Anyone use a safety razor?

[Doc Dan]

Thanks, Dan. I poked around on the web last night and found they were made in USA, England, and Canada over time.

There were two different top caps made, one with a full length rail and one with two shorter tabs to hold the blade. There were short and log comb models, this one is a short comb model. Some had a ball end handles and others had a cylinder end.

One issue the handles had was when they were assembled, the top hourglass portion and the ball end portion were over- tightened on the knurled part. So, if the razor was dropped, over time the handles would crack. Mine has cracks at both ends, but it’s still mechanically sound. (razoremporium.com sells repro handles) One of the corner teeth on the comb is cracked from being dropped. (but not bent) Despite being made from copper and brass it’s lighter than my “modern” razors.

There was another one for sale with a case, blade holder, and 3 old blades for $42 USD. The end teeth of the comb were bent on that one, and knowing what I know now, I’ll bet the handle was cracked, too. This one was $15 USD.(With some USA made blade already installed!)

I was thinking of going back to look at the other one with the thought of canabalizing both to make one good one, but I think all of the parts are damaged on both. I'd end up with a lot of broken parts. These aren't collectable, so no sense trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

So far the consensus is that it is a Gillette New Short Comb, probably from the late 1930's. They said the handle likely has cracks as that is what usually happens. You already knew about all of this, however, so nothing new discovered so far.

I had my Tech re-plated with gold like it was when new. It was not expensive and looks amazing.

[knivesandbooks]

Back when I shaved my beard I used a safety razor! The single blade old school kinda. I never invested much but I found some good blades somewhere. I grew a beard when I started going to the Orthodox Church and it has kinda of stuck.

[Pokey]

Well, I called another antique store today and asked them if they had any safety razors. The lady was able to quickly look up which vendors had them and approximately how many. She totaled up over a dozen on hand with their 30 or so vendors.

I ended up picking up three more Gillettes. All three were new enough to have date codes. (1950 to 1988) The Gillette date codes have a letter and a number stamped on the bottom plate representing the year and the quarter they were made. The three I bought are two ‘54’s, (‘54=Z1 & Z2,) and a ‘57. (‘57=C2)

The ‘54’s are a Tech 3-piece and a medium Super Speed “Flare Tip.” The ‘57 is a Light Exposure Super Speed Flare Tip. (Blue on the tip.) The ‘54’s look like they’ve been handled very little. The ‘57 has been around the block a time or two and needs to be scrubbed some more.

The prices were $9, $9.75, and $17.50 respectively, each cheaper than a Van Der Hagen at Walmart!

I gotta stop hitting the antique shops.

[Woodpuppy]

You got it bad!

[Doc Dan]

Haha! I agree. I think he does. It is a fun hobby, though. I've been thinking of selling off a few of mine and focusing on collecting Hensons and Techs.

[Woodpuppy]

Apparently I’m collecting canoes; I need to sell other things to fund MOAR KEVLAR!

[Doc Dan]

This week I shaved with the Edwin Jagger DE89 and a Gillette 7am blade. The next day, I shaved with the Gillette Gold Tech with the 7am blade. I got okay shaves. I know both razors can do extremely well with other blades. That blade is just not for me..not bad, but I've got better.

Day before yesterday I used my mild Henson with a Feather blade. I got a really fine shave in two passes with a bit of touch up. Today, I used the medium aluminum Henson with a Feather blade. I got a near BBS shave in two passes with very little touch up.

Razor design is important and so is blade choice. It is fun experimenting.

[Ric]

Used my Merkur 34 if I remember right.
And the Muehle grande 89.
Kiehls shaving cream as Pre-Shave with proraso cream face lathered.

Overall a very smooth experience.
As always a joy to use.


I lately has issues with my Henson medium. The next day I was not able to untwist. Had to use a pair of pliers.

Still no titanium Henson’s available.

[Doc Dan]

Used my Merkur 34 if I remember right.
And the Muehle grande 89.
Kiehls shaving cream as Pre-Shave with proraso cream face lathered.

