AM i doing damage to my slim by adjusting with doors closed

**fisca** · 08-10-2012, 03:40 PM

Lately i adjust my slim adjustable with the doors closed tight because i find it difficult to turn the TTO once it gets wet. so i dont know will this wreck it and it wont click properly when i adjust it anymore? i don't do this with the fatboy because it opens and closes easily. my slim just has a stubborn TTO

**fisca** · 08-10-2012, 03:49 PM

is there a way to loosen the TTO of the slim?

**jamesspo** · 08-10-2012, 04:15 PM

I'd guess there is some soap scum down in the works. I'd give it a good bath in some scrubbing bubbles. If that's not available soak it in some water that has boiled (but don't boil the water with the razor actually in the pan). Repeat until you don't see junk in the water.

Edit: To your question about damage - it is possible to damage it, as the spring that gives the adjuster the "click" is put under more pressure while the doors are down.

**Jakpro** · 08-10-2012, 04:37 PM

It does not damage the razor by failing to loosen the TTO before adjusting it. However, if in doubt, then feel free to do it. It does not hurt it by loosening it, either.

**Wingnut** · 08-10-2012, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by Jakpro

It does not damage the razor by failing to loosen the TTO before adjusting it. However, if in doubt, then feel free to do it. It does not hurt it by loosening it, either.

Just curious: how do yo know this to be the case? It goes against the collective wisdom here.

**Jakpro** · 08-10-2012, 05:45 PM

Take it apart. They are separate. What causes more damage is over-tightening and over-loosening the TTO.

**brucered** · 08-10-2012, 05:53 PM

always, always, always, loosen the doors when adjusting.

that's my advise and what I was told and have heard since day 1 of starting Wet Shaving.

**Slash McCoy** · 08-10-2012, 06:17 PM

You add additional wear to the mechanism but it won't usually cause an immediate catastrophic failure. I say it is a very good practice to always adjust with the doors slightly ajar. But it is your razor and it probably won't fall to pieces because you did it "wrong".

FWIW I don't fiddle with the adjustment unless I change to a different blade. The adjustment is meant to allow you to customize the razor, not to constantly fiddle with it during your shave.

**HoosierTrooper** · 08-10-2012, 06:18 PM

Here's some pictures of a Slim instruction sheet I have. It doesn't say anything about loosening the tto before making adjustments in it. Does mention turning the tto the last half turn to tighten it.

**garyg** · 08-10-2012, 06:28 PM

This horse has died before, many times in my short memory. Tom's post is the correct Gillette answer, me I figure if I can take any stress off something almost as old as me, do so .. so I change the adjustments with the razor open .. if & when I change them.

But if your Slim is balky, give it an overnight soak in soapy water, or run some mineral oil down the barrel, or drop in boiling water (not continuingly boiling) ..

**eelhc** · 08-10-2012, 08:45 PM

If the Slim works like the Fatboy, what I can gather from the dis-assembly videos/photos, adjusting the dial would put additional strain on the TTO spring.

Just because a Slim or a Fatboy is 50+ years old, it does not mean that they were used every day for 50 years. These were built like tanks but they're never going to build any more. I'm going to pass my accumulating razor collection to my Son and I hope some day he'll be able to pass them onto his son (along with my watch, baseball glove...). So I'm going to take good care of my razors.

**Wildalaska** · 08-10-2012, 09:03 PM

I was adjusting my Black Beauty with the doors tight in 1976 and I still do it today. On the other hand, then and now, I hardly ever change my setting.

**KipNoxzema** · 08-10-2012, 09:59 PM

When you have it locked down the doors are trying to hold the blade down. Trying to adjust it upwards (towards 9) would put more force and wear on the spring and the threads of the adjuster. Sure, you can still adjust it, but you're adding more wear and tear over all, IMHO.

It's like someone stepping on your shoe while you're trying to put it on.

**brucered** · 08-11-2012, 09:37 AM

i wouldn't put it past a company (Gillette) in this case, to give vague instructions (or lack of in this case).

heck, if you wore it out back in the day, based on those instructions, you'd run out and buy another...more money for Gillette

**mmack66** · 08-11-2012, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by brucered

i wouldn't put it past a company (Gillette) in this case, to give vague instructions (or lack of in this case).

heck, if you wore it out back in the day, based on those instructions, you'd run out and buy another...more money for Gillette

That, or they knew it was pointless to loosen the doors. They mainly concerned themselves with the sales of razor blades, so if they left something out of the instructions to maybe shorten the life of the razor, they failed miserably.

The original concept of the adjustable razor was to set it and forget it, but if you are one of those shavers that adjusts the razor depending on which pass you are doing, and it makes you feel better, go ahead and loosen the doors before adjusting.