Some years ago I made the change to vintage blades exclusively. But when I did I took myself, unknowingly, out of most threads about blades here and all the other boards I frequent. Just wondered how many others use them if not exclusively like me, regularly at least
Any Vintage Blade Users Out There?
- Thread starter Mouser
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All but one, maybe two, of my straight razors is less than 50 years old. Most were made in the 1930s or earlier.
Do vintage DE or SE blades hold their edges well? Doesn't even mild oxidation put a crimp in their usability?
Do vintage DE or SE blades hold their edges well? Doesn't even mild oxidation put a crimp in their usability?
There are a few of us but not a ton.
I have a lifetime supplies of Gillette Spoilers and England Wilkinson Sword blades in my den and very happy to have them for many years of shaving until I RIP ... So mote it be 
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I’ve got a good stash of Gillette Spoilers, Tomac Hospitals and Schick Platinums. I’ll only EVER use vintage stainless, I recommend the same to all.
Yes. Longevity is usually better. I think different machining and honing processes are why. There are still plenty of good cheap modern blades though.
Yep I have way more than a lifetime supply squirreled away of vintage blades. Gillette Platinum Plus, Spoilers, British made Platinums. Personna P74s and Super Platinum Chromes. British Wilkinson Sword Masters, Light Brigades and a bunch of other Wilkinson variants. Schick Plus Platinums. Fifty or so London Bridge. They are all great but my favorites are the Schick Krona blades in the green dispenser. I feel like I can just shave with abandon with those blades and get awesome results.
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- #9
God yes. I keep a daily shave log since 2013 and differences in product show up over time but the difference between vintage blades and modern ones was apparent right away. You have to remember the top vintage blades were made for a different market and would be out of reach of the men who make up the vast majority of today's DE shavers. Back in the day the top makes at least were made for men in developed countries like the USA and the UK etc. who wanted and could afford the best. I would venture to guess over 80%, maybe significantly more of the men who wet shave today are third world. Just an example, I have a dispenser of 10 NOS Gillette Platinum Plus from 1970 marked at $1.89. If we just adjust for inflation, which would assume the relative costs of materials and labor stayed the same which they haven't anywhere, in today's dollars they'd be $12.24! For ten. Another objective piece of evidence is they last much, much longer. As long as you find ones in excellent condition, which isn't all that hard to do, they're significantly better.
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- #10
By the way, let me say that the above is only conjecture. Some comes from a gentleman who when I first started wet shaving was on these boards and claimed to have some kind of connection with Gillette brass back in the day and the rest from some speculation with other vintage users around that same time. I'm not saying they can't make them as good or better nowadays, just that they don't because it's not economically feasible anymore.
I have a lifetime supplies of Gillette Spoilers and England Wilkinson Sword blades in my den and very happy to have them for many years of shaving until I RIP ... So mote it be
Lucky guy!!
Sure. But I posit that a better comparison would be to a pack of today‘s newest Gillette multi-bladed carts. Either way you are correct, these are not products for men in the developing world.
You mean Old Fart lucky guyLucky guy!!
Why? This inquiring mind wants to know...
Never mind... Just read lots of on the subject...
I mean don’t ever use old carbon blades. I didn’t word that well.
I still use modern blades.
I only do on occasion with NOS Schick injector blades. Restarted traditional wet shaving too late to delve deeper into vintage blades. Way too expensive in Europe nowadays. But for DE and GEM current blades work well for me. And for AC there is no vintage I know of anyhow.
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I got several Gillette Thins L-2 Datecode & finally decided to try one last week. I wasn't expecting much from a 60 year old blade. First shave was my closest and smoothest shave of the year. 2nd was as close and almost as smooth. 3rd was more audible, but still close. Figgered 4 would kill it altogether, but read somewhere about stropping DE blades, so I gave it 10 laps on each side. Next Days' shave was as smooth & close as the 1st shave. Today was another excellent shave, on its' 3rd stropping. I'll strop right after cleaning up the razors after a shave and apply some blade oil on the edges. Tomorrow will be the 6th shave with the 4th stropping.
I've also tried stropping a couple of stainless blades, but results were poor.
Where do people locate vintage blades? The only ones I've seen are on E-Bay & Etsy & they were priced to fund the seller's retirement.
I've also tried stropping a couple of stainless blades, but results were poor.
Where do people locate vintage blades? The only ones I've seen are on E-Bay & Etsy & they were priced to fund the seller's retirement.
Sounds like my Feather blades would have some competition if I still used my AS-D2 on a daily basis.
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- #19
Besides the lifetime supply of vintage stainless blades that use, well over a hundred Personna 74s of all the different offerings, their wonderful Super Stainless Gillette Stainless, Spoilers, Platinum Plus, corresponding Schick models and the much harder to find Wilkinson Light Brigades I have quite a few carbon blades that I very carefully chose. If you can find them in pristine shape they shave great too and it's a different experience. The best I've found are the Schick Deluxe with Krona Edge. They were known as black beauties back in the day. You really need to get as much provenance as you can before buying carbons. Are they from a region with a dry climate? How have they been kept all these years? Airtight container?
Here's a pic of those Schicks
Here's a pic of those Schicks
Hello, guys!
Where do you usually buy vintage blades? Only on Ebay or there are other good places for that?
Where do you usually buy vintage blades? Only on Ebay or there are other good places for that?
