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All open combs kinda look alike, HOW CAN I TELL THEM APART?

Actually, r_n_b's New Improved isn't your standard version. It is an Aristocrat. They have a slightly different knob than the version that came in the New Standard, Bostonian, et cetera sets.

I wondered about that too. I had seen Mr. Razor's Aristocrat, but did not realize that they came with silver plate also. Thanks for the info!
 
a and b, and c and f besides the color almost same, d and e too.

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As for a and b, look closely at the cap. Notice how b is thicker than a. Also look at the corners of cap a and how much sharper they are than cap b.

As for c and f, look closely at the entire head. Do you see the pin or peg sticking down on c? Now look at f and you will see no pin, but can see a groove in the base plate. Also look at the knobs on the tips of the handle. Different patterns.

On d and e the differences are only it the length and shape of teeth on the guard plate. e has longer, downward sloping teeth than does d.

After you have been doing this awhile and have looked at sevearl hundred razors these little nuances will jump right out at you.
 
a and b, and c and f besides the color almost same, d and e too.

Between A and B the cap is thicker on the B.

Between C and F the knob at the end of the handle is different. In profile, the caps differ and the the guard plates differ as does the mechanism of aligning the cap and guard. Notice that F has a visible notch at the end and C does not.

Between D and E the length of the teeth differ. On D the cap has squared off tabs on the end that fit into the gurad plate.
 
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As for a and b, look closely at the cap. Notice how b is thicker than a. Also look at the corners of cap a and how much sharper they are than cap b.

As for c and f, look closely at the entire head. Do you see the pin or peg sticking down on c? Now look at f and you will see no pin, but can see a groove in the base plate. Also look at the knobs on the tips of the handle. Different patterns.

On d and e the differences are only it the length and shape of teeth on the guard plate. e has longer, downward sloping teeth than does d.

After you have been doing this awhile and have looked at sevearl hundred razors these little nuances will jump right out at you.

whoa, i mean i can see that now, but with out your insight i would be stumped. just a subtle nuance makes a big difference.
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
That's a great thread! Thanks everyone for the information!
 
C - New Improved
I suspect this was an early knob, which later gave way to function over form. Less grippy to screw.
I have noticed a difference also between the England and USA New Improved knob knurling design. USA tend to look like F, England ones I have seen are different to C and F! Kind of 'in-the-middle' and to me a smoother feeling and aesthetic appearance to F. Who knows what other countries did! :lol:

F - the final (USA) knob after the initial New Improved knob knurl seen in C.

That's what I have seen.
 
C - New Improved
I suspect this was an early knob, which later gave way to function over form. Less grippy to screw.
I have noticed a difference also between the England and USA New Improved knob knurling design. USA tend to look like F, England ones I have seen are different to C and F! Kind of 'in-the-middle' and to me a smoother feeling and aesthetic appearance to F. Who knows what other countries did! :lol:

F - the final (USA) knob after the initial New Improved knob knurl seen in C.

That's what I have seen.

thanks, but it still takes alot of learning to figure them out. pics help alot. its like juding a beauty pageant or bodybuilder competition, my goodness how can u choose, they all look alike
 
thanks, but it still takes alot of learning to figure them out. pics help alot. its like juding a beauty pageant or bodybuilder competition, my goodness how can u choose, they all look alike

Hahahaha, I've mentioned that about beauty pageants and body building competitions quite a few times myself! :001_tongu

So true.
 
This is a brilliant thread. Now what about the TTO open combs? How do the heads of these compare to each other and to the non-TTOs shown in this thread?

PS Could this be made into a wiki - particularly the photo contrasting the heads
 
this was discussed with pics on tsd and here (thanks Achim). Achim included the 1930s Aristocrats (how some categorise these) which include the Populars, then there is the Senator and Sheraton.

Different comb length/angle, blade gap, head/cap profile, weight, base plates are some feature differences noted.

Lots of diversity. try search 1930s Aristocrats.
 
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On d and e the differences are only it the length and shape of teeth on the guard plate. e has longer, downward sloping teeth than does d.


I referred to this post as I have only just now picked up my first NEW common bar. In determining if it was a short or long comb razor I noticed in the pics here that another difference between the long and short comb NEW razor is that the caps are entirely different as well. The underside of the short comb cap is cast with 90 degree angles at the edges where the cap meets/holds the blade. The long comb cap is more flared and constructed with less sharp of an angle. :001_smile
 
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