If I had one...yes I would loosen it first.
Do You Loosen The Handle Lock On A Gillette Adjustable Before Changing The Setting?
- Thread starter Alum Ladd
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Nah, waste of time and effort. I like to make my shaving experience better, not worry about what I'm doing incorrectly. Not to mention that these things are tools, and tools sometimes take on minor wear from normal use. Making an adjustment shouldn't require more than one step, and if it does that razor is out of my rotation for good. And if it breaks, it was poorly designed to begin with. I don't babysit my gear, and I don't make excuses for it.
Good thing you don't own a manual transmission vehicle.
I don't understand why, but
.
No need to loosen the TTO knob. If it wears out the razor when you change the setting without opening up then I must have a lot of worn out adjustables.
It doesn't matter according to guys who work on them like Captain Murphy.
Gillette Fatboy Cleanup|Before and after w/commentary
So that's two who like the idea, Cool! What would be the easiest way to do this gentlemen? What would be the most convenient for y'all? I don't think B&B has a podcast section, do they? If not, it would all be Youtube stuff, linked to these threads. I will certainly list the ingredients and...www.badgerandblade.com
If they needed to be open to prevent damage, I'm sure Gillette would have warned in the instructions against changing the setting with the blade clamped down fully. And there would be many broken and worn Fatboys & Slims out there.
It probably wouldn't hurt to loosen the knob if you're worried about it though, it's your razor. To me, it seems like repeated tightening and loosening of the TTO knob could be more wearing.
+1! This^.
Interestingly there are posts in this very thread claiming that Gillette does warn you against this, but I have gone looking and I have yet to find an original instruction sheet that says anything about loosening the head before making an adjustment.
I think the whole thing is an urban legend that's right up there with decanting Clubman to get rid of the "plastic" scent. There's no evidence for it, but it keeps getting repeated like it's a well-known fact.
I loosen before adjusting just in case it's easier on the threads. But it probably is a waste of time and effort. I mean like a whole second, and then there's the effort! 
I have quite a few adjustables and do not loosen the top when adjusting. I actually prefer to have the top tightened and would be more concerned with wearing out the center stud by loosening/tightening unnecessarily every time I adjusted more than I would be concerned about wearing out the adjustment. A well cared for Gillette Adjustable should click through all settings smoothly with minimal/consistent effort and a visible change in gap. If this is not the case the razor may need some TLC.
I like this. For the most part I would say a clutch is only necessary for taking off if you know how to shift. So that would be the equivalent of loading the blade, once loaded the clutch is completely optional.
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Funny how a long dormant thread can inexplicably flutter back in to life.
Actually I had forgotten I'd posted this.
Well I made up my mind a long time ago. I wouldn't dream of not loosening before adjusting.
And why didn't Gilette advise you to?
If you wore out the razor mechanisms there would be hardly wailing and gnashing of teeth as Boston H.Q would there? Just be a good consumer and buy another one. That will be $1.95. Thanks for your custom! Oh and how are you fixed for blades?
I very much doubt if the designers of the 195, Slim and the like dreamed that they would be still functioning perfectly after 7 decades. Building razors that last potentially several lifetimes was probably not factored in to the Gillette business plan.
I suspect the alleged 'urban myth' of loosening came about for very practical reasons. Users concluded It was better for the mechanism and it's longevity.
A convinced member of the loosener school of thought here then.
Thanks for your replies Gentlemen.
Actually I had forgotten I'd posted this.
Well I made up my mind a long time ago. I wouldn't dream of not loosening before adjusting.
And why didn't Gilette advise you to?
If you wore out the razor mechanisms there would be hardly wailing and gnashing of teeth as Boston H.Q would there? Just be a good consumer and buy another one. That will be $1.95. Thanks for your custom! Oh and how are you fixed for blades?
I very much doubt if the designers of the 195, Slim and the like dreamed that they would be still functioning perfectly after 7 decades. Building razors that last potentially several lifetimes was probably not factored in to the Gillette business plan.
I suspect the alleged 'urban myth' of loosening came about for very practical reasons. Users concluded It was better for the mechanism and it's longevity.
