The Empire Strikes Back - Bringing Wilkinson SEs Into The 21st Century

[mjclark]

The Wilkinson Empire with a modified GEM blade is a fantastic shave. The idea of despining and corner-clipping a modern SE blade was only discovered in 2011, and it works great! So after I tried one on loan from PJGH a few months ago, I wanted to have one of my own.

When my set arrived it came with four old proprietary blades of two different types. Two were a hollow ground straight section like a mini Rolls blade ( and which Waits confusingly calls a "wedge blade") and the other two were a flat blade inserted into a seperate spine, like a mini frameback.

One of the mini framebacks was NOS and sharp right out of the wrapper, but both the hollow ground blades were dull and one had bad micropitting so that the edge crumbled.

Having got such good results from the Rolls razor taking the blade through a honing progression and then pasting the strop with ferric oxide, I wondered if the process would work as well for the Empire with the good hollow ground blade.

There are several threads on rehoning Wilkinson blades, and most suggest taping the spine.
These blades are clearly machined, and their initial bevel angle is different from that produced by laying the spine flat on the hone so I reset the bevel on a coarse synthetic to begin with then took the blade through a progression of slates.

Because I chose not to use any tape, and because that Wilkinson steel is hard and durable,setting the bevel took a long time and resulted in some spinewear but the blade took a great edge.

I pasted the supplied strop with ferric oxide (which had worked brilliantly with the Rolls) and, using the superb built in stropping mechanism, stropped the blade.

The result was really really good. Although the Empire looks clunky,it's powerful and smooth like the FaTip of SEs, so I dialled it up to maximum aggression. The blade was very sharp and very smooth and I got a fantastic DFS+ shave - everything that's good about straights and everything that's good about safeties in one razor.

And (unlike Durham Duplex and Rolls) the stropping mechanism is almost as convenient as straights since the blade doesn't have to be removed.

So how long will the blade stay sharp just on ferric oxide, and will this method also keep the mini frameback and modded GEM blades sharp?
We're going to find out

Wilkinson Empire, welcome to the 21st century!

 

[BSAGuy]

Very interesting post, Marcus. You are a master honer and very creative at keeping these old classics running.

 

[Galhatz]

I have a mint one. The plating ia so remarkably beautiful, the best I've seen, i'd feel bad rubbing it with a strop...

 

[DrumZalot]

A very insightful post MJ very insightful with a lot of details about the Wilkinson (especially the blades). I had an opportunity to score a near mint Wilkinson for a cheap price but I didn't bother with it. It does look like a clumsy razor but after reading several posts regarding this razor it isn't. Again, a very good post!

 

[mjclark]

A very insightful post MJ very insightful with a lot of details about the Wilkinson (especially the blades). I had an opportunity to score a near mint Wilkinson for a cheap price but I didn't bother with it. It does look like a clumsy razor but after reading several posts regarding this razor it isn't. Again, a very good post!

Yeah - it looks like a Valet (which I don't get on with) but chunkier which is even more offputting.
Maybe the Empire's ungainly steampunk looks, and the blade issues, are the reason it gets such little attention.
If I hadn't tried one on loan from Paul, I would never have guessed that it would give such an amazing shave.
It's certainly worth the effort of modifying a GEM blade or, if you have the wherewithal, honing up one of those dinky wedges.

 

[smithabrian]

Is the strop somehow going through the razor body in that photo?

 

[mjclark]

Is the strop somehow going through the razor body in that photo?

Yes! When the blade is released, the strop threads through the front of the razor, and the gearing causes the blade to change direction as the handle is moved back and forth along the strop.
So, similarly to a straight, you can strop the blade without having to remove it.

 

[smithabrian]

Wow, that is steampunk ingenious! Wonder if such a mechanism could be used with Shavette-type blades? Thanks for sharing this project.

 

[mjclark]

A second Empire arrived yesterday. I think this is the "W15" model with a knurled handle which is smaller and lighter than the earlier fluted handle "E12" model that I started with. The adjustment knob and side screws are also chunkier on the "E12".
Perhaps someone with a Waits can throw a bit more light on Empire typology?
Here they are for comparison:

I tried a NOS Long Life blade which came with my first set.
It was slightly corroded but cleaned up well and was stropped on the pasted strop before use.
These blades are flat with a seperate spine like a mini-frameback or half-size GEM but surprisingly they don't really shave like the GEM SEs but much more like the Durham Duplex blades. Those are hollow ground and, although I haven't checked yet, I wonder if these Wilkinsons are too.
The steel also feels amazing and has that distinctive combination of hardness, sharpness and smoothness that I associate with the vintage English Wilkinson stainless DE blades which are famed for their longevity.
If only Wilkinson had made standard SE blades!

As expected, the shave was great and quite a different experience from using the wedge blade. Although still smooth, it had a more aggressive feel and it will be interesting to see how this blade settles in over time with continued stropping.
So the Empire has different blade choices offering different shaves, all of which are excellent: Wedge blade (closer to a Rolls), Long Life blade (closer to a Durham) and modified SE (closer to a GEM).

If anybody sees more of these Long Life mini-frameback blades anywhere, please let me know!

