Black tip Superspeed vs all-steel 40's style ?

[Umma2gumma]

I became a huge fan of Superspeeds, and have a small collection of them - two 1953 "40's style" and three flare tips (1956, 1966 and a black handle 1967).

The 40's style ones and the flare tips are noticeably (if not hugely) different shavers, both '53s are more efficient but can feel a little scratchy if I am too careless. The flare tip ones are all mild, yet still efficient shavers.

Just recently, I bought a 1951 Black Tip. Kind of on a whim, as I fully expected it to shave identically to my 1953 ones. However, while being very efficient, it is also a very soft shaver - it basically has the efficiency of 40's style and the mildness of Flare tip.

Just curious if it's just my specimen, or if these black tips were indeed different beasts from the all-steel 40's style ones ?

 

[velocityboy]

I don't have any of the standard Superspeeds but I do have a Milord which is just the gold plated version as far as I know. I also have a 1951 W3 aluminum handle black tip Superspeed.

I do love them both and I haven't noticed any particular difference in shave quality between the two but I do seem to prefer using the black tip just a bit more. Must be the weight balance or some intangible difference. They both have no PIF/trade contract clauses in my den.

 

[profusion]

It could be down to tolerances in the individual razors. It's commonly accepted that the '40s styles SS are more efficient than the Flare Tips, but the heads on your '53s and the '56 are identical designs, so there shouldn't be any real difference. The '66 and '67 have a different head design, which I don't find as smooth.