Gem Micromatic Comparison and Impressions

[woodfluter]

I recently got two Gem Micromatics, and have become a real fan already! Very effective and easy to load and unload with the twist-to-open mechanism.

The open-comb model (presumed earlier, 1929 to 193? or early '40s?) and the Clog-Pruf. The latter used a guard bar and had two raised bumps, apparently to give a gap below that would reduce clogging. Here they are:



There's other differences too. The head cap appears exactly the same but the base plate on the OC seems a bit longer - as measured to the blade edge stop. This has consequences as we'll see.

I'm still in the process of finding time to update my analysis of razor geometry, with many more razors...perhaps making it ShaveWiki worthy.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=162987
But I'm going to preview that with a comparison for these razors.

Razor Geometry





As usual, the red line represents the blade position, while the blue line is the tangent between the guard and the cap. The black line represents the flat surface of the cap top...recall that Gem was quite insistent in instructions and ads that one should keep the flat against the face. Other members of this board have been equally insistent that this doesn't work well.

Angles could be off by a degree due to perspective, but it's fairly clear that the longer baseplate for the open comb gives a slightly lower working angle (blue). Both have about the same blade exposure, i.e. the projection of the blade beyond the blue line.

The 18 degrees should be familiar. It's about what I measure for the original Gillette design, and about 7 degrees lower than most of the later Gillette models.

Impressions

Both razors shave remarkably well. I'm getting consistent BBS. As for angle, I'm finding that Gem's recommendation of head flat against the face works just fine with both of these...on the cheeks, where skin is flat and more elastic. A slight bit of pressure is required for that to work, but nary a trace of razor burn or nicks of any sort - seems completely safe.

But on the curved and bonier parts of the face, such as the chin and around portions of the neck, flat doesn't quite cut it. There I find a need to raise the angle slightly, which makes it markedly more aggressive and effective. More so for the open comb than the Clog Pruf. Nothing that's at all problematic as long as you know and adjust pressure accordingly.

When you ponder skin curves & elasticity in combination with a low-angle stiff blade, all this makes perfect sense.

These are great razors. I like the naked brass myself, but am curious about the alloy. It doesn't seem to tarnish as easily as most brass I've polished, nor to polish as easily (but it does!)

Cautions

These razors can be loaded incorrectly if you don't pay attention. Not a big problem at all, but need to be aware that the front edge must lock securely against the stops (open comb) or under the prongs (Clog Pruf). Here's an example.

Drop the blade flat, with the stud inside the center blade hole, and at a glance it looks OK. But the blade is resting on top of the prongs!



Tighten the cap and here's what happens - huge exposure and gap:



This is the resulting blade position as seen from the side:



If loaded correctly, this is what it should look like.



So you can see how a newbie to these razors might get a very bad impression!

Happy shaves,
- Bill

 

[Marine Dad]

Great post ! These are 2 of my favorite razors.

 

[Pjotr]

What is the blue line exactly? I'm not sure I understand the "tangent between the guard and cap" explanation. A tangent implies a curve and I can't see one. Interesting though. I'd like to see an analysis done on the whole range of SEs. The Streamline/Jewel geometry in particular. Some of them (Damaskeene and the Streamline too) have curved caps so I'm not sure how you'd be able to compare those.

I've done the shave with the blade on top of the stop thing. With that exact razor. The Clog Pruf ain't so mild then I can assure you! This was after two months of SE shaving so you'd think I'd have known better. Blades are easy to load but also easy to just slip out of position while you're not looking.

 

[Darjeeling Express]

Brilliant. Thank you for this. The closed comb is one of my favorites.

 

[drews50]

Thanks for a very interesting write up. I knew there was a reason for liking them, besides the amazing shaves.

 

[Mack]

Thank you for this. This may explain the problem I had the first--and only time--I used my Micromatic. I looked at it closely after reviewing your post and noticed that the stops are worn (filed?) down to the point where the blade edge will not rest against them. Had I bothered to find out about the way the razor should look, I could probably saved myself a very bad shave.

 

[4hits]

What a great post.

Love the look of my naked brass Clog Pruf. My "silver" nearly NOS Open Comb looks great too, but I much prefer the naked brass look.

I am lifting the head just a bit when doing cheeks and other flat surfaces. Flat just wasnt cutting it...get it...cutting it.

For me, after using the Open Comb for the past week, I think I might like the Clog Pruf better.

Either way, great razors - not that I wasted my time with DE's these past five years...but...

 

[woodfluter]

What is the blue line exactly? I'm not sure I understand the "tangent between the guard and cap" explanation. A tangent implies a curve and I can't see one.

Right...think of a tangent to two circles. Sort of what we have here. If you propped a straight edge against the curved guard and the top of the cap, that would be the blue line. It's a bit deceiving here because the prong is masking the guard behind it. I worked out the blue line from photos taken at somewhat different angles and examination under magnification.

