A Tale of 4 News (with pictures!

[Teppanyaki]

Before I forget, don't reply until I get post #2 up as it has more photos.

Short version - I loved my Gillette New long comb enough that I wanted a fancy handle. Due to the baseplate recess width, some handles don't fit. Instead of drilling it wider (or something else I read, using a Dremel), I ended up ordering 3 variations - New short comb (to see what it was like; per http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/162987-Photo-Analysis-of-Razor-Designs?highlight= I figured it would be milder), New British version (flat baseplate so I can use any handle I want), and Goodwill (the top cap with engraving where the studs come through just looks cool).

Today I have now shaved with all of them at least once and thought I would post my initial impressions and pics.

Pics first.

 

[Teppanyaki]

Pics 1-5 (post #1) = all 4 razors (yes, that's a Toro Mastiff handle on the New short comb, and it fits due to a slightly wider baseplate recess!). From left to right - New long comb, British New long comb (7 O' Clock), New short comb, Goodwill. 2-5 are my attempts to photograph blade angle and exposure.

Pics 6-10 = angled shots of blades and a shot of the 7 O' Clock with a Muhle handle.

Impressions -

Gillette long comb - this was what I started with and will be what I will mostly compare the others to. A very effective razor that is moderately forgiving. You can feel the blade, but it's not nearly as much as the 2013 R41 and it is significantly more forgiving of inattention/sloppy technique. A great razor.

7 O' Clock/British New - Also a very effective razor. Blade edge is not as noticeable as the Gillette New long comb, may be slightly more forgiving. I've shaved with it once. 1 pass on half of my face. That's it.

Gillette New short comb - Again, very effective, blade edge is like the 7 O' Clock - not really noticeable like the long comb. Feels slightly more forgiving than the short comb, ? equal to the British NEW. A few shaves with this, several passes on both sides of my face.

Gillette Goodwill - Not as effective but only mildly less effective, feels pretty darn forgiving. 1 shave on half of my face. Compared with the British New, feels slightly rougher.

My thoughts so far - I like all of them, but I like the milder feeling ones better, so the long comb (even though I really like it) comes in at #4 for me. As for the other 3, it's a lot tougher for me. I'd like to narrow it down to 2 and then send 1 off for replating.

I can't tell is the British New blade is closer to the cap/comb tangent line or not (when compared with the US long comb), but I think it is a tiny bit closer to the tangent. I tried to eyeball it using the edge of some folded paper as a straightedge. My conclusion - my eyes suck at that level of detail and a macro lens with a standardized setup would be a much better idea.

In the end, it would be nice to have the Goodwill as 1 of my regular razors given that it simply looks darn cool, but if it shaves noticeably less than the 7 O' Clock or the New short comb then I'm not quite sure what do do with it. Then again, it's a darn good place to be where I have 4 razors that shave well and are forgiving. This beats the heck out of starting out where I couldn't get a nice shave and was getting irritation/nicks/etc.

The next step? Figure out which one I'm sending off to RestoredRazors for red gold/gold/red gold replating. The other of the top 2 may be getting a rhodium treatment. Beyond that? Who knows. Besides handle experimentation.

 

[Gary H]

Send me those heads that need buffing. Seeing these pics is making my buffing set up howl.

 

[Teppanyaki]

Gary - thanks, but they'll probably get replated (I assume buffing takes the tarnish off but doesn't prevent future tarnishing due to plating loss).

 

[Gary H]

Gary - thanks, but they'll probably get replated (I assume buffing takes the tarnish off but doesn't prevent future tarnishing due to plating loss).

That is correct.

 

[Teppanyaki]

Forgot - the blade exposure on the Goodwill is pretty minimal; as the side photo doesn't show, I can't see the blade edge like the other 3. However, unlike the Merkur 1904/other OC's with the blade on the teeth, the Goodwill did a adrn good job of shaving. And no irritation/nicks/weepers/etc.

As you can tell, I really don't like my 1904 Merkur OC. Evilllllllllllll . . .

 

[DrAwkward]

I love them all ! The NEW LC is a bit aggressive, but wonderfully so. Give it another try.

