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Gillette Super Adjustable shaves differently for each side

Yesterday I shaved with my Feather AS-D1, where both the sides shave identically. This morning, I opted for my black handle Gillette Super Adjustable. It was quite noticeable that each side shaved differently, with one side being distinctly more aggressive than the other. I was using an identical Feather Platinum blade in both razors. What do folks think: Clever feature or manufacturing tolerances? My guess would be manufacturing tolerances in what was a relatively inexpensive mass produced product in period, although I bought mine as NOS long after production had ceased, when my local privately owned pharmacy was sold to a chain. One of the other razors I use regularly, one of my three Stahly Live Blade clockwork vibrating razors, are between the Feather and the Gillette, with each side shaving fractionally differently from the other but nearer to the Feather. One of my Stahlys is an early type, all heavy chromed brass. The other two are late model prototypes with brushed stainless steel heads and black anodised aluminium bodies, containing the clockwork mechanism. I believe this model never went into series production.

Wilson
 
My bet would be manufacturing tolerances, but more likely damage. I see that you bought it NOS, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t damaged at the factory. Look at the blade gap on both sides and see if there is a difference? If so you can gently adjust the gap, there are several videos around that will show you how. My SA shaves the same on both sides and I haven’t heard of one that does, that wasn’t dropped or otherwise damaged. Good luck in getting it sorted out!!!

Tom
 
I will wait until I get down from the UK to my other house in the south of France, at the end of this week, where I have another Gillette Super Adjustable, also bought as NOS and compare the two on side to side performance. Having had a quick look at the blade gaps on each side, they are not obviously different but I should probably check with a set of feeler gauges to verify. BTW I found a post on B&B describing how to adjust the gap but did not find a video on either Youtube or Vimeo.

Wilson
 
The only razors I own that shave differently on one side than the other are my Neilite 400 and Simplex 7 bakelite razors that are purposefully designed to have an aggressive and a mild side, so it being a Gillette, it was either put together poorly during manufacture/packaging or dropped as airmech states. The baseplate is either off/bent/tweaked a bit or one of the lift arms is bent slightly, check to make sure both doors open and close smoothly and evenly. With SuperSpeeds, Fat Boys, Slims and early model Super Adjustables with the metal adjuster plates, you can use a butter knife to gently tweak the baseplate back into trueness to get the gaps where they should be. The Super Adjustables with the nylon baseplate are much less durable--the nylon base plate will crumble and break if you try use a butter knife to fix the base plate (don't ask how I know).
 
This is a common thing, especially with the Super Adjustables. It is NOT manufacturing tolerances. The razor has been dropped.
The Super Adjustables are the least sturdy of all the Adjustables and there are quite a lot of them circulating with deformations that are a result of dropping. The most common are bent guards. Either the gap on on side of the blade is irregular (one end of the blade edge is closer to the guard than the other) or you have different gaps (and often exposure) on the two sides of the blade. It can be repaired. The only way is to bend back the guard to normal state. But it is a dangerous procedure and not everyone can do it. I know, I had quite a few Super Adjustables with bent guards. This happens very rare on the Slims.
 
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