garyg
B&B membership has its percs
The 1914 is a great first starter
Modern Blades in Vintage Single Edge Razors Guide
- Thread starter amishmotorboat
- Start date
The 1914 is a great first starter
Yes definitely get it . It's one of my favorite SE razors........I have two back ups......just in case something bad happens to it. Don't want to be without one......
Thank you garyg and bushhippi for your responses. I don't really know anything about SEs. I'm not trying to hijack this thread but can anyone point me to a place that will tell me how to tell if an SE is in good mechanical condition?
garyg
B&B membership has its percs
I can't point you, but in my experience (I've presently around 30 SE's, not counting Injectors) they are hard to break. The blade hooks in front need to be present to hold the blade, and the top needs to snap or in the case of the Micromatic or Henkels screw down securely. Usually very easy to tell by just putting a SE blade in and tightening it up. If it tightens the blade and looks even you are in bidness. There's some pics of the hooks at this thread http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/102579-Frustrating-GEM-score
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The Autostrop 7 O'Clock posed me with a peculiar problem ...
Being an Autostrop, I presumed a modern Feather would fit being a copy of the original Valet blade.
... swing the arms shut.
... and WHOA!!! That's aggressive!
The arms have semi-circular lobes which lock the blade in place in the locating holes at the side of the blade.
With the arms open and the blade pushed all the way back, it could work ...
So, let's take a GEM and nibble out enough to fit ...
... alas, the opposite issue:
Stumped and annoyed, I cleaned up the razor and vowed to use it with the Feather blade and the arms open. Ugly, but practical.
Eureka! Modify the Feather ... duh!
Since the blade holds perfectly resting at the very back of the razor, the lobes lift it up and away from the back. So, nibble enough off for the arms to swing shut without the lobes engaging.
It worked!
... and very well, too. This is quite probably my favourite single edge now: the Valet build with the 1912 noise.
I hope this is useful for folks who are posed with an odd razor and only a couple of choices. Understand the engineering and adapt as appropriate.
Being an Autostrop, I presumed a modern Feather would fit being a copy of the original Valet blade.
... swing the arms shut.
... and WHOA!!! That's aggressive!
The arms have semi-circular lobes which lock the blade in place in the locating holes at the side of the blade.
With the arms open and the blade pushed all the way back, it could work ...
So, let's take a GEM and nibble out enough to fit ...
... alas, the opposite issue:
Stumped and annoyed, I cleaned up the razor and vowed to use it with the Feather blade and the arms open. Ugly, but practical.
Eureka! Modify the Feather ... duh!
Since the blade holds perfectly resting at the very back of the razor, the lobes lift it up and away from the back. So, nibble enough off for the arms to swing shut without the lobes engaging.
It worked!
... and very well, too. This is quite probably my favourite single edge now: the Valet build with the 1912 noise.
I hope this is useful for folks who are posed with an odd razor and only a couple of choices. Understand the engineering and adapt as appropriate.
This old Yankee was found with a device that looks to have been mass manufactured, and which was designed to allow the use of modern blades on a razor originally designed for a large wedge. The razor has the very slightest of blade stops, and the head of the razor is so large that without the device, the spring clip/pressure tab on the back would never reach the back of a modern blade. The set-up "almost" works, but with the excessive weight of the blade holding device, and the low tension of the spring clip on the razor, the whole assembly is prone to just fall out of the razor if you're not extremely careful.
Attachments
I also have and use th 7oclock razor with the ptfe blades, and all i do is cut the corners off then position the blade to
my likeing before tightening up the handle, and it works well for me without any movement of the blade.
PJGH thanks for the nice write up and super pictures of a very seldom seen razor.
my likeing before tightening up the handle, and it works well for me without any movement of the blade.
PJGH thanks for the nice write up and super pictures of a very seldom seen razor.
Thanks for a really great thread with lots of scarce information. I got one old Gem with a worn off blade stop that I managed to restore. Punched out the area from the back and used a knife edge file to form a new stop. I also have one of the Ernst Scharff original German razors without blade stops and am still figuring how to safely use a modern Gem blade in it. That one scares me. The modern blade seems too insecure. I also have a virtually identical looking Henckels Rapise with blade stops. If the version does not have the spring operated blade guides then it probably does not have blade stops. My non-stops version has set screws that press against the wedge blade face to set blade height.
My Ostaso is a virtually exact clone of a Henckels Rapide complete with the blade stops so can take both Gem and Valet blades without modification.
