Shave review of Janus Adjustable razor and Shave Off vs Gillette F4 Toggle

GlazedBoker  Hey Gus nice review but can you please clarify and I am sorry if I missed it on an earlier post. Can the Janus adjuster move in 1/2 increments as I thought it was single digits like a Toggle/FB and not an infinatetly adjustable gap like in the Futur ??

There is a click for every number, but you can set any increments without a click. You can infinitely adjust like Futur.

GlazedBoker
Thank you - that is very helpful. As I am still waiting for my (overseas) delivery, I am just interested in reading reviews of actual users, not whether the project may or may not have gone off the rails.  And pictures are much appreciated.

GlazedBoker Hey Gus nice review but can you please clarify and I am sorry if I missed it on an earlier post. Can the Janus adjuster move in 1/2 increments as I thought it was single digits like a Toggle/FB and not an infinatetly adjustable gap like in the Futur ??

Oooppss. Sorry amigo. I failed to mention that it only locks or clicks into position on the actual number. Brain freeze. But, I'm going to try it anyways just to see if it can be done...... My apologies.

GlazedBoker
Thank you - that is very helpful. As I am still waiting for my (overseas) delivery, I am just interested in reading reviews of actual users, not whether the project may or may not have gone off the rails.  And pictures are much appreciated.

There is another Janus thread for the actual shave reports. Hopefully, the link below works...if not scroll down 6 or 8 threads. You'll find that one free of the bickering, finger pointing, etc. I stayed out of that one on purpose specifically for gents like you. Youre welcome. Yell if you cant find the thread.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic?u...source=app

Well mine finally showed up, I do have minor machining marks on my toggle knob, but the doors are even, I agree with many that the finish isn’t perfection. There aren’t many razors that can match James’ finishing so I find this to be something I can accept. I just have to see how the shave goes tomorrow


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great looking razor

Much discussion and some disappointment about changes made after the prototype was tested, yielding glowing reviews ftmp.  Doesn't matter to me since I did not get to try the prototype.  My review is based on the razor as it was shipped.

I initially thought the razor was too aggressive with too much blade feel.  Turns out I was premature in that conclusion.  I ran it through its paces over a few days with varying beard growth, prep, soap, blades, settings.

Today on a lark I set the dial to 9.  I have never set any adjustable on 9 before today.  I expected a rougher shave than the 3 setting I used the day before but was surprised with what I consider one of the best shaves I have ever had.

I prepped with a hot shower, a bit of shave oil rubbed into my beard, lathered up with Cella and loaded a Gillette Silver Blue.  I settled on 9 for wtg and 3 for atg.  

As far as improvements the razor needs darker etching of logo and dial settings, sharper knurling on the adjustment dial.  Other than that I think the razor is a winner.

I am glad I took the time to get tuned in by trying several combos of blade, prep, soap and settings.  I encourage new owners to do the same before drawing final conclusions.

Much discussion and some disappointment about changes made after the prototype was tested, yielding glowing reviews ftmp.  Doesn't matter to me since I did not get to try the prototype.  My review is based on the razor as it was shipped.

I initially thought the razor was too aggressive with too much blade feel.  Turns out I was premature in that conclusion.  I ran it through its paces over a few days with varying beard growth, prep, soap, blades, settings.

Today on a lark I set the dial to 9.  I have never set any adjustable on 9 before today.  I expected a rougher shave than the 3 setting I used the day before but was surprised with what I consider one of the best shaves I have ever had.

I prepped with a hot shower, a bit of shave oil rubbed into my beard, lathered up with Cella and loaded a Gillette Silver Blue.  I settled on 9 for wtg and 3 for atg.  

As far as improvements the razor needs darker etching of logo and dial settings, sharper knurling on the adjustment dial.  Other than that I think the razor is a winner.

I am glad I took the time to get tuned in by trying several combos of blade, prep, soap and settings.  I encourage new owners to do the same before drawing final conclusions.

I still have my fingers crossed that the Janus Toggle will get me the shaves I’m looking for. Slowly but, surely I think it will get me there. Nice write up... 

Last week, I emailed him whether he could fix my Janus uneven doors, and redo red painting.

First, it might be a busy day for him, since he thought I had emailed him for refund and return, and he immediately refunded my money.
I emailed him again to say I didn't request refund, only asked for fix my razor.
He will help me to fix doors, match dial and redo red painting.

I paid him with a credit card, and asked him his account number or paypal address to send his money back.
He didn't want me to repay before he would fix my problems.

That is pretty cool.

Even though the dome profile is changing, if the point that the blade exposure plane is crossing through remains the same, the blade exposure for both dome profiles are the same. This wasn't readily apparent to me initially. This is stuff I have picked up over the last year working on the Janus project. The image will do a better job explaining than I could with words.



If the innards remain the same i.e. the blade tray angle and the corresponding mating face on the door, then the Blade Angle and Gap hasn't changed.



To increase the blade exposure on the Janus production to add more efficiency, I raised the bedplate Z position by a small amount (.00X"). The corresponding mating face on the inside of the door also got raised up by the same .00X". This then increased the Blade Gap by 0.00Y", Blade Angle and Blade Exposure for all the settings.

These are small changes but since sharp razor edges are involved, small tweaks can result in noticeable changes. Throw in a Feather and the changes can be magnified. These changes propagate throughout from setting 1 to 9. From 3D CAD, I have a table filled out of the Blade Gap, Blade Angle and Blade Exposure for each setting. I'm choosing to show Blade gaps for 5 & 9 coz most folks here are experienced enough to consider giving the training wheels (1-3) a try. So they are kinda irrelevant for some folks.

I coulda sworn Eric published a chart dealing with exposure.  I didn't find it but I did find this chart about gap. Hope it helps.

While searching, I did run across some interesting discussion about the finish.  Having been refreshed on the claims, the questions asked about the claims of the finish, and the information Eric himself provided, etc. I'm entrenched in my position on the finish.  I'm glad some guys can give it a pass.  That's mighty gracious.  And I'll continue to ask for and feel like I deserve some kind of explanation from Eric himself as to how in the hell we went from Wolfman to less than ATT brushed finish.  Refund issued or not.  Just interested how Eric thought it was a good idea to ship the razors in the condition he mailed them out in.  I specifically asked very pointed questions regarding finish and was terribly misled by Eric....and misled intentionally because he assembled them and shipped them himself.  I'm sure I'll lose friends and may get banned for insisting, but I won't let it go.