Does Merkur Futur Supposed to Go Past Setting #6?

[thenaiveshaver]

Hi All,

I hope each and everyone of you is doing well and keeping safe during this on-going pandemic. So I have been using Merkur Futur for few months and I just took it apart to clean it up today. When I was putting it back together I realised that the razor goes past setting #6 and I am quite shocked to see that. Did I break the razor? Should I be following any guideline when putting the razor back together? The adjustment numbers/setting also don't line up with the marker.

 

[Adjustingtolife]

Make sure when twisting it back on, you pull the base plate towards the cap until you cant twist anymore.

Fayiz D.

 

[thenaiveshaver]

Make sure when twisting it back on, you pull the base plate towards the cap until you cant twist anymore.

Fayiz D.

Yeah, I tried that. But it still goes past setting #6. Should this be happening?

 

[drydown]

Yeah, I tried that. But it still goes past setting #6. Should this be happening?

It can and it's okay:
Merkur applies the numbering on the Futur by hand, so there's a bit of tolerance. It doesn't impact the blade gap, it's just that the scale is not exact science.

(Some users here discussed shaving with the Futur at setting 0.5, my copy stops at roundabout 1, the blade gap is the same. Just as an example.)

 

[thenaiveshaver]

It can and it's okay:
Merkur applies the numbering on the Futur by hand, so there's a bit of tolerance. It doesn't impact the blade gap, it's just that the scale is not exact science.

(Some users here discussed shaving with the Futur at setting 0.5, my copy stops at roundabout 1, the blade gap is the same. Just as an example.)

Thank you for responding. When I say that the razor goes past #6 I mean that the razor literally keep on twisting past #6 and goes to #7 --> #12. I feel as if the lock to prevent the razor from twisting past #6 is either broken or non-existent in my razor. Anyhow, it doesn't seem to affect the quality of the shave one bit as I am not going past setting #5.

 

[3oclockShadow]

Mine will go to about 6.5 or 7. What your Futur is doing sounds like a malfunction, although I have heard of people taking them apart for cleaning and I think the process of taking it apart works something like that.

 

[Trollky]

PaulHFilms on YouTube has a great tutorial on stripping the Futur for cleaning.

In a nutshell though first remove the topcap and blade and then very firmly press the baseplate and the rectangular blade cradle together. Unscrew the handle. while you unscrew the handle. To reassemble the razor just reverse the above steps.

Assuming you have done that then the next thing to check is to see if the locking pin that sticks out of the bottom of the baseplate (where the handle screws in) is still intact.

 

[drydown]

Make sure when twisting it back on, you pull the base plate towards the cap until you cant twist anymore.

The cap shouldn't be mounted when dis- or reassembling. I'm sure you are meaning pulling the base plate towards the blade rest plate. You need to press these two parts together with as much force as needed to completely compress the spring between them.

PaulHFilms on YouTube has a great tutorial on stripping the Futur for cleaning.

Yes:

Assuming you have done that then the next thing to check is to see if the locking pin that sticks out of the bottom of the baseplate (where the handle screws in) is still intact.

@thenaiveshaver: @Trollky is talking about this little fellow. Is this pin still existing on your Futur?

--

... I just took it apart to clean it up today. When I was putting it back together I realised that the razor goes past setting #6 and I am quite shocked to see that.

I have seen that you had asked about this issue in another thread and there the user had exactly the same issue and just as in your case, it occurred after reassembling the Futur. So very obviously the error (or damage) has happened there.

However I failed to replicate the issue while I unmounted and reassembled my Futur many times now and my best guess is that the locking pin has been damaged or that it is gone.

If I don't press the base and the blade-resting plate sufficiently together, the locking pin still works, but the bottom of the blade-rest doesn't meet the base. It looks then in position 1 as if was set to position 6 kind of. And dialing up from there get's to an imaginary position 12, before the locking happens.

The direction I which the spring was mounted, did not effect the locking.

Even with no spring mounted I got the locking when turning the head while holding the handle. Holding the head while turning the handle would unscrew the handle.
But with no spring mounted whole head wobbles and turning the dial has no effect on the blade gap at all. I have a hard imagining that you would have reassembled the Futur without the spring and wouldn't have noticed.

So again, is the locking pin still there?

---

One final note:

Though it doesn't effect the locking function, there is a right and wrong position for the blade-resting base! Correctly mounted upon reassembly, it's bottom rests closed and tight on the base of the head with no distance between them, when the Futur is set to it's lowest position.
If the blade-resting base is mounted incorrect, you can see a gap between it's bottom and the base. Then you have to reverse it 180 degrees.

(Edited.)

