jgreenepa
TSC's "Velveteen Shaver"
Just wanted to post my review of the Silversmith. One of the issues I have with any razor, being in my seventies, is how well it does with ‘old man’ neck. As we age, our skin thins and wrinkles, particularly in the neck area. So I’m always looking for a razor that’s both mild and efficient, yet also capable of handling a dome shave as well. There are few DE’s that meet that dual threshold for me (of course with the proviso YMMV). My current gotos that meet my threshold are my Seki AS-D2 and my Blackland Vector. In any case let’s get to the review. The review was performed on two days growth of whiskers. I have heavy, dense whiskers.
The razor is crafted of 316L SS in the US and weighs in at 95 grams. It is a three piece razor with very slight blade tab exposure. I used a Polsilver for this shave. The balance is up near the head and worked very well for me throughout both the face and the head shave. What concerned me early in the face shave was the very low amount of auditory feedback. In fact, I initially thought it wasn’t cutting on my first WTG pass which was clearly counter to the visual and tactile feedback. After finishing that first pass, it was clear that I could have gotten away with a very smooth, comfortable, two pass DFS. Nevertheless, after the second XTG pass, I was just left with some minor ATG buffing of the swirly areas at the rear of my jaw and in the front of my neck. A check with the alum block at the end of the face shave revealed no burning or irritation and a extremely close, smooth and highly efficient BBS.
I normally do not use DE’s for my head shaves because of the the bumpy terrain there and my practice of only doing a single ATG pass. I have tried a variety of different DE razors both vintage and modern with little success. A borrowed Blackland Vector delivered my first bloodless, irritation-free BBS on the dome. That experience led me to purchase my own Vector. The Silversmith matched my Vector in that regard. I expected a few nicks, but completed a two pass [ATG and XTG] (yes, first time) BBS on my head. The alum block revealed some slight irritation in the rear upper part of my head. I will confess at this point that I had borrowed a friend’s Silversmith back in September so I was not surprised by this shave. I’ve always been a ‘try-it-before-you-buy-it’ guy. Needless to say, I really like this razor!
The razor is crafted of 316L SS in the US and weighs in at 95 grams. It is a three piece razor with very slight blade tab exposure. I used a Polsilver for this shave. The balance is up near the head and worked very well for me throughout both the face and the head shave. What concerned me early in the face shave was the very low amount of auditory feedback. In fact, I initially thought it wasn’t cutting on my first WTG pass which was clearly counter to the visual and tactile feedback. After finishing that first pass, it was clear that I could have gotten away with a very smooth, comfortable, two pass DFS. Nevertheless, after the second XTG pass, I was just left with some minor ATG buffing of the swirly areas at the rear of my jaw and in the front of my neck. A check with the alum block at the end of the face shave revealed no burning or irritation and a extremely close, smooth and highly efficient BBS.
I normally do not use DE’s for my head shaves because of the the bumpy terrain there and my practice of only doing a single ATG pass. I have tried a variety of different DE razors both vintage and modern with little success. A borrowed Blackland Vector delivered my first bloodless, irritation-free BBS on the dome. That experience led me to purchase my own Vector. The Silversmith matched my Vector in that regard. I expected a few nicks, but completed a two pass [ATG and XTG] (yes, first time) BBS on my head. The alum block revealed some slight irritation in the rear upper part of my head. I will confess at this point that I had borrowed a friend’s Silversmith back in September so I was not surprised by this shave. I’ve always been a ‘try-it-before-you-buy-it’ guy. Needless to say, I really like this razor!
