I've never heard of one, aside from the original 1904 Gillette razor. That was marketed as being adjustable. Though, to be honest, the old three hole blades were springier and thicker. I wouldn't try it with modern blades. I'm afraid shimming is the only way to make an open comb adjustable. I wonder how hard it would be to make an adjustable frankenrazor? Better yet, who would sacrifice a Sheraton and Fatboy to make one? I bet there's money to be made in casting a replacement brass baseplate, nickel plating it, and converting Fatboys. Could probably get $200 a pop for one.
The blade risers inside the heads of Gillette's adjustables are integrally attached to the adjuster knob, so a straight up OC/adjustable Frankie would likely be out. "Easiest" way would be to duplicate that weird closed comb Super Speed prototype that surfaced a few years ago: take a Slim to a machine shop. Ask them to mill evenly spaced divots out of the safety bars. It won't be truly open comb but will be as practical as you can get (working with existing materials).
Maybe mill slots on Progress head and replate? I seem to remember someone could replate Zamak. Cheers John
Dunno about DE, but SE yes: Valet Autostrop model B. The adjustments aren't exact science. You go by eye / feel. I've got one. The pics show the difference between its least and most agressive settings. And the manual. I often start the first pass at a mild setting, change to medium for the second pass and agressive for the third pass.
It's design is not completely OC but the shave sure feels as if it is The French Tip Top razor: There were also some Mulcuto SE that had an OC head and adjustment knobs
This. I've heard of gents playing with as many as 9 shims in a NEW. I've only gone up to 5 and really didn't notice much difference between 3 and 5.
Others may disagree but having played around with junked adjustables (and TTOs in general), it seems to me that the rivet or fitting which holds the head to the handle would be have to be wrecked in order to free the baseplate and install a new one. See the pictures here, and note this is one area that is not disassembled in overhauls, because (afaik) it can't be fixed. I'm not saying installing an OC baseplate is impossible. It would just take someone of considerable patience, skill and means to do it without major damage to the components AND design and produce an OC baseplate that fits AND restore it all to normal functionality. The charge for such a service would rightly be pricey, assuming it could be done.
What about totally re-designing it into a new and modern piece? Cadet has an OC TTO to copy the old Gillette Sheraton or Senator whatever it was called. I wonder if you could take that and make it adjustable, or do something like the Progress/Futur as a 2 piece.
Do you have an adjustable handy? Open the doors and take a look inside the bottom of baseplate. I'm probably missing steps here but at minimum this is what would be involved: 1. Choose the safety bar adjustable you want to make OC. 2. Disassemble it completely, ensuring it can be correctly reassembled when finished (that refers to that crucial head/handle fitting inside the baseplate atop the handle). 3. Have an adjustable OC baseplate that will precisely mate up with all existing components (handle, adjuster, TTO), which you or someone else designed and machined just for this job. 4. Discard original baseplate. Attach the OC baseplate to the handle/adjuster mech. Ensuring the blade risers and TTO work with it as they should. 5. Reassemble the whole thing. 6. Get the whole thing replated so the finish on the new baseplate matches everything else. Given all that, unless one is a skilled machinist with nothing better to do it'd be easier to talk a manufacturer into designing an OC adjustable than trying to retrofit an existing one, new or old. I don't know about the new ones but Gillette's head/handle assembly was designed to not come apart. Ever.
That's what I mean. Use something as a template that already exists in CAD or something and re-design it instead of re-machining an already existing physical piece.
Open combs don't seem to be that commonly used, so it's possible the current mfg's just haven't had the idea occur to them. If they thought there'd be a market for OC adjustables, no doubt someone will produce one. So now, all it takes is putting the right bugs into the right ears. Personally, I'd seriously consider one with OC on one side and standard safety bar on the other...a razor that can mow down any beard and use potentially any blade. It'd be the first truly new (non-vintage) razor I've ever purchased.
It might be, if it were adjustable (I didn't clarify that on the last post). It's nice, but it gives me no reason to replace my New and Super Speeds.
