SMF

A friend of mine just emailed me about this, and I couldn't find any mention here of the maker (OneBlade):

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3051349/thi ... utm_source









I'm pretty sure the single edge blade it uses is the Feather I got several years ago to try in a Gem razor. It also fits some antique Valet razors. You could also should be able to use a Gem (or Treet, Dorco, etc.) single edge blade with the spine removed.





More about blades:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=46297

http://www.easternsmooth.com/blog/jim-r ... -love-them

That's quite an arresting design. No, I'm not tempted but do applaud the development.

Squire wrote:That's quite an arresting design. No, I'm not tempted but do applaud the development.

I concur.

Very attractive design, very unattractive price-point, not sure how the weight distribution works and I very much doubt whether a proprietary blade design was necessary when standard safety razor blades might have sufficed - except of course to force the user to shell out more than $1 (according to their website) for each blade and ensure future sales.

As someone who at least partly came to safety razors because I did no longer want to subject myself to the price gouging of Gillette & Co., a razor with a proprietary $1 blade is a non-starter.

I also couldn't help noticing that the linked article mentioned repeatedly that money was not an issue - which makes me wonder whether this razor wasn't primarily designed with people in mind who like to to point out this fact.


Summary: No thanks.
(Which does not mean that I wouldn't like to know how this contraption shaves.)


B.

Hey, I've got no problem with conspicuous consumption, vapid, self indulgent people can make for amusing companions. Still, I don't have a line of folks watching me shave so who cares?

Brutus, that's not a proprietary blade. They've been in use for over 100 years and are still made today. It's a single edge blade. There are very good reasons for using it. The first that I can think of is a what many users report; a far more comfortable shave. Another is longer blade life and yet another is that when a blade does get dull and loses efficiency they don't draw blood, they just stop cutting whiskers efficiently.

I learned of this razor a while back. I'll pass. I'd bet it won't shave any better than any of my other SE razors. But it does sell for far more. It is quite good looking though.

ShadowsDad wrote:Brutus, that's not a proprietary blade. They've been in use for over 100 years and are still made today.

Interesting, first time I came across a single edge blade with this particular cutout pattern.
Who else except Feather makes them and who sells them?


B.

The price is just too steep. I'd be pleased to give it a try, but I suspect this razor (as Brian points out) doesn't shave much differently than the Streamline. My initial thought was a question: why make the design to go with the somewhat uncommon Feather (Valet) SE blade instead of the standard SE blade?

Exclusivity and all that. Back in the 60s when Weatherby rifles were the new plaything you could only buy the guns and proprietary cartridges from them and if you had to ask the price then you obviously couldn't afford either.

I'm still trying to figure out how you can discretely show off an expensive razor in your bathroom.

Wasn't it Mark Twain who said something about the "flagrant display of opulence" when describing the robber barons?

Twain coined the term "Gilded Age".

The Oneblade razor does use single edge blades, but not the Feather AC type SE blades, actually the more traditional spineless Feather SE blade. I believe it's the first modern production SE razor to use these blades.
Personally, ever since I tried the GEM Micromatic Bullet-Tip, I've grown very fond of SE blades over time, be it Feather AC, regular Feather or GEM - the blade rigidity and sharpness allows for a smoother and more efficient shave, IMO.

Brutus wrote:

ShadowsDad wrote:Brutus, that's not a proprietary blade. They've been in use for over 100 years and are still made today.

Interesting, first time I came across a single edge blade with this particular cutout pattern.
Who else except Feather makes them and who sells them?


B.

Those blades were and are still specifically made for some models of Valet razor. But as pointed out in the first post in the thread a standard SE blade with the spine removed will also work. FWIW, the SE FEathers will also work in some other brands of SE razor that normally use a spined blade; so I've been told. I've never done it because I'm not that curious.

Those cutouts sometimes mate with cutouts in specific models of Valet. But there is enough variation in Valet cutouts that it isn't guaranteed that ALL specimens of a certain model will mate up with the SE Feather blades.

If I was going to buy one of those razors I'd count on using despined GEMs in it. They are 1/5th of the cost, easier to find, and last longer. When I first saw that razor I think they put every owner on a subscription for 30 blades every month. So after buying the $300 razor one would receive in one month enough blades for almost a year, and that would repeat every month. So every year you'd receive enough blades for 10 years of shaving; give or take. I'm sure they were assuming a new blade for every shave which is just ridiculous for those blades. I conservatively get 10 shaves from one, but it's more like 12 shaves.

When I first saw the razor, and seeing all the rest, I realized the razor wasn't about shaving, but something else. Or the makers all wore beards and didn't have a clue as to how the razor and blades would actually work.

Yes, I think the recommendation is to replace the blade after every shave. Certainly after the second. And here I was bitching having to dump my injector blade after three.

Maybe they can make a small fortune in sales before the tide goes back out. Maybe enough extra bucks to buy that car or boat they've always wanted. Might even make enough to pay the income taxes. The blade subscription concept reveals quite a bit about their expectations for those ideal prospective customers who are going to be paying for that boat.

I suspect the car and boat crowd are the target customers.

I'm glad you got my somewhat dry humor.

Of course they don't drive either, they have people for that.

Looks like something used in a morgue. I'll take my Red Tip any day of the week.

I've published an extensive article about the OneBlade on Sharpologist, including comments from the CEO and links to the design team.

--Mark

It appears to be all positive. The article is informative, it does give insight into the way they found their target customer, and how they designed the razor and chose the blade to appeal to that customer. Thank you for the information.