 

[mjclark]

Shaved with the W15 Empire tonight using a Tom Beasley wedge blade which, although 70 years old, gave a supremely comfortable BBS shave straight out of the box.
I'm starting to realise that the Empire is like a penguin, it may appear clumsy and ungainly but under the conditions it was designed for, it is elegant and manouverable and top of the class!
The integrated stropping mechanism and the Archimedes Screw guard are real winners, along with the very sharp, very comfortable and easily maintainable wedge blade meaning that the Empire ticks all the boxes.
At the moment the Empire and the Valet are my very favourite razors.

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

 

[decraew]

Yes! When the blade is released, the strop threads through the front of the razor, and the gearing causes the blade to change direction as the handle is moved back and forth along the strop.
So, similarly to a straight, you can strop the blade without having to remove it.

Thans for that, I didn't know! I have a Wilkinson with 7 blades myself but the strop needs to be replaced. Glad to learn that it's worth the effort, as stropping (and honing) these blades can be a chore.

By the way, you mentionned the different angle of the original blades. That has also been my observation on all SE blades I have (Star blades, Heljestrand blades, Henckels blades and some French blades). The reason I think is that the SE holder adds to the angle, so by creating blades with a lesser angle and adding to that the thickness of the SE razor holder you get a "normal" angle. But that's just a theory...

 

[mjclark]

And here's the Last Empire, a W19 from the 1950's which I've just acquired in a mutually satisfactory trade with PJGH.

The Archimedes Screw guard and adjustor knob of the Old Empire is gone.
Instead there's a VC4 style runner guard and it's not adjustable.

The W19 looks really futuristic to me like something out of Blake's Seven (or 2001: A Space Odyssey if you prefer) and with the OEM wedge blade is still pretty aggressive but very very smooth.

That 70 year old Tom Beasley blade was good to go straight out of the box and stropped with the built in Empire stropping mechanism that I love so much.
In contrast to the older Empires, I did find it quite fiddly to get the blade to swing out for stropping when the release tab is pressed, and that is my sole minor critiscism of this super razor.

This is such a beautiful razor. The Empire looks so clunky yet is such an elegant shaver and this is for me the peak of design for the wedge blade safety razors.
I am a great fan of open combs but the runner guards on the W19 and the VC4 seem to give even better shaves.

For now, my absolute favourite razors are the Empire series, the Valet series and the Rolls.
With OEM blades and pasted strops they deliver the perfect combination of sharpness, smoothness, manouverability and comfort.
And they are so much fun

And the W19 style Empire was also probably the last new wedge blade safety razor ever to be made.
Unless you know different...

 

[Klopstick]

How are you protecting the blades from rust? Are you stropping and disassembling the blade holder unit and re-oiling after each shave, or have you slathered the blade with Vaseline, put it in the holder, wiped away any excess so you can just give a quick wipe of the blade edge to protect it after the shave? Or done something else?

 

[mjclark]

How are you protecting the blades from rust? Are you stropping and disassembling the blade holder unit and re-oiling after each shave, or have you slathered the blade with Vaseline, put it in the holder, wiped away any excess so you can just give a quick wipe of the blade edge to protect it after the shave? Or done something else?

No dissassembling needed - that"s the beauty of the Empire (and the Valet). The blade release mechanism causes it to swing out for stropping like this but it remains firmly attached to the razor.
I rinse it in hot water, dry with tissue paper, strop the blade, dunk the blade and razor head in a cup of mineral oil which sits in the shave room for just this purpose then resecure the blade and it's ready for the next shave and corrosion free.
All takes a couple of minutes and you don't need to remove the blade.

 

[Klopstick]

I just put together a couple of special strops for the Wilkinson - made of 1-1/2 inch wide seat-belt material. They were super easy to make and fit perfectly. I'm going to try .1 micron CBN and Ferric Oxide to start.

5 yards of the material (an eBay purchase) gives me lots of possible avenues for other compounds or even bare. The material has a very flat surface and is smooth, so should work well. The ends were cut with an old butter knife that had been heated with a torch. The line is 550 paracord put through a melted hole with a diamond knot on the end.

 

[mjclark]

I just put together a couple of special strops for the Wilkinson - made of 1-1/2 inch wide seat-belt material. They were super easy to make and fit perfectly. I'm going to try .1 micron CBN and Ferric Oxide to start.

5 yards of the material (an eBay purchase) gives me lots of possible avenues for other compounds or even bare. The material has a very flat surface and is smooth, so should work well. The ends were cut with an old butter knife that had been heated with a torch. The line is 550 paracord put through a melted hole with a diamond knot on the end.

View attachment 471291

Outstanding! I hear that CBN spray is voodoo!!

 

[Klopstick]

Outstanding! I hear that CBN spray is voodoo!!

I've been shaving with a regular straight off the .25 micron CBN on 2 inch seatbelt for some time (it's nice!) and am waiting with bated breath for my 0.1 micron. Drat the out-of-stock messages.

 

[mjclark]

I've been shaving with a regular straight off the .25 micron CBN on 2 inch seatbelt for some time (it's nice!) and am waiting with bated breath for my 0.1 micron. Drat the out-of-stock messages.

I've been getting some truly lovely edges from 0.25μ diamond paste on felt.
Let me know how the 0.1μ CBN goes. I might have to get some!