Simplicity Itself – Safety Razor
I talk to a lot of people about shaving, and they’re often surprised to hear that I use an “old fashioned” double edge safety razor. Please see my discussion here as to why. After I give my oral dissertation on why the DE Razor is my weapon of choice when doing battle with my facial hair the next question they ask is how hard or complex is the razor to use? I tell them that the double edge safety razor I use is simplicity itself. It is basically a two part clamp held together by a nut and bolt.
The total time to replace a blade in the handle is about a minute. The process is:
- Unscrew the handle from the top of the double edge safety razor; set it aside.
- Remove the bottom part of the clamp and set it aside.
- Remove and dispose of the old blade. (it is easiest to grip it from the ends, not the cutting edges)
- Unwrap (if applicable) and insert the new blade on the top half of the clamp.
- Place the lower half of the clamp on the blade.
- Screw the handle back on to the top
 Top, Blade, Bottom, Handle |
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 Top, Blade, Bottom, Handle |
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 Blade sitting on Top, Bottom, Handle |
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 Blade Sandwiched between Top and Bottom, Handle |
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 Assembled Safety Razor – side view |
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 Assembled Double Edge Razor |
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The screw is integral to and found on the back of the domed top to the Double edge safety razor; the nut is built into the handle. Actually, there isn’t a nut at all, the handle is simply drilled and tapped to match the threads of the top. Since my Merkur is made in Germany, I expected to find (and did) metric sized threads. It is a 5mm diameter with 0.8mm pitch which is considered “coarse.” (As opposed to “fine.”)
You’re now ready to shave again with your Double Edge Safety Razor. The links on the pages will take you to amazon where you can view more detailed specifics about several of the more common DE razors. If you purchase a razor after clicking on the link, I will receive a small amount of money, typically 3 – 5% of the price of the razor. There is no additional cost to you, amazon pays me since I sent you to them. If I did not, they would keep that percentage for themselves. You’ll notice very few thing on this site other than my own Almaden Shaving oil simply because I only recommend things I’m familiar with.
If you aren’t already using a double edge (safety) razor, why not give it a try? Here are a lot of my reasons for using the elegantly simple safety razor.