To Shim or Not To Shim ?

[mpf9ret]

Am sure many members have read/heard of the Fergie Billy Shim. The purpose of which is to make a modern Gem Blade , more like the older blades which have a thicker spine.

I have used a full spine in the older Razors, and a 1/2 Spine in both the ER 1914 & 1924. For me the 1914 is transformed into a real smooth & agile shaver, with which top notch shaves can be achieved.

The 1924 with an added shim , becomes a much smoother shaver, but still needs handling with care.

I wonder how many other subscribers have tried the use of a Shim , and whether or not they found it to improve the performance of the Razor ?

 

[pjgh]

I have just one razor where I feel the shim makes a difference: the Damaskeene open comb. Without, it is so mild, it's just not worth using, but when I used it with a real Damaskeene blade (duh! it actually says, "Use ONLY with Damaskeene Blades" on the inside) it was transformed. With a shim it works.

Others, no ... not routinely. I like the additional aggression, certainly in the 1914 and 1924. If I want less, I know exactly which 1912s to use. Micromatic open comb, I never found aggressive; quite the contrary. Later models, certainly Push Button, Featherweight and Contour, by that point blades were as thin as modern.

 

[Fergiebilly]

As Paul says ...All Gem Models from the OCMM onwards were all designed to take a modern Gem Blade...The OCMM being the first model...After the OCMM was introduced on 1929/1930 all SEs that required the older thicker spine stropping blade were discontinued with the exception of the so called New Improved 1912 variants which included the Gem Junior...The later 1912 variants in the USA and the Gem Junior in particular got milder...

I personally find that a shim will make almost all Pre - OCMM SEs more Aggressive in nature...The Shim will also smooth them out as well...Without the Shim they are more Harsh...Harsh doesn't equate to be being more Aggressive in my books...The issues with Gem blades being Harsh for the first few shaves in some Older SEs is nothing to do with the cutting edge of the blade at all...Gem blades are not Harsh in later models because they were designed for them and that's what led me into this line of enquiry in the first place...

As Paul said something like the Open Comb Damaskeene is a very Mild SE & the Shim makes it more Aggressive...The Shim will make all Older SEs a Tad more Aggressive but Smoother...The later Gem 1912 s Variants in the USA were manufactured to be Milder to the point of being Old Spanners to be honest...Gem were attempting to make them less Harsh with a Modern Gem Blade it would appear & they totally messed them up in my humble opinion....Some of the later Gem Juniors were abysmal because of these changes...

The English 1912s were the only so called New Improved 1912s that were not changed in anyway and the Shim works particularly well in these because it smooth's them out tremendously...The English 1912s can be very harsh without a Shim for the first few shaves...The later USA 1912 variants were all to cock in the later years and a Shim can just make them worse because the dynamic's was changed to make them less harsher with a modern Gem blade...Without any great success in my books..

Lather Catchers are another story...Especially the models that were designed to take Wedge Type Blades...They require in some cases quite a bit of shimming or you are right up a Gum Tree but the principle is the same...

Billy

 

[mikebrownington]

Sorry to dig up an old thread...

I was fortunate to win a USA 1912 in a recent PIF and shaved with it today with a shim and WOW, smooth as anything, couldn't be bothered making a shim before but I wish I had. Like others have said I often found the 1912 (my usual UK one) and to a lesser extent the 1914 rough for the first shave or two but the shimmed blade was immense! Look forward to trying it with my UK model now - I'd largely given up on it as I was fed up with the roughness.

 

[mpf9ret]

Sorry to dig up an old thread...

I was fortunate to win a USA 1912 in a recent PIF and shaved with it today with a shim and WOW, smooth as anything, couldn't be bothered making a shim before but I wish I had. Like others have said I often found the 1912 (my usual UK one) and to a lesser extent the 1914 rough for the first shave or two but the shimmed blade was immense! Look forward to trying it with my UK model now - I'd largely given up on it as I was fed up with the roughness.

" You should have" listened to Billy

 

[Fergiebilly]

Sorry to dig up an old thread...

I was fortunate to win a USA 1912 in a recent PIF and shaved with it today with a shim and WOW, smooth as anything, couldn't be bothered making a shim before but I wish I had. Like others have said I often found the 1912 (my usual UK one) and to a lesser extent the 1914 rough for the first shave or two but the shimmed blade was immense! Look forward to trying it with my UK model now - I'd largely given up on it as I was fed up with the roughness.

Glad you found a Marked Difference..Quite a few folks have got the benefit from the Shim..The Angle is Sorta more Flatter against the face with the Shim ..Nice One..

Billy

 

[fancontroller]

I have been sceptical about how such a thin shim (half a Gem spine) could really alter the angle of the blade in the razor that much to make a difference. Yesterday I put it to the test again (first time I tried a while back I couldn't detect much difference).

