Need advice on blades for vintage Schick

[sim1138]

Hello fellow SE enthusiasts,

After having a really fun time branching out from DE shaving into a Gem 1912, I am now taking the plunge into Schick injector style razors. I have bought a couple on eBay - one I think is a type E and the other a type G although I am not certain on that. When I first started using my Gem I could buy one each of the four available blades on tryablade.com and go from there. But for the injectors that's not really an option due to needing the magazine with key etc.
I have been trying to hunt down what options there are for blades for use in old Schicks. It seems like the most easy to obtain are Personnas. I think the ones available from Ted Pella are Personnas, is that right? I see there are also Schick brand blades, but have only found those on eBay so far. What other options are there? I know there are other sized blades that come in injector style magazines so I want to be careful before I buy so I don't end up with the wrong size. Of what is available, what do you recommend?
Also - a related question: one of my Schicks has come with an old blade in it and the other has not. I have read somewhere that if a Schick is empty then you have to put a blade in and then re-load it with a second before using it. Is that right?

Thanks!

 

[xxvaleria]

The newly-made injector blade brands currently on the market are Schick and Personna. Personna is made in the USA and can be found under a bewildering number of House Brands--virtually anything that is not a Schick is a Personna. Schicks are made in China, and possibly in Japan, and are colloquially called Chicks (for Chinese Schicks). I suppose that the ones from Japan could be called Nicks (for Nipponese Schicks). Both are good blades, but my personal favorites are the Chicks and Nicks, because I find them sharper, smoother, and longer-lasting--but, of course, YMMV.

In addition to the modern ones, there are a number of excellent NOS vintage blades from Schick, Personna, PAL, and Marlin (which is very rare, but occasionally shows up). The vintage Schick blades from Holland and the vintage Personna P74 blades are highly sought after, but again are rare. Just be sure that any vintage blades you might buy are made of stainless steel, not carbon steel.

All injector razors were designed to never be without a blade in them. They were even shipped and sold brand-new with a dummy blank blade in them. Without a blade already in the razor, it is problematic to load a new one--not impossible, but problematic. Without a blade in the razor, there is a very good chance that a newly-injected blade will rub the razor's blade stops which will ruin the blade. However, that ruined blade will ensure that the next blade will be loaded properly--we call the ruined blade a "sacrificial" blade. Just keep the sacrificial blade separate from the good blades, and you can use it again if you get another razor that doesn't have a blade in it. All you need do is to put the old sacrificial blade into an injector magazine and sacrifice it again.

Chicks can be bought from Amazon and from the online Walgreen site, as well as on eBay. The best thing to do is to check each source to see which one(s) have the lowest price per blade (be sure to factor in shipping). Some mom-and-pop stores occasionally carry Chicks. When searching online, be sure to look for Schick injector blades, not Chicks or Nicks.

 

[sim1138]

Thanks for taking the time to write this most comprehensive reply! I think I'll get one each of the Schick and Personnas and go from there. Is there anywhere you can buy the blades in bulk and load them into an injector magazine you already have? Or are you restricted to buying a new magazine every 7 blades?
One of my razors has no blade in it and God knows how long it has been in that condition. Do you have any tips for getting a blade in there for the first time?

 

[xxvaleria]

Thanks for taking the time to write this most comprehensive reply! I think I'll get one each of the Schick and Personnas and go from there. Is there anywhere you can buy the blades in bulk and load them into an injector magazine you already have? Or are you restricted to buying a new magazine every 7 blades?
One of my razors has no blade in it and God knows how long it has been in that condition. Do you have any tips for getting a blade in there for the first time?

The only two places that I can think of are Ted Pella and Razorbladesandmore for the Personnas in bulk, but be sure that you get them in magazines that have keys for loading. Some bulk blades come in keyless magazines, which means that you need to keep a couple of empty magazines in case you get the keyless magazines. Chicks and Nicks are only available in injector magazines of 7 and ten, respectively, but their magazines are much better than the Personnas.

The easiest way to get a blade into an empty razor is to sacrifice the first one, then load a good one, as described above. Just keep the sacrificed blade in case you need to load an empty razor in the future.

 

[Jopete]

You can also get the Schick Proline B, they come in a 20 pack B-20 and is made in Japan.
They have good prices for Schick Proline blades however the casing does not come with a key so you will need to transfer the blade to another injector blade casing that has a key attached to it so you can insert the blade properly to your injector razor .

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Or are you restricted to buying a new magazine every 7 blades?

Personnas, sold in barber and beauty supply stores as Mini Personna Shaper Blades, come in a pack of 20.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Thanks for taking the time to write this most comprehensive reply! I think I'll get one each of the Schick and Personnas and go from there. Is there anywhere you can buy the blades in bulk and load them into an injector magazine you already have? Or are you restricted to buying a new magazine every 7 blades?
One of my razors has no blade in it and God knows how long it has been in that condition. Do you have any tips for getting a blade in there for the first time?

I assuming that since "one" of your injector razors has no blade, then at least one other one does. If that's the case, when you get a magazine of new blades load a blade into a razor that already has an old blade in it - then put that old blade into the magazine (it's not hard to figure out how to do it, use a pencil or screwdriver to push the blade stack down and slide the blade in) and load the old blade into the empty razor to use as a placeholder.