Identify cased single ring

[rwbrown04]

Got this in a lot of razors recently. Case included but neither blade box was there. It has the older Gillette logo that I think dates it to pre-1910. There are no markings anywhere on the head of the razor. Only a worn number (serial?) inside on the lower piece. I might be able to make out the number if it makes a difference. Any idea which one this is? I think I read these were designed with old blades in mind and although a new DE blade fits, it will be overly mild, correct?

 

[PFP_Dad]

I haven't actually gotten to shave with mine yet due to the move. If you look on the bottom piece that is where the serial is located. This link will get you the correct age.

Congrats, I really like the look of these.

 

[rwbrown04]

Thanks for the link. I'll have to get out a magnifying glass to read some of the numbers. Does it read starting from the bottom up? I have lots of 8's 6's and 9's that could go either way. The first number may be a 4 or an A, I'm going to guess A560839? That would place it at 1908.

 

[rwbrown04]

Another question. What's this made of and what should I use to clean it up. Typical warm water, looks like it wont need much scrubbing bubbles. Any metal policy to avoid on something this old?

 

[mblakele]

Nice find. It should be silver-plated brass, so see http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ck-Photo-Tutorial-for-Restoring-Silver-Razors for the foil and baking soda method.

For the serial number, A560839 is reasonable for that case. From 1909 you would be more likely to see a diamond logo on the case, rather than the script logo.

 

[rwbrown04]

Hard to tell from my cell phone pics but the intial baking soda cleaning came out real nice:

 

[The Chandos]

I think I read these were designed with old blades in mind and although a new DE blade fits, it will be overly mild, correct?

I've never heard that before but I can vouch for the mild shaves I get with mine. I have to press the razor against my face even with the best blades. Although I'm always afraid I'm going to slice myself open, though, I never do and get great shaves. I prefer to use even a Tech instead all the same.

 

[BBrad]

Modern blades are thinner than the original three-hole Gillette blade, and that fact has given rise to "conventional wisdom" that states the thin blades change the blade gap and need to be shimmed.

Factually true, but . . .

Yes, a thinner blade changes the blade-edge gap. The amount of change is one-half the difference in thickness between the two blades. For example, if the difference in blade thickness is .001", then the difference in blade gap is .0005". Compare this to the .002" difference between settings on a Gillette Adjustable, and you see that using the modern blade doesn't make much of a difference. In fact, the modern blade is most likely sharper and smoother than the original Gillette and will perform better than an original, even on the original's best day!

That being said, some guys do like to use a trimmed-down blade as a shim underneath the blade to greatly increase the blade-edge gap, which can certainly make the razor seem less "mild", but in reality only increases the range of handle angle that will produce a shave.

These razors require a very precise angle of attack in order to shave cleanly and smoothly. The angle was second nature to a straight razor user in 1904, but feels odd to those who grew up with cartridge razors in 2012. Shimming the razor will allow a more natural-feeling angle; using the razor as originally designed (sans shim) at the proper angle produces the best overall result, IMHO.

 

[rwbrown04]

Thanks for the awesome info. That makes sense about the target market at the time. I can imagine straight razor shavers of the day all complaining on their forum (barbershops) about these new disposable razors and the poor quality shave's one would get.

I got this one in a lot with some other techs and SE razors. I'd like to sell a few to recoup the cost and convince the wife I get to keep some. I'm a little torn on this one, being old and with the case it's got the cool factor but it might also just be worth enough to let me keep two of the other razors. Augh!

 

[IronHammer]

Yep. 1908 for sure. I don't suppose there are any markings on the razor itself, is there? Perhaps, umm, King Gillette's signature? Look under both the base plate and the cap piece to be sure.

 

[rwbrown04]

No sign of the sig when I looked before. I'll get my brother in law to do some high resolution photos so I can hopefully make out the serial clearly but I don't even see a spot that looks like a signature could have been rubbed off, its all clean and smooth.

 

[JFielder23]

Regarding the blade thickness... I got my first OLD type yesterday and it came with some rusty used old 3 hole blades. Since I too was curious about this thick blade/thin blade shananigans I keep hearing about, I busted out my micrometer. Old gillette3 hole blade measured .006" thick, newer gillette thin blade .004". So the difference is .002" making the blade gap difference .001" different. For those of you following along at home, the thickness of a human hair (one of my own... I measured it. Lol) is .002". So my opinion is that .001" will be unnoticable. And as BBrad has already said, with the sharpness of modern blades, compared to the old 3 holes, it shouldn't matter anyway.

 

[BBrad]

Thanks for breaking out the micrometer . . . so I was off by .0005" . . . not one of my better days!