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Shaving With a 1912 the Traditional Way

First WTG Whisker Knock Down with an Original Cru Stropping Blade..
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Original Cru Blade & Stropping Handle..
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Todays Shave Set Up..
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:w00t:
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I just had the most Wonderful Shave of my Life with My Ever Ready 1912 with an Original Cru Steel Stropping Blade Today..A Dolphin Smooth All Over BBS Result was achieved as Easy as Wiping My Darn Nose with Tissue Paper..
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I spent my time last evening Stropping 3 of these NOS Cru Steel blades..I Stropped them for around 80 laps a Side..Although NOS these Cru blades deteriorate with time..These blades are around 100 Yrs' Old..You can also bring them back with some Chromium Oxide & a piece of flat balsa wood which is cheap as chips..I have heard many a Folks saying that they have tried these blades & they Tug & are not usable..Well..Thats because they are not shave ready & No other Reason..These Cru Steel Blades are far more sharp than a Current Gem Blade when correctly sharpened & far smoother by a Long Shot..
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These Cru Steel Stropping Blades are worth a 100 Current Gem Blades..One of these with Daily Stropping should last 3 to 6 months & after that can be brought back by a little honing with some Chromium Oxide..By the Way..A Monkey can Do this..You Don't need to be a an Expert..I sure Aint..Its So Darned Easy..All that is required is the Patience..Thats it in a Nut Shell..:biggrin1:
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As you can see in the First Pic the 1912 Cru Blade Combo Knocked Down Two Days of Whiskers in one ATG Pass..I achieved an almost all over BBS Result on my 2nd ATG Pass & my 3rd Pass was more of a Touch Up Job..These Blades are just so Darn Comfortable & Smooth as Icing on a Cake..A Current Gem Blade Just isn't Fit to Lick their Boots..I hear folks talkin about Traditional Wet Shaving this & That & Knocking Modern Cartridge Systems as if its not Real Wet Shaving..If we follow that line of thought through to its Logical Conclusion then Everybody that is Shaving with a 1912 with a Current Gem Blade is about the same thing as shaving with a Cartridge head on a DE Handle..:w00t:
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I don't follow that line of thought I have to say..I have went on about this many times..A Current Gem Blade is not Harsh..Its the Current Gem Blade & Older 1912 Comb geometry that is All Wrong..These Older SE s were designed to take these Older Stropping Blades with a Thicker Spine..The blade is far more Rigid as Well and of course hasn't a Mult Faceted Factory Made Cutting Edge..You can Replicate the correct angle with Shimming..:w00t:


This works well..But if you want the Best from your 1912 then the Original Cru Blade is the Way to Go with the Traditional Stropping Methods..This is not a YMMV thing..This is the Traditional Way..The 1912 is One Almighty Shaver when its used the Traditional Way as it was Intended..You are only Sniffing the Full Potential with a 1912 using a Current Gem Blade..It only requires 30 Laps a Side on a Strop after your shave & its ready to Go..As I mentioned above a Monkey can Do this..Its So Easy to getting into shaving with a 1912 the Traditional Way..:thumbup1:
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Billy
 
Good fun, Billy! Likewise, I think the finest I've had (so far) was with a vintage Damaskeene blade. I do have a Cru-Steel and I also have a Corrux blade in suitable condition and these will be used when I go through a good run of my 1912s, picking the blade to match the razors correctly.

Stropping is the key, isn't it? Those old blades just keep going and going and going, smoother each time.

Great write-up!
 
Good fun, Billy! Likewise, I think the finest I've had (so far) was with a vintage Damaskeene blade. I do have a Cru-Steel and I also have a Corrux blade in suitable condition and these will be used when I go through a good run of my 1912s, picking the blade to match the razors correctly.

Stropping is the key, isn't it? Those old blades just keep going and going and going, smoother each time.


Great write-up!
Aye..Thats Right Paul..You will know yourself its rarely the case that you can get away with using one of these blades even in NOS Condition because they deteriorate over time with age..The edge has to be brought back again.. :w00t:

Billy
 
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All these Models here were Designed for the Stropping Blade & can be transformed into Almighty Shavers Above & Beyond their capacity with a Current Gem Blade..
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Billy
 
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The Later Gem Models..:001_rolle
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The Micromatic Family Trio & the Gem G Bar & Gem Featherweight..These were all designed to take a Current Gem Blade..I don't have a Gem Push button or Gem Contour but that includes them as well..
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Billy
 
The Later Gem Models..:001_rolle
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The Micromatic Family Trio & the Gem G Bar & Gem Featherweight..These were all designed to take a Current Gem Blade..I don't have a Gem Push button or Gem Contour but that includes them as well..
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:thumbup1:

Billy

Really sweet Billy!
 