A convinced member of the loosener school of thought here then.
Thanks for your replies Gentlemen.
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get your revs right no need for a clutch, a non synchro box has multiple gears, not needing a clutch.
A razor has a continual thread, no need for a clutch, its a fluid synchronised motion.
As the immortal "Dave Alen" once said;- " there will be a great gnashing of teeth"
but what if you have no teeth?
"Teeth will be SUPPLIED!!"
I always "thought" the business plan was to almost give you the handle, make you keep buying the blades ... the subsequent handles made a blade change easier and easier so more likely to change a blade and use more blades??
I've just spent another fourty five cents to investigate the Flatboy openy/closey thread.....
I see wear? or do I? one thing I will say tho, is, One or the other, or both? must wear over time. But in the great scheme of the universe and measurements in the width of a bees anatomy, I predict it's going to take till 2175CE to wear out completely.
Slims? that is one hell of an UGLY thread
all bets are off as to which one in a slim will wear or not?
Yeah that is a buttress thread designed to take axial load in one direction more than the other. This part, circled in your pic, is the TTO screw and not involved in adjustment (unless you loosen and tighten every time). I actually think it is the wrong way round! as seen hereget your revs right no need for a clutch, a non synchro box has multiple gears, not needing a clutch.
A razor has a continual thread, no need for a clutch, its a fluid synchronised motion.
As the immortal "Dave Alen" once said;- " there will be a great gnashing of teeth"
but what if you have no teeth?
"Teeth will be SUPPLIED!!"
I always "thought" the business plan was to almost give you the handle, make you keep buying the blades ... the subsequent handles made a blade change easier and easier so more likely to change a blade and use more blades??
I've just spent another fourty five cents to investigate the Flatboy openy/closey thread.....
I see wear? or do I? one thing I will say tho, is, One or the other, or both? must wear over time. But in the great scheme of the universe and measurements in the width of a bees anatomy, I predict it's going to take till 2175CE to wear out completely.
Slims? that is one hell of an UGLY thread
the force of the spring is against the ramped edge!
Errr, this I know is the TTO screw, I pulled the bleedin thing apart, and the point following on in my conversation with myself is "if you loosen the tto every adjustment of the adjuster, does the adjuster wear or the tto screw" ''if you crank the adjuster withoot loosening the tto does the adjuster screw wear?]
the pictures illustrate the difference between slim jims and flat boys tto screws
one is perty, one is UGLY. the adjuster screws are the same. Errr.. I know you theoretically know what the parts do, but I included some information that might be useful to others who didn't take the b** thing apart rather than strangely stating a thread is ugly? how can a thread be ugly?Errr, this I know is the TTO screw, I pulled the bleedin thing apart, and the point following on in my conversation with myself is "if you loosen the tto every adjustment of the adjuster, does the adjuster wear or the tto screw" ''if you crank the adjuster withoot loosening the tto does the adjuster screw wear?]
the pictures illustrate the difference between slim jims and flat boys tto screws
Well it sure aint purdy is it? opposite of purdy? UGLY as a hat full ... with or withoot mayonnaise.
I do not loosen.
Instructions do not say to loosen for adjusting. They say to loosen after the shave for rinsing or drying purposes.
Yes, probably there will be more tension on the parts if you don't loosen.
Instructions do not say to loosen for adjusting. They say to loosen after the shave for rinsing or drying purposes.
Yes, probably there will be more tension on the parts if you don't loosen.
When I use my slim and want to adjust it I loosen it. It just seems a little easier to adjust it when it’s been loosened
But I fail to see how that's a bad thing. Maybe it's not necessarily a good thing, but is it a bad thing?
Sure, you could make the argument that Gillette had an interest in you wearing down parts and making the razor unusable so they could sell more of them, but I don't think that's what happened. I don't think we had reached the level of predatory capitalism back then where planned obsolescence was a widely used strategy quite yet. And just like someone said previously in the thread, there just isn't a history of these things breaking due to this sort of "misuse."
All I'm saying is that if you do loosen, it's a choice and not a requirement.
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