Maggard Brand Razor Quality

I would appreciate some input on the quality of Maggard brand razors.

I bought a couple of them two years ago and had one problem. I had to make sure that the blades centered when I put them together. That isn't the case with my Merkur or Muhle razors. The blade always lands where it needs to be without action from me.

I'm working on a blog post for beginning into wet shaving and don't want to recommend a razor with that issue. What have you all seen with regard to this? Keep in mind they've had two years to improve since I bought mine.

The good news is that I can recommend Maggard's, whom I really like, either way. If there is a challenge with their razor I'll suggest purchasing a Muhle R89 head to use with the handle that comes with the kit.

What razor(s) are you talking about? Maggard is not a manufacturer so I'm guessing there could be variation based on the OEM. I have a generic V3A (not Maggard) and Slant, no issues.

4 Maggard V3 razors have gone through my hand, all (or 3, can't remember) of them had some blade alignment issues.

I have also seen some blade alignment issues in Merkur razor.

I am yet to see similar problems in Muhle/Edwin Jagger razors.

For me, it doesn't matter as I know how to deal with it. But yeah, I wouldn't recommend those to a newbie. Our kind of shaving can seem intimidating and troublesome in the first place, no point bothering a newbie with more requirement (load blade with the base plate down etc. etc.)

I have a Maggard Slant and have zero issues. I usually use a straight but when I don't have time the Slant is the only DE razor I use and I own at least 15 other DE's but they are gathering dust.

Their heads in general have some blade slop. It's what you get when you pay <$10 for a razor head.

Thanks a million gentlemen!

I bought a v2 open comb head a couple of years ago. It always had more blade exposure on one side than the other, nothing I could do about it. Still usable though, it was just like taking the Rockwell "adjust aggressiveness by switching plates" idea to the next level...  

I have a Maggard's V3, and I have no issues with it at all. Been using on an MR22 handle (no longer available) for the almost 3 years without any issues.

For me, it is general practice to make sure the blade is properly aligned, regardless of whether I'm using the Maggard's V3, any of my vintage Gillette's, or any of my SE razors. It's just one of those habits I've gotten in to.

For the V3, I don't spend any more time ensuring blade alignment than I do on any of my vintage Gillettes. I spend WAY more time aligning single edge blades for those razors. I just watch the blade as I tighten the handle to make sure it doesn't slip around.

The shave I get from my V3 definitely makes it worthwhile. Especially at the price point...

From talking to them I remember being told that much of the heads were sourced by the same people that make for larger companies like EJ.