Traditional shavers/razors

[Mack The Knife]

Found three of these bad boys Moin had sent me in my chakoo khaana. Two of these haven't even been opened.

Will sharpen one of them and have a play on Sunday.

xl-t, don't be a chicken. I'll send you one of them. If you cut yourself badly, just shoot yourself in the goolies with an air-pistol. That should take your mind off the slashed jugular.

[brihacharan]

Found three of these bad boys Moin had sent me in my chakoo khaana. Two of these haven't even been opened.
Will sharpen one of them and have a play on Sunday.
xl-t, don't be a chicken. I'll send you one of them. If you cut yourself badly, just shoot yourself in the goolies with an air-pistol. That should take your mind off the slashed jugular.

Briha

Added in 1 hour 11 minutes 43 seconds:
Here's some interesting 'trivia' I came across....thought I'll share it with you guys.....
SAFETY RAZOR
It wasn't until 1901 that King C. Gillette fundamentally transformed shaving with the invention of the first safety razor, which was granted a patent on November 15th, 1904.

The basic form of a razor, "the cutting blade of which is at right angles with the handle, and resembles somewhat the form of a common hoe", was first described in a patent application in 1847 by William S. Henson. This also covered a "comb tooth guard or protector" which could be attached both to the hoe form and to a conventional straight razor.
The first attested use of the term "safety razor" is in a patent application for "new and useful improvements in Safety-Razors", filed in May 1880 by Fredrik and Otto Kampfe of Brooklyn, New York, and issued the following month. This differed from the Henson design in distancing the blade from the handle by interposing, "a hollow metallic blade-holder having a preferably removable handle and a flat plate in front, to which the blade is attached by clips and a pivoted catch, said plate having bars or teeth at its lower edge, and the lower plate having an opening, for the purpose set forth", which is, to "insure a smooth bearing for the plate upon the skin, while the teeth or bars will yield sufficiently to allow the razor to sever the hair without danger of cutting the skin. " The Kampfe Brothers produced razors under their own name following the 1880 patent and improved the design in a series of subsequent patents. These models were manufactured under the "Star Safety Razor" brand.

A third pivotal innovation was a safety razor using a disposable double-edge blade that King Camp Gillette submitted a patent application for in 1901 and was granted in 1904." The success of Gillette's invention was largely a result of his having been awarded a contract to supply the American troops in World War I with double-edge safety razors as part of their standard field kits, delivering a total of 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades for them. The returning soldiers were permitted to keep that part of their equipment and therefore easily retained their new shaving habits".

The subsequent consumer demand for replacement blades put the shaving industry on course toward its present form with Gillette as a dominant force. Prior to the introduction of the disposable blade, safety razor users still needed to strop and hone the edges of their blades. These are not trivial skills (honing frequently being left to a professional) and remained a barrier to the ubiquitous adopting of the “Be your own barber ideal”.


Drawing of the 'Double Edged' Safety Razor submitted for securing a patent.


The final product that changed the way people shaved!!!!
Briha

[xl_target]

Brihaji, thanks for the history lesson.
I was unaware that was how Gillette rose to prominence in the shaving world.

xl-t, don't be a chicken. I'll send you one of them. If you cut yourself badly, just shoot yourself in the goolies with an air-pistol. That should take your mind off the slashed jugular.

Mack, thanks for your generous offer but I just don't see myself using one.
See, this is America and an air pistol would not suffice. It would have to be the 1860 Army BP revolver. Clint would not otherwise approve.
In that case i would not have to worry about a mere severed jugular.

This is the shaving brush that I use:


image from HERE
I've had it for quite a few years and it works quite well.

[Mark]

Here is a rather poor picture of the razors I finally managed to drag out of my toothbrush drawer in the bathroom:


Most of these I have purchased at antique stores and garage sales in the 50 cents to two dollar range. I have never spent over $5 for a razor, and probably not over $4 as you can see I do not need one that badly. Many of these were pre-Ebay buys, as mentioned some of these are somewhat pricey nowadays. I have a few more and several of these came with the boxes which are packed somewhere else but my purpose for getting them was strictly to use.

