My shimmed Merkur 15c

Hi all! Ok, so I recently bought a Merkur 15c because I wanted to try an OC razor. From reading reviews it seems as if it's mild and a great beginners OC. I haven't been using a DE too long. A little over two months. I figuered this razor would be ideal.

Razor comes and it looks great! Handle has a nice grip so no slips. I put a razor in and it's basically touching the teeth. Say to my self "not very aggressive looking". I go for a shave. Well, the first shave was so so. I did about 4 passes and still had some patches. Used a new Derby(I know not the sharpest). I guess the reviews were accurate but I will try again. Next day I try it again. Little better but still not good. I have a Progress which is set at "3" and shaves great. I want the same out of the 15c.

So I do a little research on shims. Figuered it was done way back in the day. Got an old blade, cut the edges and threw her in. Moment of truth. Wow, what a difference!!!!!! That shim changed that docile razor to a more aggressive beast. Ok, not a beast but more whisker hungry.LOL I read warnings about blade chatter but it was only one shim so no chatter. I didn't have to hold it at an exact angle in order for it to cut. I used less passes and got a BBS shave!!! No weepers, nicks or burn. I was stoked!! I love my 15c now!! Thanks B&B for the help topics!! Sorry for being long winded but I am excited!lol Hope this helps.





Shim on the left and uncut blade on right.


Without shim:


With shim...a good difference!

Sounds great! But the post would be even better with pics you know ...

... just sayin' ...

Enjoy the new razor!

I love my 15c. A tad mild but it's fantastic for blade buffing.

I learnt about adding shims to razors here on B&B, but it never occured to me that one could use a spent blade cut around the edges as a shim. I am experiencing the same (disappointing) mildness with my 25C. Thanks for the idea, Rallypoint. I will put it to use and hope for good results.

two shims in a 25c really made a difference for me....

nuclearblast said:

Sounds great! But the post would be even better with pics you know ...

... just sayin' ...

Enjoy the new razor!

Click to expand...

Your right! I will try to post some pics when I get home from work.

JDTTO said:

I love my 15c. A tad mild but it's fantastic for blade buffing.

Click to expand...

I agree it's fantastic but a little to mild for me. How long have you had yours?

Pics added!!

Rallypoint_1 said:

How long have you had yours?

Click to expand...

About a month but it's a definite keeper.

Glad you found a way to make it work to your liking.

Great pics - they clearly illustrate the blade gap change.

Guru17 said:

Glad you found a way to make it work to your liking.

Great pics - they clearly illustrate the blade gap change.

Click to expand...

Thank you! I am glad too because the razor feels nice in my hands. The grip is better than the progress. Hmm....maybe add another shim and see how that goes?

I have a gillette Old Type that I found to be too aggressive, and I thought I saw someone here say I could ship it to make it LESS aggressive. Any truth in that? Because I'd love to get some use out of it.

I was thinking of doing this on my Shavecraft as the open side is pretty meek.

Fenris said:

I have a gillette Old Type that I found to be too aggressive, and I thought I saw someone here say I could ship it to make it LESS aggressive. Any truth in that? Because I'd love to get some use out of it.

Click to expand...

I am not sure if it can be made less aggressive.

pejay66 said:

I was thinking of coin this on my Shavecraft as the open side is pretty meek.

Click to expand...

Your going to use a coin as a shim?

Sort of looks like my Fatip blade gap now. Just sayin!

Rallypoint_1 said:

I am not sure if it can be made less aggressive.

Click to expand...

Yeah, didn't really sound right to me.

Squirrel said:

Sort of looks like my Fatip blade gap now. Just sayin!

Click to expand...

I was looking at those the other day. I like the Fatip Grande. How did you like your Fatip?

2nd shave w/shim:

This morning I went for my second shave with the shimmed 15c. Changed it up a bit and used TOBS sandlewood instead of Proraso green. The results were amazing!! For me, TOBS is more slick and the razor just glides on the skin. It was almost a 1 pass WTG shave! 2nd pass to buff a bit XTG/ATG and I was done. Results....BBS My wife said my face felt amazingly smooth! Maybe she said that to curb my RAD.LOL I will update if shaves change but looks like this little razor is here to stay. Best $25 I spent!!

I wonder if shimming a closed comb Merkur would be as effective. I have a 23c (180 long handled) that I wish was more aggressive. I think I am going to give it a go.

97Widerider said:

I wonder if shimming a closed comb Merkur would be as effective. I have a 23c (180 long handled) that I wish was more aggressive. I think I am going to give it a go.

Click to expand...

Dont see why it wouldn't work. Give it a go! Go slow just to be safe and let us know it goes.
Btw...take pics.

Ok, shimmed by Merkur 180 that I felt like I had grown out of because of it's mildness. I think you are on to something fellas. Wonderful, close shave. I think my Merkur is my go to razor again.