What did I pull outta the swamp?

[mawashi]

Guys many sincere thanks for all your help and advice.

Let's see how it looks once I've cleaned it (fingers and toes crossed it arrives safe and sound from the US). Depending on how well it shaves and how it turns out, I may or may not plate it as I'm starting to appreciate the beauty of brass like how it manages to change it's appearance from a dark patina to shiny gold.

I really like the thought of picking up this gem 5 years later after it's been in a box and watching it shine as I apply a bit of brasso and make it shave ready again.

 

[Esox]

I'm guessing it's a gillette new of some sort. It's weeks away before I can do anything but what is it anyway lol?

This reminds me of my first pound rescue... I've no idea what you are but you're coming home with me.

I'm planning to use a stiff toothbrush, some brasso and plenty of elbow grease.
Or I'll just shave it as it is and freak out my girl rofl!

Yep. NEW SC, with most likely, a LC cap.

SC left, LC right. Notice the squared cap corners of the SC cap. Also notice how you can see the baseplate around those cap corners. The SC base offers full support to the blade, the LC does not.

I believe the NEW SC came with any one of seven different caps, but the proper SC cap will only fit the SC base and no others. I've used mine with the SC cap and a post war Tech cap which is apparently the mildest of them all. The difference in shave was an extra 1/2 pass below my jawline, so not a great difference between the mildest and the most efficient caps.

Heres mine when I got it.

After a thorough cleaning, wet sanding the cap and a quick pass on my buffing wheel.

Brass is easy to clean and work with. Depending how much you want it to shine, depends on the time spent first cleaning, then polishing.

To do that as quickly as possible, Bar Keepers Friend cleans bare Brass instantly on contact. Five seconds with BKF and a toothbrush is all it will need. That will leave it very clean but it wont have any shine. Any polishing compound will put the shine back on it and the more you polish it the more it will shine.

To polish between the teeth of the comb, use a clean dry toothbrush and apply the polishing compound to the brush and scrub between the teeth.

The cap is red Brass, the baseplate yellow Brass. Red Brass tarnishes black, yellow Brass does not. If after shaving you dont dry the cap, or the bar handle which is also red Brass, the next day you might find black spots. Thats from the water droplets drying and oxidizing the red Brass, a tarnish. A quick polish will remove that black tarnish instantly. It literally wipes right off.

Yellow Brass doesnt tarnish black like that, it dulls. As the yellow Brass oxidizes, you'll see the shine fade. Again, a quick polish restores it almost instantly.

There are Brass sealants that will stop that oxidation, but I havent used any. When I was using my SC all the time I gave it a quick clean with a toothbrush and dish soap, then a quick polish once a week.

 

[Esox]

I really like the thought of picking up this gem 5 years later after it's been in a box and watching it shine as I apply a bit of brasso and make it shave ready again.

Brasso has a fine grit in it, you can feel it in your fingers. That can leave scratches. I use AutoSol, but any polishing compound will do the trick. Maas and Flitz are popular choices.

 

[Twelvefret]

Hi REV759,

Too bad there isn't a like button as your posts deserve a huge LIKE!

Thank you so much for the info.

The razors look amazing and I just hope I can get swamp thang to look shiny and new to try shaving with it too.

Huge thumbs UP to you mate!

I'm really starting to appreciate brass as a material. If swamp thang was stainless steel the oxidation would be almost impossible to remove without serious sanding, with brass it seems to be rather superficial.

REV had become a go to expert and he's nice about it. Got my Sheraton and first OT from him.

 

[johnwick]

It’s going to clean up nicely. Excellent advice @Esox ! I’ve had razors look worse than yours that turned out just like Mikes did. Brass is a wonderful material for a razor! Congratulations on the find and look forward to after pictures!

 

[REV579]

Thanks for th compliment @Twelvefret. I am far from an expert. I didn’t know there were 7 caps that worked like @Esox. I’m still learning, just like everyone and hope to be able contribute and give back as I can.

 

[Esox]

I didn’t know there were 7 caps that worked like @Esox.

As I understand it, any Tech cap and all caps from any Gillette NEW, no matter the razor, will work on the SC base but only the proper SC cap will work on the SC base. It wont work on any other bases that I'm aware of. I know it doesnt fit any of the Techs I've had nor my NEW LC.

We'd need to ask @rabidus. I deem him The Expert haha.

 

[REV579]

I do take pictures of all almost all of my razors to keep a log and history of them.

 

[rabidus]

The SC came with caps of other razors made at the time. SC, two De Luxe, LC and a prewar Tech cap.

 

[BigJ]

I'll repost it here, with the images in the correct context. Perhaps a mod can delete the first post...or leave it.

That is certainly a NEW Short Comb. Yours is one of 4 different configurations the Short Comb can be found. Below, the first 2 are, in my opinion, not configured ideally, while the 3rd is. The 2nd and 3rd utilize the NEW Long Comb cap, while the first is the cap made primarily for the Short Comb. The 2nd comb has the deeper tab relief.
View attachment 942549

These have the same combs, but different caps, yet were sold in this configuration. The one on the right came in the pictured box. Both are Thin Bar handles, the one on the left is a Thin Uncommon Bar Handle and the one on the right is a Thin Common Bar Handle.
View attachment 942547

Here are the typical NEW head configurations: Long Comb, Deluxe, Short Comb, Short Comb.
View attachment 942548

My favorite is the Short Comb variation, next to the Deluxe.

