Inherited some Gillettes - looking for some info please

[jasonjmccoy]

Hi guys,

Still pretty new when it comes to DE shaving (< 1 year), but got pretty excited the other day when I inherited my grandfathers razor collection. If anyone has any additional info on any of these, I'd surely love to hear it. I'm guessing they haven't been used in the past 30-40 years since I've only known him to ever use an electric razor. Is there anything I should do to these other than giving them a good scrubbing before attempting to use them?



#1: Gillette Tech - It's gold and un-used in the original box which was marked with a $0.49 price tag, which I though was pretty cool.
#2: I have no idea what this one is. It has an open comb and the end of the handle is rounded, like a little ball.
#3: Looks to be some kind of mini tech. It has a large Gillette diamond etched on the very top of the razor
#4: I'm guessing is a 40's superspeed
#5: Looks to be a Z3 Flare Tip
#6: Black Beauty super adjustable

 

[jco3rd]

There are some good threads on here as well as info on the Wiki about cleaning. This page on the wiki is a bunch of great info in one place:
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Safety_razor_maintenance

I recently acquired some DE razors for the first time, and I will be using that knowledge to get them clean, sanitary and ready to shave! Congratulations on the collection, I'm quite jealous!

 

[JayEddie]

Nice looking razors. Very cool inheritance!

 

[77TransAm]

Tech, Old Type, Travel Tech, Super Speed, Flare tip, black beauty

 

[JazzyJ]

Most people would be thrilled to have even one razor from a relative. For you to have 6 of your grandpa's razors?! Wow.

Seems like your gradpa would have fit right in at B&B.

 

[cheesepiece]

That's wonderful, all keepers with that kind of sentimental freight.

 

[jasonjmccoy]

Tech, Old Type, Travel Tech, Super Speed, Flare tip, black beauty

Yea, no idea why he needed so many, but apparently it's some kind of addiction that's hereditary because I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the same problem.

 

[JazzyJ]

Yea, no idea why he needed so many, but apparently it's some kind of addiction that's hereditary because I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the same problem.

The proper term is RAD, or "razor aquisition disorder." The "AD" often includes brushes, soaps, creams, aftershaves, scuttles, blades, ect ..

we should really have a support group on this site.

 

[ironfist]

Very nice!!! Lucky to have your grandfathers razors!

Keep them in the family!

 

[santamariasteve]

Keep them all in your family, even if you don't used some of them.

Discard any used blades that might be in the razor.

Look for the date of manufacture codes on the back of the heads. It will be a letter and a number. There are sites that will dicipher the codes for you. The letter gives you the year, and the number gives you the calendar quarter of that year.

Thanks for sharin',

 

[Darkbulb]

Wow, I do wish I had gotten something like this handed down to me. Nice.

 

[Niles]

Yea, no idea why he needed so many, but apparently it's some kind of addiction that's hereditary because I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the same problem.

That's a nice collection. Definitely not too many.

 

[Hansel]

The two Tech razors are, IMHO, some of the best DE razors ever made.
I haven't seen any travel techs with the etching on top, I haven't seen that many but I do have literally about a dozen Techs in my drawer full of them...No...I don't have a problem!

Any chance you can take a photo of the etching?

BTW, if you don't already know, the heads and handles for Techs are interchangeable. Tech heads fit any Tech handle, and the handles of some copies like the Lord L5 and Feather Portable as well.

 

[FL shaver]

Beautiful collection. Hang on to each and every one of them! No cracks in the handle of the ball end Old Type?

 

[Nadir M]

Seems like your gradpa would have fit right in at B&B.

+1

 

[mistercitizen]

Great collection! The little travel Techs are cool, but I think you will find no use for them. I have one myself that I've never used.

Ben

 

[CGW409]

+1 on the date codes plus if #4 has no date code post some pics of the doors open so we can see the center bar and the hole the rod is in as there are a few No Date Code Super Speed spotting features that we can ID for you.

 

[Hansel]

Great collection! The little travel Techs are cool, but I think you will find no use for them. I have one myself that I've never used.

Ben

Well, I hate to say this, but they're pretty much spare parts.

I had a late model ball end Tech, from when they switched completely to the travel Tech heads, that I dropped. The head had a flaw in it, a large air bubble, and it broke right at that bubble. I robbed a travel tech for a new head.

On a whim, I bought a Feather 'Portable' to try out. That razor is very similar to a Tech, but far more aggressive. It sliced me up every time I used it. Well it just so happens that the head from a Travel Tech fits the Feather Portable handle. And the Travel Tech head fits in the Feather travel case...Yup, I robbed another travel Tech for a head.

 

[Mick]

It is nice to shave with something your grandfather shaved with.

As far a cleaning, I would just give them a light dish soap and soft toothbrush going over. they look pretty clean. What ever you do, don't go all OC on them. If there were any "germs" on them, they would have died decades ago.

 

[CGW409]

Well, I hate to say this, but they're pretty much spare parts.

I had a late model ball end Tech, from when they switched completely to the travel Tech heads, that I dropped. The head had a flaw in it, a large air bubble, and it broke right at that bubble. I robbed a travel tech for a new head.

On a whim, I bought a Feather 'Portable' to try out. That razor is very similar to a Tech, but far more aggressive. It sliced me up every time I used it. Well it just so happens that the head from a Travel Tech fits the Feather Portable handle. And the Travel Tech head fits in the Feather travel case...Yup, I robbed another travel Tech for a head.

I found a cased 64 travel Tech for 8 bucks at a flea market on the theory that if something befell the travel Tech I'm 8 bucks on a fairly common vintage razor and I don't have to risk one of "better" razors.
I used it for a week under "combat conditions" (shave stick,travel brush nothing not in my dopp kit)to find out how it would work and I found them to work fine once you get used to the stubby handle and let's face I'm sure most of us would strongly consider searching the hotel parking lot for a suitable chunk of broken glass before trying a cart again.