Maxwell June – Convert a Double-Edge Razor Blade into a Twin Blade Razor

I began shaving as a teen using a cartridge razor and shaving gel. I didn’t know how to properly perform a wet shave, so I hacked my face up repeatedly. I quickly tired of all the nicks and cuts, so I decided to begin using an electric razor. I continued to use an electric razor for most of my life and I still use one to shave my head.

I’ve contemplated switching to wet shaving again using a safety razor for about the last 2 or 3 years. Initially, I dismissed the idea because of the initial startup cost for a nice safety razor, shaving brush, and shaving mug. Wet shaving also takes me much longer than using an electric razor.

I’ve used Schick Xtreme 2 Sensitive disposable razors for a number of years to trim my hairline just in front of and above my ears (I didn’t have sideburns), around my ears, and the back of my neck. Then in 2024, I began using the razor to perform eczema maintenance on my scalp, face, and neck. However, after breaking my Schick Xtreme 2 Sensitive disposable razors a few times from using too much pressure, I decided I wanted something more durable.

I first purchased a Gillette Mach3 3-blade cartridge razor in the early part of 2024. The Gillette Mach3 didn’t have a device to help push out debris from between the blades like the Schick Xtreme 2 Sensitive does. The Gillette Mach3 blade was also larger than the Schick Xtreme 2 Sensitive blade, making it a bit more difficult to use on areas around the nose. The razor also caused quite a bit of razor burn.

After being very dissatisfied with a Braun Series 9 Sport + electric razor for shaving my face, I decided to see if I could find a durable twin-blade razor. I thought I could use a durable twin-blade razor to both shave my face and to perform eczema maintenance.

I searched the Internet in Oct 2024 for a durable twin-blade razor. One of the search results was for the Maxwell June site. I quickly became intrigued with the Maxwell June razor. You use a device that comes with the razor kit to convert a double-edge razor blade into a twin blade. My thinking was that I could use the razor for both shaving my face and for performing eczema maintenance.

I thought the Maxwell June razor starter kit was a bit pricey, so I mulled over a potential purchase decision for awhile. I decided to see if I could find reviews about the Maxwell June razor. I came across an excellent thread in the Badger & Blade forums. After reading through a few pages of forum member posts, I decided to go ahead and purchase the long handle razor starter kit in November 2024.

The Maxwell June razor starter kit came with a razor, a blade loading press, a 5-pack of Astra Green double-edge razor blades, and a round metal tin for blade disposal for a total price of $89. I also purchased the razor clip, made out of the same material as the blade loading press, for $8.

When I purchased the long handle razor starter kit, the clear anodized color was not available, so I chose the dusk grey anodized. During checkout, a comment box was provided and I stated that I would have highly preferred the silver (clear anodized) color. To my surprise, Robert Glenn, founder of Maxwell June, actually took the time to read the comment. Robert emailed me and said that the clear anodized razor was unavailable due to an issue with their anodizing vendor, but he did have some that had been used for photography or that had slight blemishes and that I could have one of those if desired. I responded and said that I wanted the clear anodized razor.

Since I had never used a double-edge razor blade before, I wasn’t sure which blade brand I would like. Therefore, I decided to also purchase the TOP 10 Most Popular DE Blades sampler from Shave Nation.

I tried using the razor for the first time on 11/11/2024 to perform eczema maintenance. There was a bit of a learning curve using the Maxwell June razor. I wasn’t getting good audible feedback while performing eczema maintenance on the back of my scalp, so I applied more pressure. Applying more pressure was a big mistake. As soon as I brought the razor down over the back right bottom edge of my skull, I cut myself pretty good. I had a stream of blood coming from the base of my skull down across my neck. I quickly decided that using the Maxwell June razor for eczema maintenance wasn’t going to work out.

However, I then tried using the Maxwell June razor to shave my face three days later and the experience wasn’t bad at all. In fact, my experience using the Maxwell June razor eventually prepared me for using a safety razor.

I tried every brand of blade from the TOP 10 Most Popular DE Blades sampler I purchased from Shave Nation. I eventually decided that I liked the Derby Extra blades the best.