I used an Ever Ready 1914 with a half spine Gem shim and the shave was very smooth. In fact I didn't think the shave was getting very close because of the lack of the expected audible feedback. The result though was a very close and smooth shave.

Today, for comparison, I used the same razor/blade combination without the shim just to see how I normally experience the 1914. Truth was today's shave felt more scratchy and more audible feedback which makes me think the blade was actually scraping more than with yesterday's shim. The result wasn't as close as yesterday either.

I think @Fergiebilly's description "The Angle is Sorta more Flatter against the face with the Shim" sums it up well and convinced me to try it out for myself.

 

[Fergiebilly]

I have been sceptical about how such a thin shim (half a Gem spine) could really alter the angle of the blade in the razor that much to make a difference. Yesterday I put it to the test again (first time I tried a while back I couldn't detect much difference).

I used an Ever Ready 1914 with a half spine Gem shim and the shave was very smooth. In fact I didn't think the shave was getting very close because of the lack of the expected audible feedback. The result though was a very close and smooth shave.

Today, for comparison, I used the same razor/blade combination without the shim just to see how I normally experience the 1914. Truth was today's shave felt more scratchy and more audible feedback which makes me think the blade was actually scraping more than with yesterday's shim. The result wasn't as close as yesterday either.

I think @Fergiebilly's description "The Angle is Sorta more Flatter against the face with the Shim" sums it up well and convinced me to try it out for myself.

Everything that you just there just about sums it up I reckon..That Shim although thin changes the geometry of the razor quite remarkably..I discovered this when using an Original Stropping Blade & when I acquired a Gem G Bar that was specifically designed to take a Current Gem Blade..

I have always said Gem blades are only Harsh in some Older SEs because the Geometry of the Razor is all to Cock because they were deigned to take a blade with a Thicker Spine & the Shim replicates the Intended Geometry of the Razor..Gem Blades are not Harsh in Later Gem Models because they were designed for them..Glad you are enjoying the shaves with the Shim..

Billy

 

[Fergiebilly]

For Folks that are not familiar with Shimming a Gem blade here is the thread again that Paul kindly put together for me sometime Ago..The Gem G Bar Junior actually takes a Complete Gem Spine..

Billy, you know him as 'Fergiebilly', has made some precise measurements of modern GEM/Personna blades versus the old GEM, Ever Ready and Star blades from around the 1910s and found that the old blades, Damaskeenes, Cru-Steel and the like, had a thicker spine and so, the dynamics of the razor were actually quite different to the shaves we experience today with modern GEM/Personna blades.

To remedy, he found that half of a modern GEM/Personna spine slipped underneath was just right.

Here's how ...

First, de-spine an old blade by squeezing at each end of the spine and wiggling it free:

Now, using flat blade screw drivers and a good hard edge, like a metal ruler, open up the spine ...

... close it up and repeat a few times until it snaps:

Take your razor, say a 1912, and load in the half spine and the blade on top:

Voila! Shimmed!

You can do the same with, say a GEM Junior Bar, loading in the blade and then slipping the shim under:

Voila! Shimmed!

... that's how

---

Naturally, once you've removed a spine from a GEM you can easily slip it onto the back of a FEATHER blade if that's something you'd want to do ..

Billy

 

[Scratch]

For Folks that are not familiar with Shimming a Gem blade here is the thread again that Paul kindly put together for me sometime Ago..The Gem G Bar Junior actually takes a Complete Gem Spine..

Billy, you know him as 'Fergiebilly', has made some precise measurements of modern GEM/Personna blades versus the old GEM, Ever Ready and Star blades from around the 1910s and found that the old blades, Damaskeenes, Cru-Steel and the like, had a thicker spine and so, the dynamics of the razor were actually quite different to the shaves we experience today with modern GEM/Personna blades.

To remedy, he found that half of a modern GEM/Personna spine slipped underneath was just right.

Here's how ...

First, de-spine an old blade by squeezing at each end of the spine and wiggling it free:

Now, using flat blade screw drivers and a good hard edge, like a metal ruler, open up the spine ...

... close it up and repeat a few times until it snaps:

Take your razor, say a 1912, and load in the half spine and the blade on top:

Voila! Shimmed!

You can do the same with, say a GEM Junior Bar, loading in the blade and then slipping the shim under:

Voila! Shimmed!

... that's how

---

Naturally, once you've removed a spine from a GEM you can easily slip it onto the back of a FEATHER blade if that's something you'd want to do ..

Billy

---

Very useful guide, cheers Billy.

 

[tonyav214]

Wonderful post. Thanx.

 

[riverrun]

I think the original post might deserve to be sticky in the SE forum. Moderators?

 

[Fergiebilly]

Some of the Earlier postings were Sorta Mucked Up with the Change Overs..

Billy