Adjustable R41? My franken razor R4819. Pic heavy

[Rockminer]

Before I start this, I want to say that I'm not responsible for any mishaps you may have trying this. Proceed at your own risk.

I just aquired a 2011 R41 head and was having some trouble with rough, tuggy shaves. I really like the feel of the blade on my face but I wasn't getting acceptable shaves. I own an R89 as well and thought " I wonder what would happen if I used the R89 top cap with the R41 base. Well, turns out it works great and I can use shims to control the blade exposure as well. I'm not sure if this will work on a 2013 head or not.

Sorry for the bad pics but it was the only way to see the blade exposure with my limited camera skills and hardware.

The R89 top cap is domed, where the R41 is almost flat.

R89 top cap with R41 base


R41 from the factory


As you can see, there's a lot of space for shims in the 89/41 combo. I trimmed the shims at the cut out.



Here's the R41 as it comes from the factory

 

[Rockminer]

R89 top cap R41 base


1 shim


2 shims


3 shims


4 shims

 

[BigFoot]

Or you could have bought an adjustable.

In all reality that was pretty clever.

 

[Rockminer]

The pictures don't do the blade exposure justice. there's a pretty good difference between them. essentially what i'm doing is using the shims to push the blade up into the dome of the R89 head.

And I'm assuming someone will ask what the R41 top cap looks like on the R89 base.

 

[Rockminer]

Or you could have bought an adjustable.

In all reality that was pretty clever.

Right now I've only tried the 41/89 combo with one shim. It still feels like an R41 but not quite as rough. I will experiment with different combinations and report on the results. I doubt i'm going to like the razor with more than 2 shims as the blade exposure would be too small, but there is enough room for 4 shims ( the way I cut the shims ) if someone wanted too.

 

[Lothar101]

The main thing is whatever works for you. Its your shave have it your way

 

[taco8slo]

Cool, how does the r41 cap with r89 baseplate shave, it looks scary...?

 

[ofercohen]

That looks like a very big blade gap...

 

[Rockminer]

Cool, how does the r41 cap with r89 baseplate shave, it looks scary...?

Never tried it, don't think I ever will. LOL

 

[syngent]

I tried shimming my most aggressive razor....

But I couldn't make them stick to a straight

And last time I shimmed an R41 I cut my kneecap while shaving my face

And yes you read that right

 

[Rockminer]

I tried shimming my most aggressive razor....

But I couldn't make them stick to a straight

And last time I shimmed an R41 I cut my kneecap while shaving my face

And yes you read that right

Are you purely a straight shaver now?

I'm going to ask for the backstory on the knee wound, because I'm assuming you don't shave your legs LOL? ( didn't see L.O.L.S. in your sig )

In general:

Maybe shimming is the wrong term. I think most people equate shimming with increased blade gap. The method above only changes the blade exposure, the blade gap is the same no matter how many shims are used. I'm convinced I could make this razor shave like a tech ( I don't want to because I have razors for that ). It's just a lot smoother with the R89 top cap and 1 shim, It still feels aggressive like an R41, but I need to do more research on different combinations.

 

[syngent]

Its in thr botoc thread... but while cutting the edges off for a shim I lost one of the edges.... till I knelt down to take a picture, I knelt right onto it and it dug into my kneecap, all the way in

I pick up my DEs from time to time but mostly just the straights

 

[Franzoni]

No shims needed with 89 cap on the 2013 R41. There is actually more blade exposure with the 89 topcap. But like yours, the topcap is rounded, so that the blade is pressed against the baseplate. It works very nicely, and it is plenty agressive. I will try and post a picture of it. Then again i am wondering about buying a Ikon slant head. Something tells me they are the best

 

[creekwalker]

Rockminer, it took me a while to get to where I think I know what you are talking about. Regular shims (with only the very edges cut off) are used to increase the blade gap...you're putting the shims under the blade (per the usual), but because you cut the shims so narrow, the shims push only the center of the blade up into the dome, thereby decreasing the blade exposure but not increasing the blade gap. Is that correct? And does pushing the center of the blade up this way change the angle of the cutting edge? (Make it point down more?)

 

[creekwalker]

No shims needed with 89 cap on the 2013 R41. There is actually more blade exposure with the 89 topcap. But like yours, the topcap is rounded, so that the blade is pressed against the baseplate. It works very nicely, and it is plenty agressive. I will try and post a picture of it. Then again i am wondering about buying a Ikon slant head. Something tells me they are the best

Yours and Rockminer's various experiences are interesting and encouraging, for someone like me, who has ridiculous razor burn problems but has shown some tolerance for relatively aggressive razors. I think I'm going to order the 2011 R41, the R89, and the 2013 R41. What money I lose after trying and re-selling has good odds of being worth it. Might even try the expensive Ikon slant.

 

[Rockminer]

Rockminer, it took me a while to get to where I think I know what you are talking about. Regular shims (with only the very edges cut off) are used to increase the blade gap...you're putting the shims under the blade (per the usual), but because you cut the shims so narrow, the shims push only the center of the blade up into the dome, thereby decreasing the blade exposure but not increasing the blade gap. Is that correct? And does pushing the center of the blade up this way change the angle of the cutting edge? (Make it point down more?)

Yes, you understand it perfectly. There is a specific point that the head and baseplate meet and pinch the blade. The rest of the open space it what is being manipulated. The shims I used were narrow enough that all i'm doing is push the blade into the dome, curving it and subsequently decreasing the blade exposure without increasing the gap between the baseplate and the head. I think the blade curve is changing as well or at least flexing less.

 

[Rockminer]

Yours and Rockminer's various experiences are interesting and encouraging, for someone like me, who has ridiculous razor burn problems but has shown some tolerance for relatively aggressive razors. I think I'm going to order the 2011 R41, the R89, and the 2013 R41. What money I lose after trying and re-selling has good odds of being worth it. Might even try the expensive Ikon slant.

Sounds like you might benefit from a Merkur Progress or other adjustable razor. The only reason I tried the R89 head on the R41 base was I had them laying around.

 

[creekwalker]

Thanks for your suggestion, Rockminer. I'm looking among other things for razors that are supposed to hold the edge rigidly and not allow blade flutter.