Review El Jefe SE razor

[rabidus]

El Jefe...take II...aka Mr SE...

I want to start off by saying that you can't please everyone, it's impossible!

There's still some play in the razor prior to tightening it. It's not complicated at all, if you had issues with the El Jefe, you will not have any issue aligning the Mr SE.

I loaded it up with a fresh Schick Proline, no surprise there! The blade stays aligned with the cap perfectly. With my thumb on top of the cap and two fingers under the baseplate, I slide the cap back while sliding the baseplate forward.

In this position, the razor was mild yet doing an excellent job. I noticed its mildness during my WTG pass.

After completing my WTG pass and ATG on my neck, I decided to compare it to my ATT SE1 above my jawline. The SE1 was more efficient BBSing the left with less strokes.

When I reached above my lip on the ATT SE1 side, I decided to use the Mr SE, after sliding the baseplate back to the more aggressive position. And it made a difference and upped the efficiency.

For my head shave I left the Mr SE in the more aggressive position and BBSed my head the same as I would with my MMOC, which is pretty much my official head shaver.

The Mr SE stands firm in the aggressive position with my ATT SE1, MMOC, and El Jefe in mild position. The MMOC being open comb gives it a small advantage.

My ATT SE2 V2 and 1912 are noticeable more efficient, but requires more focus.

I started off saying you can't please everyone, well the Mr SE will please two groups of people. The adjustment is not as drastic as the El Jefe. It's like going from a Feather Pro to the wider Pro Super.

I don't know if it was done by design, but it is still adjustable!


There is no alignment issue with the Mr SE!

If you drop a blade in without care or concern and tighten it down, the shave will be great, which is not the case with the El Jefe!

Whether by design or not, the Mr SE is outstanding and a big improvement over the El Jefe.

The El Jefe in its mild position is about the same as the Mr SE in its aggressive position.

 

[kypros]

From my experience with the MR-SE and the Proline P-30 blade, there is a minimal play of the blade once inserted on the plate, but once tightened, it takes its position to a degree that is so snug, it takes some prying to get it free. The bottom plate has some movement, but I use the aggressive setting. It never disappoints.

 

[MrK1]

How do you adjust for the aggressive setting?

Is the razor adjustable by design?

 

[kypros]

How do you adjust for the aggressive setting?

Is the razor adjustable by design?

I do feel it was designed to have these miniscule tolerances to be able to accommodate a wide variety of SE blades that are not all the same. The way to adjust for the aggressive setting is to push the bottom plate as far away from the blade as it will go, while making sure the blade is as far forward as it can be. This is more easily accomplished on the El-Jefe, as there is more room to play with.

 

[sonoma95446]

Had a chance to take a look at my new El Jefe razor by iKon when I got home.

Aesthetically it's not a bad looking razor at all but the El Jefe is just the head - not a 'complete' razor - so let's focus on the two parts that makes up the head.

The Good:
Once again, visually I rather like the look of the 'matte'/blasted look of the top cap and base plate. Sure there were some minor scratches on the base plate but as per the disclaimer on the iKon site it might not be completely perfect so I was fine with that

(I bought my El Jefe with the iKon SE razor handle as per below and once again, they pair beautifully I think;

The head was on sale for $35 (regular price will supposedly be $40) - so that's good.

Well, that's kind of where this section ends.

The Bad:
Yikes.

The head assemply/blade loading
As people have already noted in a growing review thread over on TSN the machining fit is, in lack of better word, shoddy. Unacceptable might be another. Hillariously poor might be another way to look at it.

For some reason the tabs on the production version got shrunk down so that they do a very poor job securing the blade and aligning the head. Two things you sort of expect a razor head to accomplish.

If you get really bored you can play a little game with the head to see if the tabs will end up to the left, right up or bottom of the slits - and hey, sometimes they are both different.

If you load a blade and simply assemble the razor you are likely to end up with something as below where the top cap and base plate is not aligned...and the blade is not fully secured inside the head

To load the blade - in such a way as to avoid the amusing number of things that can go wrong - you have to ensure that you in essence force the topcap 'backwards' so that the back of the top and base are aligned. When you do - the blade seems to lock in place and does not move.

Once you do that, you end up with a nice looking back...

