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My Journey with the Slim Adjustable
I just recently won a PIF on another forum. Lots of goodies, but the star of the show was a 64 Slim that had been disassembled, cleaned adjusted and reassembled by a member there whose work is highly regarded. The razor is gorgeous, and I have always wanted one. Could not believe I won.
Upon receipt of this absolutely stunning piece of work, I was faced with determining how best to go about getting familiar with my new razor. I have never owned an adjustable of any stripe before.
At first, I thought to start on 4 or 5, and drop down or dial up from there, but in hindsight I think it better to start at 1, and move up a notch or two at a time to put the razor through it's entire range. This will do a couple of things. It will familiarize me with the full capabilities of this razor, from one end to the other, and will also help me to find out where the sweet spot is for me.
So, I intend in this thread to shave with this razor for as long as it takes to put it through it's paces, and will document those shaves and my impressions in this thread. If you are interested, tag along.
First shave was last night, but before we get to it, some initial impressions of the razor itself are in order.
Firstly, this thing is absolutely gorgeous. It looks like it just rolled off the assembly line. Not even kidding here. The numerals, dots and indicator spring have been re done in red, are a really nice touch. The weight of the razor is just about perfect, and the overall feel in the hand is one of high quality. As a matter of fact, I would have to say that this is probably the most finely made DE I have ever held in my hands. Function is smooth and effortless. Even the half turn to lock the razor down is really nice and smooth. The doors open easily and smoothly, and there is no grit to the adjustment knob. Nice, positive "click" at each adjustment point.
Some caveats before we start.
I do not intend to try to shave with the same blade for 4 or 5 days, so that will be replaced when I feel it is needed, with whatever blade I think I might want to try.
Also, choice of soap or cream will be whatever floats my boat each day.
So, on with last night's results.
Blade was a Voskhod on it's second shave. Soap was Stirling sandalwood.
On the first pass I had the blade gap on setting 1. Feel was like my Weishi, or my Lady Gillette. Very mild, and I had to pay particular attention to technique and angle, or I would "lose the edge", making it difficult for the blade to cut whisker, or to feel the blade at all.
Overall results of the first pass was not to my liking. Lots of stubble left. I don't think it would even be passable in a visual inspection. Not inclined to stay at that very mild setting, I bumped 'er up to 2 and relathered for the second pass.
Still very much felt like a Superspeed, or my Tech. Two things I noticed about this razor. One, I expected it to shave like a super speed, at least as regards the shaving angle. Wrong. I found that I had to drop my angle a bit. But in looking at the Slim head alongside my Black Handled Superspeed head, the Slim is more domed, and the sides of the doors that face the safety bar seem to have a bit of a flat angle on them that does not exist on my SS. There is a marked difference in the shape of the doors between the two razors, which necessitates a different shaving angle.
The other thing that I noticed is that, unlike my other vintage DEs, both the SS and the Techs, I did not need to rinse this razor as often. I cannot find the difference, especially on the lower settings, but when this razor's safety bar fills with lather I can still very much feel the edge of the blade. Not so with the others.
Second pass was a bit better, but even after a third pass my shave was not as close as I am used to.
The alcohol based aftershave still picked up a bit of irritation under the neck. Since that was only the second time I ever used a Voskhod blade, and since the razor's adjustment was an extremely mild setting, I am going to chock the irritation up to the blade, and proceed with a new blade on my next shave.
Overall, I'm impressed. I know, the shave results were sub par. But I can see the possibilities and advantages of this razor, even on the lower settings.
Stay tuned for the next shave, if you are interested.
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