iKon “ShaveCraft” Tech

When I used to own one, mine had no engraving/marking, whatsoever. I've never heard of any made of stainless steel.

This is just one example DLC coated stainless steel head
https://www.ikonrazors.com/product/b1-op...ase-plate/

Thanks, Jerry, but I was referring to the Tek/Tech, not Greg's other razors.

I don’t think mine is aluminum. Pot metal? I don’t know but looking at he shavecraft on the bottom it doesn’t look machined or engraved. Maybe metal injection molded (MIM).

iKon has never made a razor out of pot metal or whatever. Greg uses stainless steel, aluminum and years ago brass.

I believe there are three iKon Techs
iKon Standard (DLC ooated stainless steel)
iKon Tech (Shavecraft logo) aluminum
iKon Tek (no logo) aluminum- latest version

This is just one example DLC coated stainless steel head
https://www.ikonrazors.com/product/b1-op...ase-plate/

Thanks, Jerry, but I was referring to the Tek/Tech, not Greg's other razors.

I don’t think mine is aluminum. Pot metal? I don’t know but looking at he shavecraft on the bottom it doesn’t look machined or engraved. Maybe metal injection molded (MIM).

iKon has never made a razor out of pot metal or whatever. Greg uses stainless steel, aluminum and years ago brass.

I’m glad you chimed in....many razors I’ve researched and wanted/acquired from the past (regardless of brand), you seem to have had them all, your SOTD’s tell the story! 

I think you hit the nail on the head here. When most ppl refer to the iKon Tech, the aggressive aluminum ShaveCraft is what they’re referring to or the 104.

iKon ShaveCraft all aluminums
101 / Dual Comb
102 / Slant
103 / Short Comb 
104 / The Original iKon ShaveCraft Tech

Do you find the new version Tek the exact same as the original in terms of aggression and smoothness?

I need that 102 Slant, I had the x3...meh

I have several ikon razors and all of them say shavecraft on them except one that says ikon and the X...? Slant. It says nothing.

Do you have the 102 Slant? 

I have several ikon razors and all of them say shavecraft on them except one that says ikon and the X...? Slant. It says nothing.

Do you have the 102 Slant? 

Yes I do. It’s probably my favourite ikon and definitely is my favourite slant. 

The head might be aluminum but it’s definitely not machined. Probably MIM. You can still see some small circular mold marks on the bottom of the base plate on some of them. Same marks are on the Feather AS-D2 but more obvious.

Looking at the ikon website it’s clear that the words “machined stainless steel “ referred to the handles and not the heads. On examination of ikon heads they’re plainly not machined regardless of the metal they are made of. I’m only speculating here but I think they’re MIM with some post production machining. I’m actually curious about how they were made just out of interest sake. 

Has anyone noticed how closely the Timeless razor head resembles the ikon 101?  The 101 is probably my second favourite ikon razor after the 102. I pulled out the 103 short  comb and I’ll give it go soon. I recall that it shaves closer to the Tech which is probably why it hasn’t been used in a while.

This thread inspired me to take out my iKon ShaveCraft 104 Tech and give it a slight polish. Mine was never a completely dull matte finish. Even when I first got it from Connaught Shaving in early 2018, it had the slightest bit of sheen to it.

I’m assuming my 104 was manufactured in 2016–2017. It has the ShaveCraft imprint, as can be seen in the first photo. The Tech was not available for a couple of years, there, and now that iKon has brought it back, the name has been shortened to just iKon Tek. I’m assuming it’s the same product, but from a new production run.

My shaves with the 104 Tech are never the most comfortable. However, the shaves are so close that the stubble seems too frightened to peek out the following day, unlike after the shaves with most other razors.

The stubble is too frightened to peek out the next day.   That’s a great description Matsilainen

I just got a new backup from one of the members @rawfox who got it and after he shaved with it he decided he didn’t care for it and so I told him I’d like a backup. Now I’m curious to do a side by side Shave Off comparing my old one to the brand new one to see if there’s any noticeable difference between the two.

I’ll post it up in the next 2 or 3 days days when I have enough stubble to give the 2 razors at least a little bit of a challenge.

So I decided to do a side by side comparison of my older Ikon Tech and the backup which is the new one that rawfox1 sold to me that he just bought and it didn't work for him. This is the one that's up for sale currently btw. 

So I won't make this a long review. 

I used the new version on my more difficult right side of my face and then switched to the older version on my right side neck which has a nasty cowlick so I figured that would even things out. Reversed it on the left side. 

I have had a Tibam Ti handle on my old Tech for a while now since it seems to give it much better balance than the heavy SS bulldog handle I got it will back when I bought it as it was always handle heavy because of the lightweight Aluminum head. So I tried to put my Timeless Ti handle on the new Tech but it didn't work as I couldn't tighten it up all the way even with the blade in it. I pulled out one of my two Ti Wolfman WR2"s and went back and forth on which handle to use HR2 or HR7 and I ended up using the HR7 since there is a similarity to the Tibam handle. The Ti HR7 handle fit perfectly so I'm all set for the Shave Off. Oh and BTW with the Ti handles on the Ikon becomes much more maneuverable which for me is almost a must for me nowadays.  

I only did 2 passes going WTG and I did a reverse WTG which is done without rinsing and lathering as I knew from numerous shaves with the old Tech I can get a fairly long lasting BBS as long as I do some aggressive skin stretching and use 0 pressure.  

So I'll get right to the chase. I have no Idea why but there was a very noticeable difference in smoothness between the two of them. The new Tech was the winner in that area and yet the end result as far as closeness was Identical. So this has got me stumped why there would be such a difference between them. If you look at the photos you can see the heads look the same unless I'm missing something. The only thing I can think of is maybe the blade I had in the old tech was like a semi - dud as I opened up two new Polsilver blades for this Shave Off. I'm going to wait a few days and do this again only I'll reverse the blades to see if it's the reason for the difference or it is the heads. If I were asked how much smoother the new one was over the old one I'd have to say at least 20 to 25% smoother. Obviously if there was a difference in efficiency/effectiveness at reducing my beard growth then I would have noticed immediately after shaving. It's been almost 6 hours since the Shave Off and as of now both sides are still BBS. 

Anyone have any ideas on why the difference or anyone else have an older model and the latest version?  

I'll report back after I do another Shave comparison and let you all know if anything changes. Also can't deny I'm very happy with the extra smoothness of the new head I have. 

Great Shaves all.

. Dragonsbeard  that's kind of a crazy outcome I did not expect that.
   I like your plan of switching sides with the razors I don't know if you would just get new blades or swap the blades out also to the different razors.
  I like the way those handles look both of them.