A Small But Significant Difference Between Gillette's Slim and Parker's Variant

Looks just like a chrome Weishi 9306, but it
shaves differently. It's the Dorco Prime DE.

Since I have become aware of my razor-preference changes, in which I've become less enamoured with negative-blade-exposure razors, I've actually been rethinking my opinions of various razors that I've previously rejected as unsuitable for my use. Unfortunately, this includes some that I've passed along to others, which includes the Merkur 37C Slant and the Merkur 030 Bakelite. (Maybe it's time to consider purchasing one of the slants from Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements.)

There are a couple of razors still in my possession that deserve yet another look. This includes the
Dorco Prime one-piece, which is a visual twin to the Weishi 9306-F, but has slight differences including weight and shave character. I will be looking into this one once again in the near future.

Today's article, however, involves two of my three adjustable razors: the Parker Variant compared to my vintage 1963 Gillette Slim. I have previously published (in 2014) a fairly detailed Gillette Slim analysis, and after giving that a re-read, I stand by my design observations in that article.

This photo is reprinted from my 2014 artcile on the Gillette Slim. Shown here
set on 1, its mildest setting, the blade edge still lies slightly above the shave
plane as shown. (This can be more easily seen if you click on the image to
display it apart from the article -- an option that enlarges the photo. More 
aggressive settings of the razor change the angle of the shave plane to be 
more vertical in this perspective, which causes the edge to rise further 
above the shave plane.

 The  Slim, as explained in the photo caption, never has the blade edge at or below the shave plane. This positive blade exposure is going to make the razor feel aggressive or at least irritating at any setting if the user presses too hard -- as I was prone to do in the past.

Comparing this design aspect of the Slim to the Parker Variant highlights a key difference: the Variant positions the blade edge neutrally -- that is, at the shave plane. Though the difference between the two is small, it's probably just enough that a comfortable pressure of razor against skin with the Variant is likely to be irritating and likely to nip with the Slim.

There is another aspect of the comparison between Slim and Variant that could also affect the difference in their relative shave characters. That aspect is the blade angle in relation to the shave plane. This is something that I'll explore another day.

By the way, it isn't necessary to make detailed photos along the blade edge and draw in the shave plane to observe blade exposure -- that is, at least when the exposure is neutral or positive. (To document the extent of negative blade exposure, you do have to make a photo and draw in the shave plane.) This non-photo observation of blade exposure is done in one of the observations that I recommend when checking out a DE razor prior to first use, which I documented in an article long ago.

This procedure is illustrated in pic. 5 of that article, which in that context was intended to confirm that the blade edge was parallel to the safety bar (or comb). The procedure involves having a blade mounted in the razor. Then holding the razor before your eyes, oriented with the broad side of the razor head toward you and with handle pointed downward, the razor is rotated so the head moves away from you and the handle moves toward you. This causes the blade-bar gap to become visually smaller as the handle rises and the head recedes. If you focus your visual attention on the blade edge as you rotate the razor, you will see that the blade edge will appear to line up with the safety bar (or comb). If you rotate until the safety bar lines up with the top cap, you can see that the blade edge either 1) disappears, which means the razor has a negative blade exposure, 2) just lines up with both the safety bar and top cap, which means a neutral blade exposure, or 3) remains visible above the safety-bar-and-top-cap plane, which means a positive blade exposure.

(By the way, this procedure was sufficient to detect the subtle alignment flaw in early Variants, where the end of one safety bar dipped slightly, thus allowing ineven blade exposure along one edge of the blade. This subtle defect has been long corrected.)

Returning now to the comparison between the Slim and the Variant, I believe that for me to fully appreciate the Slim as a viable instrument for my face, I'm must use a lighter touch, even less pressure, than I'm currently accustomed. So perhaps, armed with the new information, I may finally learn to enjoy using the Slim. I'll let you know.

Happy shaving!