Safety Razor of the Month - August 2013 : The Gillette Slim

[Haggises]

Since it looks like I'm being told to take my Slim on vacation this week, I thought I'd make it the subject of August Safety Razor of the Month.

Not as worshipped and coveted (or as pricey) as a Fatboy, yet arguably more popluar than its successor the Super Adjustable.
I love my birth quarter K3 Slim, especially paired with Voskhod and Rapira Platinum Lux blades. If I had to choose only 2 DE razors for the rest of my life, this would be following me alongside a Single Ring.


So, is it a jack of all trades and master of none, or is it the only razor you'd ever really need?
Do you set and forget or adjust for WTG/XTG/ATG? If you adjust, do you go aggressive to mild or vice versa?
Are your numbers intact, with clicks in all the right places?

All these questions and more will be answered in this month's edition of SROTM.

Show us yours.....

 

[SteveWY]

I will opine... I have a user grade Slim (I3) and a mint FB (E1). I prefer the Slim for usability but have a place in my heart for the 50's macho, classic car look of the FB.

- The Slim could certainly be a jack of all trades and only razor I would "need" but I enjoy the variety of razor rotation. I break it out about once a month or so.
- I usually set it and forget it on 5 but sometimes I will do a 7-5-3 routine. I never played with going the other way.
- All my numbers are intact, all clicks are solidly where they should be.

Sorry, no photos at the moment.

 

[dcc]

I sometimes wonder why I have other razors All that I need is Slim @ 6-9 depending on the mood

 

[MacDaddy]

Alright! Now I've got an excuse to bust out my Slim that doesn't get a whole lot of love in my rotation normally. I just took a two-week road trip vacation and brought my Fatboy along since the adjustability is a nice thing when I'm away from my full complement for that long. So now I can do a better comparison between the two since I've still got that feeling pretty well in recent memory.

 

[JDan Man]

I have a Slim and a Fat Boy. I prefer the Slim because it is easier to maneuver around the nose area, otherwise they shave identically.

 

[Klondike]

Just shaved with a Slim for the first time today. Nice shave. Started on 3 but ended up on 5 with a feather blade. Found a nice one at a local antique mall for $2.

 

[Jeff_H]

I too have a slim, not my birth quarter but I am still looking (L4 for anyone with one to sell ). I have honestly not had good luck with this razor. The first shave I got with it was less than stellar...one of the poorer shaves I'd had at the time. Strangely, the only worse shave was with my 48' Aristocrat, but I digress. I did get a fairly good shave with the Fat Boy I own, so I know it's at least possible with a Gillette adjustable.

I have been test driving a vintage blade for a trial in another thread, but now I'm done. So, I might as well break out the Slim and see if I can get on with it...or figure out if I can't. Right now my blade of choice is either Voshkod of GSB. Both are sharp and smooth to my skin. I have not been able to find the Rapira Lux, which I'd really like to try.

I have Arko shredded in a bowl, TOBS Coconut, Musago Real, Palmolive Creme and my old standby, Proraso Red...all to potentially test with the Slim. I may go with the tallow and use Arko. Some extra added slickness and cushion perhaps. The real challenge I face is that I honestly think I'm an open comb guy. I shaved for the first 2 years of my DE career with a Merkur 25c and nothing else. Then the head of that broke and I ordered a Muhle R89, something I'd read so much good about and wanted for a long time. And at first got very good shaves with it. However, as time went on the quality seemed to go down. Then I started buying vintage Gillette's and my shave decline continued. Not until I broke out the old 25c (with new head compliments of Merkur) and started getting GREAT shaves again.

I think my next purchase will be an open comb TTO by Gillette. Aristocrat, # something....I need to do more research to know what OC Gillette TTO's are available. I am also going to track down a New, or a New Improved. Short comb, long comb...don't know yet.

On to shaving with the slim......

 

[Neffarious]

Love mine. Ebay score, cased, mint all black numbers little to no signs of used, Smooth as my rocket to dial, open and close, all for $20. The seller just had it listed as a safety razor and no one went looking I have an SA, which is very similar. Head seems identical with the slim having a weightier handle. Had a FB, and may get one again, if i can find a stellar deal like the slim LOL. It's not worth the up-charge IMHO.

