I hit the antique shops again for Black Friday and scooped up this cased Super Speed at 20% off!
Well done!I hit the antique shops again for Black Friday and scooped up this cased Super Speed at 20% off!
View attachment 1562667
View attachment 1562668
I'm not at all sure what this razor is? Anyone? It is beautiful.
I'm not at all sure what this razor is? Anyone? It is beautiful.
I had a slightly defective American Aristocrat that Chris at Back Roads Gold repaired when replating. It's now a wonderful performer.I'm still pretty new to this whole vintage thing (and I definitely need to take a break from acquisitions for a while soon, as it's getting a bit out of hand and my little collection is already bigger than I ever intended or imagined) but I am gathering that sometimes you have to take a risk. So, when I saw this lovely old thing listed as defective/ersatz - the seller said they couldn't figure out why it shaved so aggressively - I was intrigued.
View attachment 1564023
It was listed at a *very* modest starting price (considering what it is, if salvageable), and there was not a single bid by the end of the auction... So now it's here with me, in it's nickel-plated case - which was in good shape outside after a polish but pretty dilapidated inside, so I've done my best to re-upholster it, so to speak.
View attachment 1564024
I have read that this particular flavor of Aristocrat - the 2nd generation, circa 1948 - is not the smoothest shaver of it's kind to start with, but it's still a lovely piece of shaving history and I feel it's worth trying my hand at. Its Rhodium plating has held up quite well, though there's a bit of brassing around the safety bars and a few spots on the wide bands on the handle. I tried not to over-polish it, since Rhodium seems to take a shine pretty easily.
I did find it on the aggressive side on our first shave together, and I feel like the blade is not being held as firmly as it should - one of the wings is a bit loose when fully closed without a blade (which the seller pointed out, in fact), so I'm experimenting with shimming in various ways, to see if it can be modified to hold things together a bit tighter and hopefully give a shave as nice as it looks... Any tips are appreciated!
View attachment 1564025
Otherwise I feel like something in the mechanism - the little arms that the wings are attached to? - might need to be bent into shape to clamp the blade down a bit harder, and with my limited knowledge I am loathe to get into that kind of thing, for fear of disaster...
Edit: After a bit more research, I think I have found an innovative solution combining a reverse shim and tape strips (on the shim, not the razor!) which has neatly solved the whole problem to my satisfaction! I am officially a happy Aristo-camper!
Handles like these make me want to make a print out, burn it, then snort the ashes.I don't buy many razors anymore but this one I found interesting. It was listed as a GEM razor.
It cleaned right up , it has no markings.
I had a slightly defective American Aristocrat that Chris at Back Roads Gold repaired when replating. It's now a wonderful performer.