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Three Pass Shaving Routine..
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Hot Water prep & massage with Coconut Oil
Ever Ready Lather Catcher
Invisible Edge Stropping Blade NOS
Fichard Pure Badger
Haslinger Tallow soap
Thayers Original Witch Hazel

I just had the most Wonderful Shave of my Life with My Ever Ready Lather Catcher with an Invisible Edge Stropping Blade Today..A Dolphin Smooth All Over BBS Result..This thing just Mowed down the Whiskers like a Darn Snow Plough..One of these Stropping blades in the Ever Ready Catcher Transforms it into One Almighty Aggressive Smooth, Comfortable & Forgiving Shaver..
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Its like putting a Twin Blade in a Schick Injector..Its Twice the Razor..Because of the age of the blade I gave it 10 Sets on 0.5 Micron Lapping Film just to Refresh the Edge & 20 Sets on the Nylon side the Strop & then another 20 Sets on the Leather..Awesome Sharp but very Comfortable & Forgiving..This Combo makes a Noise like Rolling Thunder..Current Gem Blades are Mediocre by Comparison..These Stropping blades are more Rigid than Gem Blades & Totally Change the Characteristic's of the Razor..Current Blades are a Step Backwards in Performance for Sure..
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You are only Tapping into Shaving 1/2 the Potential of this Razor with a Current Gem Blade...The Ever Ready Lather Catcher is One Almighty Shaver when its used the Traditional Way as it was Intended..You are only Sniffing the Full Potential of this SE using a Current Gem Blade..
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Billy..
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I've got a Gem MicroMatic open comb, an Ever-Ready 1914 and an Ever-Ready 1924. Are these all designed for the modern Gem blades, or are they designed for a thicker blade?
 
I've got a Gem MicroMatic open comb, an Ever-Ready 1914 and an Ever-Ready 1924. Are these all designed for the modern Gem blades, or are they designed for a thicker blade?
I have listed the Razors above in this thread that were Designed to take a Current Gem Blade..The OCMM was One of them..The 1914 & 1924 were Designed to take a Stropping Blade..:w00t:


Billy
 
It's been a little over a year since Billy started thus thread and I would just like to say I agree with his premise about using the stroppable blade in a 1912, 1914, 1924 GEM OR EVER-READY. I have been using one in my SHOVELHEAD all this month with a brief break to use a gem PTFE blade for comparison. I found in my experience the vintage blade was more comfortable for me in this razor and very satisfying in my usage. I strop this blade before shaving with a EVER-READY STROPPER with great results also once a week a strop the blade on a pasted strop of one of my Wilkinson Empire razors.

So Billy I concur with you. Using this razor in a traditional way is a very delightful shave

My SHOVELHEAD

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Deelyte, can you provide more details on your technique to strop these blades? Also can you share any pictures of your two strops that you mention? I am interested in giving this a try with some Gem Double Life blades that came with my Gem 1912. However, I am not quite sure where to begin. Thanks
 
Deelyte, can you provide more details on your technique to strop these blades? Also can you share any pictures of your two strops that you mention? I am interested in giving this a try with some Gem Double Life blades that came with my Gem 1912. However, I am not quite sure where to begin. Thanks

Sure RetroCocktailer, I will give it my best try. The strops I mention were obtained by a few purchases I made of Wilkinson Empire Razors which were designed to be used as a stropper for the provided blades. Here is a picture of the strops, the canvas strop is a strop I made out of a canvas belt I purchased from Goodwill. It works great for my intentions. I strop on it first then I go to the leather. Also in these pictures are the stropping tools I have. One us a EVER READY STROPPER and the other is the handle to my EVER READY LATHER CATCHER.
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Also, I have a paddle strop that came with one of my purchases of a Ever-READY lather catcher. It's also in the picture. I pasted one side of it which had a red side with a felt like texture it holds the paste perfectly for my use of stropping.

Now, I will tell you my technique. I cleaned up my old blades which didn't have any rust. I did a little cleaning with hot soapy water after that I soaked them in alcohols back for about five hours. Once that was done I stropped the blades on the paddle strop one the pasted side for approximately eighty to a hundred laps. Then I stropped on the smooth black side for the same amount of laps.

I strop the blades before and after every shave on the canvas and leather strops pictured ten laps on the canvas and twenty on the leather. Once a week if I'm using the razor regularly I will strop the blade on the pasted leather strop. If I'm not using the razor regularly I will used the pasted strop first to refresh the blade the strop regularly. It works for me and I enjoy using the old Gem blades very much. IMO they are very smooth.

Hope I answered your question. Also read Billy's initial post he describes what he uses for refreshing these blades.
 
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