Game Changer and Lupo blade gaps measured

[AndyPanda]

I have Game Changer .68 .84 and Lupo .72 .95 and measured the blade gaps this morning. They have much less blade gap than claimed. As a sanity check, I measured my Tatara Masamune and Nodachi (known for high precision mfg) and they measure exactly as specified by Tatara. So I trust my measuring method.

Game Changer .68 measures .61
Game Changer .84 measures .79
Lupo 72 measures .63
Lupo 95 measures .84

They give good shaves and are excellent razors AND of course I know that blade gap is just one small factor in how a razor shaves. I just thought this might be interesting to some.

 

[WVShaver]

I have a few Game Changers since it’s my favorite razor. What device did you use for testing? I’ve tried using calipers before but found it hard to get an exact number. Perhaps feeler gauges? I think I have some somewhere.

It would be interesting to compare the heads and see if the gap is the same on all 3 of my 84p heads. I also have the 68 and Lupos.

To me they are the best razors I’ve ever tried. But I also really like my EJ 3one6, Feather ASD2, ATT R1, Red Tip, and a few others I’m sure. I still have a lot to test out so the GameChanger may not remain king forever but it will always remain the best value.

 

[AndyPanda]

I have a few Game Changers since it’s my favorite razor. What device did you use for testing? I’ve tried using calipers before but found it hard to get an exact number. Perhaps feeler gauges? I think I have some somewhere.

It would be interesting to compare the heads and see if the gap is the same on all 3 of my 84p heads. I also have the 68 and Lupos.

To me they are the best razors I’ve ever tried. But I also really like my EJ 3one6, Feather ASD2, ATT R1, Red Tip, and a few others I’m sure. I still have a lot to test out so the GameChanger may not remain king forever but it will always remain the best value.

I use feeler gauges. I agree that it is difficult to measure with calipers but with feeler gauges you can feel how loose or tight they slide in and you have to sort of make a judgement call on how much "wiggle" there is to the gauge vs having to force the gauge into the gap. The blade can flex so you want just the tiniest amount of wiggle to be sure you aren't flexing the blade while measuring.

With a really precision made razor like the Tatara, the blade gap feels exactly the same wherever you measure. But with a stamped razor like a Gillette Tech and many others, I usually find that the feeler is very tight (or won't even slide in) in the middle and at the ends where the blade is clamped tightly but will feel looser between the clamping points and can give you a false reading since the feeler can tip down into the lather slot.

With feeler gauges you will usually get a smaller reading if you lay the feeler gauge along the length like this. And you can usually fit a larger gauge in if you poke it in at the lather slot unless you are careful not to let the gauge angle down into the slot. I suspect this is why we read posts where someone measures a larger gap than someone else.

 

[APBinNCA]

I can’t help but wonder if this is a byproduct of the cap redesign? Maybe they are deliberately allowing tolerance so the same cap can work with all the baseplates and they left too much? I would have to go back and look at some images because I can’t remember whether they increased or decreased the blade exposure with the cap redesign.

 

[AndyPanda]

I don't know about the cap redesign. Is that something recent? I've had mine for about two years

 

[APBinNCA]

I don't know about the cap redesign. Is that something recent? I've had mine for about two years

I think it was just the GC and might have been two years or more. I just remember someone posting about trying both caps with newer plates because they had both. I think it might have been Doug that took photos of the difference.

 

[WVShaver]

Thanks for the detailed post. I’ll let you know if I get mine tested out.

This is the first I’ve heard of a cap redesign as well. But mine are at least 2 years old now and the other 2 must be much older because the serial number on the bottom is much lower. The one I use everyday starts with 625, my other 2 are 571, & 534.

They were all bought used for good prices so I am assuming the caps are original to the baseplates.

I’d love to hear more about this change in design.

 

[AndyPanda]

One of the reasons that I bought two GCs was so I could modify one of the caps and still have an original to compare against. Both my GC caps were identical to each other (before I modified one).

What I was shooting for -- I have to sidestep to Tatara for a minute -- I like using the Masamune plate (less gap) with the Nodachi cap (more exposure). Some prefer the opposite and use the Masamune cap (less exposure) with Nodachi plate (more gap).

Anyway I noticed that the GC caps are very squared off at the edge where the blade is revealed. Crude drawing to exaggerate with the blue line being the blade:

And I modified one cap like this to give more positive blade exposure:

And it really turned out exactly the way I wanted. With the 68 plate and the modified cap, it is one of my favorite razors. Still very smooth but efficient.

 

[spacemonkey42]

That's very interesting, thanks for sharing, @AndyPanda. They do note that the gap/exposure varies by blade, who knows what blade they used for their measurements. Regardless, and I think you are saying this, as long as you like the shave, it doesn't matter if they call it a Game Changer 84 or 79.

I am also assuming that, given CNC machining, that their heads are consistent. It would be troubling if there was a high variation head to head.

 

[WVShaver]

I found my set of feeler gauges I ordered awhile back and after a hour of measuring I was surprised by the results. It's very hard to get an exact measurement since you have to try to make sure the blade isn't moving and the sides and middle are narrower on all but the open combs.

(Note - Serial number is just the first 3 numbers under the cap to give approximate age)

Results
1.) 84p serial number 534 - .90 gap
2.) 84p serial number 571 - .89 gap
3.) 84p serial number 625 - .86 gap
4.) 84OC serial number 561 - .87 gap
5.) 68JAWS serial number 576 - .65 gap
6.) 68p serial number 578 - .80 gap
7.) Feather ASD2 for the heck of it - .69 gap

Yes my 68P gap kept measuring .80-.81! I changed the cap once to a different one from my .84p 625 serial and it measured around .79 instead.

What's up with these results? I don't see how I could have been doing it wrong. If the gauge slides between the blade and safety bar without the blade moving it has to be close to correct? I checked my feeler gauges with a nice accurate set of calipers I own to confirm they were correct.

Shaving with my .68p I notice it's nowhere near as efficient as my .84p but it's still a great shaver. Perhaps the blade exposure is different between them making for a more drastic difference. I wish I had another .68p to compare. I do plan on ordering a .76p in the near future so that will be interesting to compare to my .68p.

I will note that the sides and middle of every GameChanger except the open combs were at least 5-10mm less gap. So the .84p would have been around .75 or so at the ends and middle instead of .86-.90 like under the lather slots.

I will likely test out more razors in the near future.

 

[Lockback]

I have a few Game Changers since it’s my favorite razor. What device did you use for testing? I’ve tried using calipers before but found it hard to get an exact number. Perhaps feeler gauges? I think I have some somewhere.

It would be interesting to compare the heads and see if the gap is the same on all 3 of my 84p heads. I also have the 68 and Lupos.

To me they are the best razors I’ve ever tried. But I also really like my EJ 3one6, Feather ASD2, ATT R1, Red Tip, and a few others I’m sure. I still have a lot to test out so the GameChanger may not remain king forever but it will always remain the best value.

Love mine. It's among my very favorites.