The two on the left are "Fatboy Adjustables" with a mechanism like XL's and here is a funny story about these- These were probably the first two I purchased a long time ago, and idiot me started using them in the "most aggressive" setting thinking it was the "least aggressive" and man did I slice up my face back then! The extra-funny part was I never tried the other setting, being too scared thinking "If I nick myself this badly on low, how bad will I get cut up on high?" After a while I got a different razor that did not require 99% of my concentration while shaving and just kept using the new fixed setting ones. At some point I worked up the courage to try shaving with an adjustable again using a middle setting and then realized my error, LOL. The razor on the left of the lower row is the 1918 model I have referred to in my previous post. It is similar to the one to the right except it has the notched "comb" instead of a "safety bar" like the one to its right. I prefer using the "safety bar" style but I believe a "comb" style probably works better on beards.

Goondasmani you can see my "Fat Handled Tech" on the upper right, I did not mention that your razor is noted for producing one of the smoothest and gentlest shaves of all the Gillette razors so if a person has only one razor that is a great one to have!

Added in 11 minutes 30 seconds:
Also, the gray square on the lower left is a sharpening stone for razor blades, it is molded at an angle so it puts bevels on both edges at once but I have to say that unfortunately none of the razor blade sharpening gizmos I have used has ever been able to put as sharp an edge on a razor blade as what they come with new, and with the blades being so cheap I do not need to worry about it.

[dr.jayakumar]

Mark...you sure keep them safe..very impressive
regards
dr.jk

[goondasmani]

Here is a rather poor picture of the razors I finally managed to drag out of my toothbrush drawer in the bathroom:


Most of these I have purchased at antique stores and garage sales in the 50 cents to two dollar range. I have never spent over $5 for a razor, and probably not over $4 as you can see I do not need one that badly. Many of these were pre-Ebay buys, as mentioned some of these are somewhat pricey nowadays. I have a few more and several of these came with the boxes which are packed somewhere else but my purpose for getting them was strictly to use.

The two on the left are "Fatboy Adjustables" with a mechanism like XL's and here is a funny story about these- These were probably the first two I purchased a long time ago, and idiot me started using them in the "most aggressive" setting thinking it was the "least aggressive" and man did I slice up my face back then! The extra-funny part was I never tried the other setting, being too scared thinking "If I nick myself this badly on low, how bad will I get cut up on high?" After a while I got a different razor that did not require 99% of my concentration while shaving and just kept using the new fixed setting ones. At some point I worked up the courage to try shaving with an adjustable again using a middle setting and then realized my error, LOL. The razor on the left of the lower row is the 1918 model I have referred to in my previous post. It is similar to the one to the right except it has the notched "comb" instead of a "safety bar" like the one to its right. I prefer using the "safety bar" style but I believe a "comb" style probably works better on beards.

Goondasmani you can see my "Fat Handled Tech" on the upper right, I did not mention that your razor is noted for producing one of the smoothest and gentlest shaves of all the Gillette razors so if a person has only one razor that is a great one to have!

Added in 11 minutes 30 seconds:
Also, the gray square on the lower left is a sharpening stone for razor blades, it is molded at an angle so it puts bevels on both edges at once but I have to say that unfortunately none of the razor blade sharpening gizmos I have used has ever been able to put as sharp an edge on a razor blade as what they come with new, and with the blades being so cheap I do not need to worry about it.

Mark you got big collection keep them safe and put to use.Nothing feels better than a traditional shave(im currently in no shave november)

[Mark]

Mark you got big collection keep them safe and put to use.Nothing feels better than a traditional shave(im currently in no shave november)

Goondasmani,

I did not start out with the goal of collecting razors, it just worked out that way!

You go to a flea market or garage sale and there in a box of cheap costume jewelry or old kitchen cutlery you hear a tiny voice saying "HELP! Over here! Save Me!" and you look in the box and there is a desperate little razor waving with all his might to get your attention. You look on the box and it says "50 Cents each" or something, next thing you know you have a content little shaver snuggled in your shirt pocket going home with you.......