The angle between the blade (red) and the blue line might be thought of as the natural shaving angle for a specific design. It's kind of hard to see the actual top of the head in the photos, but it's right along the black line. There's another bevel toward you, and that's in focus while the real top surface is more out of focus.

What's interesting about this, in comparison to the Gillette DEs, is the combination of low angle with a longer span from guard to head. I'm thinking that has something to do with it's ability to shave with the head flat against he face...more room for skin to flex inward toward the blade. Whether that's right or not, quite a different approach.

I'd like to see an analysis done on the whole range of SEs. The Streamline/Jewel geometry in particular. Some of them (Damaskeene and the Streamline too) have curved caps so I'm not sure how you'd be able to compare those.

When I re-do and update the photo analysis, it will include as many types as I can access! I'm diversifying and may include some of those you mentioned. As to how...pretty much the same. The Gillettes have curved tops too.

I've done the shave with the blade on top of the stop thing. With that exact razor. The Clog Pruf ain't so mild then I can assure you!
Blades are easy to load but also easy to just slip out of position while you're not looking.

Yep, that was why I included that last bit! Know exactly what you mean. But once the cap is screwed down I don't think it can go anywhere.

Someone else mentioned that one of theirs had the stops or prongs missing. I'd try to look very carefully for damage to those in eBay photos. However, these razors seem very robust and durable. I'm really digging the simple design and excellent shaves.

Thanks Pjotr.

 

[Pjotr]

Right...think of a tangent to two circles. Sort of what we have here. If you propped a straight edge against the curved guard and the top of the cap, that would be the blue line. It's a bit deceiving here because the prong is masking the guard behind it. I worked out the blue line from photos taken at somewhat different angles and examination under magnification.

The angle between the blade (red) and the blue line might be thought of as the natural shaving angle for a specific design. It's kind of hard to see the actual top of the head in the photos, but it's right along the black line. There's another bevel toward you, and that's in focus while the real top surface is more out of focus.

What's interesting about this, in comparison to the Gillette DEs, is the combination of low angle with a longer span from guard to head. I'm thinking that has something to do with it's ability to shave with the head flat against he face...more room for skin to flex inward toward the blade. Whether that's right or not, quite a different approach.



When I re-do and update the photo analysis, it will include as many types as I can access! I'm diversifying and may include some of those you mentioned. As to how...pretty much the same. The Gillettes have curved tops too.



Yep, that was why I included that last bit! Know exactly what you mean. But once the cap is screwed down I don't think it can go anywhere.

Someone else mentioned that one of theirs had the stops or prongs missing. I'd try to look very carefully for damage to those in eBay photos. However, these razors seem very robust and durable. I'm really digging the simple design and excellent shaves.

Thanks Pjotr.

Thaks for that woodfluter. From what I can gather the angle of the blue line would also be a reflection of blade exposure or at least the exposed area between the top edge of the guard and the front edge of the cap. I'm still interested to see how you determine the black line with a curved top. I'm assumng it would have to a tangent to the curve but which point on the curve do you pick? Anyhow, interesting stuff. Bit of geometry never goes astray!

 

[Optionyout]

I've gone through the gamut of Gems and think the Micromatics are the best. Just last night I came to the conclusion that the closed comb bullet tip is my favorite. It offers an aggressive, low friction shave and has the extra measure of safety by being a closed comb. I highly recommend it.

 

[Sledgehammer39]

I recently got two Gem Micromatics, and have become a real fan already! Very effective and easy to load and unload with the twist-to-open mechanism.

The open-comb model (presumed earlier, 1929 to 193? or early '40s?) and the Clog-Pruf. The latter used a guard bar and had two raised bumps, apparently to give a gap below that would reduce clogging. Here they are:



There's other differences too. The head cap appears exactly the same but the base plate on the OC seems a bit longer - as measured to the blade edge stop. This has consequences as we'll see.

I'm still in the process of finding time to update my analysis of razor geometry, with many more razors...perhaps making it ShaveWiki worthy.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=162987
But I'm going to preview that with a comparison for these razors.

Razor Geometry





As usual, the red line represents the blade position, while the blue line is the tangent between the guard and the cap. The black line represents the flat surface of the cap top...recall that Gem was quite insistent in instructions and ads that one should keep the flat against the face. Other members of this board have been equally insistent that this doesn't work well.

Angles could be off by a degree due to perspective, but it's fairly clear that the longer baseplate for the open comb gives a slightly lower working angle (blue). Both have about the same blade exposure, i.e. the projection of the blade beyond the blue line.

The 18 degrees should be familiar. It's about what I measure for the original Gillette design, and about 7 degrees lower than most of the later Gillette models.

