This week finds me on yet another road trip...and among other things, in the mood to experiment a bit.
There is ample talk of shimming - particularly with the milder razors; Weber, EJ89s, etc...
To my knowledge, there hasn't been quite as much talk about shimming things that actually shave moderately (or more) aggressive straight out of the box.
This I know - I love shims and I love my Merkur 39C Slant - the experiment thus becomes fairly obvious.
Here's what I did - I cut a couple of Astra blades the best that I could with my tools on hand to create a couple of shims. The shims add approximately .1 mm thickness each (although I could be wrong on the exact thickness of the Astras). This gives me roughly .2mm of extra gap...if not a bit more due to the way the blades clamp up when you tighten it all together.
Put your shaving blade in first - follow it with the 2 shims - jiggle them around just a bit to make sure it's all straight - leave the head down flat just like you see it in the pictures and add your handle. You can jiggle it a little more while you tighten things down - but it works pretty well by just keeping it simple and to the point.
The pictures will explain what I did - the order in which I did it - and the finished blade gap...which results in Slant more than a little aggressive that shaves exceedingly close...but exceptionally smooth. The Slant is great on its own - to me, it's even better now (as I like aggressive shaves). Is it as close as an R41? I don't think so, but it is very, very close. It is certainly in the league of my Joris and Barbasol Floating Head - and will shave you as smooth and as close as the latest offerings from any of the current "artisan" makers (OC or SB).
In any event - if you want to "kick it up a notch" with your Slant - 2 shims will change your razor's personality a fair amount.
There is ample talk of shimming - particularly with the milder razors; Weber, EJ89s, etc...
To my knowledge, there hasn't been quite as much talk about shimming things that actually shave moderately (or more) aggressive straight out of the box.
This I know - I love shims and I love my Merkur 39C Slant - the experiment thus becomes fairly obvious.
Here's what I did - I cut a couple of Astra blades the best that I could with my tools on hand to create a couple of shims. The shims add approximately .1 mm thickness each (although I could be wrong on the exact thickness of the Astras). This gives me roughly .2mm of extra gap...if not a bit more due to the way the blades clamp up when you tighten it all together.
Put your shaving blade in first - follow it with the 2 shims - jiggle them around just a bit to make sure it's all straight - leave the head down flat just like you see it in the pictures and add your handle. You can jiggle it a little more while you tighten things down - but it works pretty well by just keeping it simple and to the point.
The pictures will explain what I did - the order in which I did it - and the finished blade gap...which results in Slant more than a little aggressive that shaves exceedingly close...but exceptionally smooth. The Slant is great on its own - to me, it's even better now (as I like aggressive shaves). Is it as close as an R41? I don't think so, but it is very, very close. It is certainly in the league of my Joris and Barbasol Floating Head - and will shave you as smooth and as close as the latest offerings from any of the current "artisan" makers (OC or SB).
In any event - if you want to "kick it up a notch" with your Slant - 2 shims will change your razor's personality a fair amount.
. BTW a double shimmed r41 isn't nearly as bad as one may think.
