Thread: Adjustable DE's

Derby's mostly. I have a Personna in right now though. I can't really tell a difference between either blade though.

Not to threadjack, but I see you're from Nashville. So am I, I just don't live there anymore. I'll be passing through soon though.

Lived here for twenty years. Transplant from Iowa. I'm one of those damn yankees.

Sometimes I will vary an adjustable DE setting for different areas of the face. When I use a non-adjustable DE, I find it is possible to adjust in a different manner, by experimenting with angles and pressure.

I also have a Gillette 1904 replica DE razor. The price was a very affordable $25 or so when I bought it. In most of the ads for it they do not indicate that it is adjustable, but if you slightly loosen the screw-on handle, the blade becomes more agressive, and there is no wobbling problem caused by the blade or the handle being too loose. It can be adjusted this way to several different settings without anything becoming too loose or wobbly. The 1904 replica does not have any knobs or dials for adjusting.

The 1904 replica requires you to take the handle completely off of the head of the razor, and the head comes apart in two pieces. You insert the DE blade the way you would place a slice of lunchmeat between two pieces of bread. It is a little more work than a modern butterfly door razor, but I was curious to try its 100 year old design. It gives excellent shaves.

I started DE shaving with a '53 Gillette SS. After that I found a pristine '63 Gillette Slim and that is still my every-day razor. The SS's have all been put up for sale on TSD's "Razor Exchange". The only non-adjustable I use anymore is an old fat handled Gillette Tech (no date code). Even more recently I aquired a seemingly unused '58 D-4 Gillette Fatboy. I am still debating on which one gives me the closest shave between the Fatboy and the Slim. I keep them both set on the highest setting (9), as I think that allows me to manipulate the blade angle to a much higher degree. For blade choice I am fond of Gillette platinums in the Tech, and Crystals, Astras, Derby extras, and Gillette platinums in the adjustables.

Of course, now I am making the jump into straights!!

Jason