Overall a very smooth experience.
As always a joy to use.


I lately has issues with my Henson medium. The next day I was not able to untwist. Had to use a pair of pliers.

Still no titanium Henson’s available.

The tolerances are very tight on the Henson. I put a bit of Vaseline on the threads of a couple of mine. That helps a little. Some people use lubes like Froglube, or something...not sure what.

I've never had to get pliers. I use a shop towel to grab the head and the handle so I have more traction. A rubber grip pad like you use for opening jars works really well.

[Woodpuppy]

I’ve not used anything on my AL13 Henson threads. I have had to use a toothbrush to get all the soap/cream scum off the head and top of the handle though. Maybe I’ll put a dab of PJ on mine as a prophylactic measure.

[Pokey]

I tried an experiment this morning. I did an A/B comparison between two old Gillette Tech razors. I’ve read that the older post war Tech’s aren’t as aggressive as earlier ones. So I tossed a Feather blade in the newer Tech,(1954,) and shaved the right side of my face. Right away I could tell the blade was tugging.

When I was finished, I switched the blade to the older Tech, (no date code on it; ‘39-‘45 era,) and used the opposite edge. It was a huge difference. It gave me a BBS shave. I even used it to touch-up the right side.

One thing I did when loading up the older Tech with the blade was to slide the blade towards the cutting side. (There’s a bit of slop on these old razors where one can move the blade side to side a bit; these aren’t like modern razors.) I wonder if in doing so it gave me a bit more blade exposure, and it worked in my favor?

I should be able to tell by moving the blade back away from the cutting side next time.

This makes me feel like a lab rat sacrificing my face for science.

[Doc Dan]

That is really odd. My Tech bends the blade so much that it can't move at all. It is a three piece razor and once it is snugged down all the way and the blade bent it's going nowhere. Are yours USA made or Argentina, or where?

Mine is, as I have said, dated to 1946-1950. It is a very good shaving razor. I can get BBS easily, even though it is so smooth and mild feeling. I'm no expert on the Tech, but based upon mine I was going to look for another one. Maybe I need to do some research.

[Pokey]

That is really odd. My Tech bends the blade so much that it can't move at all. It is a three piece razor and once it is snugged down all the way and the blade bent it's going nowhere. Are yours USA made or Argentina, or where?

Mine is, as I have said, dated to 1946-1950. It is a very good shaving razor. I can get BBS easily, even though it is so smooth and mild feeling. I'm no expert on the Tech, but based upon mine I was going to look for another one. Maybe I need to do some research.

Hey Doc,

I wasn't exactly clear on what I was doing to set the blade to one side or the other.

I'll put the razor together with the blade installed, then loosen the handle just enough that I can easily slide the blade to the left or right, (looking down from above,) then tighten the handle. I've even used the oblong slots, (drain holes?,) in the plate to gauge just how much play is in the blade/top cap fit and I tried to center the blade. Nothing too technical, though, I haven't taken any measurement or anything like that. You are right though, the Tech's clamp the blade in place with zero movement when tightened.

I've found three of the Tech's in antique shops. They’re all USA made. There were probably millions made so they're not too collectable. I've paid from $9-$20 dollars for them. The $20 one, the oldest one, with the plating peeling off, came with a ratty old mismatched Gillette carrying case. The newer '54 and the '66 travel Tech cleaned up real well. (Low miles, only used before hot dates on Saturday night.)

The old war era one needs to be re-plated. Who did you use to have yours re-plated?

[Doc Dan]

That is really odd. My Tech bends the blade so much that it can't move at all. It is a three piece razor and once it is snugged down all the way and the blade bent it's going nowhere. Are yours USA made or Argentina, or where?

Mine is, as I have said, dated to 1946-1950. It is a very good shaving razor. I can get BBS easily, even though it is so smooth and mild feeling. I'm no expert on the Tech, but based upon mine I was going to look for another one. Maybe I need to do some research.

Hey Doc,

I wasn't exactly clear on what I was doing to set the blade to one side or the other.

