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Do 3 piece razors have less blade chatter than TTO's?

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
Ok, last night I tried my Gillette Fat Boy again and got a smooth comfortable shave on setting #5 with Persona Platinum blade.

During the day I gave the razor several hot baths with dish soap, just to try and remove any gunk or debris from internal mechanisms that may be causing stickiness. When I loaded the razor blade, I carefully twisted the door closure knob until it seemed to hit a 'soft' stop, for lack of a better term, then I continued to twist harder against stiffer resistance until I hit a 'hard' stop, where I could turn no further. I don't know if it was the half-turn specified for locking, but it wasn't very far, so that's probably about what it was.

When shaving, I didn't perceive any whisker tugging or blade movement as I did on earlier shaves reported at the beginning of this thread. I still need to test a few more times to confirm performance will remain consistently better, but it seems this may have solved my problem.

Apparently, in my fear of breaking something by twisting too hard, I was just twisting knob to the 'soft' stop and not going any further, so then the closure and blade clamping was not in a fully 'locked' state, thus leading to looseness or movement of the blade during shaving.

I really have broken a lot of things (not razors) in the past with my brute strength of over-tightening, so that was the source of my hesitance to get too aggressive with tightening TTO knob. My dad used to say: "that kid could break a sledge-hammer with an iron handle" about me, so something I'm famous for I guess. :letterk1:

Thank you to @CCS, @luvmysuper and others who provided guidance and helped me resolve this issue. :)
I'm glad you got things sorted. I've worked in construction with a couple strong guys and they often used the "bigger hammer method" to solve problems, often exacerbating the situation. I can understand someone with your strength being careful. That makes perfect sense to me. I'll bet you've had to adjust how you approach things that come up in life's journey a bit. I gather you have some stories to tell. <eg> evil grin
 
I've only experienced blade chatter on the ATG strokes, usually when angle and pressure are suboptimal or the razor is not fully tightened.

My worst razor for blade chatter (to the point where I stopped using it) is a Three Piece Parker. I blame that on unnecessary/excessive blade reveal just allowing way too much flex.

I'd say that TTOs tend to be a bit more resonant, leading to more audible feedback. I have noticed a difference in feel and sound in Gillette TTOs that I've used (two Fatboys, a Slim, and a Silver Tip Super Speed) when the knob isn't fully tightened. The only chatter I've experienced was when the knob was actually loose.

My RazoRock Mamba .70 is definitely the quietest razor with the least blade feel and never any blade chatter. I credit that to the fact that it's the only machined razor I own. It just has less sloppy tolerances than anything else I own and clamps the blade very rigidly.

My cast Three Piece razors are quieter than the TTOs but I'd say that they allow about the same amount of flex.
 
I suspect that these different threads mentioning chatter are all because of some unusual issue. A damaged razor, or the blade not tightened, or not enough lubrication, or a strange shave angle or maybe even some self fulfilling prophecy stuff due to our tendency here to repeat what others say.
On a properly working TTO razor, tighten up a blade, then try to flex the edge of a blade with something. It takes a LOT more force than dragging it across your face to get the blade to flex.
And that is what chatter is, the blade catching, flexing and releasing over and over rapidly in a stroke.
I’ve tried a few Gillette TTOs and the first time using one there is a difference in how the blade feels “secure” but it doesn’t feel like it is loose to me. I’ve noted issues with blade choice, adjustment on adjustables and flat out the wrong razor (too mild).

I got a first year Above the Tie Slant when the initial users that didn’t like them started selling them. Only razor I’ve seen with uneven exposure outside of the top cap only (they changed it the next year). Some said it was better? Only one I would remotely suspect of chatter but it’s been fine. The first Ikon slant had a lot of users talking about how they could hear the whiskers being cut and how loud it was.
 
I shave with my vintage Gillette TTO razors (SS blue tip, Slim adjustable, Fat Boy) as well as three piece razors (Gillette Tech, Merkur 34C, RR Game Changer .68-P) and it seems like I feel less blade chatter or flexing (tugging sensation) with the three piece razors than with the TTO's. Is that real or am I just imagining things? On my adjustables, I usually set the aggressiveness level on 5.

Does anybody else notice such differences in shaving experience between TTO & three piece DE razors?

From my way of thinking, it would make sense that the three piece razors would tend to 'clamp' the blade more firmly and securely than TTO's in general, but I don't know if that's really true or I just don't know how the TTO's handle the blade clamping.

BTW, I have been using Astra SP blades, if that makes a difference.

Thanks,
Very good question. I have a Gillette Super 84 that is so tight I have to use a rag to get the 1/4 turn at the end, so no problems being loose there, and an old Red Tip that’s plenty tight but shows little use. An unrestored Fatboy is not nearly as tight, and a Ming Shi Futr copy is so loose that I can hear as well as feel “flapping” if that’s an acceptable term. I know the Ming Shi is not a TTO, but is yet another example of a method that is not as secure as a three piece design. 60 years of use can certainly wear in some tolerances on those old TTO’s. Looking forward, all the razors I am eyeballing are all 3 piece. Just seems to be less complicated, more secure and longer lasting engineering IMHO. I’m no expert or engineer, so feel free to refute me if I’m wrong. Just my thoughts.
 
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