Impressions

Both razors shave remarkably well. I'm getting consistent BBS. As for angle, I'm finding that Gem's recommendation of head flat against the face works just fine with both of these...on the cheeks, where skin is flat and more elastic. A slight bit of pressure is required for that to work, but nary a trace of razor burn or nicks of any sort - seems completely safe.

But on the curved and bonier parts of the face, such as the chin and around portions of the neck, flat doesn't quite cut it. There I find a need to raise the angle slightly, which makes it markedly more aggressive and effective. More so for the open comb than the Clog Pruf. Nothing that's at all problematic as long as you know and adjust pressure accordingly.

When you ponder skin curves & elasticity in combination with a low-angle stiff blade, all this makes perfect sense.

These are great razors. I like the naked brass myself, but am curious about the alloy. It doesn't seem to tarnish as easily as most brass I've polished, nor to polish as easily (but it does!)

Cautions

These razors can be loaded incorrectly if you don't pay attention. Not a big problem at all, but need to be aware that the front edge must lock securely against the stops (open comb) or under the prongs (Clog Pruf). Here's an example.

Drop the blade flat, with the stud inside the center blade hole, and at a glance it looks OK. But the blade is resting on top of the prongs!



Tighten the cap and here's what happens - huge exposure and gap:



This is the resulting blade position as seen from the side:



If loaded correctly, this is what it should look like.



So you can see how a newbie to these razors might get a very bad impression!

Happy shaves,
- Bill

Excellent post Bill very informative... Will you be able to do an analysis of the third member of the MM family, the bullet tip?

 

[woodfluter]

From what I can gather the angle of the blue line would also be a reflection of blade exposure or at least the exposed area between the top edge of the guard and the front edge of the cap.

Actually, the blade exposure is the projection of the blade beyond the blue line. The blade angle is shown in red in my photos, and since the edge rests (at the corners) against the stops, the end of the red line is the end of the blade. The exposure isn't measured here, just shown in visual comparisons. More exposure definitely means more "aggressive".

IMO, blade gap (space between edge and the lower plate) can be a misleading measure of "aggressiveness". A larger gap can be associated with more space for skin to flex inward toward the blade, but that depends on other aspects of geometry too. The Gillette old type is a good example of that...it has a very low blade gap, shaves very effectively when used correctly, but doesn't allow much leeway for the angle you use or pressure.

I'm still interested to see how you determine the black line with a curved top. I'm assumng it would have to a tangent to the curve but which point on the curve do you pick? Anyhow, interesting stuff. Bit of geometry never goes astray!

Oh, now I understand! Yes, that line just applies to the Micromatics. Because they said to hold the top against the face. If you check the link to other analyses I did, that line doesn't appear. I wanted to explore how and why the MMs can shave that way...which they do, although not equally well all over my face.

Excellent post Bill very informative... Will you be able to do an analysis of the third member of the MM family, the bullet tip?

I wasn't that interested in the bullet tips initially, but I'm getting tempted...these things are fairly common on eBay and don't represent much investment. Plus I'm hearing more positive comments about them. Maybe.

So many razors, so little time!

- Bill

 

[jd1965]

However, these razors seem very robust and durable. I'm really digging the simple design and excellent shaves.

Thanks Pjotr.

Excellent post! And I totally agree!!

John

 

[oc_in_fw]

I had seen the pic of the properly loaded blade before, but thanks for the reminder. My first SE should be here tomorrow or thursday

 

[Doodi1]

Fantastic Thread! Very informative, thank you Woodfluter for your post.

 

[Pjotr]

I had seen the pic of the properly loaded blade before, but thanks for the reminder. My first SE should be here tomorrow or thursday

Believe me, it's worth double checking before you put it to your face. That half a mm or so difference in height makes a huge difference. As you can see from the above analysis (which is what makes it interesting) you're only talking relatively minor differences, a few degrees here and there, to change a mild shaver in to an aggressive one.

 

[willyb]

excellent write up!

I personally prefer the MMOC over the CP, but the CP is no slouch and plenty gents prefer it. Something for everyone.

Long Live the humble but top notch Micromatic in all 3 variations! Brilliant.

 

[Dave Deluxe]

A most interesting post!

Thank you,

(by the way the "bullet tip" is an outstanding razor too, just milder, sort of like a "SuperSpeed")

DD

 

[Optionyout]

A most interesting post!

Thank you,

(by the way the "bullet tip" is an outstanding razor too, just milder, sort of like a "SuperSpeed")

DD

The bullet tip is way more aggressive than a superspeed. A Damaskeene or a featherweight would be a better comparison to them.

 

[BlackSunRedux]

I prefer the gold plated push button. Very similar to the featherweight, but in my opinion has better balance and size. The angles that this razor can hit is phenominal! I would not recommend it for thicker growth, though. For any heavy growth I stick to my open comb micro or clog-pruf. Both perform equally well.