Thread: Gillette adjustable: Locking the blade properly

Hi All,
It dawned on me recently that some of you may not be aware of the way almost all gillette adjustables lock the blade in place. This is kinda important, since a loose door (and resulting floppy blade) can be a nasty surprise. Hehe, I recently sold a few DE razors here, and thought this would be good to post for any future DE users.
When twisting the handle (closing the doors) after replacing a blade, you'll feel the handle sorta stop by itself. Now, there will almost always be another short turn needed to fully lock the doors. No, you won't need to force anything, but just use gentle pressure and see what happens. Actually, it's a nice feature, and almost feels like something's 'seating' well inside the razor.
The other thing to remember is try and adjust the settings when the doors are open, or near to it. I can't remember where I read that, but it's supposed to take less stress off the moving parts. Try it yourself, and you'll see it's much tougher to move the adjuster dial when the blade's locked in place.
There now............my public service announcement for the week.
Hope that helps someone,
Martin

Good post De Layne! I had a problem with an old DE Gillette adjustable that I inherited from my Grandpa. It had not been used in a quite some time so the adjustable handle could barely move. I had to crank it around with a set of vice grips while holding the blade end with a washcloth to get the doors open. After I got the doors open I used some Tri-Flow lubricant and injected it into the opening in the movable shaft. I had to let it sit for a couple of days for the lubricant to work its way into the metal. Finally, I was able to work it out by repeatedly opening and closing the doors. You have to be really careful with the vise grips or you will crush the handle as it is hollow. As it was I scratched the handle a bit in the process but I was determined to get the thing working again.

Lubrication Steps

1. Remove the razor blade and store it in a safe place.
2. With the doors open all the way find the lubrication hole.
3. Apply lubricant to the hole slowly; too much and not all of it will go in.
4. After the lubricant has been absorbed into the hole, twist the razor to open and close the doors repeatedly working the lubricant throughout the inside.
5. Lubricant will begin coming out by the topside of the washer in the handle; use a cloth to wipe it away.
6. Wipe of the head of the razor and you are ready to shave with your newly lubricated razor.

I have attached some pictures the first one shows the lubrication hole, followed by the application of lubricant, and where the lubricant comes out. Of course there is a picture of the Tri-Flow and the application tube that is very handy for this purpose.

Where do you buy Tri Flow lube ? When i lubricate DE's or the Pivots on my Straights, I use a glue dropper bottle with a syringe like needle at the top, I got in a fly fishing shop for applying glue to the heads of flys i tie, I bought a couple of them and they are nice for getting lube where you want it. ive used Gillette DE razors for years and didnt know they had a lube hole, nice post

Hi there C.S.,
Thanks for that post, and for bringing up the fix. That reminds me to mention the fact that I've bought and sold many DE razors, and almost all of em have been brought back to very good shaving shape. Can't really tell how they'll clean up till it's done.
Normally, when I get a new (old) razor, I'll do a soak in barbicide, then in very hot water with Dawn added. Following that, it gets shined up with Maas (don't use this on gold razors!), and then finished with scrubbing bubbles and more hot water.
I'd imagine any lubrication is long gone by then, so using a Q tip dipped in mineral oil, I lightly dab the head's hinges. I also will also normally pour a very small amount of that same oil into that spot you called the 'lubrication hole'. The thing is, I think there's no hole at all, but instead, a bottom 'notch' to match the top one. There's a notch on both sides, and it looks like they're more like dimples than holes. It may be they help channel the lubricant to the innards, but I don't think it's a direct pipeline. Whadda ya think?
Either way, it's a good tip, and thanks for including that.
Martin

Oh Jeeeez. Now I get what you're talking about C.S. I totally was focused on the wrong thing and now realize you were talking about the exact same thing as what I do. I just took the wording the wrong way, but after looking at those pics again, it hit me we were totally sympatico about oiling the same place. Please forget some of my first post...............

Hi jwoods,

Tri-flow is traditionally a bicycle lubricant for the chain and other moving parts. I purchased mine at the local bike shop but you should be able to purchase it from PerformanceBike.com here is the URL Tri-Flow Superior Lubricant Squeeze Bottle @ Performance Bicycle

I bought my first straight razor in 2005 and still use it only not as often. I prefer the DE for two main reasons, I can shave with it in the shower and it is not as time consuming. I still get a great shave in less time than a straight.

I am glad you liked the post.

Cheers!

Hi De Layne,

No worries mate, whether the hole was originally intended for lubrication or not is inconnsequetial. The important point is that putting lube in that location greatly helps its absorption into the main shaft. I like your procedure for reviving DE razors and think if I had taken the time to do this I would not have scratched mine up; sometimes I get impatient. I will put this procedure to work on my next DE razor. Thanks again.

Cheers!