Contemplating shaving with a old type head.

[polod]

I was thinking about shaving with a Gillette old type head, how aggressive is the head and does it take a steep learning curve not to nick or cut yourself? I shave with other safety razors but a bit apprehensive to shave with the old type head. Thoughts.

 

[merkur59]

I have the OC (supposedly 1930's) with tiny teeth (as compared to the New OC) - shave mild.

 

[RaiserLiebe]

I have an old type Bulldog wwith serial number indicating date as 1914. After reading soome people's opinion that it was aggresive, I was pleasently surprised- not bad at all! I paired it with a sharp smooth blade - Gillette Black- and it was fine, no worries. Quite glad I made the purchase!
Mike

 

[CB1]

Pretty mild indeed.

 

[celestino]

It is not very aggressive at all. It is a very nice shaver actually. Enjoy.

 

[redbike]

I was thinking about shaving with a Gillette old type head, how aggressive is the head and does it take a steep learning curve not to nick or cut yourself? I shave with other safety razors but a bit apprehensive to shave with the old type head. Thoughts.

I'd say all of my Gillette old types shave more aggressively than any of my Gillette safety bar razors. If your technique is good, you should be fine though. Use your smoothest blade, that is also very sharp. For me that is a GBE or Astra Superior. And use a very slick soap or cream. Good luck.

 

[mharris127]

These razors originally took a thicker blade, my computations from seeing pictures of them lead me to believe they would be extremely mild with today's DE blades. The old style blades are available from a couple of obscure online retailers but I cannot vouch for their products quality.

 

[BBrad]

These razors originally took a thicker blade, my computations from seeing pictures of them lead me to believe they would be extremely mild with today's DE blades. The old style blades are available from a couple of obscure online retailers but I cannot vouch for their products quality.

The difference in "aggressiveness" is virtually non-existant between the original blade thickness and today's thin blades. Mathematically, the change in blade gap is one-half the difference in thickness between the two blades, and works out to about one "click" on an Adjustable. "Shimming" an Old Type will add aggressiveness that some like and others don't. Shimming adds a larger amount of blade gap than was lost due to the modern blade being thinner.

When the Gillette razor was first introduced, men had an inherent understanding of shaving with a straight blade. The angle and methodology that works best is very similar to a straight razor. As the safety razor progressed, and men became several generations removed from the straight razor, the razor became easier to use and much more forgiving . . . right up to today's cartridge offerings. The Old Type has gotten a reputation for being aggressive only because it requires a more precise angle, pressure, and stroke than any other vintage safety razor, and not because it truly is more aggressive!

 

[BBrad]

I looked back to a thread from last fall when shimming an Old Type was discussed:

Regarding the blade thickness... I got my first OLD type yesterday and it came with some rusty used old 3 hole blades. Since I too was curious about this thick blade/thin blade shananigans I keep hearing about, I busted out my micrometer. Old gillette3 hole blade measured .006" thick, newer gillette thin blade .004". So the difference is .002" making the blade gap difference .001" different. For those of you following along at home, the thickness of a human hair (one of my own... I measured it. Lol) is .002". So my opinion is that .001" will be unnoticable. And as BBrad has already said, with the sharpness of modern blades, compared to the old 3 holes, it shouldn't matter anyway.

"One click" on a Gillette adjustable changes the blade gap by about .002" . . . making the difference about one half of a click!