the BAND razor

Bezoar

Bezoar

Messages
1,538
I am curious if anyone here has ever seen a Band Razor in person, or even shaved with one?


the concept is interesting, yet bizarre. Raises a few questions on cleaning, and angle control. But looking at patent diagrams it looks like it could become a viable product.

im not joking, recent improvements in metallurgy in the last 45 years make it seem like a no brainer.
 
Greetings

I have to sadly report that as a young man in the forces I owned one new and shaved with it but the band broke after three or four shaves and that was it bin! They were considered to be sh*t but I didn't know that or I would not have bought one.

The problem was, as you infer by your reference to metallurgy, the band was thin hard and rather brittle and it had to be bent round too severe an angle for the metal to take the stress. My memory lets me down at this point but I also think there was an issue of the slight curvature in the exposed shaving section of the band, in any event they were a failure and soon abandoned. I am trying to think of a date when I owned it, I 'joined up' in 1967 and left in 1976, I suspect it would have been about 1971ish.

Another failed invention using a band springs to mind , the eight track cassette, dire! I went to a dinner a few years back where the raffle booby prize was a new unopened eight track cassette by The Bay City Rollers!

Regards
Dick.
 
If this is what I believe it is I owned and used a razor which consisted of a handle and head which had a triangular space in the head into which a module was snapped which contained an endless loop of sharp edged metal. The band was clicked on as required by means of a black plastic lever which was mounted on the throwaway module. It shaved okay as far as I recall, with no apparent corrosion probs during the life of the throwaway section. This would be around 1970 I' guessing.

JohnnyO. o/
 
Greetings
Gillette Techmatic, I have just looked it up there are very many articles about them on the net, without exception they all describe the razor as crap! One such article is called 'Worlds worst razor'

If you are thinking of a much earlier type of band razor we are discussing two different things, these came out in the late 60's or very early 70's and didn't last long, perhaps a couple of years.
Regards
Dick.
 
I dutifully shave with my Techmatic once yearly on its patent day ...

IMG_0836.JPG


It's okay, although not something I'd recommend. Hitting on a decent band nowadays is half of the battle. Of the several I've had, just one (the one that's presently in the razor) is sharp enough for a comfortable shave. That one was in a sealed NOS package, although I've had others like that which were no good.
 
Greetings
I'm surprised it was that early, I could not have owned mine before 1969 and I think a year perhaps two later was more likely so they were around longer than I thought. A thought; could they have been released in the states earlier than the UK?

Regards
Dick.
 
The Schick Band Razor was Introduced in the USA..This was Quickly Cloned by the Gillette Techmatic..The Techmatic takes Schick Cartridges but the Schick Band Razor will not accept the Techmatic Cartridge's...These Go back to the 60s as the Techmatic was used by NASA Astronaut's on Moon Missions..:)

Billy
 
Norfolkdick said:
Greetings
I'm surprised it was that early, I could not have owned mine before 1969 and I think a year perhaps two later was more likely so they were around longer than I thought. A thought; could they have been released in the states earlier than the UK?

Regards
Dick.
Click to expand...

That's highly likely, Dick. The patent was earlier, but it was likely that as it was aboard Apollo 11 that it became globally popular post-1969.

Schick did one, too, albeit a copy of the Gillette (or under license).

The idea is not new, though ... there were "spool" razors around decades before. I'll check my Waits later for some examples.
 
I dug up a Techmatic when I was nine or ten, hadn't a clue what it was. I pulled the spool right out thinking it might have been a part of a tape recorder. I took it home, went to wash my hands and............oh boy! Took weeks for my hands to heal. Got a battering into the bargain!
 
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