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Bought a couple of vintage razors and need help identifying them

Okay so I bought my first lot of 4 vintage razors on the Bay and needed help identifying and restoring them to their natural beauty. Naturally, this is the best place to ask around, as many of you are wizards and obviously know your stuff. Before starting the identification process, I wanted to restore them in order to make the identification easier but I don't know where to start, given that they're all different in some way..


Here's a picture for reference:


$$_57 (1).jpg


As you can see, the first one (from the left) is a SE razor, the second is a steel, silver, or nickel-plated DE razor (I honestly can't tell the difference between the metals), the third is what I think is a brass or possibly a gold plated razor (More likely a brass, but like I said, I'm still not entirely sure), and the fourth has some sort of a plastic handle.
possible while still being able to sanitize, restore, and shave with these gorgeous razors, so any help identifying the razors and their metals would be a great help to me.


Here are some pictures of my razors for reference:


View attachment 532897$DSC06375.jpg$DSC06378.jpg$DSC06372.jpg


Oh, almost forgot! And any other advice or tips on how to sanitize, clean, and restore them would also be greatly appreciated! Thanks everybody :sailor:
 
Ever Ready 1912
Gillette Flare Tip Super Speed
Gillette Contract Tech
Gillette Black Handle Super Speed

Congrats!

Soak them in hot water and dish soap, and give them a good scrub with an old toothbrush. You can use Scrubbing Bubbles too, I wouldn't use it on the Black Handle SS though, especially if it contains bleach.
 
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Wow that was quick! Thanks nuclearblast! I'm trying to clean up the Ever Ready right now. I have it lying in a hot bath with some Simple Green but there's still a lot of gunk and some blue-ish rust on it. Should I take a bronze brush to it or will it mess up the steel? I know the plastic handle on the last one is going to need a bit of extra care, so I'm not going to be too rough with it.
 
Wow that was quick! Thanks nuclearblast! I'm trying to clean up the Ever Ready right now. I have it lying in a hot bath with some Simple Green but there's still a lot of gunk and some blue-ish rust on it. Should I take a bronze brush to it or will it mess up the steel? I know the plastic handle on the last one is going to need a bit of extra care, so I'm not going to be too rough with it.

It's not steel, it's plated brass. The handle of the Black Handle SS is aluminum.

I've read about good results with brass/bronze brushes, but I've never used one. Go easy on them and if necessary soak them again. That gunk you speak of took a few decades to build up, it takes some time and elbow grease to remove it too.
 
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mswofford

Rest in Peace
Edgar nailed it! You will do NO harm with a Dawn/water soak even overnight and a toothbush. Repeat daily between uses if necessary until you get the results you want.
 
The simple wash/scrub technique is working very well for any loose rust, dirt, and grime, but not very well for the really old bluish-colored rust, or the gunk in the deep pockets of the handles, both of which are just sitting there. The toothbrush doesn't seem to work well in those areas... Any ideas? :bored:
 

mswofford

Rest in Peace
Steven; The bluish color is oxidized brass; Try a toothpick, (broken to make it sharper if needed) when oxidation is soaked and softened.
 
Nice score. Also, you can use plastic dish scrubbers.

Ever Ready 1912
Gillette Flare Tip Super Speed
Gillette Contract Tech
Gillette Black Handle Super Speed

Congrats!

Soak them in hot water and dish soap, and give them a good scrub with an old toothbrush. You can use Scrubbing Bubbles too, I wouldn't use it on the Black Handle SS though, especially if it contains bleach.
 
Wow can those be restored to a usable condition?

I don't see why they wouldn't be. All the parts are working perfectly, and nothing is rusted shut. Believe it or not, most of the junk on the razors is dust, dirt, grime and rust, most of which has cleaned up very well except for some minor spots. But if you were referring to the physical appearance of the razors, all I can say is that this is my first time restoring vintage razors and I, personally, love the worn-out look on them. To me, every little scratch and chip on the plating shows the history and age of the piece, and I think that's fascinating. I'm relatively new to DE and straight shaving too, so I'm in no way a shaving elitist who only looks for the finest vintage pieces of shaving equipment either, and I hope I never am. Hey what can I say, :001_rolle I'm not too good for an old, worn out razor; and if I can breathe some life into a beat up razor and give it some purpose again, so be it. :001_smile
 
I don't see why they wouldn't be. All the parts are working perfectly, and nothing is rusted shut. Believe it or not, most of the junk on the razors is dust, dirt, grime and rust, most of which has cleaned up very well except for some minor spots. But if you were referring to the physical appearance of the razors, all I can say is that this is my first time restoring vintage razors and I, personally, love the worn-out look on them. To me, every little scratch and chip on the plating shows the history and age of the piece, and I think that's fascinating. I'm relatively new to DE and straight shaving too, so I'm in no way a shaving elitist who only looks for the finest vintage pieces of shaving equipment either, and I hope I never am. Hey what can I say, :001_rolle I'm not too good for an old, worn out razor; and if I can breathe some life into a beat up razor and give it some purpose again, so be it. :001_smile
Well said. [emoji106]
 
Here's a couple pics of the current condition of the razors:

$DSC06388.jpg$DSC06389.jpg$DSC06390.jpg

You can see on the brass razor, it looks like a lot of the plating has been worn off and revealed some sort of brownish rust or tarnish underneath and the flat parts on the steel razors are cleaning up pretty nicely except for a couple of rust spots and oxidation (Thanks for the clarification mswofford)
 
Those razors are all made of brass. Nickel plated brass, except the Tech which was gold.

And the black handle is aluminum, the rest of the razor, the knob and head are brass.
None of them is made of steel.
 
Those razors are all made of brass. Nickel plated brass, except the Tech which was gold.

And the black handle is aluminum, the rest of the razor, the knob and head are brass.
None of them is made of steel.

Oh my mistake, I thought you just meant the Ever Ready was plated brass, not all of them. Nice to know though, and at least now I'll know what I'm talking about.

Mind if I ask? But how do you know all of this?
 
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TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Great work on those razors! Feel free to use a brass brush on the nickel plating, but be careful with it on the gold plating. You can use it, but don't scrub hard. The toothpick is a better idea, though. Stiffer nylon brushes work fine, too. Just keep soaking and scrubbing, and you'll get there. You'll be amazed at what you can get through.


TL
 
I know this is off-topic, but I hope you guys don't mind if I post another picture of my first DE razor for identification. My brother got it for me about 2 years ago for about $40 but I never knew what brand or model it was. Maybe today will be the day where the truth is revealed.

$DSC06395.jpg$DSC06393.jpg

It's short-handled and a matte grey and I've tried looking for another identical one but never have. It doesn't have any markings or anything from what I've seen. I've always been curious, as this is what I've been shaving with for the past 2 years.
 
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