Gillette adjustable just about killed me

[Magruder]

We visited my mother-in-law last weekend, and I happened to discover my late father-in-law's Gillette adjustable. It's a black-handled model manufactured in 1969 (number 9 in the photo here), and it looks like it's been used a lot.

I asked my mother-in-law what she wanted for it, and she said I could just take it. So after just three weeks of DE shaving I had acquired razor number two, and the first twinges of RAD.

On Tuesday morning I gave it a spin. I popped in a brand-new Personna blade, set it on '1' because I've seen the advice to start with the least aggressive setting, whipped up the lather, and had at it, being careful to watch the angle and the pressure.

I must have done something wrong. It felt like the blade was shifting a bit in the razor as I shaved, and I saw numerous nicks appearing on every part of my face and neck. The razor was tugging on my face a bit, but it wasn't uncomfortable, just noticeable. I move the setting to '3' for the last pass, and that seemed to take care of the shifting-blade feeling.

When I rinsed my face after finishing, I saw that the entire right side of my face and neck had turned a bright red. It looked like a bad sunburn. Definitely the worst razor burn I've ever had. By the time I got to work an hour later it had mostly faded. So I didn't look like an escapee from the shaving clinic.

Liberal use of the styptic pencil kept me from needing a blood transfusion. And my face hurt all day.

On the positive side, I have to say that I got a very close shave.

I'm blaming myself for the bad shave. There might be something wrong with the razor, but it was probably me. I've been holding the Merkur Classic at an aggressive angle, and did the same with the Gillette, so this might have been the problem. Or that fresh blade might have been a bad blade. I'll give this razor another try at some point.

Any thoughts on what I should do differently next time?

[javyn]

It felt like the blade was shifting a bit in the razor as I shaved

That definately doesn't sound good...either you didn't tighten the barn door enough, or your father in law's razor might be ready for retirement :(

[Magruder]

Yeah, I should have paid more attention to that from the beginning. I'll have to see if that's really happening or not.

I tried wiggling the blade itself, and the head, and I'm not feeling any looseness or play. So I'll have to experiment with it.

[With The Grain]

[...

[Jim]

A quick way to see if the razor has begun to wear out and loosen is- open the doors fully- run the number up and down-note the resistance.
Next run the numbers down to 1- close doors firmly,as if you had a blade in there- run the numbers up -as you get to the upper # you should feel more resistance the sooner this resistance is felt the less wear.
This will work on a razor that is clean and in good shape not in need of help.

For the most part these razors are bullet proof -hope this is helpful.

[Magruder]

Now that's a helpful test!

The razor passes. Resistance starts at about 4, so it's apparently in good shape.

Most likely it was the angle, as WTG said. I may try the Gillette again in the morning... for the first pass only, then switch to the Merkur. That will minimize the risk of a repeat performance.

WithTheGrain, thanks for your comment. Looking at the two razor heads from the side, I can see that the blade in the Gillette is nearly flat while the blade in the Merkur is definitely curved. It makes sense that I would need to hold them differently.

So here's a lesson for me: you can't be too good at the basics. I'm going to pay close attention to blade angle for the next few days. After four weeks of using a DE, my technique hass become good enough that it's easy to get cocky. I paid the price for that when I used the Gillette.

[DemocritusJr]

Well, this resistance test has opened up a whole new can o' worms for me.

I had been using one Gillette adjustable, rather satisfactorilly, for a few weeks, then found a second at an 'antique' shop near my home and figured a second couldn't hurt. While boiling the new razor, I figured no harm could come in tossing the first razor in with it. Now the original sticks like crazy from the '1' setting on through to '9,' and also squeeks like a startled rodent when I open the loading bay. The new one, however, opens smooth and quiet, and glides along easily from one right through to 9. One thing they do have in common is that I'm now getting excellent shaves with neither. The newer one needs a more aggressive setting to cut anything (around 5/5, where I had been using 3/2 on the other) I had assumed the sticky one needed some oiling and the newer one needed a new look into my technique. Should I instead be thinking they're both hosed?

They're virtually identical and are date-stamped F-4 and F-2, respectively, which, from my meagre understanding, places their manufacture within months of one another. There is a slight rocking of the heads (left to right only) but that's only when exerting moderate pressure. Is there a way to correct or recalibrate these babies, or do I just go ahead and buy something else. Something newer. Maybe a couple of 'em...

[With The Grain]

...).

[SSLStudio]

Hi did you try different blades ?

To me Id never go with US personna , or Merkur , try Derby, Feather, Israeli,Sharp, EJ Force .
Its not always the razors fault for razor burn, the cutting force is very important


keep it up ,

[Magruder]

This morning I very cautiously gave the Gillette adjustable another try. I used it for the initial N-S pass, on my face only, not my neck.

To find the right angle I put the head of the razor against my face and tilted the handle down until the blade began to cut. The angle was different from the angle I use with my Merkur.

I had no problems with the Gillette this time. I'm thinking that my problem was with the angle. (I used the Merkur for the rest of my shave.)

SSLStudio, I'm using the Personna blade because I've had great results with it in the Merkur. Oh, and because it's all I have on hand. I do need to get hold of LetterK's sampler pack and broaden my experience, but since these blades work well for me, I wasn't considering them as a potential problem.