I Was Wrong About A Gillette Slim. Sorry

I've been trying to use 2 different Slim Adj. razors with no joy. It was almost to the point of putting them on the "DO NOT USE" list. I thought I would give the one I paid $5.00 for at the sale barn a couple of weeks ago and if nothing good came of it, I'd give it to my cousin. I get my shaving tools out and when I was putting in the blade, I closed the doors before I set it to #4. Not thinking, when I went to open it back up, I turned it the wrong direction and there was about a quarter of a turn or so before it stopped? HMMM. I opened it up, adjusted it, closed the doors and turned it the quarter on the end. Long story short, I think I may now know why everybody kinda likes these razors. Not really digging the Shark blade but next time I'll try something else. 63 Slim, Shark blade, TOOBS St James Collection, witch hazel with Pinaud Clubman.

Moral of this story - It's usually the dummy behind the tool that's not operating it as intended. Who's the dummy now Carl?

 

there is always a learning curve sir..not a dummy...

 

Yes, that quarter-turn makes a difference.

 

Is the red tip and blue tip the same way or just the adjustables?

 

just the adjustables..

 

Thanks. I think I have found my new favorite razor. LOL. I say that about all the good shaves though. This time may be different though.

 

It's like a day and night difference.

 

i had a similar shave when i first started with my first fatboy adjustable.while it had a tweaked baseplate, i had not tightened it fully either.changed the shave dramatically..

 

Glad you figured out the 1/4 turn lock down maneuver. If you have any other issues or want some coaching and cheer leaders join us in The 30 Day Rule / Focus Group. This month we are paying lots of attention to adjustable razors so you'd be in good company.

 

Just remember not to change the adjustment settings while it is locked down. Only change the adjustment setting when the doors are open.

 

I knew about opening it to change the adjustment. I was just turning it until it felt like it should be tight after. But, I'll take any advise or guidance I can get though.

 

Oh? Got any Feather Hi-stainless blades? Install one, crank it up to number nine, and stir up a slightly wet lather, preferably one with good residual slickness. Stretch your skin tight, ride the cap, no pressure. Let the razor gently wipe away the lather. Might limit the shave to WTG & XTG, save ATG until you've developed those three techniques. Let me know how that goes.

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nine feather blade! uuuurrrrrr

 

Maybe I should have said I would consider any advise or guidance I could get. LOL. I'm still pretty new to this so I'm going to hold off on a Feather blade set on 9 for a little bit. Not saying I wouldn't give it a try, just saying I have got to get my technique and routine down a little better. Thanks for the tip..... I think? LOL

 

Awesome post. No need to bother with against the grain anyway.

I will add to not twist the dial around. Set it and learn technique. 9 is the only acceptable setting on a slim anyway. Anything else is gurly...right @Primotenore ?

 

The way Matt from razor Emporium explains Gillette adjustables like the Slim and Fatboy and even the later toggles are 1-3 similar to flare blue tip SS, 4-6 regular flare tip SS & 7-9 similar to the flare Red tip SS. Makes sense to me the way he explained it, Gillette wanted a razor that had all the super speeds in one razor and they succeeded.

Have some great shaves!

 

Below in my post is a link to a discussion about riding the cap. As Ryan @PLANofMAN said - removing the safety bar puts you in a little danger. When riding the cap two thing happen. The safety bar may not even touch your face, & the blade is held at an angle of attack much like a straight razor or shavette.
Think about peeling a potato and the nearly flat presentation of blade to skin. With the blade laid nearly flat and the cap touching the skin there's less scraping. If you tried to peel a potato with the blade at 90 degrees it would skip and gouge causing nicks.

The historical regression of shaving history could be expressed like this;

Modern multiblade cartridges; The bumpers, guards, safety bars, lube strips, and self leveling flippy floppy heads all reduce the need for the shaver to learn or even understand blade handling technique. The only way to get a shave is mash the razor against your skin and take a stroke.

Double edge and Single edge razors preceded carts. They had the less expensive replaceable blades that possibly subjected users to risk when changing. Although doubled or twin blades were available they never reached the popularity of a single replacement blade. Very few of these style razors had rotating, pivoting, or self leveling heads. The user had to develop muscle memory to hold the razor in the safest & most efficient angle. If the razor was tipped too far away from this angle either it rubbed the cap on the face with no blade contact, or the safety bar lifted the blade away from the skin. Between those two options riding the cap gives the better cutting angle.

Regressing one more step were open blades. Today's shavettes give a low maintenance approximation of a straight razor shave. Part of learning to use a DE, SE, or open blade is "unlearning" cartridge razor habits like mashing the razor against the skin. A light touch as though gently wiping away the lather, when the blade angle is applied correctly gives the desired effect of clean shaved without irritation or nicks & cuts. For guys trying out an open blade the first thirty shaves can be rough, the next 30 get much better as angle of attack, understanding of less pressure, and skin stretching are now habit. By the time a straight shaver hits 100 uses they have the basics well understood.

None of this is meant to disparage any style of razor. For folks with shaky hands, a cart gives better results than an electric shaver. The larger majority of TSD members prefer safety razors. Then there are those that step into historical proficiency with open blades who profess their shaves superior to all others. A man's got to know his limitations.

Feather blades? Generally accepted as the sharpest and possibly harsh, but that's only on the first use. They drop off in sharpness and smooth out for the 2nd & 3rd shave. Once a user figures out how to stop nicking and scraping they work just fine.

 

"I have got to get my technique and routine down a little better...."

That's the way, you'll be fine if you concentrate on technique.

Technique trumps tools.
tp