Today I decided to compare my current best twisted-blade slant, the iKon X3, and the Fine aluminum slant, which I learned will be priced at $125.
First the prep, of course. As I noted yesterday, The Dead Sea by RazoRock is another soap that requires that the brush be just damp, not wet. I shook the Maggard 22mm well—three hard shakes and a fourth to be sure—and it loaded like a charm. I did add just a little water as I worked up the lather on my face (easily done), and once again enjoyed both lather and fragrance.
I shaved one side of my face with the X3, the other with the Fine. I noticed immediately that I liked the weight of the Fine slant better—the very light weight is very nice—and that I used it with a lighter touch than the X3, which prompted me to reduce pressure with the X3.
The two are both extremely comfortable and very efficient. I want now to try a sharper blade (a Personna Lab Blue) in the Fine to see whether that makes it shave even more smoothly. Really, these are both excellent slants.
Yesterday’s post included a note on the design of the Fine. From that note:
It then turned out that the natural flex of the original bakelite cap provided a lot of compression on the blade that was very difficult to replicate in metal. In fact, it was so difficult the project was totally canceled at one point because we just couldn’t get it right. . . It took a labour of love from an engineer who was just wasn’t willing to give up to finally get it right.
Today I noticed some indications of the effort. Check out a close-up of the two heads compared:
Clearly the Fine design has been tweaked, presumably for the blade compression. It’s quite an interesting razor, as well as being a good razor.
A splash of Dominica’s Bay Rum, and the week draws to a close.
Filed under: Shaving
