Gillette NEW LC Not Cutting It

[Esox]

Unfortunately, in typical Gillette fashion, the SC was sold with all of the other razors caps, the Deluxe 15 and 17mm, LC, prewar Tech and the original SC cap. The SC cap and 15mm Deluxe cap seem to offer the most blade exposure, with the LC cap a little less and the prewar Tech offering the least blade exposure. Only the SC cap and prewar Tech cap can be identified in a picture. The SC cap has squared off corner tabs and the prewar Tech has the short blade aligning bars. The SC cap doesn't fit any other baseplate.

This is good information, thanks.

 

[Laird]

Gentleman, please send me all of your unwanted NEW Long Combs.

 

[TobyC]

Gentleman, please send me all of your unwanted NEW Long Combs.

Send him the baseplates only, send me the caps and handles!

 

[Esox]

I'm not sure what I'll end up doing with my LC. Being NOS when I got it I'm not sure I'd want to part with it. In saying that I dont like the ball end handles and I have a feeling I wont be getting much use of the base plate.

For tomorrows shave I'll add a shim to it and see how that affects the shave. I have a feeling it will smooth it out and I'll go from there.

 

[Esox]

While I had my camera and razor both out, I thought I'd make a shim and take pics while I was at it. So heres my LC with one shim ready for tomorrow.

I did test the deflection of the blade edge with the shim installed and it's less than half what it is without a shim. As it is right now it's close to the same rigidity as my Rocket.

Tomorrow will be interesting...

 

[Hoka Hey]

The shim is a good idea. Let us know how it works.

 

[Esox]

So, NEW LC + 1 shim

Soap Stirling Executive Man
Omega boar
Polsilver SI, same blade flipped + 1 shim
48 hours since last shave.

Lather up and start the shave WTG. First stroke it felt better, smoother but slightly more aggressive. Finished the right side of my face and thought "Hmmm, not bad...". Finished the left side, rinsed and checked, decided to skip the XTG pass the same as I do with the Rocket. Lather up and shave ATG without even thinking about it the same as I do the Rocket and it felt good, very good. Nice and smooth. Rinse and check ATG on my neck, stubble. No problem I think to myself, paint lather, buff buff hmmm. Its definitely better but it will be BBS in a second. Paint again, buff buff, damnit! Paint again, grab the Rocket with the same Derby blade, untouched, buff buff and gone, BBS.

So while the shim did help, if I had to guess I'd say around a 50% improvement over the last shave. It seemed like the stubble left was about half of what it was last shave, but this razor still isnt cutting it for me ATG on my trouble spots.

I can see a shim helping many people that have issues shaving ATG, but for me to get BBS over my neck, it just isnt happening.

Now I know why my father used this Rocket for over 30 years, it's a dependable old workhorse.

I might add that I shave quickly. That shave took me 10 minutes at most. If I'm a hurry with the Rocket and a Polsilver, about 5 minutes.

 

[rabidus]

Nothing beats a rigid razor design! You may be able to increase efficiency a little more with a wider cut shim.

The shim also increases blade gap, which is why it felt more aggressive.

 

[Esox]

Nothing beats a rigid razor design! You may be able to increase efficiency a little more with a wider cut shim.

The shim also increases blade gap, which is why it felt more aggressive.

View attachment 794119

I tried cutting less of the edge off the shim, but with my dollar store scissors all they did was bind and twist the blade. I can see it making a marginal difference however. I'm still not convinced the NEW LC is the razor for me.

I agree about the gap change. I wasnt expecting that much difference in feel though. It's only .004 more! LOL. In saying that, I did like the feel it gave...

 

[Roderick]

I have been reading with interest all this info on blade stiffness and closeness. While I have not found the stiffness to affect my shave at all, I will pay extra attention tomorrow morning and report back. The NEW LC is in my top 5 razors and I my last usage was on May 16th (Canadian Goodwill). My razors since then have mostly been early Super Speeds (USA and British), Schick's and other SE's. I have gotten excellent shaves with all of the tools. I have "Scruffy" lined up for tomorrow's shave with Palmolive shave stick soap.

 

[Esox]

The only area I have any trouble with is either side of my adams apple ATG, which for me is an upwards stroke towards my opposite eye and under my chin upwards towards my nose. All other areas shave fine with either of my razors, but the Rocket does a better job easier.

 

[Roderick]

My standard shave is 4 passes, WTG, XTG, TGX, ATG with some buffing just under the chin. That is the only way I am able to achieve the smoothness I want, with whatever tool I use.

 

[Esox]

I thought I had tough whiskers lol. My norm with the Rocket and a Polsilver SI is WTG, ATG and 1-2 buffing passes over my trouble areas for a BBS unless I screw up the angle.

 

[Sideways Tremolo]

This thread has me wondering, how do the Schone and Piccolo compare to a SC Gillette?

 

[Esox]

This thread has me wondering, how do the Schone and Piccolo compare to a SC Gillette?

From the information I've gathered so far both the Schone and the Piccolo heads are made by the same company and the only differences are the number of teeth in the combs. Outside of that I really have no information other than blade exposure seems to be on the aggressive side.

The head design does appear to be rigid however. The FaTip is one head I'm quite interested in.

 

[Sideways Tremolo]

From the information I've gathered so far both the Schone and the Piccolo heads are made by the same company and the only differences are the number of teeth in the combs. Outside of that I really have no information other than blade exposure seems to be on the aggressive side.

The head design does appear to be rigid however. The FaTip is one head I'm quite interested in.

View attachment 794184 View attachment 794185

Yeah my question is really regarding where they fit in the rigidity spectrum. I don't have an OC yet so I'm trying to get a feel for the lay of the land so to speak. I'm with you, I'm especially interested in the Piccolo.

 

[Esox]

Yeah my question is regarding where they fit in the rigidity spectrum. I don't have an OC yet so I'm trying to get a feel for the lay of the land so to speak.

rabidus may be able to answer your question more fully. I believe he has experience with both the FaTip and the NEW SC so he would be able to give a better opinion.

I dont find the difference between a SB and an OC head to be that much different really. It depends more on blade angle and exposure.

 

[Sideways Tremolo]

Cool thanks!

 

[TobyC]

The Fatip is a wonderful razor, somehow silky smooth and aggressive.

 

[rabidus]

This thread has me wondering, how do the Schone and Piccolo compare to a SC Gillette?

The Piccolo has excellent rigidity. I believe I had the more aggressive MK1 version. It had more blade exposure than the NEW SC, too aggressive for me. I believe the Piccolo MK2 has the same baseplate with a different cap that makes it milder.