Enders speed razor blade alternative (obsolete blade)

[Ron R]

How to put a Enders speed razor back into serviceable use and enjoy this cool looking razor.

Jararuh's blade carrier idea(TSD) is a excellent idea to revive this old Enders speed razor and now I can use these Schick proline B-20 blades that I was going to use in my injectors after finding they are meant for Shavettes .
This is my Enders blade Carrier and it works very well. I had to revise my first attempt and the 2nd tweak worked out very well.
The setting below at .6oo thousands of a inch seems to very nice on the aggression scale of 1-10, I would give it a 5-5.5 and it seems to be a sweet spot for myself.

1 st- thought better take some quick measurements before I blunt the only Enders blade I have, it came with the Enders speed razor.


2nd- I figured I would scribe a reference line on both sides of the old Enders blade if I decide to make a 2 sided carrier.


3rd - I had some JB Weld Marine grade appoxy from fixing other razors over the last year. What I did is apply the appoxy and scraped the excess off and let it dry for 1.5 hrs and then carefully lift blade out of its slightly gelled state starting at one end and lifting .


The setting For new blade exposure width was factoring into wear and age and doing a preliminary test of blade exposure with the old blade installed in Enders razor and decided to add approx .010 giving me a width of new blade of .600 +- .001 thousands.


This is what it looks like when finished, B-20 blade is still a tight fit in the razor but with a little filing of high spot in corner of razor receiver.(Not a good idea to upset the chrome finish but it is inconspicuous spot and the razor is useless with out a sharp blade edge).
The front edge has been blunted back approx 1/16 of a inch.

Had a couple of shaves already and it gives a nice shave with results in the CCS,DFS,BBS range with not much for blade chatter and that was surprising for me. Once the carrier is made it's a simple task to install the blades, I left the other side of carrier blank for now and might make a less aggressive version but this setting is very workable with stellar results.

Have some great shaves!

 

[brandaves]

Well done sir! Bringing that retired razor back to life with a little bit of home brewed ingenuity. It's a sharp looking razor, pun intended .

 

[Ron R]

Jim is a excellent wood worker and makes all kinds of razor handles and cases and had a brilliant idea on how to make a Enders blade carrier support for the injector blades.

Have some great shaves!

 

[Ron R]

Well done sir! Bringing that retired razor back to life with a little bit of home brewed ingenuity. It's a sharp looking razor, pun intended .

I bought these B-20 blades thinking they would ideal for my Schick injectors and @jmudrick uses them in his Enders razors and so the search to find out more brings me to make a blade carrier myself. Some folks just sandwich the injector blade and manually adjust the blade to their desired shave and they seem to get good at it. I with my eye site not as good as it was decided to make a carrier and once made forget about it or I can still adjust manually on the other side of blade in the other known method.
Have some great shaves!

 

[Flintstone65]

Great write up!!! I tried doing the manual loading thing, and I just couldn't do it. My Prolines and Chick blades both seemed a touch to wide to go in. Luckily, @GAW9576 was kind enough to make me a blade carrier using the Jayaruh technique, and now I too can use my Enders. I still feel like my razors (I've got a few) like they are a touch to narrow width wise, so I may just try filing the inside of the razor a bit so it isn't such a fight. They are great shavers!!

 

[Ron R]

Great write up!!! I tried doing the manual loading thing, and I just couldn't do it. My Prolines and Chick blades both seemed a touch to wide to go in. Luckily, @GAW9576 was kind enough to make me a blade carrier using the Jayaruh technique, and now I too can use my Enders. I still feel like my razors (I've got a few) like they are a touch to narrow width wise, so I may just try filing the inside of the razor a bit so it isn't such a fight. They are great shavers!!

Interesting Fred @Flintstone65 I was reading that Enders speed "razor" 1930's model (handle square ended style) would not fit the Enders Speed "shaver" 1940's model blades always. They must of cast the newer shavers a little different? I found that interesting they would build in obsolete blades to maybe expand sales or just a temporary screw up. I hope some of the information is helpful for those who would like to get their Enders razors out of the storage closet. @jmudrick has been tinkering a while with the Enders and he might know some information on width of blades. I have seen some Enders blade that look similar but have a relief cut inwards, not sure why Enders did that!(Experimenting ?)

