A Plate Loss Tech - What to Do?

[SteveWY]

I got this one for $7 on the bay, mainly because no one bid on it and I was intrigued that the seller had the bottom of the head flipped over! It is a '46-'50 fat handle gold Tech. It has bad plating loss, the top part of the head is essentially 100% gone, showing just red brass or copper after polishing with Maas.

My question, just for discussion, what do you do with OK user grade razors you find for a bargain? Do I keep it and use, maybe as a travel razor? PIF it? Replate it? Just wondering what you folks do? Thanks.

 

[santamariasteve]

I would think you could buy a Gillette Teck in outstanding condition for less money than a re-plating job would cost.

Using it as a travel razor also might make sense.

 

[mistercitizen]

I would think you could buy a Gillette Teck in outstanding condition for less money than a re-plating job would cost.

Using it as a travel razor also might make sense.

+1 I believe this to be the case for most razors. You can almost always find a razor in excellent condition for less than it costs to buy a user grade one and have it replated. However, I found myself in the same situation as you with both Techs I own and I had or am having both of them replated. One reason, is time. The majority of Techs out there are in poor to good condition.... and because Gillette sold so many, there are so many in poor condition. They are, and never were, highly collectable or rare.... so people didn't feel the need to take care of them like they did with their Aristocrats and Presidents. It just seems to be so much more difficult and time consuming to find a Tech in excellent condition compared to one that is in poor to good condition. I chanced on a couple off of the bay and ended up paying about $10 to $15 shipped for each of them. When I got them, they both had more plate loss than I was hoping for after I cleaned them up. Now, some guys don't mind keeping them in user grade condition.... which is fine. I thought it would be nice to have them in excellent condition, so instead of looking for another one in excellent condition and selling the one I had, I just bit the bullet and sent them away to be replated. I'm going to keep them so I don't care about making a profit or anything like that. In fact, the one already has sentimental attachment to me because I just happened to be using it when my 11 year old son walked into the bathroom and I decided to whack the fuzz off of his upper lip for the first time with it.

For me, I can't see the point in user grade razors. Why not have a nice razor in excellent condition? That's just me though, I completely understand that the plating on a razor doesn't affect the shave and some guys are just fine with a brassed razor that has some pitting on it. I'd either sell it or PIF it to someone who will appreciate for what it is..... or I'd have it replated for my own use. YMMV.

Ben

 

[onotoman]

It's possibly worth looking at it this way:

Gillette Tech Purchased off Ebay - $15
Replate in Bright Nickel - $32
Postage - $?

The average entry level New Merkur will cost you around $60

I like my razors to have a bit of history in them. Looking like new, yes, but I've yet to find a new razor to match the quality and function of the English Aristocrats or the Gillette Adjustables.

As for Tech's I'd recommend avoiding the ones that have the horrible Zinc Alloy Head Tops - these can easily be identified as they have 'Gillette' deeply cast into the head top. You may be lucky and find one that's in excellent order, but once they start to flake and blister, it's impossible to replate them.

Some of the Super Speeds around the X, Y (and probably Z) Date Codes had base plates made from zinc alloy - again avoid these if you see blistering of the plating.

 

[Foyle]

If you like the razor, why not re-plate it?

 

[Iceberg168]

If you're a big fan of the tech you can often find a NOS in package tech for about $40 or so. A while ago the Canadian Government had a sale where they unloaded a lot of NOS Techs through government auction. These were originally military surplus if I recall. They made their way into private hands and are now hitting the eBay market 1 tech at a time.

 

[chado006]

I'm growing more and more towards vintage razors. If I like the shave, then it goes into rotation. If I don't I either sell it or PIF it.

 

[ateace]

FWIW, I had two NEWs replated and justified the extra cost by knowing that the new plating would help to
preserve the razors for decades to come. Plus, they look stunning now.

You can't do this with every old razor, but once in a while I say it's OK if it doesn't break the bank.

 

[JDTTO]

I see no reason why a (brass) Tech would be any less worthy of a replate than a NEW and I see replated NEW's all over the place on this board.

Maybe one day I will have it done with my decent user grade Tech but before I do I would check with the replaters on this board if they might have one to replate already. Would be more efficient shipping wise.