 

[Adjustingtolife]

The cap shouldn't be mounted when dis- or reassembling. I'm sure you are meaning pulling the base plate towards the blade rest plate. You need to press these two parts together with as much force as needed to completely compress the spring between them.



Yes:

@thenaiveshaver: @Trollky is talking about this little fellow. Is this pin still existing on your Futur?

View attachment 1271418View attachment 1271419

--



I have seen that you asked about the issue in another thread and there the user had exactly the same issue and just as in your case, it occurred after reassembling the Futur. So very obviously the error (or damage) has happened there.

However I failed to replicate the issue while I unmounted and reassembled my Futur and my best guess is that the locking pin has been damaged or that it is gone.

If I don't press the base and the blade-resting plate sufficiently together, the locking pin still works, but the bottom of the blade-rest doesn't meet the base. It looks then in position 1 as if was set to position 6 kind of. And dialing up from there get's to an imaginary position 12, before the locking happens.

The only way I could replicate and endless turn with no locking was if I did NOT mount the spring, but then the whole head wobbles and turning the dial has no effect at all. I have a hard imagining that you would have reassembled the Futur without the spring and wouldn't have noticed.

So again, is the locking pin still there?

---

One final note:

Though it doesn't effect the locking function, there is a right and wrong position for the blade-resting base! Correctly mounted upon reassembly, it's bottom rests closed and tight on the base of the head with no distance between them, when the Futur is set to it's lowest position.
If the blade-resting base is mounted incorrect, you can see a gap between it's bottom and the base. Then you have to reverse it 180 degrees.

Yes that's what I meant

Fayiz D.

 

[thenaiveshaver]

The cap shouldn't be mounted when dis- or reassembling. I'm sure you are meaning pulling the base plate towards the blade rest plate. You need to press these two parts together with as much force as needed to completely compress the spring between them.



Yes:

@thenaiveshaver: @Trollky is talking about this little fellow. Is this pin still existing on your Futur?

View attachment 1271418View attachment 1271419

--



I have seen that you had asked about this issue in another thread and there the user had exactly the same issue and just as in your case, it occurred after reassembling the Futur. So very obviously the error (or damage) has happened there.

However I failed to replicate the issue while I unmounted and reassembled my Futur many times now and my best guess is that the locking pin has been damaged or that it is gone.

If I don't press the base and the blade-resting plate sufficiently together, the locking pin still works, but the bottom of the blade-rest doesn't meet the base. It looks then in position 1 as if was set to position 6 kind of. And dialing up from there get's to an imaginary position 12, before the locking happens.

The direction I which the spring was mounted, did not effect the locking.

The only way I could replicate and manage and endless turn with no locking was if I did NOT mount the spring, but then the whole head wobbles and turning the dial has no effect at all. I have a hard imagining that you would have reassembled the Futur without the spring and wouldn't have noticed.

So again, is the locking pin still there?

---

One final note:

Though it doesn't effect the locking function, there is a right and wrong position for the blade-resting base! Correctly mounted upon reassembly, it's bottom rests closed and tight on the base of the head with no distance between them, when the Futur is set to it's lowest position.
If the blade-resting base is mounted incorrect, you can see a gap between it's bottom and the base. Then you have to reverse it 180 degrees.

The locking pin is NOT present on my Futur. It's interesting because if the locking pin was broken when I took it apart then I must have found it somewhere on my hand or my bathroom sink.

 

[drydown]

The locking pin is NOT present on my Futur.

Aha! Yeah, that was the only logical explanation. Too bad!

It's interesting because if the locking pin was broken when I took it apart then I must have found it somewhere on my hand or my bathroom sink.

Oh, this pin is so tiny and travels long distance when snapping. And it typically takes much force to break it as it is part of the base, this is a one piece cast part.
But it must have been there before and upon close inspection you should see the damage in the coating at it's original position.

 

[thenaiveshaver]

Last time when I contacted DOVO they told me that they are unable to find a problem and the razor seems to be in a perfect condition. I just sent them another email with the pics of broken locking pin. Lets see what they say.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

I just sent them another email with the pics of broken locking pin. Lets see what they say.

Ask them if they recommend people taking their Futur apart to clean it.

 

[Keith_Weir]

Thank you for responding. When I say that the razor goes past #6 I mean that the razor literally keep on twisting past #6 and goes to #7 --> #12. I feel as if the lock to prevent the razor from twisting past #6 is either broken or non-existent in my razor. Anyhow, it doesn't seem to affect the quality of the shave one bit as I am not going past setting #5.

Same issue that I am having too !!!!

 

[santamariasteve]

On my Merkur Futur the range goes from the "dot" to the left of 1 (would that be .5?) to 6. I think that range is normal.