Hospital Gillettes

[gwanzek]

Check out this picture.

I was at an antique store in Akron, OH a couple weeks back and saw this massive box of Gillette razors, which all appear to be some flavor of the Tech.

Turns out they all came from a medical care facility, but the interesting thing is that they needed a key in order to replace the blade. The guy at the store told me they did this so the patients couldn't take out the blades and cut themselves.

 

[mmack66]

Wow. That is a lot of "Psycho" Tech razors. Do they have the keys?

 

[sol92258]

yeup, useless without the keys, but it seems the Psychos are highly sought out by some folks

 

[soapbox]

I've seen someone on eBay selling "Psychos" with a custom-fabricated key, since only one key was issued for every x razors.

 

[*King G*]

Yes those were used in mental hospitals, not acute care hospitals. They came in boxes of 10 razors to 1 key. The key itself is pretty universal- it looks/functions much like a socket wrench to open the top and remove the blade.

It is featured in the Krumholz book and termed a "Psycho razor" by one of the author's prime sources, Mr. Roy Johnson.

If you find a key, let us know. Otherwise they're just a bunch of silver fat-handled tech's that can't open!

Good score. Hopefully you picked them up.

 

[mr-razor]

 

[blackfoot]

Even without the key, I would still like to have one.

 

[rac]

hi gwanzek
can't you go back and buy the boxful,think i would have bought the lot
you could sell them all to forum members , bet they are a few guys that would like to own one ,me included

 

[RichGem]

Even without the key, I would still like to have one.

Less chance of hurting yourself that way.

 

[blackfoot]

Less chance of hurting yourself that way.

Granted. Mrs. Blackfoot could rest assured I didn't try it without her there to supervise.

 

[RichGem]

Granted. Mrs. Blackfoot could rest assured I didn't try it without her there to supervise.

Actually, after posting above, it occurred to me that this would be a great father-(young) son razor. Why buy junior a plastic piece of junk to play with when you can get him a "psycho" to pretend shave with? With the key set up, no chance that he's gonna get clever and pop in a blade to try to shave like daddy. Also, it's a real razor, so he'll feel all grown up and also no chance of messin' with dad's either. Meanwhile, dad can teach junior all the fun of whipping up a nice lather, (aftershave?), etc.

 

[kingfisher]

Good idea, Richard.

 

[gwanzek]

For those interested or have inquired, I was in Akron on business and do not live there. I didn't pick any up, but I may be finding myself back there in a few weeks and could try to make it back there if time permits.

Many of them had a room number etched on the top of the razor.

There were no keys present, and the guy said he's never seen a key for one, either.

The pictures in the previous post look good, but there is no detail showing the key cut.

 

[soapbox]

Actually, after posting above, it occurred to me that this would be a great father-(young) son razor. Why buy junior a plastic piece of junk to play with when you can get him a "psycho" to pretend shave with? With the key set up, no chance that he's gonna get clever and pop in a blade to try to shave like daddy. Also, it's a real razor, so he'll feel all grown up and also no chance of messin' with dad's either. Meanwhile, dad can teach junior all the fun of whipping up a nice lather, (aftershave?), etc.

That's a really neat idea, Rich.

For those interested or have inquired, I was in Akron on business and do not live there. I didn't pick any up, but I may be finding myself back there in a few weeks and could try to make it back there if time permits.

Many of them had a room number etched on the top of the razor.

There were no keys present, and the guy said he's never seen a key for one, either.

The pictures in the previous post look good, but there is no detail showing the key cut.

Like I said, someone on eBay has custom-cut keys. It would be no problem for a metal shop to fabricate one if they had an example to work from. I would love to have one or more, even without the custom key (provided they don't still have blades in them!)

 

[RichGem]

That's a really neat idea, Rich.

cool.

Like I said, someone on eBay has custom-cut keys. It would be no problem for a metal shop to fabricate one if they had an example to work from. I would love to have one or more, even without the custom key (provided they don't still have blades in them!)

Stocking up for Little Soapbox #2, perhaps?

 

[soapbox]

Stocking up for Little Soapbox #2, perhaps?

Damn skippy!

 

[6Jetwrangler]

So the tube with the key ring is the actual key? Seems like it has a nut for the screw instead of a threaded hole. Doesn't look like it would be hard to make them usable. Heck a 1/4 inch with a socket on the end would do the trick for that matter. You get any, send one my way (ill pay for it), i have 4 machine shops that do work for us that would make a key for nothing.

 

[blackfoot]

Actually, after posting above, it occurred to me that this would be a great father-(young) son razor. Why buy junior a plastic piece of junk to play with when you can get him a "psycho" to pretend shave with? With the key set up, no chance that he's gonna get clever and pop in a blade to try to shave like daddy. Also, it's a real razor, so he'll feel all grown up and also no chance of messin' with dad's either. Meanwhile, dad can teach junior all the fun of whipping up a nice lather, (aftershave?), etc.

That really is a neat idea! I may have to get a couple of them.

So the tube with the key ring is the actual key? Seems like it has a nut for the screw instead of a threaded hole. Doesn't look like it would be hard to make them usable. Heck a 1/4 inch with a socket on the end would do the trick for that matter. You get any, send one my way (ill pay for it), i have 4 machine shops that do work for us that would make a key for nothing.

We have a winner!

Akron of what state? I may have missed that.

 

[KeepsItClean]

Those are pretty cool, a little creepy but a little cooler more than creepy.

 

[soapbox]

So the tube with the key ring is the actual key? Seems like it has a nut for the screw instead of a threaded hole. Doesn't look like it would be hard to make them usable. Heck a 1/4 inch with a socket on the end would do the trick for that matter. You get any, send one my way (ill pay for it), i have 4 machine shops that do work for us that would make a key for nothing.

Also, Cooncatbob runs a metal shop and, because he also makes custom knurled handles, might be willing to make a good-looking copy of the key, complete with the nice grippy bottom handle.