Half DE Blade Adapter for a GEM Razor

This instructable will teach you how to craft a half DE blade adapter for your GEM razor. I am unsure if this will work with all models, but (from what I've seen) GEM razors had a standard head and this mod should work just fine with maybe some tweaks here and there.

• An inexpensive shavette (the ones you slide the plastic spine with half a DE blade)
• A knife
• Sandpaper (150 and 500 grit is ok. Just 1 sheet of each is more than enough)
• A GEM Razor (don't worry, you won't alter it in any way)
• Masking tape
• Epoxy or any kind of glue that's water resistant and doesn't shrink when dry
• Half DE blade
• Pliers
• Lots of patience

You need to remove the stem off the shavette. This will render the shavette useless because well... that's where you put the blade.

I used the knife to carve the line where I wanted to cut the mod. Then I just snapped it. If you have a small saw , I thin it would work better but carving the line (on both sides) works just fine. The deeper the line, the easier the snapping. The blade will serve as reference.

Place the adapter inside the GEM Razor. You want to center the blade between the pegs. If you have a way to measure the width of the inner side of the GEM razor, then do it and make sure your adapter has the same width. If not then do as I did and sand both sides until the adapter fits.

The plastic is quite easy to sand down. Here is where you will use your 150grit sandpaper. You want to wear the adapter from both sides as equally as possible. this will ensure the adapter will sit in the middle of the encasing and, in turn, will ensure the blade sits in between the two razor pegs that serve as blade stoppers. As you can see in the last photos, I sanded it down to about .3mm of the adapter's outer peg

I recommend placing the blade at this point because this is when you start to feel how the adapter will work. Also, this is when you will perform the modification to the blade so that it fits the razor's encasing. The blade is wider than the razor's head, lucky for us the blade is easy to snap. I added a photo that shows how you have to cut the blade. This is where you use the pliers.

You will also sand the adapter's spine from the top and bottom equally, this is to help the razor close the door. You see, the spine of the adapter is too thick and even after sanding the sides, the door won't close. This part is done by trial and error. Sand both sides a bit, put the adapter in the razor and try to gently close the door. If it doesn't close, rinse and repeat.

The 500grit sandpaper is used to add a more smooth finish. Just remember you're sanding, this means you will make your adapter slightly smaller.

The thing with GEM Blades is that they're bigger than the adapter+blade. They are made in such a precise way that no matter how thick your beard is, the blade will not misalign. Well, that and also the fact that the door of the razor is pressing the blade.

In my case, the adapter had a small wiggle that allowed it to misalign and one side of the blade was more exposed than the other. To counter this, I decided to add a tail that rests against the hinge of the razor (where the GEM blade's spine would rest) this tail was made with epoxy and masking tape.

To do this, add masking tape below the adapter and then throw a blob of epoxy to it (as shown in the picture). Next you have to fold the masking tape and stick it over the blade. Then, put the adapter on the razor making sure the epoxy and masking tape touch the hinge. Leave the adapter there until the epoxy is cured. Then you can remove the masking tape. If you feel the adapter still wiggles a bit, you can add a layer of masking tape on top of the epoxy.

One thing I did not try but that just came to my mind, was to use a blob of automotive silicon. Since it's flexible (even when dry) you can add a blob that's bigger than the space between the adapter's spine and the hinge, let it dry outside the razor (so that it won't stick to it) and it won't matter because the hinge will just compress it. If you have more than one shavette, you can try it and let me know how it works.

That's it.

Now you can use half DE blades in your GEM Razor :D