Gillette Adjustable Razor Blade Gap by Razor Type
Feeler Gauges
Simple Feeler gauges were used to measure “Blade Gap” on various types of “new” Gillette Adjustable razors. Important differences between types of razors were found.How will your shave differ depending on the Adjustable Razor Type you choose?
Use the following Blade Gap Sizes Chart. It will help you “guesstimate” which type of Gillette Adjustable razor will shave you better. My takeaways and conclusions are as follows:
1) The Standard Slim (or the Aristocrat Slim)*is closest razor to the “Average” adjustable razor.
2) The Bottom Dial 1-5 Prototype was the mildest of the bunch.
3) The most aggressive commonly available adjustable razor is the “Black Beauty”.
4) The Bottom Dial 1-9 was the most aggressive of the bunch.
5) All the adjustable razors are great!
6) Fatboys are cool!
7) Everyone should try a vintage Gillette Adjustable razor.
*Standard Slims are built using the same physical parts as the Aristocrat Slim – only the plating metal (nickel or gold) is different.
“Blade Gap” is the dimension in red on this Gillette diagram.
See how “Blade Gap” changes based on Adjustment Dial position. A higher dial setting equals more Blade Gap equals greater blade Exposure equals closer shave.
Razor Head Dimensions Breakdown
See the Base Plate Move!
Blade Gap Sizes by Adjustable Razor Type and Position
Sorted Top to Bottom – Mildest to Most Aggressive
| Dial Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Bottom Dial 5P | .008 | .011 | .013 | .016 | .020 | .023 | .026 | .030 | .034 |
| Serial Toggle | .012 | .013 | .019 | .020 | .023 | .027 | .030 | .032 | .034 |
| Executive FB | .011 | .015 | .019 | .022 | .025 | .027 | .030 | .034 | .038 |
| Standard Fatboy | .011 | .015 | .017 | .019 | .025 | .030 | .033 | .035 | .037 |
| Chrome Toggle | .014 | .019 | .021 | .024 | .026 | .028 | .031 | .034 | .037 |
| Aristocrat Slim | .014 | .016 | .020 | .025 | .026 | .031 | .033 | .035 | .039 |
| Standard Slim | .015 | .017 | .022 | .025 | .027 | .030 | .034 | .036 | .039 |
| Avg Adjustable | .016 | .020 | .023 | .026 | .029 | .032 | .035 | .038 | .041 |
| Red Dot Fatboy | .019 | .022 | .025 | .029 | .032 | .035 | .038 | .041 | .044 |
| Super Adjustable | .018 | .024 | .026 | .028 | .031 | .035 | .038 | .042 | .045 |
| Standard Toggle | .021 | .025 | .027 | .031 | .032 | .036 | .039 | .041 | .043 |
| Bottom Dial 9P | .037 | .040 | .043 | .046 | .048 | .050 | .053 | .056 | .059 |
How to use this Blade Gap Table:
1) Finding an equivalent gap on another adjustable razor type.
For example, If you have a Standard Fatboy razor and shave with it at a “7” and want to know how another Gillette Adjustable will behave, simply look at the row for the other razor and match up the gap numbers. So, a Standard Fatboy at “7” is a “.033”. That is roughly equivalent to a Standard Toggle at a “5” (“.032”).
2) Finding if an adjustable razor type is not aggressive enough or too aggressive.
For example, if you have tried Slim at “9” and it is just not provide a close enough shave, look at the blade gap amount for the Slim at “9”. It is “.039”. Now, find another adjustable razor type that has a higher gap amount than “.039”. The “Super-84” fits the bill. It is a “.045”. So, a “Black Beauty” will give you more range. A Super Adjustable at “9” is like a Fatboy at “12” or “13” (if there was such a thing).
Also note Gillette has designed each and every one of the razors to provide about a “.003” difference from one setting to the next. That is the difference between a razor at any given setting and the setting above or below it will be about “.003”. This is true for all of the Gillette Adjustable models.If you don’t exactly see that in the Blade Gap Table, it is due to a slight measurement error. For those who care, the average standard deviation is .0072″ so considering the “Average Razor” and an average +/- 1 STDev as a significance threshold, only the Bottom Dials are significantly different than the rest of the adjustables.