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Blade Fit In A DE Razor

When I put a blade in a razor I'll move the blade side to side to see how much play the blade has then try to split the difference and visually keep it centered to give the same edge exposure on each side before tightening the head, or doors, locking it in place. I used a '65 Slim yesterday and there seemed to be quite a bit of side to side movement with a King C. blade. I thought I had centered the blade real well, but when I rotated the razor to do the other side of my face I could really feel the blade much more on my face. I couldn't feel the blade at all on the one side and on the other it felt like I'd given the adjusting ring a couple of clicks up for a more aggressive shave.

I've noticed that different blades have sloppier dimensions on the slot in the middle of the blade and will show more side to side movement. The Parker Variant I have seems to be able to take a lot of side to side play out of the blade because it centers the blade on three points, (two pins and the threaded shaft,) versus using a T-bar in the middle of the blade like a Fatboy, or Slim.

Has anyone else found a good way to center the blade on the T-bar style razors for a more consistent feel/performance on each edge?
 
Interesting, I've never noticed any of my Gillette razors with a 'T' Bar have sloppy blade alignment, nor the Timeless, New SC/LC, or others. I usually see this only with the 'Pin' or 'Bullet' alignment razors, with the Pearl, Schone (Fatip), and Gillette Old being the most suspect. - The Game-Changer base(s) have overly large pins, requiring the blade to almost be pried off, but that's far from normal.

There is some 'slack' or tolerance in many blades, Bolzano seems to have smaller holes/slots than most, and KAI blades are slightly wider than most, so yes, there is some variance from blade to blade. In my Schone, the Bolzano fit great, almost snug on the pins/bullets, where every other blade had to be fiddled a bit with, in order to get it perfectly even side to side & edge to edge.

Lay the cap down on a towel, drop on the blade, and then the base plate or remainder of the razor. The blade will tend to be more aligned than trying to hold it in the cap, and set it in place.
 
Has anyone else found a good way to center the blade on the T-bar style razors for a more consistent feel/performance on each edge?
Never had a problem with the Slim Adjustable. I would suggest drop the blade in and use your eyes to centralise the blade just before you apply the quarter turn. The T-bar should be central but sometimes they get knocked out of alignment so keep a lookout for that.
Like this for example;

sa.jpg
Lay the cap down on a towel, drop on the blade, and then the base plate or remainder of the razor. The blade will tend to be more aligned than trying to hold it in the cap, and set it in place.
Not much good for a TTO razor but okay for the two and three piece razors.
 
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All good points above!

With all the variations in the dimensions of the cut-out center of the blade, and the thickness of T-bars, (stamped, folded brass, maybe bent,) I'm thinking the best way is to start to tighten the blade down, whether it's in a 3 piece or TTO, and watch from above how far the edges of the blade protrude from under the doors/top cap. In other words just eyeball it using the guard as a reference, and adjust the blade as necessary.
 
I have never had any of my vintage Gillettes need for me to center the blade. As a matter of fact I have never looked at my razors to see if it is centered. I think that you may have a damaged razor and need to have it checked out.

Tom
 
Blade slop is one of the reasons why the very first machined razor I ever tried was the nail in the coffin of every vintage razor I owned. Now I only own/use machined razors.
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
I never had a razor with less blade fiddling, until I bought the Merkur Futur razor. My Feather AS-D2, oh man, if you don't do a trick to apply pressure with your thumb to one side with the top cap, while you are tightening down the handle, then the blade alignment will be severely off. My Rex Ambassador however, thankfully, has no issues that I have ever noticed, so not much fiddling necessary there.

But the beauty of a Merkur Futur is, there is no tightening down handles to top caps and plates, and all that business, making sure blade is aligned and all that. You simply, snap the top cap down, and your done! I will say however, the Gillette Nacets seem to be the easiest to be aligned in the Futur. There was only the first time I used the razor where it seemed like the Bic blade was a bit off in it, and I wiggled it to get it straight.