...and a well aligned, secured blade;

The head-to-handle assembly screw
Now this is one long screw. So long in fact that it prevents you from successfully attaching the head to many handles.
"Luckily" it's, as mentioned earlier, it's a perfect fit for the iKon handle. So perfect it almost feels proprietary.

I am still, after all this time, not sure on either how the head was made (CNC machined?) or what material it is (aluminium alloy?) - and that fact that basic data points like that is not readily available from the manufacturer raises another slew of red flags (in the forest of already existing ones).

I am actually wondering if the reason for the sale price of $35 on this batch was because of the shoddily (the term is growing on me) made tabs and overall fit on this head. I am very curious to see if this will be addressed in future batches and if that is the case...then this batch was just a firesale to get rid of a flawed set of razors. That, is a pure speculation though.

The Maybe
I haven't had time to actually shave with the thing yet and from what I've read once you get the blade seated correctly the shave is actually rather decent. Looking forward to experience that for myself this coming week

So far, sadly, the El Jefe is on my personal short-list of "Razor flops of 2016" and that is a very, very subjective opinion based solely on playing around with the head for a good 45 mins tonight so do not let that fully discourage you from the razor. [Insert "YMMV clause here"]

Now, where's @Billyfergie to make fun of a modern razor when I need him?

 

[sonoma95446]

Have a Mr-SE or El-Jeffe V2 and the fit is fine. Also have a Asylum RX, ATT SE1 and 2. love the ATT SE2 and the El Jeffe. The ATT SE2 needed a little cosiom blend around the groves as it was cut clean without a lot of polis so it is a bit rough. That done it rocks. The ME-SE is excellent and fits the Weber Stainless Handles both Bulldog and long better I think then the Ikon handles which are countersunk but tend to strip threads if your not careful. The Asylum is a aquired taste and I find it a bit much but it is a beautifully crafted razor. For those that like Pro Supers use a regular Feather for the same effect in a asylum RX.

 

[kypros]

Have a Mr-SE or El-Jeffe V2 and the fit is fine. Also have a Asylum RX, ATT SE1 and 2. love the ATT SE2 and the El Jeffe. The ATT SE2 needed a little cosiom blend around the groves as it was cut clean without a lot of polis so it is a bit rough. That done it rocks. The ME-SE is excellent and fits the Weber Stainless Handles both Bulldog and long better I think then the Ikon handles which are countersunk but tend to strip threads if your not careful. The Asylum is a aquired taste and I find it a bit much but it is a beautifully crafted razor. For those that like Pro Supers use a regular Feather for the same effect in a asylum RX.

We lovers of the El-Jefe aka MR-SE also love the ATT SE2, as they have about the same efficiency, only different face feeling. I have sent my ATT to be polished and I can't wait until it's here this week to give it a go and see if it's any better. What I can tell you though, the El-Jefe doesn't benefit from polishing..

 

[sonoma95446]

The polishing is on the SE2 is only because the CNC milling of the open face SE2 leaves the teeth of the OC squared and rough. I used a extremely fine minifile for locksmithing and smoothed it by hand only hitting the bottom edges and around the teeth that effect the glide on your face. My apologies for the spelling in the post above as I needed pro-guards after the hangover so I wouldn't cut myself up. I have a couple of 15 packs of them for those bad mornings after good football games. I agree MR SE would not benefit from polishing as most closed combs either work for you or don't.

 

[Dragon]

iKon (Greg) has a disclaimer on his website that says basically if you use another handle other then ikon handles you are on your own. His handles are made very well by that I mean he taps them at least 13 mm or longer and the tap is clean so the head fits perfectly. I have had to re-tap handles in particular the Rocnel knurled to fit other heads. The Rocnel handle although looks nice leaves shavings in the tap which cause problems.

Did you tap the Rocnel with a metric or Imperial thread? Hence the problem

 

[hdb3326]

Good to see an honest review and other experiences with this.

 

[Str8Mug]

Fantastic shave with the younger & less aggressive sibling to the El Jefe, the MR-SE. Loaded it with a KAI Captain blade and a wonderful 3 pass shave with no touch ups or buffing required. Superb finish without an ounce of irritation nor a spec of the red liquid exposed. A shame that IKON hasn’t refined or kept up with its razor production on either DE’s or SE’s. They probably weren’t the finest machined tools however, when they got them close enough, these razors are top notch performers. And the MR-SE is a very capable shaver that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the more aggressive or efficient razors in the business, modern or vintage regardless of razor format.