Gillette NEW LC unplugged.

[GBinOZ]

In contrast to the current hype on NEW LCs, I have found that my Single Rings give a much closer shave than the LCs. However, I do shim my Single Rings on the basis that it more closely approximates the old 3 hole blades for which they were designed. However, in a recent post Porter suggested that the new blades for the NEW razors were not significantly thinner than the old 3 hole blades.

So this morning I loaded my Model #88 (English RFB) with a Personna Blue Lab and 1 shim, lathered up with T&H 1805, and proceeded with a 3 pass shave. The result was very smooth and almost as close as my Single Rings, and certainly closer than my experience with an unshimmed RFB. More testing is required, but this may provide food for thought for the aficionados of the NEW LCs.

Cheers, George

 

[rabidus]

I have a three piece RFB NEW. It has a blade gap of .018" with the original cap. When I put a prewar Tech cap on it, it increased the gap to .020" and possibly decreased blade exposure, making it smoother yet still efficient. A blades(shim) thickness is about .00393" or .10mm(information found on B&B). When I take the same prewar Tech cap and put it on a US NEW LC base plate, it increases the blade gap to .023, about one shim. The shave is still smooth and more efficient with the increased blade gap.

I haven't used the RFB cap on the US NEW LC baseplate, maybe it will be the same as your one shim experience considering the fact that the gap difference with the Tech cap is about one shim from the RFB to US NEW LC baseplate.

 

[nuclearblast]

George,

This may be the beginning of a new NEW chapter ( see what I did there? ). I haven't tested any of this yet, but the pics speak for themselves and I just can't wait to try this tomorrow with the #77 ... I learned two things already ... first is that I need to clean my razors. The second is that I am not surprised by your results. The RFB went from being one of the NEWs with smaller blade exposure, to a monster exposure!

I was thinking, we can use the close shave mode with these, right? Given its two piece design I would think it works just as good as with the Single Rings. I honestly don't advise people doing this with 3 piece razors.

Anyway, here are some pics I took, for now I can't comment any further. Tomorrow I will compare it to the shimmed Single Ring and post my results here. But for now, with only one shim:

 

[nuclearblast]

Old Type for comparison:





View attachment 492195

 

[GBinOZ]

Thanks for the very impressive photos Edgar. I guess the missing link is one showing the Gillette NEW blade, but those blades are a little difficult to come by.

This morning I tried a shim in my Belmont Deluxe. Upgraded it from "Meh" to "Wow". Tomorrow is the English Flat Bottom NEW.

Cheers, George

 

[nuclearblast]

This morning I tried a shim in my Belmont Deluxe. Upgraded it from "Meh" to "Wow".

Blasphemy!!! Since when a Deluxe is just "Meh ..." ?! Especially a Belmont, you must be out of your mind, George!

Now seriously ... I think the Deluxe is perfect the way it is, obviously that doesn't mean I can't shim it.

And yes, I would like to find some NEW blades, even better would be the NEW Deluxe blades, the ones in the orange box ... but I rarely see the green ones, let alone the Deluxe version ...

Tomorrow is my shimmed/close shave mode with the #77.

 

[GBinOZ]

you must be out of your mind, George!

Well, yes, I am spending more time in that region of late, but never the less, I did experience a closer shave with the shim.

Cheers, George

 

[OneShaveAttaTime]

Old Type for comparison:


View attachment 492195

Thanks for this Edgar, I have never seen these instructions and although this makes perfect sense it never dawned on me that slightly loosening the knob is actually an adjustment. I love learning about this stuff! p.s. I just had one of the best shaves of my life, and I want everybody to know it. Big Boy Deluxe!!!

 

[DrAwkward]

I don't know where to start. Those are some very dramatic and compelling pics. It makes me want to shim my favorite NEWs. As for trying blades from the 1930's, well, I've done that and it ain't great. Those blades are carbon steel ...

 

[GBinOZ]

I don't know where to start. Those are some very dramatic and compelling pics. It makes me want to shim my favorite NEWs. As for trying blades from the 1930's, well, I've done that and it ain't great. Those blades are carbon steel ...

