The Enders Speed Razor fan club

A member here on DFS (I believe it was Dave in KY ), got me started on thinking about trying out an Enders Speed razor a few months ago. At the time, I missed out on a couple of them that appeared on the BST forum, but I got one for myself on Ebay a short while ago. 

I bought it mostly out of curiosity, and given that you have to modify a blade and fiddle with it to get it to work with modern blades, I didn't think it would stick in the den, but this thing has really surprised me. It is a really good design and works very well as a daily shaver. Shaves are close and comfortable (but more on that later). 

I thought the few(??) of us who use one of these razors could share pics of their razors and information of the models and modifications and workarounds that we use to make them work for us. If you're curious about it like I was, ask questions and maybe one of us can help you. 

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Here's my one Enders Speed razor:

It's a plain black-handled version. I bought it with one original blade that I sanded down to the point where I could use it as a shim with a Schick injector blade.

Interesting, I also have the version with the black handle. Not knowing that modern blades could be used, I never used it.

My Shave Review for the Enders Speed razor.

NOTE: The way this razor shaves will depend on how you adapt modern blades to work with it. More on that in a later post, as there are several options. However, if you haven't used one of these, you're mostly going to be interested in how it shaves before you consider getting one, so here's my short review of it. 

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I received my Enders Speed with an original blade. This was good, since I planned on using it as a shim. The first thing I did was watch a few videos on how to do this, and then I ground down the edge using sandpaper. I took the entire bevel off (and a little more), smoothed it out and then tried using it. My decision was to use an Injector blade with it. 

I placed the blade+shim into the razor and carefully adjusted the edge to make sure it was parallel to the teeth on the guard. The injector blade is only held on using pressure between the razor head and the shim, and I was concerned that it would move during the shave. This was not the case. In use, the blade stays put. 

My first shave was with the blade set at about where the original Enders blade would have been. The shave was close, but not as good as I've had with other razors. 

Handling: The razor head is small, but not as small as an injector head. It is fairly intuitive as to how you should use it, but the steep angle took a bit to get used to. The handle is interesting. The wave shape is both good and bad. I hold my razors with my fingertips, and the edges on this razor were not the most convenient or comfortable. That being said, I forgot about them after a while and adjusted to the quirks of the razor. 

Getting my upper lip was the most challenging thing and even that was pretty easy to get used to. 

Flowthrough: One of the best things about this razor is how it picks up lather during a shave. It's something like a small lather-catcher. It holds more lather than you'd think. What is also excellent is how easily it rinses off. A couple of swipes through the water and it's all gone. I love this!

Shave closeness: 
Part 1: As I said, I used an injector blade set at about where the Enders blade would have been relative to the guard. My first shave was reasonably close, and very comfortable, but it was not particularly long-lasting. However.....

Part 2: Since the injector blade is only held in by pressure, it is (sort of) adjustable. After my first shave, I experimented with extending the injector blade out towards the teeth of the guard some more. After a few tries, I hit on my preferred setting and found a really good sweet spot. That allowed me to have a really superb close, comfortable shave. No nicks or weepers. The shave was so good, I was quite honestly surprised. 

Thinking this was a case of what I call the 'new broom effect' (A new broom sweeps clean), I kept using it and comparing it to some of my favourite razors. 

The upshot of this testing was that the razor compares very well to the ones I like best. It's not as aggressive as my R41, but it is a lot less finicky to use. It gives me a closer, smoother shave than my injectors, and it is easier to get around my face than my Rockwell 6S. I have a lot of safety razors, and this one is a great addition to the den. 

Negatives: 
1: The blade loading is always going to be a bigger issue than most people would care for. It's not hard, it's also not as seamless as loading a DE blade into a TTO or injecting a blade into your Schick injector. 
2: The handle is cute, but not the most ergonomic. I found that I got used to it, but it bears mentioning.

Interesting, I also have the version with the black handle. Not knowing that modern blades could be used, I never used it.

Yes, I also ignored them for years because of the proprietary blade issue.

There are several videos on YouTube showing how you modify an original blade to serve as a shim for an injector (or even a DE) blade. I'll post some information on my setup later.

Apparently, there are also shims that may be available. I've never tried those.

Here's my latest video using mine. I think I cover how to use a modern injector blade as you are with an old blade as a shim which I did for a few years and also review and adapter that was surprisingly easy to use and available at Hendrix Classic & Company. Worth the investment as far as I'm concerned and should have just bought one myself sooner. Link for it in the video description.
https://youtu.be/GftB0OY0xaI

Wow! this Enders razor is really a nice little toy.
The video is also nice, I also wrote your channel dear Dave .

Wow! this Enders razor is really a nice little toy.
The video is also nice, I also wrote your channel dear Dave .

Thank you Gian66

I had one years ago. Never did take a liking to it because it was too mild regardless of how I set the blade exposure using an injector blade.

Here are some pictures I took of a shim I made with an Enders blade to hold an injector blade to load in this and the older William Enders razors. I first lined up the blade edges and secured the injector to the enders blade. Then I used quick steel to make the shoulders on the enders blade, finally I removed the injector blade off the Enders shim and trimmed back the edge of the Enders blade and filed the shoulders so everything would fit when put back on the shim.

Here's my Enders. This is a seemingly rarer model with a smooth/flat safety bar. Unfortunately, the adapter that Dave in KY mentioned doesn't work with this model. But the guy who makes the adapters has made a prototype adapter for the smooth bar, so I'm hoping I can get one eventually. 

Here's my Enders. This is a seemingly rarer model with a smooth/flat safety bar. Unfortunately, the adapter that Dave in KY mentioned doesn't work with this model. But the guy who makes the adapters has made a prototype adapter for the smooth bar, so I'm hoping I can get one eventually. 

VERY cool !!