Gillette Slim restauration/cleaning

[Lord NSIC]

All the Gillette Adjustable Razors are susceptible to over/underclocking (Fatboys, Slims and Black Beauties) and all can be remedied in the same manner.

I used to see the same thing with antique key wind clocks that had separate key winds for the chime and clock/timekeeping movements. People are used to turning the key in a clockwise direction for both the chime and timekeeping movements, but with many antique clocks, the chime movements were wound in a clockwise direction and the timekeeping movements were wound counter-clockwise. People would think the clocks were broken because they weren't running and they couldn't wind them, when in reality they were just wound down, so they would price them very low, or a buyer would offer less for a "non-working" clock. I've been thanked by quite a few estate sellers (and probably cursed by a few buyers) by gently pointing out the difference and then "resurrecting" a few broken clocks in their presence...

 

[dullhead]

...these key wind clocks were also "underclocked" in certain way, hahahaha Thanks for sharing this nice story!

 

[dullhead]

I think I managed to get both safety bars in parallel...but I think they are not on the same height: Or in other words: On side will give you
a very much milder shave as the other one.
Unfortunately I have no comparison: I cannot decide, whether one safety bar is too much up or the other one is too much low.

I would be very happy, if some could post a picture of his Slim razor, which is known for not having an issue with its safety bars or differences
of the blade gap on both sides: Silo doors completly opened and view horizontally onto the endcaps..."looking down along the edge of the blade"
(despite the fact, that there no blade in the razor .
That would help me a lot!

 

[Alum Ladd]

Try shaving with it. It may answer a lot of questions. The human eye is an imperfect tool often

 

[dullhead]

I already tried to shave. The results are:
Each side of the razor behaves vastly differently - for example on setting "1" the blade gap on one side is non-existent - the blade is pressed onto the safety bar. Setting "9" is milder as my Muehler R89 while using the same blade.

So I need to fix the razor somehow which led to the questions how to do this. A picture a healthy razor as described above would help me a lot.
By the way: I used a feeler gauge to compare the blade gaps of both sides.

 

[Alum Ladd]

When you get the feeler gauge, these are the gaps at the appropriate settings the Slim gives.

Double-Edged Safety Razors Ranked by Blade Gap

Ranking by blade gap size

www.badgerandblade.com

I do not know what German legal consumer protection covers, or the terms of the site you purchased it from. I would certainly advise you discuss with the seller. It may not be as described. That is a breach of the description if it is not operating as a functioning fully 'adjustable' razor, certainly by UK consumer protection laws.
If the site you bought it from has a similar loophole as Ebay, in that the description of the item must be accurate, you would have a very strong case for a refund.

As a final resort, and if more technical members than me cannot help, I would strongly suggest you send it to Razor Emporium for a complete repair. It will probably cost 100 Euros but it will be perfectly repaired and replated, and as you would get an official certificate testifying to this, your Slims value would massively increase on the German market if you chose to sell, or you would just get basically a factory fresh Slim, as it came from the factory in the year it was made if you wanted to just keep it.

 

[silverlifter]

A picture a healthy razor as described above would help me a lot.

Let me know if these are not detailed enough (or the wrong angle):

https://imgur.com/a/WR8F5cm

 

[dullhead]

Hi Silverlifter,

A *big* thank you - that helps *a lot*! Now I hopefully can determine, what part of my razor has gone nuts...
Will be back later with more...

 

[dullhead]

I think I came to a conclusion:
This razor cannot be fixed.

The complete head seems to be bent and misaligned in a way, only total disassembly and the use of specialized
machinery with a lot of force and precision will get back the head in its initial condition.

Sad.

But it is what it is.
A big thank you to all who helped me to identify the problem.