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Gillette RFB Tech (Hybrid) question?

Goatrope

Eccentric and destitute of reason
I have a English Gillette RFB (Hybrid) Tech, that I would like to acquire the 'proper' matching case for. I assume it originally came in some kind of a Bakelite case, but I don't know if it was the taller (with 2 blade cases enclosed) or the flatter version.

20221025_182905.jpg20221025_182802.jpg

I'm thinking it would be the former, taller of the two bakelite boxes. I consulted mr-razer.com but was unable to find the answer there. I probably just didn't know how to search for the right thing.

Any RFB Hybrid Tech owners/experts able to answer this question, or point me to someone who can?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Any significant damage to the baseplate or where the handle meets the baseplate (It looks like the tip was cut down just a little bit)? Know of this razor and was debating buying it. Curiosity now gets the better of me!
 

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I‘m surprised how well some razors can clean up. My vibratory polisher does wonders, the spots on the handle might just polish completely out.
Unfortunately, I think you’ll find that the rhodium is stripped away in those areas and polish will not provide a permanent solution.
 

Goatrope

Eccentric and destitute of reason
Any significant damage to the baseplate or where the handle meets the baseplate (It looks like the tip was cut down just a little bit)? Know of this razor and was debating buying it. Curiosity now gets the better of me!

Not that I can tell. The razor appears stock to me, aside from significant wear and some minor dings here and there.
 
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Goatrope

Eccentric and destitute of reason
Fire that Hybrid Tech up - might not be pretty, but the shave should be sublime.

Like buttah!

Fired it up last night and got a nice shave. The beefy baseplate gives the head a nice heft and the impression to me of clamping the blade extra securely. Maybe that's just psychological. Nice audible feedback, yet pretty smooth. Got a scrape on my neck probably due to not paying attention and thinking I was using my RR GC .68, but other than that, no injuries.

Shipping it off to Backroads Gold today for a nickel replating. Rhodium would be nice, but I guess it's gotten too expensive to be practical.

I'll share pics when I get it back from replating.
 

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Fired it up last night and got a nice shave. The beefy baseplate gives the head a nice heft and the impression to me of clamping the blade extra securely. Maybe that's just psychological. Nice audible feedback, yet pretty smooth. Got a scrape on my neck probably due to not paying attention and thinking I was using my RR GC .68, but other than that, no injuries.

Shipping it off to Backroad Gold today for a nickel replating. Rhodium would be nice, but I guess it's gotten too expensive to be practical.

I'll share pics when I get it back from replating.
BRG is the best! Good call.
 

Goatrope

Eccentric and destitute of reason
Any significant damage to the baseplate or where the handle meets the baseplate (It looks like the tip was cut down just a little bit)? Know of this razor and was debating buying it. Curiosity now gets the better of me!

By golly, I think you're right Joe. Good catch. When I compared a regular USA Tech handle (left) next to the English Hybrid Tech handle (right), it looks like the neck of Hybrid Tech handle is about 5mm shorter than my regular Tech. Apparently, it's been cut down at some point by a previous owner.

HybridTechCompare.jpg


I also noticed that the upper ribbed band appears to be a bit narrower on the English Hybrid Tech.

I wonder if I could just use a regular USA Tech handle and top cap with the English Hybrid Tech base plate? The indexing ridges are different, but I don't know if the top cap dimensions are identical or not.

20221027_103236.jpg


Thanks for your input.
 
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By golly, I think you're right Joe. Good catch. When I compared a regular USA Tech handle (left) next to the English Hybrid Tech handle (right), it looks like the neck of Hybrid Tech handle is about 5mm shorter than my regular Tech. Apparently, it's been cut down by a previous owner.

View attachment 1546817

I also noticed that the upper ribbed band appears to be a bit narrower on the Hybrid Tech.

I wonder if I could just use a regular USA Tech handle and top cap with the England Hybrid Tech base plate? The indexing ridges are different, but I don't know if the top cap dimensions are identical or not.

View attachment 1546825

Thanks for your input.
Not sure how much the technical differences are but I’d imagine an English tech donor might be more historically accurate? There are some minor differences with proportions with the different parts of the knurling it appears.

I’d just get the head redone in nickel to use at this time then rhodium later. Enjoy first and restore second?
 

Goatrope

Eccentric and destitute of reason
Well, I just learned that the handle 'neck' is actually a separate nut and can be removed and replaced by the re-plating service, so I'm going to go that route to get back to original condition as possible.

Thanks again @Joezamboni for pointing that out to me. I never would have noticed it otherwise.
 
I've seen a few of these on the bay a few years ago and I regret not getting one. Your other option might be to find the case with another razor in it and it's probably the cheapest way to find one. What I find really odd is that the razor alone in very good/great condition goes for around $150, but the same razor combined with the case costs over $400. Does that mean that the case costs more than the razor itself?


1940s Tech Zip England.JPG
1939 NEW with Tech handle England.JPG
 
I've seen a few of these on the bay a few years ago and I regret not getting one. Your other option might be to find the case with another razor in it and it's probably the cheapest way to find one. What I find really odd is that the razor alone in very good/great condition goes for around $150, but the same razor combined with the case costs over $400. Does that mean that the case costs more than the razor itself?

Full sets are just seriously more desired by collectors. Goes for all razors I guess.
 
Full sets are just seriously more desired by collectors. Goes for all razors I guess.

Absolutely, there's no doubt about that, I'm just saying that I'd rather buy some razors in great condition without boxes or cases and then spend some time finding ones in the wild and getting both much cheaper than buying the whole thing together. If we talk about full mint/NOS set with the instructions, price tag, original blade bank/blade dispenser with all the blades and all of that, then the high price is to some degree justified.
 
RFB Techs came in all mid range case sets from ~1941-47. (#44, #77, #88, zip leather etc)
The 'safety razor' you got in these cases was pure lucky dip (FB tech = common, RFB New = uncommon, RFB Tech = Rare :laugh:)

Any of those cases from that period would be accurate, people have just got hung up over the #40 deluxe set.

A really nice #44 set (1943-45) sold recently.

Early ones have the New Brit pat numbers on the baseplate and I seem to remember a 2 piece version from 1946 too (nickel, no pat info, #77 case)

If it wasn't for the war we would've got a ton of silver plated #44 sets. So silver would be my choice for a user grade replate :001_tt2:
 
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