Haward D653

[slapo]

I've only had one shave with mine so far. It has more blade feel than a Tech, but I also did find it a bit more efficient than the AS-D2.
The head is zamak, and the manufacturer claims it handle is made of aluminium. However, the handle is also hollow. It shifts the balance toward the head with the balance point being where the knurling stops on the handle.
Plating is pretty good, although it could be thicker, especially on the top cap's thread. There are a few marks on the bottom of the base plate that look almost like machining marks, but it would be an oddity from the plating process. Nothing to complain about there, though.

The blade tabs aren't covered, the overhang is ~1mm on each side.
The base plate is reminiscent of a Tech base plate, although it's more if a stretched "M" shape.

The top cap is quite interesting. The elongated pins are pretty long. One of the reasons for that is the rounded recess. That recess, incidentally, forms sort of a mouth shape with the recess in the base plate when looking at the head from the side. Is also allowed me to pull the blade toward the top cap, changing the geometry of the blade fairly significantly. I suspect the effect of this is more tension in the blade and a little bit less of blade exposure if so desired. I used it this way during my shave with it.

There's one element of the design that I'm not yet sure whether it's intentional, but I suspect it is. Where the top cap and base plate clamp the blade, it actually leaves a bit of 'wiggle room' toward the blade edge. This allows for some blade flex, although not much. Definitely less than it does in an R41 or in an EJ-style safety bar head. I'm pretty sure this is also why it feels a bit bladey and a bit less smooth than it could likely be. Having said that, it was a reasonably smooth shave.

I'll try to add more information after I've had a few more shaves with it, but so far, it seems like a pretty decent razor for the money.

 

[Deleted member 1881]

I've only had one shave with mine so far. It has more blade feel than a Tech, but I also did find it a bit more efficient than the AS-D2.
The head is zamak, and the manufacturer claims it handle is made of aluminium. However, the handle is also hollow. It shifts the balance toward the head with the balance point being where the knurling stops on the handle.
Plating is pretty good, although it could be thicker, especially on the top cap's thread. There are a few marks on the bottom of the base plate that look almost like machining marks, but it would be an oddity from the plating process. Nothing to complain about there, though.

The blade tabs aren't covered, the overhang is ~1mm on each side.
The base plate is reminiscent of a Tech base plate, although it's more if a stretched "M" shape.

The top cap is quite interesting. The elongated pins are pretty long. One of the reasons for that is the rounded recess. That recess, incidentally, forms sort of a mouth shape with the recess in the base plate when looking at the head from the side. Is also allowed me to pull the blade toward the top cap, changing the geometry of the blade fairly significantly. I suspect the effect of this is more tension in the blade and a little bit less of blade exposure if so desired. I used it this way during my shave with it.

There's one element of the design that I'm not yet sure whether it's intentional, but I suspect it is. Where the top cap and base plate clamp the blade, it actually leaves a bit of 'wiggle room' toward the blade edge. This allows for some blade flex, although not much. Definitely less than it does in an R41 or in an EJ-style safety bar head. I'm pretty sure this is also why it feels a bit bladey and a bit less smooth than it could likely be. Having said that, it was a reasonably smooth shave.

I'll try to add more information after I've had a few more shaves with it, but so far, it seems like a pretty decent razor for the money.

Would you recommend it to someone who likes to slice his face into pieces?

 

[slapo]

Would you recommend it to someone who likes to slice his face into pieces?

Hmmm, it could do interesting things with a shim, but as-is, the Yaqi Knight Helmet is a lot closer to a face slicer than this is.
There are also R41 clones on AliExpress that cover the side tabs and are like a mpre controlled version of an R41. You might like one of those.

 

[Deleted member 1881]

Hmmm, it could do interesting things with a shim, but as-is, the Yaqi Knight Helmet is a lot closer to a face slicer than this is.
There are also R41 clones on AliExpress that cover the side tabs and are like a mpre controlled version of an R41. You might like one of those.

Link with the clones please.

 

[slapo]

Link with the clones please.

3.43US $ 30% OFF|Barber Safety Razor Head for Shaving Razor Double Edge Shaving Safety Razor Open Head Professional Beard Hair Shaving Tool|Razor| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

This was annoyingly aggressive:

3.18US $ 30% OFF|Safety Razor Head for Shaving Razor Barber Double Edge Shaving Safety Razor Open Comb Head Professional Beard Hair Shaving Tool|Razor| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[Deleted member 1881]

3.43US $ 30% OFF|Barber Safety Razor Head for Shaving Razor Double Edge Shaving Safety Razor Open Head Professional Beard Hair Shaving Tool|Razor| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

This was also annoyingly aggressive:

3.18US $ 30% OFF|Safety Razor Head for Shaving Razor Barber Double Edge Shaving Safety Razor Open Comb Head Professional Beard Hair Shaving Tool|Razor| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Wow, time for reading.

 

[Estariol]

As @slapo said in the aquisitions thread, this is only the head, named Lemonwald.
Lemonwald

I've had my first shave with it yesterday evening, so i'll keep updating my experience with it here.
NOTE: I have a medium tough beard with a significent amount of grays and moderately sensitive skin on my neck.
With a Nacet #3, 4 days of growth, there's no blade feel, i've only heard the whiskers being cut off. 3 passes and some pickups (didn't aim for a BBS) gave a ~95% BBS. Minimum sting from the AS. As for thoroughness, well, i've felt the first stubble around 11:30 - noon today, so basically it's more thorough for me then my Super Speed Silver Flair, as after an evening shave with it i feel the stubble at ~ 8 - 9AM. So far, for ~$5, a damn good bang for the buck. Next shave will be with a Blue Box Gillette Platinum that had two pickup passes in my razor with no safety bar.

 

[slapo]

@Estariol Because there's so much wiggle room in the middle of the razor, you can also try to experiment a little with pulling the blade against the top cap before tightening the handle, or pushing it against the base plate.
I got my best results with it when I pulled the blade up against the top cap.

 

[Estariol]

Thanks, i'll try that out as well, and i also have the Homelike Start razor, it has a bit narrower cap and it fits on the baseplate (not vice versa, the flat pins on the Lemonwald /Haward are longer), so there will be a lot of experimenting. In comparison with the Start, the latter is just a bit more efficient because of the weight, but basically they're on par regarding blade feel and thoroughness.

Forgot to mention, the blade gap is declared to be 0.86mm and the weight at 29 grams.

 

[Estariol]

Second shave with this head, this time with a GP Blue box, basically no differences from the first time, except that i definitely find the Nacet equally sharp but much smoother. The next shave i will fiddle with the blade as @slapo suggested.

 

[Estariol]

Unfortunately, the fiddling with the blade gave no good results for me, turned out it's too mild - or more precisely not thorough enough for me if i pull the blade into the cap before tightening. Could be useful if i was a daily shaver, but im not. Basically, this head is a great bang for buck. I recommend trying it out for sure!