Thanks for your liking of this thread, as long as we learn and enjoy these great razors we use. I really enjoy my ASR razors and they where a big part of shaving history and there still are still remnants of the network of ASR company's that are still giving us shaving enjoyment into the future.
They can be a excellent razors when you go through a short learning curve on proper Technique, the Gem Junior bar lather catcher is a real nice tame mid range that brings back where safety razors really started is a nice addition to your collection if you come across one. Star brand lather catchers started the safety razor business in USA and the founder of Gem Cutlery( Jerry Reichard ) worked for the Kampfe brothers Star factory in Brooklyn NY making lather catchers from 1875-1898 before starting Gem Cutlery & Everready.
Many thanks for the update.
Thanks, I was looking for information and could not find the timeline chart and looked on another forum and transferred over the information here. Then a B&B notice came up stating B&B was transferring data to a new server and there would glitches. I use to update this chart every once in a while and also a index so fellows don't have to scroll all the way to the front.
Excellent shave with my MMOC buttonless with a coated Gem blade.
www.badgerandblade.com
As you know me Gary by now if I find something that would be of interest to ASR vintage razor holders I like to bring it forward so we all can possible enjoy our shaves better and other Newbies can quickly enjoy those beautiful razors that is such a important part of shaving history. These razors are very good to shave with but we all have to understand them a little to get the best possible shaves & they can easily give any razor today a run for their money IMO. I might experiment with a Schick injector down the road also.(Another day?)
I removed the spin from a single edged hardware blade. It looks comparable to a Gem, but it may be very slightly smaller. I tried placing it in the back ( against the spring) of my two 1912s and then a single edged blade on top. It works in both, the top closes. The razors are a Squathead (travel) and a Gem Junior, both are Brooklyn made. Note that the Gem Junior has been repaired. It’s “spring” is just a piece of stiff plastic. I’ll test out one of them in a few days.
Fantastic post!This question was brought up on another thread Micromatic Monday on this forum about shimming the 1912 models so It got my curiosity up on this good question brought up by @LJBraaten who is just getting into ASR razors & a few other long time members also curious with their findings also about blade width differences @Tanuki .
There where some other ramblings 3 years ago that I was bringing up about my Streamline razor shimming with good results on this thread 3 yrs ago on page 20, post #384 but should of pursued that more possibly!Micromatic Monday
MMMonday, August 8th 2022. I have been experimenting with shimming the spline of the modern Gem blade for years with my Everready streamline razor and it mellows out that razor nicely. So this morning I used a spent regular flattened spine that I use in my ER Streamline and installed it in the...
So another interesting discovery that might be of interest to some ASR razors 1912, ER 1914, ER 1924 & ER Streamline model razor holders if you want to smooth out the shave a little more and I kind of been doing this with not really taking any notice really & barely mentioning this on this thread. So maybe it's time to start thinking out loud like know.
I know other old timers where shimming there older Gem razors but thought not a lot about it because I was getting reasonable results as is with most of my Gem razors but a few like the Streamline razor puzzled me.
It is kind of interesting because ASR was going through different blade transitions when improving their blades and keeping cost reasonable & practical at the same time.
A lot of the older ASR blades had a thicker blade spine as some folks know(Newbies should know this) and when they went to the different newer models in the 1930's> ASR introduced their double edge blade & aluminum spline blade later because most of those models had the shim bumps installed on the base plates in all those models forward and a blade could be use the newer Aluminum spline blades for just basically safe handling of the blade is my conclusion.
With millions of these early models razors like the 1912 and a few years of Gem Micromatics 1930-32 models also Everready Streamline models, ASR 1914 and 1924 + some ASR Treet & Radio Brand models with out the shim bumps to raise the blade height properly with the new Aluminum splined blade is different and owners of the 1912 can enjoy those models a little more IMO if your 1912 models will take a spent aluminum spline or thinner to place it under the existing modern Gem blade (some models will take a full spline shim possibly) . Also the modern Gem blades are slightly narrower in width than some of the older thicker splined blades when a lot of these razors where manufactured. The older razors will take the new Gem Personna blades like the 1912 and all the Micromatics + most1912, ER 1914 & ER 1924 models but are pushing the tensioning limits of a good proper engineered sloping blade possibly that really does smooth out the razor IMO and other folks have been doing this no doubt for years.
ASR did not incorporate much thought for other previous owners of these older razor models that where engineered for thicker splines in that time era of thought and where encouraging folks to buy the newer generations of razors they were offering & dreaming up new models for future sales makes good business sense & already engineered to take the newest blades regardless .
By using the blade shim tucked under the existing modern Gem blade you raise the blade to approximately 8 degree slope from a un-shimmed blade of approximately 4 degrees gaining a increase of 100% tilt slope of blade that will make for a nicer shaves IMO (the way the old shave engineers wanted those razors back then to work.).
Tell tale signs your blade needs shimming(L)left razor photo shows indicator on top cap all the way forward where right razor is nicely tensioned with a shim underneath it. It is not a hard task to correct and will reward the person shaving hopefully with a smoother shave..........................Very easy to de-spline a Modern Gem blade with just a plier and wiggling the blade to free it.
(click photo to enlarge)
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Some old archived photos and new photos.
A quick evolution of ASR blades to show what happened (L)blade is modern one.....A Ever-ready 1912 model with a modified Micromatic handle shimmed with lots of room in blade tray base plate still.
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A interesting photo of the new Micromatic double edge blade to compete with the 1930's New type Gillette DE blades instead of the 3 holed old style Gillette blades, Micromatic DE blades never really caught on obviously but at the time ASR where willing to compete with Gillette & ASR did know how the Gem brand customer would take to the new blades to prevent their previous owners to switch Brands to Gillette!
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Have some great shaves!
Thanks Jim you ASR razor keener, have some great shaves!
Thanks, have some great shaves!
on me.
Ted if you want to add a shim to the MMOC bump-less model it will smooth it out a little more because it does tilt the blade slightly more if you want to.