 

[jmudrick]

Interesting Fred @Flintstone65 I was reading that Enders speed "razor" 1930's model (square handle end style) would not fit the Enders Speed "shaver" 1940's model blades always. They must of cast the newer shavers a little different? I found that interesting they would build in obsolete blades to maybe expand sales or just a temporary screw up. I hope some of the information is helpful for those who would like to get their Enders razors out of the storage closet. @jmudrick has been tinkering a while with the Enders and he might know some information on width of blades. I have seen some Enders blade that look similar but have a relief cut inwards, not sure why Enders did that!(Experimenting ?)

I am not aware of any difference. I have used various Enders and Proline blades in both Razors and Shavers without issue. I am aware of a substitute (unbranded) Enders blade that does have fitment issues.

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[GAW9576]

Great write up @Ron R I made the two oval shaped JB weld tabs on the carriers I made but I didn't have the long strip at the back of the blade. I bet that gives even better blade support. When I make more I will add that feature.
I have both shaver and razor and haven't noticed any fitment issues or differences between the two. As @jmudrick mentioned I have noticed a difference between the old blades with the greyhound etched on them and the presumably newer blades with no greyhound.

 

[Ron R]

Great write up @Ron R I made the two oval shaped JB weld tabs on the carriers I made but I didn't have the long strip at the back of the blade. I bet that gives even better blade support. When I make more I will add that feature.

Yes you are correct, that was 2nd tweak I did and it made the blade go in more square to side walls of the shaver entrance. When pulling out the blade a person should remember to put a little upward pressure to the receiver to draw out the B-20 blade. B-20 blade does not always come out when withdrawing the carrier blade. I was watching a fellow on Youtube who said you should take the out the blades after use and dry them because he had some possible rusting occurring between mating blades??
Have some great shaves!

 

[jmudrick]

Great write up @Ron R I made the two oval shaped JB weld tabs on the carriers I made but I didn't have the long strip at the back of the blade. I bet that gives even better blade support. When I make more I will add that feature.
I have both shaver and razor and haven't noticed any fitment issues or differences between the two. As @jmudrick mentioned I have noticed a difference between the old blades with the greyhound etched on them and the presumably newer blades with no greyhound.

I don't presume the ill fitting blades are even Enders production. Here's an ad from the last days of the razor, 1955, with blades pictured.

View attachment The_Bonham_Daily_Favorite_Sun__Jul_17__1955_.jpg

 

[Ron R]

I don't presume the ill fitting blades are even Enders production. Here's an ad from the last days of the razor, 1955, with blades pictured.

View attachment 1033896

Very nice find of Advertisement for the Enders speed shaver @jmudrick. You seem to find those hard to find ads and pin point the ending of this great razor. Thanks for ads we all like to see.

 

[Flintstone65]

Yes you are correct, that was 2nd tweak I did and it made the blade go in more square to side walls of the shaver entrance. When pulling out the blade a person should remember to put a little upward pressure to the receiver to draw out the B-20 blade. B-20 blade does not always come out when withdrawing the carrier blade. I was watching a fellow on Youtube who said you should take the out the blades after use and dry them because he had some possible rusting occurring between mating blades??
Have some great shaves!

I'm curious to hear if others leave their blades in place....I would love to do that, but the carrier blade does rust REALLY quickly, so I always remove the carrier blade and Proline. After removing, I store the carrier blade in an oil soaked bag....I'm also experimenting with just covering it in Frog Lube after use as well.

As to the insertion and removal of the carrier blade system, I suspect it's my mechanical ineptitude -- I'm probably pushing up or down at the wrong time or in the wrong place -- but the fit is TIGHT and it takes me a few tries of getting the blade in there. I would have to say that even with my blade carrier -- which is awesome and I would not be able to use my razors without it -- this razor is still my most difficult razor to setup for use.

Part of it to me is that the fit and finish of the razor isn't stellar. The interiors of mine are not smooth -- forget about polished. So when I've seen people talk about it loading the blade, I always figured they sandwiched the blades together and just slid the "sandwich" into place. And that is sort of what happens, but while I can easily slip an Enders blade into place, I find the Prolines and the Schicks seem to get caught on the rough interior of the razor, even if I just try to slip them in without the Enders blade.

