Love my Merkur Futur but never enjoy my shaves with my Merkur Progress

[xiletero]

Thanks, will try dialling it down to the smallest gap (+1) on my next shave. Cheers!

Interesting, I did not know this about Mekur. I have a Gillette superadjustable with a broken clicker and that one turns 360 degrees 3 times.....can be very mild or very aggressive. Problem is: the adjuster will move while shaving

 

[Fatboyming]

I have a knockoff futur and its pretty amazing around 3 is average on all passes...but if i dial it to 6 there is a big gap so i must go slower and be careful

Looks exactly identical to the Qshave/Mingshi/etc.

That's this thing with "China patents", I don't know how this works in China. After the Futur patent expired, it got copied and ONE design was made and is apparently used by several companies producing it. They also do stuff like printing the logo of a company they are making it for on the headplate.

Maybe somehow knows Chinese laws, guess the design can be bought or was sold to several companies that are now producing the Futur clones.

The QShave and MingShi clones are the same razor. The Traditional Barbers clone is a rebadged NT Vigor TX 18 made by the Nanton Brush Company in China. The TX 18 has been described as being made from solid brass, I dont know if that's true but certainly it weighs more than other clones and is even heavier than the genunine Merkur Futur. A very solid razor!

Curiously I inspected one of these razors at a Shaver Shop store and was surprised to see the huge blade gap which was much bigger that my genuine Futur. Closer inspection revealed that it had been assembled in the "overclocked" position. I adjusted it on the spot and the blade gap was the same as the Futur. Stranger still this does not seem to be an isolated incidence because I have since had a look at 2 other TX 18's and they were also overclocked. For those that don't know what overclocking is let me explain: The original Merkur Futur and all clones are adjusted by a screw mechanism. Every 60 degree turn is one setting, so settings 6 is one complete turn of 360 degrees and the handle will come against the stop. However if the head of the razor is screwed on the wrong way around the handle will already be turned half way so setting 1 will be equal to setting 3 and setting 6 will be equivalent to a setting of 9!. It's very easy to change.

 

[hcoop112]

how do you fix it ...im interested to see what the change is

 

[Norman Gunston]

I own two Futurs (satin and gold) and a Mergress.
I pretty much always set them to 2 and get great shaves with all three.
Even with a heavy beard, a setting of 2 works just fine for me.
I find that the Futur and Megress generates momentum when shaving (kind of like a heavy putter head in golf), which for me provides smooth relentless strokes with both high efficiency and comfort.

 

[Fatboyming]

how do you fix it ...im interested to see what the change is

To increase or decrease the maximum available blade gap on Merkur Futur or Clones:

1 Remove the top cap and blade
2 Adjust the razor to setting 6.
3 Place your index and middle finger under the head of the razor and place your thumb on the centre of the head of the razor
3 Firmly press down with your thumb (this will allow the handle to turn past setting 6)
4 Turn the handle about 4 turns counterclockwise
5 Release thumb pressure, the blade carrier platform should now be disengaged from the blade platform tray.
6 Rotate the blade carrier platform 180 degrees
7 Again press down with your thumb and at the same time screw the handle clockwise as far as it will go. The razor will now be back together on setting 1

Obviously if while adjusting you keep unscrewing past four turns the razor will completely disassemble. This is useful for cleaning and lubrication.

 

[hcoop112]

oh wow ty now i can give it a good clean thats Awesome i shall clean it then put it back on have a shave tonight and report the progress

 

[Captaincaveman1]

I haven't tried a progress but can offer my experience with a futur. I shaved for a long time with a futur (my first de razor). I have recently acquired a Gillette fatboy and find the lower settings ALOT milder compared to the futur. I can use a range of settings on the fatboy depending on beard growth where the maximum I would ever have a futur would be a 2 or 2.5. For comparison I will go up to a 5 on longer growth with the fatboy. The fatboy just seems to offer alot more usable range for me.

 

[hcoop112]

Just had a shave with the razor and my word thats a improvement ....it wemt so smoothly i had the fastest shave ive ever had and my face is so smooth...thank you for the tip fatboyming just wish i knew it ages ago lol

 

[PreachTheWord]

I have both a Futur and a Progress (Mergress). I do enjoy them both, but only shave with Mergress on 2 or 3. Anything over that is way too aggressive.

 

[dotKomo]

I enjoy my Progress and get great shaves with it.

 

[duotone]

Shaved with it the other day & it gave a really good shave.

What I was doing wrong was having it set too high/aggressive. I didn’t realise that the numbers on the dial go around twice when turned, so me using it thinking that it was set to 1, was in reality set to 6.

Problem solved. Thanks for your help everyone!