Doc, we weren't proposing shaving with them, just photographing them as above for a comparison.

Cheers, George

 

[nuclearblast]

Yes, I wouldn't use the NEW blades either, it's just that it would be interesting to see the difference (if any) with one of them loaded in the razor. Since apparently they're not as thick as three hole blades, but not as thin as modern blades either.

As for my shave with the shimmed #77 in close shave mode, it wasn't so great to be honest.

Went great on the cheeks,but it irritated my neck a little bit, felt a bit rough.

This could have been for two reasons. The blade, I'm using a BIC now and even though they're great blades and I love them,I think this particular one might not be one of their best examples, I will try this again with a Gillette Platinum,those never fail.

Or, and I believe this was the real reason, the #77 just doesn't work as well as Single Rings using the close shave mode.

Probably because the alignment bar isn't as effective at actually aligning the blade if you slightly loosen the head. This may have compromised the blade's alignment and stability. Single Rings don't have this problem due to the long studs.

Apart from the slight roughness on the neck, the shave wasn't that bad, but more testing is required.

 

[nuclearblast]

I just had one of the best shaves of my life, and I want everybody to know it. Big Boy Deluxe!!!

Great! [emoji106] [emoji3]


The Big Boy Deluxe is the finest shaving tool I've ever used. No wonder you had such a brilliant shave.

It's magnificent!

 

[BSAGuy]

Those are great photos. Thanks for posting.

 

[xillion]

I opened up a few vintage Gillette blades from my collection and made some thickness measurements.





Old Type three hole blade 812 date code (US made): .0056" (0.14224mm)

New Type blade (British made): .0067" (0.17018mm)

Blue Gillette Blade (French made): .0062" (0.15748mm)

Thin Blade R4 date code (US made): .0044" (0.11176mm)

Super Blue Blade H4 date code (US made): .0039" (0.09906mm)

 

[nuclearblast]

First, thank you so much, Chris! And some fantastic pictures as always!

But ... the NEW blade is actually thicker than the 3 hole blade?! And the French made Blue blade too?! Now that is a surprise.

So maybe we need two shims instead of one ...

 

[xillion]

You're welcome Edgar. Always glad to help. The difference between the Old and New surprised me as well.
I was curious so I opened up and measured one of the US made New Type blades.





New Type blade A1 date code (US made) .0064" (0.16256mm)

 

[nuclearblast]

New Type blade A1 (US made) .0064" (0.16256mm)

I would never guess these were thicker than the 3 hole blades! For my next shave I'll shim the #77 again, but this time I'll keep it fully tightened.

This is a great find!

 

[DrAwkward]

I would never guess these were thicker than the 3 hole blades! For my next shave I'll shim the #77 again, but this time I'll keep it fully tightened.

This is the test I would like to see! I have never been a fan of loosening the bottom knob. How do you know it will stay in the exact position that you want it to be?

 

[nuclearblast]

This is the test I would like to see! I have never been a fan of loosening the bottom knob. How do you know it will stay in the exact position that you want it to be?

You're absolutely right.Loosening the #77 is not a good idea, mainly because if you loosen it to much,or if it loosens by itself , the alignment bar may not be able to keep the blade's stability.
I am almost sure that's what caused the roughness.

But with the SRs it works pretty nicely.

 

[GBinOZ]

I have never been a fan of loosening the bottom knob. How do you know it will stay in the exact position that you want it to be?

Doc, this is exactly the problem with modern blades in that they are far more flexible than the old 3 hole blades and don't have sufficient torsional reistance to maintain an exact position if loosened too far. However, the old 3 hole blades hold the bottom knob firm with far more loosening than Gillette advocated in the original instruction sheet. Shimming with a modern blade or two helps with the torsion problem but alters the gap away from original design. I have a shim made from a 3 hole blade, but that increases the blade gap, and I favour a modern blade shim and tightened down, but not gorilla tight.

Cheers, George

Edit - syncronised post with Edgar.