Leaving the handle a little loose..

[salman]

In my continued struggle to get a close DE Razor shave, today i didn’t tighten my Wilkinson sword all the the away and left it a tad loose. Thus more blade visible than
usual.

I didn’t have to hold the razor at the recommended angles, and could shave without any fuss. The shave was super close, but not comfortable, and the acoustics..worse than fingernails on glass.

Have any of your tried this? Im fairy certain it isn’t recommended but just wanted to know what others feel about this.


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[REV579]

The early Gillette razors were touted as offering a closer shave by not tightening the cap and handle too much, suggesting that loosening the handle would result in a closer shave.

 

[tube_guy]

I do it with some of my mild three piece razors, and I do get a better shave in less time. The thing I don't like about it is, as I shave, the handle tends to loosen up more. I can still get a good shave, almost out to the point where it gets a bit ridiculous, but it does get a bit sloppy. Because of that, I've moved towards more aggressive razors instead. I guess another option is to just add shims to the razor so the handle can be locked up tight.

 

[gvw755]

Some razors have heads designed to allow a quarter twist of adjustment to act as an adjustable. The most noted vintage one was the Eclipse Red Ring. More recent ones were the Dorco Plastic razor, Feather DER-A, and the PAA Ascension series. If you can find a 2.5mm rubber O ring at a hardware store in the plumbing section, you can put that between the base plate and the handle and come up with your own adjustable razor. The O ring is so that there is constant pressure on the base plate so it doesn't separate too far from the top cap and cause the blade to not be secure.

 

[Earcutter]

Don’t do it.

 

[Joshua223]

The early Gillette razors were touted as offering a closer shave by not tightening the cap and handle too much, suggesting that loosening the handle would result in a closer shave.

Never heard that before. Interesting. Was it printed on the instructions?

 

[REV579]

A very old ad. 1905

But also in an old instruction booklet

 

[Joshua223]

A very old ad. 1905

View attachment 999592

But also in an old instruction booklet
View attachment 999593

Nice!! Thank you for posting. That is a new one to me.

 

[REV579]

There is a lot out there that folks overlook because they don't think to read the old ads or instructions. If you really want to blow your mind, read some of the old patent documents.

 

[nemo]

Been doing it for years, who needs an adjustable? Just make sure it's not too loose.

TTO or three piece type? I do both.

 

[Twelvefret]

A very old ad. 1905

View attachment 999592

But also in an old instruction booklet
View attachment 999593

Great post. Perhaps we should start using "close" or "light" shaving rather than "aggressive" and "mild".

 

[Bakker1964]

Nope nope nopity nope.

Sharp things need to be secure in their placement to be effective. Otherwise the lessons learned will be scribed in red.

 

[Ad Astra]

Yes and yes! This trick makes my Timeless Ti.68 into an adjustable.

Works like a charm / great close shaves.

AA

 

[BigJ]

A very old ad. 1905

View attachment 999592

But also in an old instruction booklet
View attachment 999593

Great explanation and terrific history!! Thanks!

 

[Invicta]

My undestanding was that multi passes, certainly not ATG, were not a standard in the old days so there was some benefit in this technique. These days many of us do multiple passes and loosening of the blade tension (.."screw back a very, very little,") is not needed.

 

[santamariasteve]

Nope nope nopity nope.

Sharp things need to be secure in their placement to be effective. Otherwise the lessons learned will be scribed in red.

Wait. Let's not go from one extreme to another extreme.

Loosening the handle a TINY bit is not loosening the blade. Loosening the handle correctly is relaxing a tiny fraction of the pressure on the blade, enabling the edge of the blade to be raised the width of a human hair, or maybe one-half the width of the human hair, or less.

The recommended procedure is to loosen the handle by only 1/16 or even 1/32 of a turn. Done correctly the blade is still secure and rigid.

I suggest a reason Gillette later stopped making the recommendation is for liability concerns. Too many shavers did not understand the procedure, and were loosening the handle way too much, increasing the likelihood of cuts.