And this picture was just what I was able to dig out of my vanity drawer, I have another box elsewhere of ones I have purchased and decided not to keep there due to available room in previously mentioned drawer LOL.

Sometimes I get sad at these sales, I purchased this really cool old little Tava in the suburbs of Chicago at a yard sale once that was being held by an Indian family. I asked if anyone knew how old it was, which provoked a discussion about whether it was their grandmothers or their great grandmothers. They were selling it for $2 or $3, I think it was $2 but I was surprised that here was essentially a family heirloom that everyone there had no problem selling for a couple dollars. (The Tava is pretty interesting and merits some pictures and a thread of it's own one of these days).

[Ahmaq]

Mark, you seem like a person who would enjoy Badger and Blade

[Mack The Knife]

Just got reunited with an old friend. My dad's DE razor. The one I used to play with as a kid. He still does not know about it.

I will take better pics in daylight after I have cleaned and serviced it.



I am also certain my maternal grandfather's razor is still with my parents, as I recall seeing it, many years ago, in its original clear top plastic box.

Be grand if my parents manage to find that and mine as well.

P.S.: Mark, would it be safe to immerse this completely in water for a day or two to loosen things up or would I risk corrosion of the internal parts? The flaps open but the adjustment ring is stiff and I don't want to force it.

P.P.S.: Got the adjustment ring working, between 1 and 6, after a rinse. Will work on it after dinner.

[Mack The Knife]

I have now got the adjustment ring working smoothly but the gap for the blade's edges isn't moving.

Added in 3 minutes 20 seconds:
Got the gap moving now.

[Mark]

Mack what a beautiful razor! Truly worth swiping from your Dad! (For the record, my kids are encouraged to appropriate stuff of mine that I have not used for a while that also have memories of some sort attached. They are supposed to tell me but sometimes they forget, LOL)


I had that issue and I held the handle on mine and dipped it in boiling water and stirred it around a bit which freed it up. If yours does not move I suspect it is stuck in the "up" position. Try moving the ring to position "9" and using a small dowel or maybe a pencil trimmed to a screwdriver point and using it as a punch of sorts with the razor standing upright on a piece of cardboard or old book gently tap on the lower plate next to both sides of the "rod" that comes out of the center when the razor is open. Hope that makes sense! If not let me know and I'll take some pictures.

Regarding cleaning these, the cautions are the gold plating is somewhat thin so one needs to be delicate. The people that make theirs spotless seem to use toothbrushes and detergent. I have never aggressively cleaned mine but I have used an old toothbrush on the inner workings of the "silo" style of razor.

[Mack The Knife]

Mark, since I can be an impatient sod and hadn't heard from you, I immersed the razor in very hot water and managed to get the adjustment ring working radially and have it enlarge and reduce the blade edge gaps.

You are right about it being stuck in the up position initially. Your instructions are clear and I will look up that razor site in the morn to see if I can disassemble it for further cleaning and lubing. If not, I will just dry it with a hair dryer, zap the inside of the handle with WD 40 to displace any remaining moisture, followed by a zap of compressed air and a add a drop or two of Ballistol into the stem.

Some of the plating has already gone but I suppose that was to be expeccted after at least three decades of use.

Many thanks for the reply.

[Mack The Knife]

Posting these links here for my personal future reference, so that I don't have to go looking for them.

http://www.razoremporium.com/1966-gille ... ety-razor/

[Mack The Knife]

I wouldn't say it shaves closer than a Gillette Mach 3, despite me not changing blades for a month or thereabouts.

I am going to eat my words.

After growing a disrespectable stubble, I finally used my father's razor on the lowest setting (1) and had an excellent shave. Fewer passes and only a couple of small nicks.

I did perform all the nukhras of a pre-shave wash and used hot water. This is something I never do (using hot water for bathing or at the washbasin) and was promptly punished with pretty badly burnt fingers. Darned things are still smarting.

The Mach 3 has been put away. Thanks guys!

[Mark]

I've probably posted this already but for me the best shave is in the bath tub with hair conditioner on your face for several minutes first. .