 

[Leslie145]

My birth quarter I3 slim was my first purchase after I first got into DE shaving via a Feather Popular. Loved the DE experience & mentioned on another forum (TSR) was now after a birth quarter slim; PM received within the day & the slim arrived a few days later.

Couldn't believe what a nice piece of kit the slim actually is, even after 50 years; all numbers clear, adjustments crisp, TTO doors as smooth as the day it was made. C&E sandalwood & 7 o/c yellow was the first trial & the shaving quality easily as good as the build quality.

Settings? Usually 4 WTG, 3 ATG & 1 XTG

Lovely piece of kit, a real classic

 

[Haggises]

3 shaves in to my Slim vacation.
Tried 5 on all passes, 3-6-9 on wtg-xtg-atg and then 9 on all passes.
Smooher on 9 and 3-6-9, but felt more aggressive on skin on the all 9.
next, 9-6-3.

If I figure out hotel wifi I might even post a pic. (hint, hint)

 

[TonyJoe]

I had been shaving with my Slim for about a week before I saw this thread yesterday. I have been using my Gillette open combs primarily and my Slim - my first DE - had fallen into disuse so I thought it was time to get it out.

Today I tried the 9-6-3 approach and it worked really nicely. I had been setting it at 7 and leaving it for all my passes, but I found it can be a little tricky for that last pass. I might try leaving it on 5 tomorrow.

 

[Neffarious]

3 pass 6-6-6 for me 5th day on a German sword. All was lovely.

 

[SteveWY]

I forgot I was following this thread and about the Razor of the Month. Randomly I grabbed my '63 Slim today and loaded a PolSilver Super Iridium. B&B Essential brush + Mike's Lily of the Valley. I set the Slim on 7 and left it there. Wonderful, near-BBS 3-pass. Finished with some lavender witch hazel. Very nice!

 

[bassoon_guy]

I love my slim. It always leaves me with a great shave.

 

[tailoredfamcam]

In honor of this thread, I decided to shave with my slim last night. I've avoided using it lately because I always seem to get irritation with it. I don't get irritation with the fatboy. I think I still need to perfect my technique!

 

[Joe_Karp]

I like this razor; My Slim with an IP Red delivers a terrific shave. I'll mostly run a 7-5-3 pattern but sometimes will just stay at 7. These are great shaving tools!

 

[SteveWY]

I'm still staying with my Slim this week. This mornings' shave... '63 Slim w/Polsilver SI (3), B&B Essential brush + Palmolive Classic cream. 3- pass BBS. A splash of Clubman and good to go.

 

[Szyman01]

I like my '62 Slim (H 2) more than my Fatboy. I think the head profile of the Slim agrees with my face more. I send to stay on a 3 or 4 for all passes. I think it's in pretty good shape, the numbers are all intact and the plating is all there and original.

 

[bosseb]

Show us yours.....

​

My go to for many years. Now sadly forgotten in my drawer for old things...

 

[MacDaddy]

I've been using a Slim almost exclusively so far this month to try an better nail down an opinion between it and the Fatboy, and I think that I'm far enough into it to have solidified things pretty well. I think I prefer the shaving angle of the Slim's lower profile head over the Fatboy's. When I first went back to the Fatboy over my vacation, in fact, I was a little surprised at how different it felt -- I tend to skew more to older razors in my usual rotation at home -- and it took a pass or two to really dial in the angle again properly. Maybe the Slim had the benefit of going second here in my trials, but its angle just felt more "natural."

On the flip side, though, I strongly prefer the feel of the Fatboy in my hand. I do tend to prefer thicker handles, within reason, and the Slim's handle is just too, well, slim. On balance, I think I still prefer the Fatboy over the Slim -- the head differences I can work with, but there's really no way around the handle feel.

I'm really half tempted to take a couple of old beaters and see if I can't work out how to get a Slim's head onto a Fatboy's body, though. I'd have to cut the central shaft on the door assembly shorter, for sure. But that might be enough to get rid of the crimp point and allow me to thread the remaining end for one of the older screw-on Fatboy endcaps. The real sticking point would probably be whether the Slim's adjustment plate would fit onto the Fatboy's handle, or if I would have to modify the Fatboy's adjustment plate to work properly with the Slim's head. That could get tricky...