 

[Jeff_H]

Very nice acquisitions and a nice write up. I have my first New long comb on the way. It's actually an Otto Roth, which means it has the wider area on the base plate which will allow the use of almost any handle. It has recently been replated by Krona Kruiser in nickel and I am very excited to receive it. I would ultimately prefer Rhodium, but I hear great things about Krona's nickel plating. I am glad to hear that you think the LC New is slightly more aggressive, but not quite as aggressive as the 2013 R41. The new R41 has been on my list to purchase for a few months now. Maybe having the new that is more aggressive, but not quite so much will let me figure out if I really want more aggressive open combs or if I need to figure something else out.

Thank you for taking the time to take the pics and post your thoughts. Congrats on your purchases.

 

[77TransAm]

I love your Goodwill. Interesting to see the blade exposure is similar to my Single Ring (or so it appears). I've been trying to hunt one down on eBay.

 

[Teppanyaki]

DrAwkward - I have used the New long comb by far the most out of the set. It is a nicely aggressive razor. Had I not tried the others, it would be my "go to" razor over a Muhle R89, Merkur Slant 39c barberpole, Matador Toro Mastiff, Feather Popular, Merkur OC 1904, and Muhle R41 2013. But it is slightly less forgiving than the short comb in my experience. Plus, I can't fit as many handles on it. The 7 O' Clock is virtually the same, with perhaps a slightly less aggressive blade angle, but with a flat baseplate that allows complete handle flexibility without drilling or reshaping. Plus, the handle looks cooler than the standard bar/ball end New handles to me.

It occurs to me that, as I type the razors I have owned, that I have bought far too many razors in the last 5 months!

I love your Goodwill. Interesting to see the blade exposure is similar to my Single Ring (or so it appears). I've been trying to hunt one down on eBay.

Single Ring - that looks like one of the Old Type razors to me, which reminds me of my Merkur 1904 OC with the blade right on the comb. That style really doesn't work for me - bad shaves and tons of irritation. The Goodwill has a different head design - it actually looks really weird and cool. The blade is very close to the comb but I don't believe it rests on the comb. Also, it appears to have more "play" in where the handle fits in to the baseplate and it erquires a blade to really align the top cap correctly. But it just looks darn cool. I may have to replate it regardless.

 

[Turtledrum]

It occurs to me that, as I type the razors I have owned, that I have bought far too many razors in the last 5 months!

What? Too many? I don't understand.....I thought there was no such thing....hmm....

 

[nemo]

However, unlike the Merkur 1904/other OC's with the blade on the teeth, the Goodwill did a adrn good job of shaving.

Just so we aren't spreading incorrect information -- installed in a Merkur 1904 open comb, the blade does not sit on the teeth of the comb.

I'm not aware of any razor where the blade sits on the teeth. That wouldn't work well, would it?

 

[Makubex]

Pics 1-5 (post #1) = all 4 razors (yes, that's a Toro Mastiff handle on the New short comb, and it fits due to a slightly wider baseplate recess!). From left to right - New long comb, British New long comb (7 O' Clock), New short comb, Goodwill. 2-5 are my attempts to photograph blade angle and exposure.

New LC doesn't fit the Toro Mastiff handle?

 

[nemo]

New LC doesn't fit the Toro Mastiff handle?

Some do some don't, depends on which handle was originally fitted. Head from a ball-end handle has a smaller diameter recess.

 

[Makubex]

Some do some don't, depends on which handle was originally fitted. Head from a ball-end handle has a smaller diameter recess.

make sense! Thank you

 

[Saltchuck]

Short version - I loved my Gillette New long comb enough that I wanted a fancy handle. Due to the baseplate recess width, some handles don't fit.

I ran into the baseplate-recess-width problem when I tried to fit a Weber Bulldog handle to a Long-Comb new. I happen to have a wood lathe, so I solved that problem by creating a small donut-shaped washer out of some scrap ebony I had left over from turning a custom razor handle. It works like an adapter and makes the Weber Bulldog handle fit the LC New head just fine. Maybe a small o-ring from the auto parts store or the plumbing section of a hardware store would work the same?

 

[Teppanyaki]

My recollection of my Merkur 1904 (and prior readings on it) was that the blade did actually sit on the comb, and I thought that the very early R41 did the same. Am I mistaken on that?