Shimming an Old

I've read all the threads regarding shims, even before I got my Old. So after I cleaned up the OT (Please ignore the poor paint job on the handle, it needs another coat)

I tried it out. I found it to be smooth, fairly intuitive, easy. I didn't feel it was aggressive. About the same as my pre-war tech. My New Goodwill is definitely much more efficient, IMHO. Note: All shaves use Astra SS, my go-to blade for DE's.

I wanted to make my shims about the same width as the top cap because I just wanted to increase the gap, not change the angle of the blade. My first attempt cutting the edge off a blade ended up shattering the blade. I don't know whether it had to do with cutting too close to the hardened edge or it was because I was using metal snips instead of household scissors, but I had jagged shards of metal flying around. So I ended up using a grinder instead. I marked the exposed edge of a used blade and used the grinder to remove all of the marking. I actually worked on two at the same time, clamped together. When I had all of the marking removed I unclamped them, rotated one and clamped them back together, and worked the edges until they were even. My attempt to get them symmetrical.

So I now have two shims that are just barely wider than the top cap, but don't interfere with the cutting edge of the installed blade.

Because I'm occasionally a moron, first I tried the OT with two shims. Possibly one of the worst experiences of my life. I didn't cut myself (somehow) but the blade was dragging and tugging on everything. The complete opposite of smooth.

I gave my mind some time to recover before resuming my experiments. With a single shim I found that the shave is very dependent on technique. If I didn't keep the angle optimal it was not going to be fun. However, when I went slow, and concentrated on my technique, mostly holding the right angle, it was a wonderful shave. Possibly even more efficient than my Goodwill (obviously more testing is required). After a week, I took the shim out to verify the difference. Again a smooth easy shave, but what a difference. Three passes without the shim to get the same as two passes with.

I would say that it was similar to the adjustments required when using any different DE. After a couple of shaves it becomes almost automatic. Less thought, more muscle memory. I wouldn't recommend it for a newbie, but anyone with a good, consistent technique should be able to get a little more aggression out of their OT. YMMV.

Now I'm going to have to see how a shim affects my tech.

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Shimming an Old