new to butterfly razor

I recently switched from a 3 piece DE razor to a butterfly style Parker razor. Is the handle supposed to be cranked down tight to bend the blade? I find that if I loosen the handle/butterfly I get a better (more aggressive) shave. Is this proper use of this style of razor? Thanks for the help.

It should be turned all the way down. Your getting a closer shave because loosening the handle is resulting in more blade exposure. If you prefer it you should research some more aggressive razors.

(11-17-2012, 03:59 PM)GWO Wrote: I recently switched from a 3 piece DE razor to a butterfly style Parker razor. Is the handle supposed to be cranked down tight to bend the blade? I find that if I loosen the handle/butterfly I get a better (more aggressive) shave. Is this proper use of this style of razor? Thanks for the help.

I tried to "adjust" my razor that way when I first started DE shaving 40+ years ago....until one time it loosened up while shaving and gave me the "surprise" of my life ! +1...keep it cranked closed. you may find at some point, that you want to explore a more aggressive razor. work with the one you have now, it takes time to learn any new razor. hang onto it, even if you acquire a new one, there may be times when it's "just right".

I believe that faux "adjustability" was touted by Gillette many years ago. I've tried it and far prefer an adjustable that gets dialed in with no chance of it changing on me mid shave.

FWIW GWO, you're on a slippery slope my friend! Once you discover an aggressive shave it can be like a drug. Welcome!

I will keep this razor cranked down. Thanks for the advice. I ordered a blade sampler from Whipped-dog. Maybe a stiffer blade will work better, if one exists.

Keep it cranked down, loosening it will result in more edge exposure but doing so is too imprecise to have repeatable results.

(11-20-2012, 12:31 PM)squire Wrote: Keep it cranked down, loosening it will result in more edge exposure but doing so is too imprecise to have repeatable results.

Will do. Thankful I didn't have to learn this one the hard way.

or i could send you a gillette slim stuck on setting 9

You could also shim the blade, which will effectively create a larger blade gap without loosening the doors. Just take an old blade and cut off the edges on both sides, then place that as a shim under the working blade, then crank down tight. You now have a more aggressive TTO. If you like that, but think you want to try more aggressive try two shims. This shimming practice is as old, apparently as are DE safety razors. They came out with adjustables to make this sort of thing simpler, but shimming still works.

Good luck.

[quote='vferdman' pid='132635' dateline='1353461997']
You could also shim the blade, which will effectively create a larger blade gap without loosening the doors. Just take an old blade and cut off the edges on both sides, then place that as a shim under the working blade, then crank down tight. You now have a more aggressive TTO. If you like that, but think you want to try more aggressive try two shims. This shimming practice is as old, apparently as are DE safety razors. They came out with adjustables to make this sort of thing simpler, but shimming still works.

I'm going to give this a try. Thank you.
Edit:
BBS with one shim. Beautiful. Thanks again. Great idea.

Congratulations on discovering shimming. Very cheap and effective!