Quick review: German bakelite slant

Some time ago a new, old razor surfaced and got everyone excited – a stash of new old stock of bakelite slants, probably from the dusty shelves of an old abandoned warehouse or something.

Well, the truth of how they were sound is probably less dramatic, but they did cause a stir and suddenly everyone wanted one. I was lucky to get one through my favourite shaving forum, thanks to a fellow shaver who found it too mild for his taste.

The manufacturer of this razors are unknown, although speculations abound.  A popular theory seems to be that they are from Merkur, based upon the similarities to the Merkur 45 in the handle.

The razor itself is very lightweight, due to the all Bakelite construction – the only metal parts are the blades and a small brass nut. This makes for a very manoeuvrable razor, while the small blade gap and large blade angle makes for a reasonable mild razor.

This is not an aggressive slant – but it is still a slant and as such well suited for going through several days worth of beard. If you can live with the idea of a mild slant, and like owning a small piece of history, I can strongly recommend this German Bakelite Slant – if you can find it.

For those curious, bakelite – formally known as polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride – is the first synthetic thermosetting plastic. Invented in 1907 it has found use in everything from saxophone mouthpieces to heatshields for Soviet ICBM warheads… and razors.

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