As member Scooby Doo demonstrated, blade stops are unnecessary with the Rapide, undesirable even. With a shim made from the spine of a Gem blade placed underneath the blade, the shim of the blade you load is made thicker and held tightly against the ends of the two set screws which you will adjust inward to facilitate this. The wire bail will push against the back of the blade tightly against these screws.
I use a full spine as a shim, Scooby Doo uses half a spine. It takes some fiddling around to get the shim situated just right. The blade must be perfectly centered for both set screws to contact the shim evenly. You'll see. Adjusting the bail's thumbwheel tightness in my setup will raise or lower the blade's front edge ever so slightly off the comb giving you the mildest Rapide or the meanest Rapide, whichever you desire.
See Scooby Doo's post #27,
A week with........The Henckels Rapide
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I saw it and still would not particularly trust it with a current GEM blade with the edge cutouts sitting directly below the adjustment screws. A PITA to get right compared to the later razors with blade stops. Drop in a GEM or Valet blade and go with the blade stop versions. Strictly my opinion of course, just as your post and Scooby Doo's are personal opinions too.
I've shaved with it for over a year without incident. It wasn't designed to do this, so yeah, it is a PITA to load compared to the blade stop versions. But I don't like the way the blade stops intrude into the corners of the business end of the blade.
They do with most of the original Gem blade razors too except the Micromatic versions. Even my late production models.
Adding to the list, I have a early Kampfe Star "Bar" razor that is almost identical to the Gem "Bar" razor that has blade stops and takes Gem blades fine without modification. Left of the handle mounting boss is stamped "U. S. Pat. Aug. 28 1900." The stamp on the other side of the handle mounting boss is too poorly stamped to read fully. What is readable is "U.S. & ENG NO?. 5 ?90?".
One big difference between the Henkels Scharff clones and the Ostaso is that the handle on the Ostaso is removable and it incorporates a 5mm x .8mm stud between the handle and razor head. This allows virtually any current 3 piece DE razor handle to be used on the Ostaso if the owner likes. Only my latest made Henckels Rapide with solid cast blade top clamp has this feature too.
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The G.E. Jones Shake Sharp takes standard DE blades but only uses one side at a time. There is also a hone built in to add life to your blade by shaking it to hone the blade. The hone probably works best on blades that aren't stainless.
The Very Sharp
Will accept standard single edge blades. Unscrew handle to release tension, insert blade, tighten handle. A valet blade will fit, but I cannot recommend it. The lack of a spine on it means it bows up when the handle is tightened.
I just found one on Ebay in a package deal with a Valet and a MMOC along with a batch of blades at what I consider a very good price, based on the photos. The Very Sharp is pictured with a early splined SE blade installed that is stamped on the spline with the "Very Sharp" razor name so this one might well have been designed to take the standard Gem style splined SE blades from day one.
The C V Heljestrand
The newer model in bright chrome has blade stops and will accept standard SE blades.
The older model in silver has no blade stops and will not.
I believe that your bright one is actually stainless steel. Try a very strong magnet on it and if there is any attraction at all then you have a stainless version. I now have two that check as stainless and one that is plated brass, all the same model as yours marked "This one" except for metal color on the nickel plated brass one. The other two are a perfect color match to your upper one. The nickel plated brass one has a 2 piece handle too which when assembled looks the same as the one piece handle.
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BTW for those with special applications who need thicker than standard Gem blades I have seen on Amazon listings for Gem style industrial blades up to .020" or 1/2 mm thick. I am sure that they are going to need some honing and stropping to make shave ready but they do exist if needed for a special application. Listed on Amazon as Titan Extra Heavy Duty Razor Blades. These have the side notches but no center hole.
The sharpest industrial SE Gem style blades I have run across are listed as mat cutting blades. Still need stropping at minimum for shaving. .012" thick and without side notches. They do have the oval center hole. Listed as CRL Heavy-Duty Mat Cutter Industrial Razor Blades.
The sharpest industrial SE Gem style blades I have run across are listed as mat cutting blades. Still need stropping at minimum for shaving. .012" thick and without side notches. They do have the oval center hole. Listed as CRL Heavy-Duty Mat Cutter Industrial Razor Blades.
I ran across this thread on modifying a DE blade to work in the DeHaven razor. Also seen an opinion that a modified Gem type blade could also be used. I now have a DeHaven on the way so will be able to play with it.
But I really needed to use the DeHaven (with DE blades.
But I really needed to use the DeHaven (with DE blades.
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