March 19 (Sunday ) - SE focus test shave, aka "paint me pink and call me a flamingo"
EverReady 1914 / Gem PTFE ( 7) + shim backspine
Supply Provision synthetic brush
Arko stick
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Aftershave
After reading how
@Douglas Carey got such a comfortable BBS from his EverReady 1914 today, I decided to give mine one last try. I thought I would see if shimming a modern Gem blade to make it mimic a thick old carbon one would change the shave. So I stripped the back spine off a spent blade (carefully, with pliers), then loaded it under the back edge of the blade in the razor.
What a difference! The razor was still extremely efficient but was perfectly smooth with no noticeable blade presence. After my usual passes, I was even able to relather and then go ATG without setting off the alum. Just one tiny weeper where I nicked a scab from a couple days ago but otherwise nothing. A good solid DFS approaching BBS and obtained in complete comfort.
I haven't yet tried this shim trick with my 1924s, but since the people suggesting it all claimed it worked with any of the pre-Micromatic / pushbutton Gems, I suspect it will salvage them for me too.
All around a most satisfactory afternoon. There weren't any razors worth mentioning at the collectors show I went to earlier today. A couple Gillette Slims (which I don't have) both in decent shape but priced at mint eBay prices. And not a single later model Gem in sight anywhere. But the sun was shining and it's warm enough outside that the snowcover is melting off, so it was still a good outing. And then this successful shave experiment to cap it off.
Hope everyone else is having a good Sunday!
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