Agreed, I thought I missed something because the usual recommendations are blade choice or technique adjustments.
Gah I'm so sorry I've been extremely busy with work. I'm going to respond to everyone's post in an hour
I've got some mineral oil that I put in the bottom of the handle and it really helped things to really loosen up and to work like a dream. Its locks very nicely as well in the last turn just like it is supposed to.
My Personna Blue's have always been a great blade for a lot of my razors that I use. But this time it just wasn't the case. I tried a feather blade, a Derby, and a Gillette Silver Blue. All all just didn't feel all that comfortable to shave with. I also tried a good few shaves with each blade as well. I didn't just shave and then change to a different blade after not liking it. I gave each blade that I used a fair chance and good run.
I have a 1940's gillette tech that is great as well a number of other three piece and two piece razors. I was hoping to add an adjustable to my collection. Also, I was hoping to find a second gillette razor to throw into my rotation as well. Haven't tried a Fat Boy or a super speed yet because I haven't got my hands on one yet. Really want to try those...
Mechanism all works like a charm especially when I ran some mineral oil through the bottom of the handle and worked it in.
O.K., so you have tried different blades without improvement. Let's eliminate them from the equation for now and then you can choose the blade later. So, what are we left with? 1) Lather - You don't mention lather being an issue, so let's assume it is not. so, that leaves: 2) Technique and 3) razor setting I think these go together. Rereading your original post, I notice 2 things. First, you are changing your setting with the passes and you are going ATG on one of your passes. While I admit that a lot of people get better results from changing the setting depending on the pass, I believe this is an advanced technique that should be reserved for those already comfortable with the razor on a given setting. Changing in the middle of the shave requires you to slightly change the angle on every pass. My first suggestion is that you set the razor for the shave and leave it there until you gain the technique required to shave comfortably. I would argue that you are further ahead setting it to, for example, 4, and leaving it there for 3 or 4 or 5 shaves. After you have that down, then start playing with the adjustment. Most irritation is experienced with the ATG pass, called "The fool's pass" on straight razors. Have you considered skipping the ATG pass until you get the technique down?
I find that irritation has been causes as well WTG and XTG as well. I always end up changing to my ends in Jagger for the final pass so that I can get a smooth shave. ATG with the slim has been hell. But I will try with one setting through a shave. I was doing that before but I guess I should go back to it.
I leave mine on seven. I don't change it. sometimes changing from razor to razor throws your technique off a little. my advise would be to take your time, learn your razors slowly, enjoy your journey. make changes slowly. you will have some shaves better than others, everyone does.
Boiling my own advice down, the essence is this: Change one thing and one thing only at any given time. If you change more than one thing at a time, you have no way of knowing which change affected the shave.
You are describing my Slim pretty accurately but the interesting thing to me is that I have a Black Beauty that shaves much more comfortably. I'm no expert but the black beauty looks to me like a Slim with a black handle. There is an age difference which I suppose could account for the difference but they do shave much differently. Both are in excellent shape and visually seem identical except for the font of the numbers. I wonder if I got a different Slim, perhaps it would shave differently as well? I have noticed the same thing with the Techs. The no date code (I learned NDC the other day) Tech is much less comfortable and close than the M4 which is different still from the Made In England Tech.. Of course, there is a visible design difference with those as well. I am of the opinion that not only the blade choices, but the subtle design differences, if any, and any number of subtle and tiny things affect performance from razor to razor. I suppose I have a RAD issue as well. After going through tons of different blades, if I don't get a completely comfortable shave, I will move on to another acquisition to work with. This has led to many vintage, and a few new, razors. SWMBO is a supporter of my hobby but draws the line at spending too much money which I do quite frequently. This may sound strange but I have noted the time the mail arrives and when the other half is at work, I sneak home for lunch, admire a new acquisition, throw the packaging away and integrate the acquisition with my collection. It works, but I still have to come up with an explanation of where the money went. It's a viscous cycle! After this long winded response, I suppose I'll get back to the topic. The short answer is yes, I have the same issue with my slim and am still experimenting to find the best shave with it.
Have you tried a really low setting? I am still getting used to my Slim. I started on setting number three, had great shaves, went to number 4 and the shave wasn't smooth at all, went back to three and that seems to be working for me at the moment.
I've tried shaving at 3 and that wasn't enough, four was good but could have been better. Went to five and it was to much. So right now four seems to be the highest I can go at the moment
