best setting

hay guy on a adjustable gillette what would be the best number to start on

With a Slim or Fatboy you could crank it up a little to say 3 or 4. But you should work up slowly until you get to a setting that shaves they way you want and leave it. No need to go any higher if you're already getting a good shave. Hope that answers your question.

I get great results with it set to 3. If I set it higher I don't get closer, but I do run a higher risk for irritation.

I do a WTG at 6, two XTG passes at 5, and an ATG at 4... the idea being that the more scruff you get out of the way, the easier it is to have a precise blade angle for the more challenging passes. Although I could do with less, I think... and I once went up to 8 without much issue. Really, ymmv... that's why we got adjustables, right?

I would start at 3 or 4 for a few days and then gradually move if I wasn't satisfied with the shave. A good time frame would be to move up 1 number everytime you change the blade.

3 or 4 should be a good starting point

I'd start at a 2 or 3 and work my way up if necessary. Depends on your beard type. Actual gillette instructions say setting 1-3 is for mild beard, 4-6 normal and 7-9 heavy beard. I find my slim on a 3 or 4 works best for me.

One word of caution is that these vintage adjustables have been through a few bumps and bruises in their life span. I have noticed that the safety bar (the part of the razor just below the blade edge) can be malpositioned in about 50% of these razors (mostly off da Bay). The net effect is that you can get a mild slant effect, or if it is evenly maladjusted, the "aggressiveness" on one side can be different than the other on any given setting.

It is very easy to gently bend these back into alignment and I typically do this on all my razors using a NOS as a comparison. But beware because this means the 3 setting on your Fat Boy may not equal the 3 setting on mine.

on the rare occasion i use an adjustable i use 4-5 for a mild shave and 6-8 for an aggresive shave. i used to throw it on 9 and leave it but i dont feel the need anymore.

Since my slim adjustable is only used on my head, I pretty much keep it on 7. Back when I used to use it on my face it was on 7 for WTG and XTG and 5 for ATG especially on my neck which is really the only place I've ever been very prone to irritation. YMMV though I like a fairly aggressive shave which is why my Gems are the only razors that touch my face anymore.

studman46 said:

I'd start at a 2 or 3 and work my way up if necessary. Depends on your beard type. Actual gillette instructions say setting 1-3 is for mild beard, 4-6 normal and 7-9 heavy beard. I find my slim on a 3 or 4 works best for me.

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+1 Listen the studman has good advice. I know some guys who will change the setting for each pass.

Exactly. And yes, I change setting for each pass. Adjustables are great fun

I have a fatboy and started with 3 but it was rather mild. I increased to 5 and noticed better shaves, I bump up to 6 for final touches. Next week I'm going to try 7 and see how that works.

I used my slim for the first time (thanks to Bushranger). I started it on 3 and bumped it up to 4 half way through the 1st pass. What a great shave. Tomorrow ill try it on 5 and see if I get super close and still no irritation, if not, ill go back to 4 and it was a fantastic, close shave.

I started at 1 with my Slim I got just a few days ago. I have already found that a 5 gives me a great shave on my WTG, then I dial down to 3 for my XTG, and to a 1 for my ATG. Last night, I almost got a full BBS shave--there were still a few spots on my upper lip that aren't quite ready for ATG, and a few spots on the jaw line.

I've worked my way up to a six for all my passes on my Fatboy. I'm pretty pleased with it so far.