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Gillette New question…handle doesn’t fit?

Hello all! I’ve been a lurker for a bit. It’s good to finally register and be in the discussion. I’m pretty new to shaving with a DE after coming from electric for the past 12 years or so. I’m loving it and dove head first. I find myself leaning towards vintage Gillette over everything. I use a pre-war fat handle Tech and a recently replated V-3 SS as my daily drivers. I guess I am sort of building a small collection. I just think these things are so cool.

So I picked up this New SC since I’ve read they’re wonderful. It’s definitely user grade. I am guessing the handle is an uncommon bar handle? It looks like the handle doesn’t sit flush inside the grooves of the base plate however. I’ve attached pictures. Is this the original handle? If you look closely it looks like this handle has been used quite a bit as the patina sort of matches and it looks like there are some indentations from the handle on the grooves. It isn’t a big deal as long as I pay attention when threading in the handle so it doesn’t get cocked. The cap and baseplate are solid. Once they are mated, there is no play. To get them disassembled I have to push on the threads.

Thanks for looking!

Also, what’s the best way to get rid of green oxidation on these old razors? My usual routine is soak with hot water and Dawn, brush, ultrasonic cleaner, then one more brush with Dawn and then Barbicide before polish and what not. Then another final clean with a soft toothbrush and Dawn. I haven’t run into a razor with green oxidation showing.

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Welcome to B&B!!

Great collection you are building. I have a V2 SS and the one you have is my birth quarter V3!

As for the NEW SC what you have there is a Slim bar handle which is more rare than the common bar handle. But the bar handle is period right for the SC. The threading on those handles is 10/32 which is more wobbly than M5. You could try a washer to make it more snug fit.

Awesome find!

I usually use a bit of dish washer and maybe some polish but that is about is. I close off with alcohol and then I consider it shave ready.

Enjoy!!

Guido
 
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Welcome aboard!

Nice find. That bottom plate looks different from the NEW plates that I've seen with a ridge down the middle and stamped or machined out for the handle

Like this. I'm looking for another that looks like yours. Or maybe my eyes are crossed and I'm not seeing it right in your photo.
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The Gillette New short comb that you have was made with two different handle neck diameters - one smaller diameter (far and away the most common) and one larger. I have both in my collection and can say that there were many combinations of handles and base plates over the years.

You have a period correct handle but not the one that came with the razor. My gut tells me that you have a handle from a long comb on a short comb head. This can be adapted with washers or even milling out the baseplate to fit (or used as is). If you have other Gillette handles accessible the Tech handles of both types will fit this base plate.
 
Welcome aboard!

Nice find. That bottom plate looks different from the NEW plates that I've seen with a ridge down the middle and stamped or machined out for the handle

Like this. I'm looking for another that looks like yours. Or maybe my eyes are crossed and I'm not seeing it right in your photo.
View attachment 1614768
Thanks for the welcomes guys!

It’s stamped for a handle but it’s like the stamp is not wide enough if that makes sense. The handle just sort of sits on the ridges instead of sits inside the ridges. If I don’t pay attention, one side of the handle will go inside the ridge.

It’s like the handle isn’t made for it 😅
 
Thanks for the welcomes guys!

It’s stamped for a handle but it’s like the stamp is not wide enough if that makes sense. The handle just sort of sits on the ridges instead of sits inside the ridges. If I don’t pay attention, one side of the handle will go inside the ridge.

It’s like the handle isn’t made for it 😅
Yup! That’s a shoulderless bar common handle. Have to check later but Mine came with a New Long Comb (question if that’s original) and think it would fit the short comb like yours with the same result.

There’s nothing particularly special about the handle but it is a much less common one. Wouldn’t surprise me if someone was willing in Buy/sell/trade to trade for one that fits.

The green oxidation is due to the very thin gold plating often referred to as just a wash.

you can keep polishing the brass (and polishing it away) and curse or just replate. Backroadsgold offers the option to just plate the head.
 
R

romsitsa

That is a shoulderless Husky handle. The base plate is short comb New, milled to fit a ball end new handle. While this is common with long comb News, uncommon with the SC.
It is either a:
factory error
it came with a machined down neck common bar/Husky handle (also uncommon version)
it came with a thin common bar handle
 
^ This. @romsitsa is correct. I have that same handle, (flat shoulder husky) which originally came with the NEW Deluxe.

My Deluxe was purchased along with a NEW SC, and the seller (or someone) had switched the handles. Like the OP, my Husky handle did not fit on the SC, due to the larger diameter of the ferrule. I swapped the handles back to the way they should be, and everything fit.

The NEW Deluxe, being flat on the bottom of the base plate, can accept any diameter handle. The SC, having a milled recess, cannot.

Welcome to B&B, you have great taste! IMHO your razors - the NEW short comb, the Super Speed, and the fat handle Tech - are the tops.
 
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The early NEW LC without the patent stamps on the base plate, which come with the ball end handle also have the same ''issue''. Like some folks above already explained, these early models were made to fit the ball end handles and nothing else. I wasn't aware that the SC also has the same issue, but then again they are a bit less common compared to the LC and I've never cared for them either, since I like the LC way more.


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nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
Handle was switched at some point in its life.
You can machine it to the larger diameter with a counterbore bit.

Or just get the correct handle. I wouldn't use it like that, you're only using a few threads.

Here are a couple of mine to show the diameter difference.
full
 
@giftofbab I have an extra collar, or whatever you call that little top piece that screws onto the head and fits into the handle, from a ball-end Old Type. If you really like the handle you have and can pry out the top piece, I'll give mine to you to glue in. I imagine that it fits the diameter where it goes into your handle.
 
That looks like an Otto Roth handle? The Roth baseplate has a much wider ridge opening for the handle neck to fit inside.

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Hi,

My New SC came with a ball end handle. My New LC came with a bar handle. The bar handle will not fit the baseplate on the SC. So, if I swapped them around, I'd have the same issue.


The shot is of all my OC razors. The SC is #3 from the left, the LC #4.

Stan
 
Hi,

My New SC came with a ball end handle. My New LC came with a bar handle. The bar handle will not fit the baseplate on the SC. So, if I swapped them around, I'd have the same issue.
Interesting. I didn't realize they sold short combs with the ball-end handles. I thought those were phased out after a run with the long combs and by the time short combs came out it was all bar handles. Clearly I'm wrong if your short comb won't even accept a common bar handle (or maybe it's not the common one; I don't know the difference).
 
R

romsitsa

SC were not sold with ball end handles. The bar type handles have two neck sizes, narrow (same as on thin common bar handles) and wide.
 
Interesting. I didn't realize they sold short combs with the ball-end handles. I thought those were phased out after a run with the long combs and by the time short combs came out it was all bar handles. Clearly I'm wrong if your short comb won't even accept a common bar handle (or maybe it's not the common one; I don't know the difference).
Hi,

Notice I didn't say my SC was *sold* with that Ball Handle. Just that it *came* with it. By now, unless you know the entire history of a razor, you don't know what it was sold with. :p

So, I know that my Old Type has all three original pieces because my Grandfather bought it new, used it his entire life, and my Grandmother gave it to me after he passed on. Other than that, I expect the bits of my New SC and LC are pretty much mixed up to some extent.

But I can tell you that the handle as seen on the LC in my photo won't fit properly on the SC. But, I use then for a 7-day set during OCtober, and they shave well enough as they are, so I'm good.

Stan
 
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