What's new

Can I fix these Gillette Adjustable doors?

I recently purchased a Slim Adjustable pretty cheaply that appeared to be in pretty rough shape but it cleaned up nicely and only has some minor plating loss.

However, I've noticed that one end of the doors don't close down as tightly as the other end (and it's equally an issue on both sides of the razor). Also that side isn't "tight" when the doors are closed - I can press the doors down and they move somewhat whereas the good side is solid and tight. The safety bar doesn't appear to be bent at all.

So I'm hoping I can maybe adjust this and fix it if possible.

Looking at it end on it seems like the end caps are sitting up higher than the good side. Hoping somebody here might have some suggestions - I'm wondering if I should try bending the end cap down to try to fix this gap, or if I should be looking at something else as the root cause?

Ultimately I already have another Slim in much better condition and with very good alignment so it's not the end of the world but I'd like to try to fix this one if it's possible.

AdjustableGap.jpg


Here is the "bad" end:

AdjustableLoose.jpg



Compared to the "good" end:

AdjustableTight.jpg
 
It looks like you need to straighten the t-bar. There’s some threads on here somewhere about that.
 
Not your doors. It had a drop but the good news is it is easy to fix. Grab a butter knife and wrap the knife with tape. Keep the doors open. Insert the butter knife into the top lather channel on the end which is canting upward. Let the knife pivot under the baseplate.

Very slowly leverage the knife under the baseplate until there is tension on top of the bar up top. Gently press down in very small movements and reassess each time. No hurry here, take your time. If you try to do it all in one go you can cause rippling on the bar. Takes about 5 minutes to get it perfect. If you go too far the other way, insert the butter knife in the opposite end of the channel from beneath and leverage the other way to bend the bar in the other direction. There are pics on B&B to do this, I know I posted some years back myself.

Remember, no hurry, just nudge and reassess.
 
Last edited:
Duh, forgot to mention to see what side is the “Troubled side” by placing it on setting 1 first. You either have to bend up or down depending, but I have found I’ve always have had to bend the bar down. I think most drops result in the same type of bend. To bend down, insert the knife up top through the channel, to go up, insert from the bottom.
 
Not your doors. It had a drop but the good news is it is easy to fix.

The thing is, both sides of the razor have the gap uneven in exactly the same way. And the safety bars look pretty parallel to the adjustment riser. So I'm not sure the bars are bent since it would mean they're both bent the same.

It seems to indicate that its a bent T-bar instead doesn't it?
 
The thing is, both sides of the razor have the gap uneven in exactly the same way. And the safety bars look pretty parallel to the adjustment riser. So I'm not sure the bars are bent since it would mean they're both bent the same.

It seems to indicate that its a bent T-bar instead doesn't it?

Sometimes the only way to know for sure is to handle it. Can you take some pics with the doors open? This might help identify the issue. It still looks like the SB to me. If everything is uniform underneath, it would be the SB. Your picture above seems to show this uniformity with just the bar canted upward.

One of my Slims was canted on both ends/one side also just like yours and I did the simple repair with the butter knife. So from personal experience, I know it is possible. Another Slim I own just had the cant on one side, on one end. Don’t know why, but Slims seem to need these adjustments particularly, at least in my experience with them and member experiences here. People just didn’t take the same care with them like we do now, for most they were only simple shave tools.

If you were thinking about having it detail cleaned or maybe refinished, most vendors could identify the culprit in a few seconds with the razor in hand. Not sure if Cap is still available.

One expert member that can tell only from pictures most issues with TTOs is Romsita. If he doesn’t chime in, I’d send him a message.
 
Last edited:
R

romsitsa

Hello, the T-bar is bent/ttilted, look at the arrows in my picture, the right side sits lower by almost a mm.The rest looks to be ok.
Push the lower side up and the one sitting too high down with your fingers while the razor is open.

AdjustableGap.jpg
 
Hello, the T-bar is bent/ttilted, look at the arrows in my picture, the right side sits lower by almost a mm.The rest looks to be ok.
Push the lower side up and the one sitting too high down with your fingers while the razor is open.

View attachment 1275189

Great eye! I will give that a try later today and see if I can even those out. I appreciate it.
 

KeenDogg

Slays On Fleek - For Rizz
It looks like you need to straighten the t-bar. There’s some threads on here somewhere about that.
Yes, the Tbar gets bent most of the time. I agree. Usually a good press of the thumb under the endcap fixes it up. I
Great eye! I will give that a try later today and see if I can even those out. I appreciate it.
Good call by Adam. This is my suggestion too. @nemo told me once that most cases, the T-bar bends when you drop it.
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
Stay away from the butter-knife prying and screwdriver rail bending methods! The T-bar can be easily realigned with your thumb or fingers like Adam says, maybe pressing up underneath with a piece of wood on the low side and simultaneously downward from the top. Some members have successfully fixed the problem by pressing the razor on their wood table.

T-bars are easily bent from a drop and easily bent back. Sadly, I've seen people bend both safety bars to match a crooked t-bar.
 
Just wanted to thank everybody that took the time to offer suggestions. I've spent some time working the T-BAR and I've got everything aligned significantly better now. I'm still not sure it's exactly perfect but I'm a lot happier with it and I'm going to keep working at it. Again, I appreciate all the replies.
 
Good thing you didn't try to straighten the doors. Your problem is quite common. As other users already wrote it is usually because the razor has been dropped.
 
Top Bottom