept it neat and easy to get to what you want.

I currently have two Russians "Gillette" copies on the way (actually stuck in the postal system from before lockdown). When they arrive and any others, I'll keep updating the thread.

Some definitely need re-visiting with different blades. In order to try and keep everything easy to follow, I'll update those posts when I do

[Clouds]

Wizamet W-10

There is no point in rehashing the Wizamet factory history. Its on Page 4 of this thread.

This is very obviously a Gillette Adjustable clone. Its not as well made as the Gillettes. One of the doors on this one has a sticking point and when you close them the one stays slightly proud. A light press down closes it completely and everything lines up, opening it has the same sticking point.

The head has the FatBoys slightly higher profile and the handle is about 4mm shorter than the Super Adjustable 109. The knurling is similar to that of a Slim but not as well done. It feels heavier than the SA109 so I'm guessing that its Brass. Unlike its W11 brother - you are able to adjust it with the doors shut. A 5/6 on this particular W10, roughly equates to a 9 on my Fatboy, so the difference is fairly substantial.

The best way to describe this razor is a "rough and ready" FatBoy head on a Super Adjustable 109 handle with a little more grrrr.

How does it shave:
The handle is too long for my personal taste. With a bit of fiddling during the shave I ended up with it on 7 and at that level its pretty efficient. Its early days but one shave in and overall I do like how it shaves.

SOTD200926.jpg

[RiverValleyTrading]

Wizamet W-10

There is no point in rehashing the Wizamet factory history. Its on Page 4 of this thread.

This is very obviously a Gillette Adjustable clone. Its not as well made as the Gillettes. One of the doors on this one has a sticking point and when you close them the one stays slightly proud. A light press down closes it completely and everything lines up, opening it has the same sticking point.

The head has the FatBoys slightly higher profile and the handle is about 4mm shorter than the Super Adjustable 109. The knurling is similar to that of a Slim but not as well done. It feels heavier than the SA109 so I'm guessing that its Brass. Unlike its W11 brother - you are able to adjust it with the doors shut. A 5/6 on this particular W10, roughly equates to a 9 on my Fatboy, so the difference is fairly substantial.

The best way to describe this razor is a "rough and ready" FatBoy head on a Super Adjustable 109 handle with a little more grrrr.

How does it shave:
The handle is too long for my personal taste. With a bit of fiddling during the shave I ended up with it on 7 and at that level its pretty efficient. Its early days but one shave in and overall I do like how it shaves.

SOTD200926.jpg

Nice one Clouds. Interesting razor there. Hows the old Body Shop brush going?

Sent from my SM-J701F using Tapatalk

[Clouds]

Nice one Clouds. Interesting razor there. Hows the old Body Shop brush going?

Very interesting razor - better shaver/worse QC than the Gillettes.
If it was an "only" razor, it would be a difficult choice - fortunately that's not the case..

The brush is still going strong.

[Clouds]

Razzia

First things first - Very kewl name for a razor

I found this little set looking for something else. The box is metal with some paper artwork stuck to the top and instructions inside the lid. The insert is also formed metal, with place for the top, the handle and some blades.

Its a totally different take on adjustablility - Simply put, its pretty much a spring loaded shim. The bottom plate has a recess in it that must have been designed to cater for the "springs". There are no markings anywhere so repeatibility would be a problem.

The Handle and base plate are made out of aluminium. The topcap is some sort of ferrous metal that has been plated and the shim is spring steel. Me thinks that the shim will need to be dried carefully after each shave to prevent rusting as this one has some small signs of oxidation. Its a cheaply made razor and the tin probably cost as much to manufacture.

A search online brings up one entry, a thread going back to 2011, with not much info. Guesstimate on that thread says pre WW11 - so somewhere in the 1930's

I feel that it would benefit from a heavier handle, but its has a non-standard thread. Its around 5mmx0.75 - so my 3/4 turn probably opened it up about a half a mm.

Razzia.jpg

How does it shave:
Its a very good shaver.
I started with it closed up tightish and its reasonably mild. I immediately opened it up 3/4 a turn and there is a fair bit of blade feel.
2passes plus some touch-up and I ended up with a BBS shave.

SOTD201006.jpg

[RiverValleyTrading]

Wow! Great shave Clouds. Very intersting historic razor. Never seen that style before.

[dini]

Thanks to this thread I am now following the Rocnel Instagram page with unhealthy interest.