I'll put the razor together with the blade installed, then loosen the handle just enough that I can easily slide the blade to the left or right, (looking down from above,) then tighten the handle. I've even used the oblong slots, (drain holes?,) in the plate to gauge just how much play is in the blade/top cap fit and I tried to center the blade. Nothing too technical, though, I haven't taken any measurement or anything like that. You are right though, the Tech's clamp the blade in place with zero movement when tightened.

I've found three of the Tech's in antique shops. They’re all USA made. There were probably millions made so they're not too collectable. I've paid from $9-$20 dollars for them. The $20 one, the oldest one, with the plating peeling off, came with a ratty old mismatched Gillette carrying case. The newer '54 and the '66 travel Tech cleaned up real well. (Low miles, only used before hot dates on Saturday night.)

The old war era one needs to be re-plated. Who did you use to have yours re-plated?

I found an electro-plating company local to me. I'm on the other side of the world from you. However, I know there are a lot of companies in the US that do this sort of thing and for a razor it is cheap. I had a chalice re-plated in silver for our church many years ago and it was not at all expensive for a whole chalice. It cost be around $18 USD to gold plate my Tech.

[Doc Dan]

[Bloke]

Very interesting, Doc. Thanks for sharing.

[Doc Dan]

What was interesting to me is that the video implied that the same machine runs the blades for many brands and they just stamp whatever name they want on it.

[Pokey]

What was interesting to me is that the video implied that the same machine runs the blades for many brands and they just stamp whatever name they want on it.

Doc,

I wouldn't doubt it. If you have the automated machinery already dialed in to do the stamping, heat treat, and finishing then all you'd have to do is change the software on a printer or laser to put a customer's logo on them. The drugstore and supermarket brands are probably made on the same line. Why shut everything down at the end of a shift when a company could run the factory 24/7 and make more money?

I've read that Personna "Red Label" blades that were made in a factory in Israel, (no longer, now Germany,) also made a brand called Chrystal. Some more experienced shavers say their faces told them the two blades are the same.

I'm introducing a little thread drift here, but my dad used to work for 3M in their photo processing division. Not only did 3M have their own brand of 35mm film, but they made film for a ton of off brands. If it didn't say Kodak, Fuji, Agfa, or the other well known brands, it was made by 3M for a private label. For processing, most of the film dropped off at a supermarket or drugstore, including the well known brands mentioned above, was processed by Dynacolor, a subsidiary of 3M.

[Pokey]

In a post above I wrote about pushing the blade towards, or pulling it away from the side of the razor that I'd be shaving with before tightening the cap down. (You'll need a razor with sloppy tolerances to do this.) Yesterday, using the same old Gillette, I tried pushing the blade towards the edge of the razor, exposing the edge of the blade a bit more, before shaving with it. That same blade didn't seem to tug on the whiskers like it did a couple of days ago.

Is this a way to make micro-adjustments on your fixed razor to make it a more or less aggressive razor? (a micro-adjustable razor?) Could this turn a ho-hum shave into a smooth, comfortable, BBS shave? Could I become an Internet Influencer when everyone reads this?

I'll have to keep tinkering with this.

[Woodpuppy]

In a post above I wrote about pushing the blade towards, or pulling it away from the side of the razor that I'd be shaving with before tightening the cap down. (You'll need a razor with sloppy tolerances to do this.) Yesterday, using the same old Gillette, I tried pushing the blade towards the edge of the razor, exposing the edge of the blade a bit more, before shaving with it. That same blade didn't seem to tug on the whiskers like it did a couple of days ago.

Is this a way to make micro-adjustments on your fixed razor to make it a more or less aggressive razor? (a micro-adjustable razor?) Could this turn a ho-hum shave into a smooth, comfortable, BBS shave? Could I become an Internet Influencer when everyone reads this?

I'll have to keep tinkering with this.

If this is a DE razor, by pushing the blade towards one edge you’re shortening it on the other. Unless I’m very much misunderstanding what you’re doing.