Increasing a Razor's Aggressiveness

[chongo gordo]

On a recent thread on the various factors that determine a given razors aggressiveness one of the posters suggested using a shim, formed from a blade, to increase the blade gap. I was intrigued and decided to give it a go. The Feather blade in my Weishi was going south, so I removed it from the razor, clamped it between a couple of paint stirers and had at it with a jewelry file. It didn't take much, I removed maybe 1.5 mm from each edge, and smoothed with steel wool.

I placed this under a new blade back into the razor and had a look. Normally the blade in the Weishi is tucked in close to the bar. I have no way of measuring, but the "spare" appeared to have a greater effect than I anticipated, there seemed to be much more blade exposure. The Weishi is a mild shaver, for me this is most noticeable on the WTG strokes down either side of my face. Normally that stroke does little, today there was some bite, more so than my pre-war Tech, and I got a much closer, quicker shave. Again, this is totally subjective, but I really think it works.

EDIT: The blade gap data base gives the Wieshi a .56mm blade gap. The additional .10mm of the shim brings that up to .66mm - equal to the gap of a Super Speed Red Tip.
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Double-Edged_Safety_Razors_Ranked_by_Blade_Gap

The obvious benefit is that if you've a favorite old razor you don't use as it's too mild, this will hot-rod it out a little. If anyone else tries this I'd sure like to hear about their results.

Cheers-
Chongo Gordo

[bluesbishop]

What some people find easier is to simple cut thru the blades with a sharp pair of scissors or shears. If you have any sheet metal shears it would work very well and cut easily.

I've read several people praise shimming there razors but have never tried it myself. Thanks for the feedback!

[turtle]

When I want a different shave I grab a different razor. If I can't find one here that fits the bill.... Well... off shopping I go :lol:

[California Cajun]

:eek2:Ooh. Sounds dangerous. I think you would come out way ahead getting an adjustable razor and increasing the gap with an instrument that was meant to handle it.

[chongo gordo]

Scissors, yeah, I hadn't thought of that.

[man00ver]

I like shims too, mostly in my Old Types (sometimes) and Techs (always and multiple). Found the process a bit clumsy in a TTO. It was cheap and easy to try, and gave me a good result.

[chongo gordo]

When I want a different shave I grab a different razor. If I can't find one here that fits the bill.... Well... off shopping I go :lol:

That's the spirit!

Kidding aside, this might be relevant to someone who favors a particular shaver for whatever reason (looks, sentimental value, etc), but finds the performance lacking. Or for people who just like to experiment.

[Haiku]

What you've discovered is that one can create a shim to increase aggressiveness. This is something that some folks like to do with vintage razors. Vintage razors, from say the early 1900's to say about the 1930's used thicker blades than today's blades. In other words, they were designed to use different blades and they shave very differently with a thick blade compared to a thin one. And so people try shimmng them from time to time.

Gillette (I think Gillette, but maybe somebody else) in the instructions for one of their razors suggested opening the razor one quarter turn. The Eclipse does the same thing and that's the idea behind the Progress. And so you can take an old Gillette three piece for example and just loosen the head ever so slightly and there you go, a more aggressive razor.

They were designthe

[man00ver]

Hmmm... now I'm thinking I want to try a shim or two in my Merkur HD, just to see what happens. Soon....

[celestino]

Wow, you guys are courageous and adventurous! Enjoy!

[Haiku]

Wow, you guys are courageous and adventurous! Enjoy!

These are safety razors, they're not loaded guns. I remember someone telling me I was courageous for shaving with a fatboy at 9. That's not courageous, Trudeau and Brazeau are courageous. Celestino will know what I mean.

[chongo gordo]

These are safety razors, they're not loaded guns. I remember someone telling me I was courageous for shaving with a fatboy at 9. That's not courageous, Trudeau and Brazeau are courageous. Celestino will know what I mean.

What is a Fatboy at setting #9 like? That must be a fun razor to play around with.

[Haiku]

What is a Fatboy at setting #9 like? That must be a fun razor to play around with.

Nothing much to speak about really and yes it is a fun razor. These are safety razors. They're hard to get wrong. The only way to cut yourself is to slice sideways and the only way to get a really bad shave is to prep badly or use a worn out blade.

I generally find that my fatboys work best set at 7. 6 when my skin is dry in the winter, 8 when I haven't shaved in a few days. 9 is just a very small bit more aggressive than 8. I would say that 7 gives me about the shave that I get from a slant. 8 or 9 is about the same as my Darwin.