I shared my find of the Maxwell June razor with Geofatboy who runs Shave Nation. He told me that he thought I’d like a safety razor better. So, I purchased an adjustable safety razor in January 2025 from Shave Nation and I began using that for awhile. I did like the weight of the safety razor and it was more efficient since there are two blades that can be used. However, up until 06/02/2025 the safety razor didn’t give me as close of a shave as the Maxwell June razor occasionally did, primarily due to my lack of knowledge about the importance of shaving in the direction of my beard growth.

Maxwell June claims that their razor will use almost any double-edge blade. I did experience issues using Merkur blades. I tried using the Merkur blade on two different occasions and both times, the blade did not break in half properly, so I did not try again because I planned to try the blades later in a regular safety razor.

One of the Astra Green razor blades also did not break correctly and those were supplied with the razor.

In May 2025, I decided to start switching razors on a monthly basis. I began using the Maxwell June razor again. However, while shaking the razor to remove excess water while shaving, the comb head front came completely off of the razor. I believe a double-edge razor blade is held by friction in the Maxwell June razor after being broken in half. Early on, my thought was that eventually the comb head front would wear down, resulting in it not staying in place on the razor head. However, I didn’t expect the wear to apparently happen so quickly.

The following day I emailed Maxwell June and I told them what had happened and that I was very disappointed. Robert Glenn responded and said that there was something else going on because they had razors being used for two to three years without issue. Following are the suggestions Robert provided.

In our experience, the most likely culprit for the head front being as loose as you describe has to do with the break of the blade. I will explain what to look for below as well as a way to increase reliability. If you could look at your razor with these two things in mind, it will help me understand if your razor has something wrong with it or not.

– Check for a clean blade break.

– As you take your razor apart, if you can try to be careful to keep things mostly in place and take a look at the bottom edge of the head front. Take note of what the two ears of the broken blade look like at this point.

– The blade should cleanly break and the ears should be at the bottom edge of the head front against the flat plane of each side.

– Sometimes, the blade will not fully or cleanly break and you will see that one or both ears are wrapped around the bottom edge of the head front.

– If the blade doesn’t stay in place as you disassemble, you might notice if one or both sides are not actually separated or they might have a very distinct curl at the break.

– In most cases like you describe, this is the cause of the loose head because the blade ears wrapping around the bar keeps the head from fully seating into position.

– Sometimes this is because of subtleties in the break or a damaged press.

– There are also some blades that just don’t work because their tempering is on the light side, and they are more likely to bend vs snap. We have run into this with some Gillette Persona blades, for example, but there was no rhyme or reason as to why other than maybe their heat treat was slightly less.

– Orientation of wax dots

– One item that can counteract a not perfect break as described above is to let the wax dots, found on most blades, to work in your favor.

– When you set the blade onto the press while getting ready to load, orient it so that the wax dots point up. When you do this, they end up pressed against the head front as opposed to the slot in the head back.

– Not all blades have wax on them, but we needed to accommodate both so if your blades have it, try this technique. If they don’t, then this might be a case where that blade type has an issue as I described above.

I tried the suggestion of orienting the wax dots upward. That worked for awhile, but on May 17, 2025, the comb head front came completely off of the razor again while I was shaving. I checked the blade, a newly installed Derby Extra, and the blade appeared to be cleanly broken, but upon closer inspection the ears were ever so slightly curled.

The Derby Extra blades that I received with the TOP 10 Most Popular DE Blades sampler I purchased from Shave Nation all worked without issue in the Maxwell June razor. However, I later purchased a 100-blade set of Derby Extra and I was using those, so maybe something has changed with how the blade is manufactured.

I had some Personna Prep Blue Platinum double-edge razor blades left from the TOP 10 Most Popular DE Blades sampler I purchased from Shave Nation, so I decided to use one of those blades and it worked well. Note: The Personna Prep Blue Platinum blade has been replaced with the Personna Red blade in the TOP 10 Most Popular DE Blades sampler.