Today I received the Slim Adjustable i bought on Ebay. It seemes to me to be in good condition. Now my question. What can I expect from the different settings? What position could be compared to my MerkurHD?
AFAIK, the settings will increase/decrease the blade gap. I prefer more aggressive razors so I leave my Slim on 9 and never change it. My main razor is the OCMM FYI. If you prefer a milder razor then I'd suggest starting around 2-3 and then making changes as you shave depending on what it feels like to you. Just remember to loosen the knob a little before changing a setting and then be sure to tighten it back after you've made the change. A Slim on 3 with a loose knob will bite you faster than you can say "Ouch!"
Agree with the above. What you can also try is doing your 1st pass at 2 or 3 and then move up to 4 or 5 for your second. Again loosen the knob before you chg setting and then retighten.
My advice for vintage adjustables... Shave 1 - set at three, do all 2 or 3 passes at this setting, evaluate Shave 2 - set at four, do all 2 or 3 passes, evaluate Shave 3 - set at five... Keep going until you've hit just one notch too much, back it down, lock and leave it. For me the magic number is 6. Of course some folks like to go from mild to wild. That is the first pass is low, say 3, then crank it wide open for the last pass. Some start wild, then tame it down each pass. Each to his own. Enjoy your razor!
Here are instructions for the 195 or "Fat Boy" but the settings are the same for the Slim as well. 1 is for light shaves (smallest blade gap) and 9 is for heavy shaves (largest blade gap).
My first go round with my adj. slim, I used a 7 on the first pass, a 5 on the second and 3 on the last. Now I slam it to 9 and keep it there.
I agree with Steve. Personally I start at 6 but finish with blade buffing at 3. Buts thats just how I roll....
Thanks all for sharing your knowledge and advices. Anyone got an idea what setting will be nearest my MerkurHd?
Try 6. I get great shaves with my HD (I have 3, if that tells you anything about how I feel about my HDs) and, as I posted above, 6 is where I leave my vintage adjustables.
Impossible to predict, because everyone's face and everyone's shaving technique is different, not to even mention the different blades that might be used. However, my 75 year old medium coarse beard says: Gillette Slim = #5 with a Feather blade and #6 with the other blades Gillette Fat Boy = #4 with a Feather blade and #5 with the other blades Apollo Mikron = #3.5 with a Feather blade and #4.5 with the other blades The blades I use generally are Feather, Dorco, or Shark. Hope that is helpful.
Well. I've had one shave with the razor. I set it on two and used a Merkur blade. It was not the closest shave I've had but next time I will turn up to four. Used my MerkurHD yesterday and got a real nice BBSshave without any irritation or accidents. Considering that the HD compares to the adjustable set on six I think the shaves will be better with the slim soon.
This should help you, found these measurements on another site. The measurements refer to the amount of blade gap. .61 mm - Slim Adjustable @ 2 .64 mm - Merkur HD (38C) .66 mm - Slim Adjustable @ 3 .71 mm - Merkur HD (34C) .74 mm - Slim Adjustable @ 4 I can somewhat verify the accuracy as I usually use my Fatboy and my Slim on a 5 or a 6, and those settings are more aggressive than my 34C.
Thanks thevez2, great info. Reading above made me turn the adj. to 3 instead of 4 next time I use it. Since I'm a rookie I cant blaim notsocloseshave only on the razor. Could aswell depend on technique or lather. Especially the latherpart in my shavings needs improvement. Yesterday was the first time I got the lather as smooth as I want it with that glide I missed before. Earlier it has made a strange dry feeling where the razor got stuck to the skin.
Rock, Typically, that means you didn't hydrate your soap well enough; not uncommon. Try using a bit more water next time and see if that helps make it slicker.
@cyanidemetal: thats what I've tried earlier with no good result. I use Truefitt & Hill luxury soap and after reading a review of that soap I thought I'd try with less water. And that worked better. Didn't get as much lather as before but it was much more creamy and with higher density.
