Stirling Soap 316 Stainless Steel Razor

How does the blade feel the plate ST (standard gap) compared to the Blackbird?

I find the Blackbird more comfortable, despite its forward blade. Maybe it’s the smaller gap; maybe it’s the design which allows for a very steep angle. Hope that helps, g.marcio.

The Stirling Razors are heading South to the sunny confines of Florida. Enjoy your test-drive, shaveSymptomatic !

Rod only suggested a bubble mailer. I only made this suggestion because I think a box ( Postal or otherwise) is stronger and more secure. I recently had a handle and stand shipped to me in a bubble mailer and it was sliced open and the contents stolen. Since it was sent to me registered mail I refused the empty mailer and it was returned to the sender. Since this razor is only a try out and not mine I would forward it to the next member in the most secure and insured manner.

This is not a suggestion. They are very clear and simple instructions that should be followed to the letter if you decide to participate. As someone said, the price of admission. I don’t understand why some people find it so difficult to follow directions. 

(03-10-2020, 11:21 AM)ezlovan Wrote:  [url=https://damnfineshave.com/thread-stirling-soap-316-stainless-steel-razor?pid=311585#pid311585][/url]Please do not under any circumstances ship it in anything but that box inside the priority bubble mailer.

Here's the most recent pass around list. As per the usual pass around rules, keep the razor for about a week and send it off to the next person in line. Once you're done with the razor, please share your feedback - whether good or bad - in this thread.

Also, as requested by Rod (ezlovan), please put the razors and cases in the provided box and ship the razors off to the next person in a priority mail flat rate padded envelope ONLY!!

Pass Around list:

Hdad (Pennsylvania)
shaveSymptomatic (Florida)
Jimmyfn (Oklahoma)
LOOT (North Carolina)
george1906 (Georgia)
CK89 (Indiana)
slantman (Florida) *removed at the user's request*
Whisk-her Away (Florida)
GlazedBoker (New Jersey)
gwsmallwood (Arizona)
gvw755 (Washington)
Dave in KY (Kentucky)
CCity (Washington)
keto (Missouri)
MilkCrate (Texas)
bobmsp (Minnesota)
Einar (Wisconsin)
Dragonsbeard (New York)
Asafiev (Pennsylvania)
troydclayton (Illinois)
CzechCzar (California)
rawfox1 (Nevada)
andrewjs18 (Pennsylvania)

Rod only suggested a bubble mailer. I only made this suggestion because I think a box ( Postal or otherwise) is stronger and more secure. I recently had a handle and stand shipped to me in a bubble mailer and it was sliced open and the contents stolen. Since it was sent to me registered mail I refused the empty mailer and it was returned to the sender. Since this razor is only a try out and not mine I would forward it to the next member in the most secure and insured manner.

This is not a suggestion. They are very clear and simple instructions that should be followed to the letter if you decide to participate. As someone said, the price of admission. I don’t understand why some people find it so difficult to follow directions. 

(03-10-2020, 11:21 AM)ezlovan Wrote:  [url=https://damnfineshave.com/thread-stirling-soap-316-stainless-steel-razor?pid=311585#pid311585][/url]Please do not under any circumstances ship it in anything but that box inside the priority bubble mailer.

I think Rod said to use the bubble mailer because they will not fix in the small priority mail box.

So I've seen some questions here, and I've also had some emailed to me, so I thought I'd try to answer them here.
 
Why didn't you cover the blade tabs on the edge?
 
They are there because for this head I wanted efficiency and maneuverability to be king. I find razors that have larger heads that cover the tabs to be clunky and inefficient to use under the nose and around the ears. On these, the head ends just past where the cutting surface ends. For me it is worth the aesthetic trade-off of having the edge of the blades exposed.
 
Why does the cutting edge of the blade stick out so far from the razor?
 
That's just positive blade exposure, and another must for me to maximize the efficiency of this razor. You can talk about aggressiveness of a razor and blade gap all day long, but if the blade itself has negative or neutral exposure, you're still going to have to apply some, even if small, amount of pressure to get the blade up against your skin to cut the hairs close. With positive blade exposure, that blade is there and ready to cut. No need to go with a very steep angle to get the razor to work. The safety bar is really just there to prevent catastrophe. You can cut yourself good with a razor that has positive blade exposure. I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is not a novice razor and I'm not targeting novices to buy this razor. If you think a Gillette Slim on 9 is aggressive, you're likely going to find these to be a tad...vicious. If you are used to an aggressive razor and have a deft hand, you'll likely find these to be extremely smooth.
 
Why not publish the blade gaps?
 
To annoy the blade gap chasers.   I kid. In all seriousness, there is so much more to these razors than blade gap. The angle of the blade coming out of the razor, the gap, and the blade exposure all play a part in this razor and all were very well thought out when we were working on the design. To simply say "Oh, it has a blade gap of X.XX so it should shave like Razor ABC which also has a similar blade gap" is oversimplifying it and not something I wanted to engage in. I want the razors to be judged on how efficient and smooth they are to use. Not the published blade gap. Those that just can't sleep without knowing the blade gap, I have zero doubt that someone will eventually measure and publish this using their own tools.
 
 
 
Bottom line, I wanted these razors to appeal to those with high manual dexterity, those who know every bump in their face (or legs) and could shave with their eyes closed, and those who value efficiency and smoothness. I think these razors are the best combination of these two qualities (efficiency and smoothness) on the market. I don't do three pass shaves. No time for that mess. One pass, or two if I've gone more than 4 days between shaves. I can do that without issue, tugging, or irritation with these razors and my skin is touchably soft afterwards.
 
 
 
Why can't I ship how I want to if I'm in the passaround?
 
The razors and leather cases will not fit in a small flat rate box. The next box up is Medium flat rate, which is almost double the cost to ship over a flat rate bubble mailer. There is a box that everything goes into, and then that sealed box goes inside the bubble mailer. It's not just the cases in a bubble mailer. It's more protective than a plain box because it is a plain box with the addition protection of a bubble mailer over the top of said box. The adhesive on those bubble mailers is super strong, so it also takes away the worry of someone trying to use Scotch tape to seal a box or simply doing a shoddy tape job. I've shipped over 100,000 packages in the past 8 years. More than half of those are shipped via this method (those of you who've ordered from me previously can verify that we ship tons of packages this way). When I say it's a secure method to ship, you can take that to the bank. It's also easy, cheap, fast, and comes with insurance automatically. At the end of the day though, I'm already in for 12.5 grand on the design and cutting prototypes of these razors. I want them shipped via a method I trust. No offense to anyone here, but I trust the method I originally shipped it to Hdad in over any other method. If it's too much to ask for anyone to ship it on to the next person this way, that is perfectly fine. Please remove yourself from the passaround.
 
 
 
If anyone has any questions at all, please feel free to ask them here. I'm happy to answer. Please don't take anything above as me being terse. I promise it's not intended to be. I'm just a former Army officer and I fully believe in BLUF and candor when presenting something. Mincing words just leads to confusion.

Why not publish the blade gaps?
 
To annoy the blade gap chasers.

 
I love this. Thanks for the laugh!

Also, andrewjs18, could I be added to the pass around list please? I'm in Michigan. Thanks.

Thanks for the update Rod, I’m excited to get to try out your razors!

ezlovan — Rod and Mandy, thank you both for your military service.