Super Adjustables. How do you shave with them?

[Lamar]

Picked up a 1971 Gillette Super Adjustable and I was just wondering how you guys shave with it. My first try was yesterday, a day after a really really bad shave, and I set it to "1" and ended up with a lot of irritated skin and weepers, especially on my troublesome neck when I went AGT. Today my face felt better so I tried again and went to setting "9" and did the same routine and it went better and smoother with only 3 weepers, only two of them count as I wasn't paying attention at one point, and no bumpy skin but my checks are burning.. I think the burning is some really dry skin and some lotion has helped. Guess I am wondering if you all set it to one number and leave it, or do a progression of settings as you shave. Isn't "9" supposed to be more aggressive?

Left out one fact, today I used a bit of Shave Secret before I lathered and that might have helped. I want to make my own pre-shave oil but don't know where to buy essential oils. Any ideas on where to get them?

 

[Big_OC]

You're going to have to play around with the settings to find what works for you. A "9" is the most aggressive setting due to the blade gap being the widest. I use a Fatboy and use a "5" WTG, XTG, XTG and then dial it down to a "4" for ATG and touch ups.

 

[The Kiwi]

I tended to leave my adjustables to a single setting, after finding what worked for me ( a "7" on a Slim, an "8" on a SA ). But don't jump to either extreme, start from 5 and make changes from there, a click at a time, to find what suits you.

 

[Landri]

I move from aggressive to mild.
WTG: dial 5 on my checks (or 7 if I haven't shave in a couple of days) and 3 on my neck
XTG: dial 3 con my checks and 1 or 2 in the neck
ATG: I avoid the ATG; but when I do it I dial 1 for the whole shave


You have to consider the growth of the beard to dial up.
Hope its help!

 

[Vickers]

I do three passes: down, up, all around.

North to South - 9

South to North - 7

Touch up - 5

I do this with a Slim, a Fatboy, and an SA. That last touch up isn't strictly necessary (if I've played my cards right).

Until I started shaving with that method, I considered adjustable razors a novelty. Now they are a rotation that I look forward to.

Plus all that *snick!* *snick!* noise when you adjust it...I love it!

 

[bryan1980]

What blade were you using? It sounds to me that you had the "mild razor, mild blade" thing going on that first shave. Dialing-up the aggressiveness on the razor may have helped compensate for the mildness of the blade, giving you a better shave. Plus, you may have been applying too much pressure the first time around to compensate for the blade's lack of sharpness.

As for me, I use my Slim on 5 for WTG, 4 for XTG, and 3 for ATG. As Kiwi pointed out to me on another thread, SA's are about a notch milder than Slims (eg: you'd use 6 on a SA to match 5 on a Slim).

 

[AjaxLepinski]

I get some nice shaves with my 1970 Super Adjustable using Astra SP blades. I leave it on 2 for all passes but, when I go ATG, I go on a diagonal with all my DEs. Sounds like you may just need a week or so to get use to the geometry (and various settings) of the razor.

 

[Chester]

I leave mine on 5 and it gives a marvelous shave. It helps to put a nice sharp blade in it. I didn't see you mention what blade you had in it. One things about the SA that requires some attention is that the longer handle may require you to adjust your technique a little bit. For example, every now and again I shave with a 40s superspeed, and the lady gillette is also part of my rotation -- even though the heads on those 2 razors are the same, I have to change the way I handle the razor, between the two. You might be adjusting your grip on the razor in a subtle way that you're not aware of. As with any new tool, I think if you give yourself a few more shaves and stick with the same setting (try a "7"), you should have it dialed in very quickly.
Hope it helps,
-- Chet

 

[Lamar]

What blade were you using? It sounds to me that you had the "mild razor, mild blade" thing going on that first shave. Dialing-up the aggressiveness on the razor may have helped compensate for the mildness of the blade, giving you a better shave. Plus, you may have been applying too much pressure the first time around to compensate for the blade's lack of sharpness.

As for me, I use my Slim on 5 for WTG, 4 for XTG, and 3 for ATG. As Kiwi pointed out to me on another thread, SA's are about a notch milder than Slims (eg: you'd use 6 on a SA to match 5 on a Slim).

Astra SP blades. day one (yesterday was brand new), day two today with same blade in it.

 

[Lamar]

I leave mine on 5 and it gives a marvelous shave. It helps to put a nice sharp blade in it. I didn't see you mention what blade you had in it. One things about the SA that requires some attention is that the longer handle may require you to adjust your technique a little bit. For example, every now and again I shave with a 40s superspeed, and the lady gillette is also part of my rotation -- even though the heads on those 2 razors are the same, I have to change the way I handle the razor, between the two. You might be adjusting your grip on the razor in a subtle way that you're not aware of. As with any new tool, I think if you give yourself a few more shaves and stick with the same setting (try a "7"), you should have it dialed in very quickly.
Hope it helps,
-- Chet

The angle that it needs to be held at does seem to be a degree or two different from my Merkur23c and I think that may have been part of the problem yesterday. Think I'll dial down to 5 or 4 tomorrow and see what happens and just stay there for the rest of the week.

Don't ya just love trying a new razor?

 

[Lamar]

Oh. before I forget. thank you for all the comments!

 

[OkieStubble]

I have noticed with my Super Adjustable, I can change the aggressiveness just by moving my hand either towards the head or towards the end of the longer handle. It almost makes clicking the dial up or down not neccessary.

 

[mistercitizen]

I don't know but I'm about to find out.... just got my first quarter 1976 (W1) Black Beauty birthday razor today in the mail. I'm excited.

Ben

 

[Lamar]

Congrats! This is my birthyear razor as well and I won an ebay auction for a '78 that is my little brothers birth year. He knows I am putting together a traditional shaving kit for his birthday in December but he doesn't know about the Gillette.

 

[tacchini]

i use 5 on the fatboy, it seems to do the job for me.

 

[bryan1980]

Astra SP blades. day one (yesterday was brand new), day two today with same blade in it.

I'd classify Astra SP's as being fairly middle of the road, so a setting of 1 might very well be too mild. Also, I've found the second shave on those blades to be better than the first.

 

[Lamar]

I'd classify Astra SP's as being fairly middle of the road, so a setting of 1 might very well be too mild. Also, I've found the second shave on those blades to be better than the first.

I'm starting to think about the second day shave too. My previous astra sp in my merkur seemed to do better on the second shave also. That just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.