do you 'shim' your blades in your razor?

[saj]

hey peeps so @Chard52142 mentioned he used two blades to 'shim' posted a geofatboy vid about it (below)

its not something that wouldve ever crossed my mind if i didnt see his post and that vid, so i'm wondering how many of you do this?

 

[Vulcan Bubbles]

Did it for the first time the other day with a razor I hadn't used for a while. Worked out well for me!

 

[Mark1977]

I did it recently with my Merkur 34C. Followed the Geofatboy method. I added 1 shim and made a great razor even better. Not too aggressive, but just perfect. But due to having a Merkur Progress, I rather use it if I fancy a more aggressive shave. But for those with a mild razor, a shim would really work well in adding a little more aggression and efficiency.

Sent from my CPH1969 using Tapatalk

 

[saj]

Did it for the first time the other day with a razor I hadn't used for a while. Worked out well for me!

kewl, which blades did you use and which razor?

did you notice a lot of difference in the aggressiveness?

 

[saj]

I did it recently with my Merkur 34C. Followed the Geofatboy method. I added 1 shim and made a great razor even better. Not too aggressive, but just perfect. But due to having a Merkur Progress, I rather use it if I fancy a more aggressive shave. But for those with a mild razor, a shim would really work well in adding a little more aggression and efficiency.

Sent from my CPH1969 using Tapatalk

cool, well im a noob but can you add more then one blade to the shim?

 

[Vulcan Bubbles]

I shimmed my Merkur 34c with one extra blade. The cutting blade in it was a Bolzano Superinox and the trimmed shim blade was a Shark. It really did help, not a HUGE difference in feel but added some aggressiveness and efficiency. Worth a try

 

[sugardaddy]

I rarely need to add more aggression to a razor, so I never add a shim under the blade.

I have a blackland dart, which I would like to be less aggressive, actually. I tried putting a shim on top of the blade for that one, but it wasn't a very well constructed shim, and did not go well. I'll have to try it again someday.

(Sent from mobile)

 

[Vulcan Bubbles]

cool, well im a noob but can you add more then one blade to the shim?

Apparently you can, but I haven’t experimented with that yet. I think if I had to add more than two, the razor would probably just have to go

 

[Mark1977]

cool, well im a noob but can you add more then one blade to the shim?

I did try 2 shims. But the razor felt a little too aggressive for my liking. Very efficient though. But one works well for me.

Sent from my CPH1969 using Tapatalk

 

[saj]

I shimmed my Merkur 34c with one extra blade. The cutting blade in it was a Bolzano Superinox and the trimmed shim blade was a Shark. It really did help, not a HUGE difference in feel but added some aggressiveness and efficiency. Worth a try

Yea I'm going to give it a go, sounds like a plan

 

[saj]

I rarely need to add more aggression to a razor, so I never add a shim under the blade.

I have a blackland dart, which I would like to be less aggressive, actually. I tried putting a shim on top of the blade for that one, but it wasn't a very well constructed shim, and did not go well. I'll have to try it again someday.

(Sent from mobile)

Yea I suppose doing a shim to your blade is probably more preferable to those who like aggressive shaves

 

[ouchyfoot]

A shim can smooth out your shave if you have a razor that’s prone to chattering. The shim will beef up the blade and keep it from flexing.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I have a vintage French shim made I think in the 1930s, it is 0.7mm thick. I use it with my Henckels Henso which requires a better technique than mine to get a good shave. I find the shim increases the sweet spot of the cutting angle as well as the blade gap.

 

[saj]

I have a vintage French shim made I think in the 1930s, it is 0.7mm thick. I use it with my Henckels Henso which requires a better technique than mine to get a good shave. I find the shim increases the sweet spot of the cutting angle as well as the blade gap.

View attachment 1192334

View attachment 1192335

I've got the saiver de razor which takes two de blades, I wonder if this is a shim? It's what is used in between the bladers on the saiver de razor

 

[BigJ]

I don’t use a shim, but I would consider one if I were less than pleased with a razor’s performance.

 

[engblom]

Nope. Normally I do not shim.

 

[engblom]

I've got the saiver de razor which takes two de blades, I wonder if this is a shim? It's what is used in between the bladers on the saiver de razor

View attachment 1192353

What you got there is not a normal shim. It is a blade separator. The razor is supposed to be loaded like this:

The first blade is cut in pieces (to make it more narrow), then comes the blade separator, and then a full blade. That said, you could use it as a shim in other razors.

This razor is actually a good shaver and it works with one blade like this: Cap -> blade separator -> blade -> base plate -> handle. This is my favorite configuration of this razor. I have been buying many of them because I like the light handle and I use their handles for other razors.

 

[Heron]

Yes, usually two DE blade shims in my Tech.

 

[Atlantic59]

I will use one or two shims in my Tech pre-war razor. It widens the shaving angle a bit.

BTW, one benefit you may not see mentioned is one or more shims under the blade can improve support for the blade in some razors (less flexing).

 

[ackvil]

I don't usually shim a razor. However, at one time I did shim a Feather AS-D2 but found changing the angle and using a Feather blade worked better.

For an excellent explanation of shimming look here in an older thread on B&B.

Shimming Explained

This is a short report on my experience with shimming. I have been using DE razors for about 28 years. Originally, I started shaving with straights but they are just too much of a pain and I can get just as great shaves from DEs with much more comfort. This is my experience and opinion based...

www.badgerandblade.com