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Wolfman WR2 Adjustable

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Forgive the click bait, please. But, since I’ve acquired a WR2 .95 SB head to accompany my WR 1.25 head, I now have the ability to replicate all gaps from .95 through 1.55 simply by adding a shim (or two or three). In this way, I basically have the ability to enjoy the entire range of the WR2.

The .95 SB is insanely smooth with no discernible blade feel, much like a Gillette Tech; but the closeness of the shave does not last as long as with higher gaps. At all gaps, the WR2 maintains remarkable smoothness, but (and this is not news) the higher the gap, the longer the shave lasts.

I realize the purists may denigrate the use of shims, and that’s okay. But the WR2 is such an awesome shaver, why not enjoy the full range of gaps without needing an adjustment dial and clunky TTO? Here’s my WR2 ‘Adjustable’ with three Schick shims…
B41CCC62-F7BA-48EF-B806-B6BBDEB0144A.jpeg
 
Forgive the click bait, please. But, since I’ve acquired a WR2 .95 SB head to accompany my WR 1.25 head, I now have the ability to replicate all gaps from .95 through 1.55 simply by adding a shim (or two or three). In this way, I basically have the ability to enjoy the entire range of the WR2.

The .95 SB is insanely smooth with no discernible blade feel, much like a Gillette Tech; but the closeness of the shave does not last as long as with higher gaps. At all gaps, the WR2 maintains remarkable smoothness, but (and this is not news) the higher the gap, the longer the shave lasts.

I realize the purists may denigrate the use of shims, and that’s okay. But the WR2 is such an awesome shaver, why not enjoy the full range of gaps without needing an adjustment dial and clunky TTO? Here’s my WR2 ‘Adjustable’ with three Schick shims…
View attachment 1367816
Those are 2 beautiful razors!!

Questions about shimming...what is shimming and how do you do it? I've seen several threads discussing shims and wondered how it was done. (Been around for a while but hadn't gotten around to asking)
 

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Those are 2 beautiful razors!!

Questions about shimming...what is shimming and how do you do it? I've seen several threads discussing shims and wondered how it was done. (Been around for a while but hadn't gotten around to asking)
Creating the shim is easy — just cut off the sharp ends of a blade with scissors. Once made, the shim is placed either on top of, or below, the blade used for the shave to either increase or decrease tbe gap. Blades (and therefore shims) are .1mm thick.

Here’s how I set up the WR2 .95 with one shim to make it a 1.05mm gap:

1. Feather goes on cap
image.jpg
2. Shim goes on top of Feather
image.jpg
3. Baseplate goes on cap
image.jpg
4. Ready to shave!
image.jpg

Then you just add as many shims as you desire to increase the gap.
 
Creating the shim is easy — just cut off the sharp ends of a blade with scissors. Once made, the shim is placed either on top of, or below, the blade used for the shave to either increase or decrease tbe gap. Blades (and therefore shims) are .1mm thick.

Here’s how I set up the WR2 .95 with one shim to make it a 1.05mm gap:

1. Feather goes on cap
View attachment 1367844
2. Shim goes on top of Feather
View attachment 1367845
3. Baseplate goes on cap
View attachment 1367846
4. Ready to shave!
View attachment 1367848

Then you just add as many shims as you desire to increase the gap.
Great write-up! Thank you!
 
That is great info but somehow I feel letdown. I was expecting an adjustment knob and then, no adjustment knob. Sigh. :)
Likewise, stunning razors though.
I realize the purists may denigrate the use of shims, and that’s okay. But the WR2 is such an awesome shaver, why not enjoy the full range of gaps without needing an adjustment dial and clunky TTO? Here’s my WR2 ‘Adjustable’ with three Schick shims…
Nothing against shims particularly, it's an effective albeit unrefined method. But I'm not so sure on the assessment regarding the unwieldiness of ATTOs, especially price normalized. Interesting read otherwise !
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
I owned a Rocnel Sailor 2021. It is much more blade-forward than the WR2, and I found it less comfortable to shave with.

Thanks, Dan.

I've added shims to my WR2 1.15. Perhaps I did something wrong. (I don't think I did.) At any rate I wasn't very impressed with the shaves I got adding one, two, or three shims.

I very much like my WR2 1.35 though.

I have no idea what any of that means if anything.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
Thanks for the Shim Making 101 lesson, Dan! I just made two shims to see if I can make my WR2 .95 even smoother! :)
I just have to remember the shim goes on the cap first to decrease the gap!
 

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Thanks for the Shim Making 101 lesson, Dan! I just made two shims to see if I can make my WR2 .95 even smoother! :)
I just have to remember the shim goes on the cap first to decrease the gap!
Let us know the result, Kenny!
 
This is a very helpful discussion. I have the WR2 SB 1.05 and think it is excellent. I get great results with no irritation. But just out of curiosity, I decided to add a shim to increase the gap to 1.15. I used a blade as the shim and just used scissors to remove the sharp edge from either side. It really is very easy to do. Anyway, the 1.15 gap did shave slightly closer than the 1.05 but I did notice some irritation that I never get when using the 1.05. So at this point, I am totally content with the 1.05 gap. This is such a simple method to see how a more aggressive gap performs for you. So Dan is right, a wide range of gaps is possible by using shims with one DE razor. It’s pretty ingenious actually.
 
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