Truly amazing work! The time and effort you put in to get precise and accurate measurements, I am in awe.
Thank you for the hard work and dedication!
Thank you for the hard work and dedication!
1957 Gillette Tech: Review, Photos, Measurements, Photo Analysis
- Thread starter ShavingByTheNumbers
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #22
Thanks, Andrew. The love of Techs is what got me interested in trying one. I'm glad that I tried one. It didn't work out so well, but at least I made measurements.
- Thread starter
- #23
Crazy!
Popular year? 
It would be interesting to measure a different Tech. Maybe someday. The triangular-sloted Techs are the earliest ones. Are they considered the most aggressive?
- Thread starter
- #24
Forum lore indicates the Tri-Slot Tech is more aggressive, I prefer it when Tech-ing.
AA
AA
- Thread starter
- #26
Interesting. If that's the overall perception among those that have both tri-slot and latter Techs, than I'm sure that it's real and measurements would back it up.
I still have a 1958 along with a variety of the pre-war and NDC tech razors. The Pre-war are still my favorites among the tech razors and shine for a fast and furious, no shaving cream, shave.
Perhaps Gillette designed the techs for older, duller blades?
I get minced if i use a sharp blade in a tech (wilkys are awful in it) but its wonderful with a personna or Derby.
They do not like pressure lol.
I get minced if i use a sharp blade in a tech (wilkys are awful in it) but its wonderful with a personna or Derby.
They do not like pressure lol.
GREAT POST!! Thanks for the detailed analysis.
- Thread starter
- #30
- Thread starter
- #31
Thanks for the feedback. You and @FarmerTan have inspired me to do a little more testing. I'm not looking forward to it, but I will try shaving with the Gillette Tech tomorrow. I'll use a Derby Extra for a little while and then swap it out for a Feather and use that for a little while. I'll try them both with virtually no pressure. If I detect bad drag or snagging, then I'm out of there and I'll finish the shave with my modified Bevel. How does that sound?
Thanks for this great read/post.
As it happens my beloved travel kit is a C2 baseplate paired with a 1930s brass top cap and thin handle - all carried in a thin handle bakelite box along with a couple of Feather blades. Rocks!
As it happens my beloved travel kit is a C2 baseplate paired with a 1930s brass top cap and thin handle - all carried in a thin handle bakelite box along with a couple of Feather blades. Rocks!
- Thread starter
- #34
Thanks. I'm glad that your Tech hybrid works great for you. I'll let you guys know how tomorrow's shave goes.
- Thread starter
- #35
Update: Today, I shaved XTG-ATG-ATG (my normal sequence) with the unmodified Gillette Tech, switching between an unused Derby Extra (newer version, URL) and a new Feather blade during each pass with little to no pressure applied while shaving. I was again conscious of the angles, dialing in the right ones. As usual, even with my modified Bevel, XTG didn't do much. That's why I do two ATG passes. The Feather seemed to do a better job than the Derby, for what it's worth, but both cut hair. The shave was not as rough as before, but there was plenty of drag from the cutting of my facial hair. I got several blood spots that cleaned up easily, but the real kicker was the irritation that I got. It didn't seem as bad as before when I used more pressure, but the irritation was still bad enough, being felt before the third pass. The final closeness of the shave was not as good as before or not as good as I'd normally get with my modified Bevel. Overall, by applying little to no pressure with the unmodified Gillette Tech, the drag and irritation were reduced, though still present, and the closeness was reduced. The shave wasn't as rough as before, but it wasn't as close, either.
This was a good test. I should have varied the applied pressure more when originally testing the Tech and drawing conclusions for the OP. Thanks, guys, for your help. I'll be more careful next time. As for the Tech, it's still too aggressive for me. That hasn't changed. I still want less guard span and blade exposure. However, the Gillette Tech is not as bad as I thought. My earlier thinking was based on shaving with what I considered "reasonable" pressure, for cutting my facial hair, that was still lighter than what I'd normally shave with because of the Tech's relative aggressiveness and efficiency. However, that pressure was not the "little to no pressure" that I was very purposeful in accomplishing today. This was a really good lesson that others have learned and I'm still learning about. It's also good timing because I want to be fair when evaluating the Fatip Piccolo. I have to be more careful about applied pressure while evaluating razors.
ShavingByTheNumbers,
Thanks for a thorough and detailed post. I was a little startled to hear that your Tech did not perform well for you with the blades you used. People here rave about their Techs of any vintage, and my recent shaves with a Feather-loaded postwar fat-handle Tech were stellar (close shave, no irritation or nicks). Perhaps a fat-handled Tech would yield a better balance.
Thanks for a thorough and detailed post. I was a little startled to hear that your Tech did not perform well for you with the blades you used. People here rave about their Techs of any vintage, and my recent shaves with a Feather-loaded postwar fat-handle Tech were stellar (close shave, no irritation or nicks). Perhaps a fat-handled Tech would yield a better balance.
- Thread starter
- #37
Thanks for the feedback. A fat-handled Tech might work better because of its weight and balance, but if the head is similar with respect to blade exposure, guard span, etc. then it would still be too aggressive for me.
@ShavingByTheNumbers thank you for another detailed report. I enjoy your analysis because you approach it from a research perspective.
- Thread starter
- #39
Thanks! You're right. This is research, and part of it has to do with finding out what works for me, what doesn't work for me, and WHY.
I want better shaves, but I also want others to have better shaves. Razor dimensions matter, and my razor analyses barely scratch the surface of quantifying razors out there. I'm sure that I'll eventually get to high-end razors. In some ways, though, it's better to cover more ground and refine analysis techniques with more common razors before quantifying the high-end ones.
Wow, never seen such intense analysis of a rather simple razor!
Always have enjoyed my Gillette Tech and found it to be a mild shaver!
Always have enjoyed my Gillette Tech and found it to be a mild shaver!
