Update and Correction Regarding the Lord-Brand L.6 Razor Head: Potential Quality Issues

I received an email from a reader the other day regarding the Lord-brand razor, the LP1822L. This razor couples the L.6 razor head with the four-inch-long aluminium handle -- hence the L designation -- for long -- at the end of the model number.

This detail-oriented reader, Richard, observed that his L.6 razor head was different from mine; his having a clear positive blade exposure (in which the blade edge lies above the shave plane and therefore outside the protective cove of the top cap and safety bar).

So I pulled out the L.6 razor head that is at hand in my shaving drawer. I re-checked it for blade exposure. Sure enough, the first of the two edges that I checked had a slight negative exposure. However, when I checked the other edge, it was slightly positive. Apparently in the past, when I had checked this razor for blade exposure, I must have always had the bad luck to check the negative-exposure side and assumed the opposite side was the same. (Shame on me.)

Recently, in a moment of weakness and excessive infatuation with the L.6 razor head, I purchased a second one (for reasons that don't seem completely rational at the moment). In any case, I pulled this one out of storage and, low and behold, it was the same as my older version: slightly negative blade exposure on one side, slightly positive on the other.

So I have three resulting comments.

For one, I erred in my evaluation of this razor head, which is not quite so user friendly as I thought. And after confirming with reader Richard that he was, in fact, evaluating his own L.6 razor head and not the L.5, apparently either Lord has changed the molds for this razor head or they are having some production inconsistency, which is the very definition of poor quality control.

Secondly, this begs the question: when shaving, why did I not notice the difference in razor design between sides of the razor head? I would submit that it's the same reason that early versions of Parker's Variant shaved perfectly well despite the slight blade-exposure inconsistency on one edge, where one of the safety bars had a slight undesirable curvature. The reason both defects went unnoticed during shaves is that, within a certain range of moderate razor aggression, technique -- specifically a light pressure of razor against face -- trumps the precision of the razor design.

Lastly, I can no longer recommend the Lord LP1822L razor, which, as I wrote above, pairs the L.6 razor head with the four-inch aluminium handle. My discovery of the assymetry in my own two razors is enough to rescind my recommendation. That another shaver has found the L.6 razor head to have positive blade exposure on both edges is worse.

I stand corrected.

Happy shaving!