 

[Ron R]

I'm curious to hear if others leave their blades in place....I would love to do that, but the carrier blade does rust REALLY quickly, so I always remove the carrier blade and Proline. After removing, I store the carrier blade in an oil soaked bag....I'm also experimenting with just covering it in Frog Lube after use as well.

As to the insertion and removal of the carrier blade system, I suspect it's my mechanical ineptitude -- I'm probably pushing up or down at the wrong time or in the wrong place -- but the fit is TIGHT and it takes me a few tries of getting the blade in there. I would have to say that even with my blade carrier -- which is awesome and I would not be able to use my razors without it -- this razor is still my most difficult razor to setup for use.

Part of it to me is that the fit and finish of the razor isn't stellar. The interiors of mine are not smooth -- forget about polished. So when I've seen people talk about it loading the blade, I always figured they sandwiched the blades together and just slid the "sandwich" into place. And that is sort of what happens, but while I can easily slip an Enders blade into place, I find the Prolines and the Schicks seem to get caught on the rough interior of the razor, even if I just try to slip them in without the Enders blade.

What model of Enders do you have Fred? The B-20 blade is shorter by .005 thousands of a inch than a regular length injector blade, so the B-20 injector is a better choice or snipe the end off a bit of regular blade.

 

[Flintstone65]

What model of Enders do you have Fred? The B-20 blade is shorter by .005 thousands of a inch than a regular length injector blade, so the B-20 injector is a better choice or snipe the end off a bit of regular blade.

Thanks. I've got both the Speed Shaver and Speed Razor (young and older) models. I thought about grinding the Proline "ears" down a bit, but haven't figured out a good way to do that yet.

 

[jmudrick]

I leave the Enders carrier blade in place. I dip the razor in alcohol after each shave.i also keep a silica sachet in the case . Zero rust visible and it's been in there for at least 5 months and gets used ever couple days (it's my go-to razor for pick ups. .

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[captnronfl]

Wow that is pretty kool.
I always wanted to try one.
The problem for me would be to get the tolerances right so this will be just another one of those wish I could razors.

 

[Ron R]

Wow that is pretty kool.
I always wanted to try one.
The problem for me would be to get the tolerances right so this will be just another one of those wish I could razors.

It's really not that hard a task, all you need is Enders blade, a B-20 Shick proline blade, vise grip on light tension and a digital Vernier caliper and marine quality JB Weld or equivalent and in 20-60 min it is done and you should get years of enjoyment.
You do not need to make a carrier also just slip a B-20 blade in razor and install a Stoned blunted Enders blade in the receiver end and adjust the blade with a thin object. The Carrier is a nicer method of consistent settings and installing is easy and in a time accumulation is faster than manually figuring your setting if you really enjoy the razor and use it a lot like I'm starting to find .
Have some great shaves!

 

[GAW9576]

Wow that is pretty kool.
I always wanted to try one.
The problem for me would be to get the tolerances right so this will be just another one of those wish I could razors.

If you are setting the adapter up to shave at original blade exposure just line up the edges and put the JB weld tabs on. After the JB weld cures dull the enders blade. I carefully removed the entire bevel to be sure it wouldn't cause interference but that is probably overkill. I also made a more aggressive setup and just eyeballed the blade exposure. I figured that's all I was doing without the JB weld tabs using the enders blade as a shim.

 

[rabidus]

This is brilliant! I haven't done it yet, but I will try it with the Ender's Speed and Kristy razor.

 

[Ron R]

Tweak 3 ( not really necessary but it secures the blade better like a original blade with a click sound when installed.
I was doing a little tinkering yesterday with this carrier and had some brass .005 thousands shim stock and thought about possible improving it and I wanted the click noise when the blade is seated in the razor.

This little improvement worked out well this morning with my shave, I had some shim stock in the tool box and did another revision. The photo's make it look crude because it's magnified a lot but it works hot dang and more than likely sharper than the original blades provided with the razor in it's glory days.
After 6 shaves the range is in my sweet spot of CCS,DFS,BBS and that is what I call a decent razor & shave.
Have some great shaves!