20s Gillette Made in England ball end open comb: ID please!

[jazzper]

The title seems a little paradoxical but alas; i scored this set for under $10 today. Found this Made in England open comb DE safety razor and checked the famous Mr Razor site to find out what's under the green goo (any tips on removing this? What's the material? brass?)

last picture; after some toothbrush fiesta and a round in the ultrasonic cleaner. But not even close to finished...


Any clues on specific type and age?
Any specific tips for this material/razor to clean?

thanks for watching!

 

[DutchmanRiver]

old type ball end

 

[Mark1966]

The 'green mould' is oxidation of the underlying brass so most of the plating is gone on this one. You can pretty much go your hardest with cleaning as there is little to be lost in relation to the handle.

Cleaning/polishing it will expose more of the brass and it will look fine but be susceptible to further oxidation.

The head shows brown stains from rusty blades and soap scum - that should come off pretty easily with a soak and mild (non-chlorine) domestic cleaner.

 

[BBrad]

Mark1966 is right on the money! +1

Clean and polish without worrying about what may be left of the original plating . . . it will look good and shave even better!

 

[mblakele]

I will guess 1920-1929, mostly because there is no sign of a serial number in the photos. But we know less about the non-USA production quirks. Anyway it has the diamond logo, which implies sometime after 1908.

Despite the brassy handle it looks like a nice travel kit: I hope it cleans up well, and that you enjoy it.

 

[celestino]

old type ball end

+1

 

[jazzper]

UPDATE!

While I paid next to nothing, it has two bend teeth and of course the two famous cracks in the handle while the whole thing was pretty much a green oxidation monster I had nothing to lose so...

- ultrasonic bath
- one hour in the vinegar
- steel wool for the brown rust
- copper brush for the rest
- toothpaste as polish
- brasso as polish
- metal polish (Pol)
- a lot of soap
- microfiber cloth
- and even more elbow grease

I present you my usable Old Type Ball End (i guess No 501-B btw... am I correct?)

Before:

After:

Not bad, I'd say! Can't wait to use it!

thanks for watching and all your tips.

 

[Krona Kruiser]

Love those transformation. Speaks volumes of the quality of engineering and construction of a bygone era when it was not only about quantity but quality.

 

[jazzper]

Yeah, that's why I love almost all vintage stuff including cameras, watches, etc. Build for a life time!

Btw, this additions makes me almost a collector. My score so far:
- Gillette Old Type ball end - made in England (1920s)
- Gillette Tech WW2 British issued 1940s)
- Gillette Aristocrat #21 Rhodium (1940s)
- Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip (1959)
- A. Feist & Co, Solingen. (Luna) straight razor


Modern stuff: DE89L, Rimei, Sensor Excel, Wilkinson Sword

One more question: Guessing on Mr Razors page i'd say it's an Empire de Luxe. Am i correct?
http://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/Old Type/Old Type.htm

 

[MacDaddy]

Really nice job getting all that old junk off.

One more question: Guessing on Mr Razors page i'd say it's an Empire de Luxe. Am i correct?

You won't really be able to narrow it down to the specific kind of set that the razor came with originally without its case. The razors were all the same from one set to another, it was really just the cases that were different.

 

[mdevine]

Wow! I love how that turned out.

 

[jerneedog]

Very nice score! Love how it turned out.
Thanks for sharing.