But since the razor has had a few uses on it, I don't ever seem to have to worry about it, snap the top cap down, a very satisfying snap sound I might add, and your done! Easy peazy lemon squeezy.
 
I never had a razor with less blade fiddling, until I bought the Merkur Futur razor. My Feather AS-D2, oh man, if you don't do a trick to apply pressure with your thumb to one side with the top cap, while you are tightening down the handle, then the blade alignment will be severely off. My Rex Ambassador however, thankfully, has no issues that I have ever noticed, so not much fiddling necessary there.

But the beauty of a Merkur Futur is, there is no tightening down handles to top caps and plates, and all that business, making sure blade is aligned and all that. You simply, snap the top cap down, and your done! I will say however, the Gillette Nacets seem to be the easiest to be aligned in the Futur. There was only the first time I used the razor where it seemed like the Bic blade was a bit off in it, and I wiggled it to get it straight.

But since the razor has had a few uses on it, I don't ever seem to have to worry about it, snap the top cap down, a very satisfying snap sound I might add, and your done! Easy peazy lemon squeezy.

Your AS-D2 had to be a factory defect, that is unacceptable behavior from a machined razor!
 
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Your AS-D2 had to be a factory defect, that is unacceptable behavior from a machined razor!
I have the same issue. Maybe that was why it was on sale. :001_unsur
But to be honest I didn't notice it until I started using Kai's; which someone above mentioned might be a sloppier in the cutout.
I am going to go back and check the alignment process with the Feather blades I have.
 
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Pick a different razor with zero blade play. Yours might need retired to the display rack or sent for a pro tune up. No sense risking an injury when a brand new DE razor can be had for less than $20 USD.
 
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I would suspect something is bent of not machined correctly. The 3 razors I have (2 Merkurs and a Gillette SS) all have the tiniest amount of movement on the pins or bar, but once tightening down starts they pretty much always center on their own.
 
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... There is some 'slack' or tolerance in many blades, Bolzano seems to have smaller holes/slots than most, and KAI blades are slightly wider than most, so yes, there is some variance from blade to blade. In my Schone, the Bolzano fit great, almost snug on the pins/bullets, where every other blade had to be fiddled a bit with, in order to get it perfectly even side to side & edge to edge.

Lay the cap down on a towel, drop on the blade, and then the base plate or remainder of the razor. The blade will tend to be more aligned than trying to hold it in the cap, and set it in place.
Interesting. I wonder if there are any more blade models - besides the Bolzanos - that also have smaller holes/slots and therefore are a good match with safety razors made by companies like Fatip, Shone and such?
 
Hmmm. Just had a look at my own Gillette Slim adjustable and I can't see any issues. The blade sits precisely on the T-bar and is nice and square to the safety bars without any misalignment and the blade exposure is even on both sides. Perhaps your razor is faulty?

Jason.
 
Interesting. I wonder if there are any more blade models - besides the Bolzanos - that also have smaller holes/slots and therefore are a good match with safety razors made by companies like Fatip, Shone and such?
I've tried loads of different makes of DE blades in my 39c Sledgehammer and Gillette Slim Adjustable and never noticed any of them 'fitting' better than the others. I thought all DE blades were standardised so they fit all DE razors.

Jason.
 

Iridian

Cool and slimy
Blade slop is one of the reasons why the very first machined razor I ever tried was the nail in the coffin of every vintage razor I owned. Now I only own/use machined razors.
This.
Not one CNC made or just MIM cast razor I own has any issues with that.

I have a Qshave/MingShi Futur clone where fiddling around with the spring and the cap can alter the alignment. Unfortunately the same it's true with the original Futur from Merkur, to a lesser degree.

I don't have many Zamac razors anymore. The protruding blade tabs were a means to slightly adjust alignment. (and to grab the blade as well)

For CNC razors they are a relict of that time. Wish Timeless and Blackland would get rid of the tabs of the Blackbird e.g. as well.
 
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