HMMM? some interesting results when I changed things up...

ahopki01 · Post by **ahopki01** » Mon May 26, 2008 12:57 pm

Alright, so I have been shaving with a DE razor for the last week and half or so with very varied and mediocre results. With the weekend approaching , I decided that I would give my face a rest. Well today, I decided to chop down the few days growth I had accumulated. After I showered, I decided to change things up. I tighten my superspeed all the way, and then undid it about half a turn to make the blade (derby) go more aggressive (a tip I picked up somewhere on here.) Well, with my first pass, the blade took off the considerable amount of length very easy. My other passes, with the blade still in this aggressive state, didnt seem as effective, and gave me fewer, but some rough nicks. My neck, which has always been a rough spot, has received the best shave yet. not bbs, but the best yet. Is this because my face was given a break, or bc of this new method? If my shaves are better b/c of the new blade method, does this mean that I need a more aggressive blade for better quality shaves?

D.Irving79 · Post by **D.Irving79** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:09 pm

are you talking about the method suggested by the early gillette instructions?

ahopki01 · Post by **ahopki01** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:21 pm

D.Irving79 wrote:are you talking about the method suggested by the early gillette instructions?

yes i believe so...retract the TTO knob a quarter/half turn..

D.Irving79 · Post by **D.Irving79** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:29 pm

i may have to revisit this now. the first time i tried this it didnt turn out so good.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Mon May 26, 2008 2:05 pm

I wouldn't say your experiment calls for a more aggressive blade so much as perhaps you should consider an adjustable razor.

D.Irving79 · Post by **D.Irving79** » Mon May 26, 2008 2:18 pm

i still want to retry this. i think my problem last time was i opened the knob too much, leaving a lot of room for the blade to shift.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Mon May 26, 2008 2:36 pm

Fellows I don't think a blade that's even a little bit loose is a good idea.

D.Irving79 · Post by **D.Irving79** » Mon May 26, 2008 2:40 pm

squire youre probably right, hell you are right, i just want to do it so bad.. hahaha

the thing that makes it not work (or dare i say, not work AS WELL), is todays blades are MUCH thinner than the early gillette blades.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Mon May 26, 2008 2:52 pm

On twist-to-open razors, this is just a dangerous move, with little benefit. A bit like loosening the lug nuts on your truck wheels so you can get a little tighter turning radius.

D.Irving79 · Post by **D.Irving79** » Mon May 26, 2008 3:21 pm

notthesharpest wrote:On twist-to-open razors, this is just a dangerous move, with little benefit. A bit like loosening the lug nuts on your truck wheels so you can get a little tighter turning radius.

so my head might fly off??

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Mon May 26, 2008 3:39 pm

D.Irving79 wrote:
notthesharpest wrote:On twist-to-open razors, this is just a dangerous move, with little benefit. A bit like loosening the lug nuts on your truck wheels so you can get a little tighter turning radius.

so my head might fly off??

You never know...

Trumperman · Post by **Trumperman** » Mon May 26, 2008 3:51 pm

You may want to try a Gillette Red Tip for more aggression or a Slant. I'm with Squire in that shaving with a loose blade can become dangerous.

Just a thought.

Bill

D.Irving79 · Post by **D.Irving79** » Mon May 26, 2008 5:31 pm

i personally want to do it for the nostalga of it all

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Mon May 26, 2008 5:33 pm

D.Irving79 wrote:i personally want to do it for the nostalga of it all

For the nostalgia, you need a three-piece razor where this technique has a better chance of working.

D.Irving79 · Post by **D.Irving79** » Mon May 26, 2008 6:55 pm

i wouldnt use anything else for it

i cant even imagine using a non adjustable TTO razor for it.

Post by **ichabod** » Tue May 27, 2008 8:24 am

notthesharpest wrote:On twist-to-open razors, this is just a dangerous move, with little benefit. A bit like loosening the lug nuts on your truck wheels so you can get a little tighter turning radius.

I'm definitely going to give this a go. Next time I need to turn a truck around in tiny circles, anyway.
For the razor, I'd go with a shim rather than a loose head.

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:23 am

Squire wrote:Fellows I don't think a blade that's even a little bit loose is a good idea.

Look at this old thread I found!

I still remember my third DE shave more than four years ago. My first shave was terrible, but my third was even worse. When it was finished, I discovered that my Weishi TTO was not completely closed. I can vouch for Squire's wise advice!

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 2:40 pm

It's very interesting that Dominic mentions using a shim. The only other guy I've ever seen mention it is Brian (shadowsdad).

dosco · Post by **dosco** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:04 pm

The bit about blade thickness (older are thicker) is also interesting.

The house in which I currently live was built in '64 ... I have remodeled my kids' bathroom and am currently remodeling my master bath. When I tore out the old medicine cabinets and sheetrock, I found huge piles of old Gillette DE blades in the wall cavity. I used a shop-vac to collect the blades (I had horrific images of what would have happened to my hand had I reached in ...).

I did my kids' bath about 5 years ago - before I was into DE shaving - and threw out a load of used blades (not that I would have kept or used them).

Whilst on my current endeavor I found a few blades and decided to keep one for posterity. If I can remember I will pull out my mic and measure its thickness, then measure a modern blade.

ShadowsDad · Post by **ShadowsDad** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:27 pm

I normally shim my 3 piece razors. In fact I have a shim in each one just waiting for the next time a blade is loaded. It's safe and makes the razor a bit more aggressive. FWIW, 2 shims actually makes a Tech useable; no really, as hard as that is to believe I swear it's true.

I have done the slight loosening of the TTO mechanism, but that didn't last long since it doesn't like to stay in place.