Lost shim: reward offered

Back in December, I lost the shim that I use in my Gillette Old Type. Gone. Vanished.

Today, I finally found it. Guess where? It was stuck to my DE blade. I have been inadvertently shaving with a shim in my Gillette NEW LC and triangle-slot Tech, FaTip Piccolo, Merkur 37C, and 2011 R41. I had made a new shim for my Old Type, so with the OT, I was shaving with two shims.

Some of you may be thinking this doesn't sound right. Note that I'm an Excalibur participant, and have been using this same DE blade since late October (shave 59 today).

Both the shim and my blade are Gillettes, which is why I never noticed.

Conclusion:

• NEW LC - shim improves shave
• Tech - shim improves shave significantly
• Fatip - shim improves shave
• 37C - no real difference
• R41 - shim increases blade chatter and makes shave really harsh
• Old Type - I think I prefer 1 shim

I've had the same experience myself Rudy. The blades can be sticky little suckers.

I have also drawn the same conclusion with regard to shimming the NEW LC, Tech and Old Type, but liked the R41 with 1 shim.

Cheers, George

Ive had blades that stuck together, the wax residue on them just makes them stick like magnets. Ive tried shimming a very long time ago with a few razors I used to use, these days I just turn the knob on my Progress counter clockwise

I am totally ignorant about the concept of shimming razors. Would one of you gentlemen kindly explain it to me?

Interesting accidental research.

ya know, someone recommended that I shim my DE89 and I did. I used one shim then used 2 shims to see if I noticed any difference. It didn't seem to make a difference then the last time I put it under my blade it made it seem as if the blade was at a funny angle and it didn't cut right. I think I will be a shimless shaver for now. I may try again but I think I need to get better at shaving and master my EJ the way it is before trying to adjust the aggression on it.

Tom Slick said:

I am totally ignorant about the concept of shimming razors. Would one of you gentlemen kindly explain it to me?

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You can make a shim by cutting off just the edge of an old blade. You can use kitchen shears for this task. The shim is placed UNDER the cutting blade next to the plate. The cutting blade goes on top of the shim next to the cap. If this is reversed there will be no effect.

Cheers, George

GBinOZ said:

You can make a shim by cutting off just the edge of an old blade. You can use kitchen shears for this task. The shim is placed UNDER the cutting blade next to the plate. The cutting blade goes on top of the shim next to the cap. If this is reversed there will be no effect.

Cheers, George

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Cut along the lines. Just about any scissors will do.

Viseguy said:

Cut along the lines. Just about any scissors will do.

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This method produces a narrow shim. I cut only the sharpened edge off mine, which is known as a wide shim. Both have their advocates so try both for yourself. I find that a wide shim more closely mimics the Old Type and NEW blades which were thicker and stiffer than modern blades. YMMV.

Cheers, George

When shimming does the cut need to be perfect to have it work well?

Javelin said:

When shimming does the cut need to be perfect to have it work well?

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Not perfect, but it should be "scissor-straight" and most importantly flat. If it goes up and down, so will your blade gap.