Also, any gold wash on these will come off if you clean it too aggressively. The first layer is a very thin layer of lacquer. The brass can be either Red or Yellow Brass. Personally, I do all I can not to remove either.

GREAT POST!!

 

[mawashi]

Yep. NEW SC, with most likely, a LC cap.

SC left, LC right. Notice the squared cap corners of the SC cap. Also notice how you can see the baseplate around those cap corners. The SC base offers full support to the blade, the LC does not.

View attachment 942657

View attachment 942658

I believe the NEW SC came with any one of seven different caps, but the proper SC cap will only fit the SC base and no others. I've used mine with the SC cap and a post war Tech cap which is apparently the mildest of them all. The difference in shave was an extra 1/2 pass below my jawline, so not a great difference between the mildest and the most efficient caps.

Heres mine when I got it.

View attachment 942659

View attachment 942660

After a thorough cleaning, wet sanding the cap and a quick pass on my buffing wheel.

View attachment 942661

Brass is easy to clean and work with. Depending how much you want it to shine, depends on the time spent first cleaning, then polishing.

To do that as quickly as possible, Bar Keepers Friend cleans bare Brass instantly on contact. Five seconds with BKF and a toothbrush is all it will need. That will leave it very clean but it wont have any shine. Any polishing compound will put the shine back on it and the more you polish it the more it will shine.

To polish between the teeth of the comb, use a clean dry toothbrush and apply the polishing compound to the brush and scrub between the teeth.

The cap is red Brass, the baseplate yellow Brass. Red Brass tarnishes black, yellow Brass does not. If after shaving you dont dry the cap, or the bar handle which is also red Brass, the next day you might find black spots. Thats from the water droplets drying and oxidizing the red Brass, a tarnish. A quick polish will remove that black tarnish instantly. It literally wipes right off.

Yellow Brass doesnt tarnish black like that, it dulls. As the yellow Brass oxidizes, you'll see the shine fade. Again, a quick polish restores it almost instantly.

There are Brass sealants that will stop that oxidation, but I havent used any. When I was using my SC all the time I gave it a quick clean with a toothbrush and dish soap, then a quick polish once a week.

Hi Esox that's super info. It really muddies up the water more as a lot of these razors have mismatched caps making getting one in the right configuration very very difficult.

I've seen more than a few the bottom plates upside down, I'm sure ignorant sellers like these will likely mess up a bunch of razors even if they received them in the right configuration in the first place, they should be for desecrating a piece of history!

 

[tonich]

LOL, how many people gave the wrong answer! And that was an easy query.
They all have to be punished to spend more time here reading I guess...

 

[mawashi]

LOL, how many people gave the wrong answer! And that was an easy query.
They all have to be punished to spend more time here reading I guess...

I hardly think that spending more time here reading is a punishment lol!

The fact you can screw the wrong cap on another razor really makes things harder. Who knows how many mismatched razors are floating out there.

 

[rabidus]

Hi Esox that's super info. It really muddies up the water more as a lot of these razors have mismatched caps making getting one in the right configuration very very difficult.

I've seen more than a few the bottom plates upside down, I'm sure ignorant sellers like these will likely mess up a bunch of razors even if they received them in the right configuration in the first place, they should be for desecrating a piece of history!

I hardly think that spending more time here reading is a punishment lol!

The fact you can screw the wrong cap on another razor really makes things harder. Who knows how many mismatched razors are floating out there.

The NEW SC came with different caps right from the factory, poor qualify control!

 

[mawashi]

The NEW SC came with different caps right from the factory, poor qualify control!

That takes the cake lol!

So to get a correctly fitted SC that lasted from the 1920s till today is a miracle in itself! Good to know that it might be quest some may never accomplish rofl!

 

[Esox]

I think the NEW SC was paired with whatever cap they were making a run of, or had on hand at the time. It didnt make a lot of difference to me between the SC cap and the Tech cap and I'd be just as happy with either.

The square edges of the SC cap do make it easy to spot though. I wouldnt know the differences between the other caps by looking at them.

 

[Twelvefret]

I think the NEW SC was paired with whatever cap they were making a run of, or had on hand at the time. It didnt make a lot of difference to me between the SC cap and the Tech cap and I'd be just as happy with either.

The square edges of the SC cap do make it easy to spot though. I wouldnt know the differences between the other caps by looking at them.

That's good to know that they caps were interchanged since when I got my SC version I was thinking I had the wrong cap.

 

[Esox]

That's good to know that they caps were interchanged since when I got my SC version I was thinking I had the wrong cap.

I dont think there is a wrong cap. Its just a hat on one of the best razors ever made lol.

 

[Twelvefret]

I dont think there is a wrong cap. Its just a hat on one of the best razors ever made lol.

Great point.

 

[ajkel64]

LOL, how many people gave the wrong answer! And that was an easy query.
They all have to be punished to spend more time here reading I guess...

True and I was one of them. Back to school for me.