Gillette ABC pocket mistery

[romsitsa]

Hello,

dug out two of my ABC sets from the G series, made in or for England.
The first one is G003146
It comes in a basket weave case with patent dates listed and the British patent number stamped in a small rectangle.
The ribbon is yellow on purple with arrow going through the Gillette diamond
The base plate has no markig except for the serial number

The second one is G072457
It comes in a shell case with patent numbers listed, the empty case being 5 g heavier then the case of G003146.
The ribbon is silver on purple with a simple line going through the Gillette diamond
The base plate a cap has the same Gillette logo as the ribbon, the serial number and G in D stamp.

My photos are rather bad, but G003146 has longer locating pins and threaded rod, the base plate and top cap are slightly thinner than G072457.
The most interesting part is that the heads are not interchangeable, there is a good 1 mm gap left when "cross" assembled. On closer inspection the length of the threaded shaft differs, also the pitch of the threads.

As these razors are quite near to eachother, how can they differ so much?
Was G003146 made in the US and G072457 in the UK? Or was there a design change?

Adam

 

[TobyC]

I've never heard of any OLD type having a different thread pitch regardless of when or where it was made.

 

[romsitsa]

Me neither, but the shorter threaded one has the Gillette stamp, the "normal" one is identical to other ABC caps, so both should be Gillettes.

Adam

 

[TobyC]

Are you sure it's not just wear, or damage from cross threading or over-tightening?

 

[romsitsa]

Both have some wear, but the handle of the Shell pattern set has a shallower threaded hole then the Basket set (picture 3). It's impossible to screw the other cap further into it.

Adam

 

[Buick48]

I had a similar situation with an ABC set. It turned out that there
was a small burr on the side of one of the positioning studs. It
was easily cured with an emery board....

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[romsitsa]

Hello Kevin,

the top caps and base plates fits like a glove in any combination, the threaded parts are different.

Adam

 

[BSAGuy]

Metric threads vs. USA threads?

 

[BigJ]

Nice sets in any event! Congrats!

 

[Buick48]

Adam ~

Use a toothpick, unless you have a small depth gauge, and check the thread depth of both handles.....
I seem to remember a thread on B & B (possibly within the past month) about certain handles being of a shallower depth.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[KQY61]

Both have some wear, but the handle of the Shell pattern set has a shallower threaded hole then the Basket set (picture 3). It's impossible to screw the other cap further into it.

Adam

Hi,

Ah. That is not the same as having a different thread.

Stan

 

[romsitsa]

On of my British Single rings tube was worn out and when I was looking for a repair kit it turned out to be Withworth threaded, all Metric sets were off. When I'll have the opportunity to wisit the shop again, I'll let them check the ABC set too. I have no tool to measure it at home.

Thank you

Adam

 

[TobyC]

Interesting, the early SE razor handles used the old Whitworth threads, there is no equivalent US or metric size.

 

[Useless shaver]

Hi,

Ah. That is not the same as having a different thread.

Stan

This...