Gillette Rocket 500 HD

[Joe_Karp]

Hi all:

Just received an early birthday present in the mail. After waiting for a few weeks for one to show up this seems to be a good example of a Rocket 500 HD razor. Plating's intact and is the earlier patent pending version under the head, and Gillette, Made in England on the underside. The beast was a little squeaky, but with a 1/2 hour soak in hot soapy water is now quiet and very smooth. Short time ago I had a very nice three pass shave, and to me this is an aggressive TTO. Here's pics:











On this one, the silo doors open smoothly, but not fully. With the knob fully open, I can insert the blade, but can also move each door a little further away. I don't know if this is normal for this razor, having not held one before, but once closed there's nothing amiss with how it functions.

Overall, not bad for a vintage razor nearly 62years old...!

 

[Copierguy]

I would check where the doors pivot for binds. Door should be loose enough to flop around.

 

[Jacquers]

Nice clean examples! I thought I had cleaned mine up well, but I need to go scrub some more. I also found it a bit aggressive. I have a couple where I need to open the doors that extra bit to open fully. Maybe just a bit of dirt or needs some lubrication.

 

[Daveho]

Fantastic razor and defiantly in my top 3, think I'll sell many others and just keep this

 

[eaterofdog]

This is far and away my favorite TTO. Very comfortable in the hand and decently aggressive.

 

[BSAGuy]

Very nice. Congrats.

 

[DrumZalot]

I am in a similar situation as you regarding the doors on your Rocket. I had passed up one Rocket HD because one of the doors didn't open completely. Ironically, the Rocket that I scored has the same problem! Upon close inspection, I noticed that (one end) of one the end caps is pressing a bit tight against the door.

The end cap is not allowing the door to open completely. The door does open completely with just a very slight tap. I was surprised to find out that my Rocket has a bit more blade exposure on one side as well. Also, one side has just a slight bit more blade gap and I don't see any bends or sign of the razor being damaged. I am very surprised to see these irregularities on my Rocket HD. It shaves very smoothly and it's quite mild. Congratulations on your Rocket HD!

 

[Joe_Karp]

Thanks for the tips. While I can live with lazy doors, the razor seems to be out of alignment; it squeaks when opening and closing. Given two separate hot water and soap soaks and an application of Tuf-Glide it's better and quieter, not fully. Yet when I bought this one, as advertised, the plating is superb and, well, it shaves equal to my Fatboy and Slim. So now I know that this tool works for me, now it's time to see what to do with the noise and enjoy the ride. When I can I'll go for a better example and move this one along. Cheers!