vintage blades

dodgy

dodgy

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Location
Denver
Hiya,

Over the years I've tried lots of old DE blades. Some have been bad, many have been anywhere from good to much better than average, and a few have been amazing. You guys are missing out if you don't at least give some of these a try. Now keep in mind I'm talking about the stainless steel blades (mid 1960s and on) and not the very old blue blades.

Here in the US it's easy to find these old blades...even the UK made Wilkinsons. Usually when I run across these in the wild they're almost free. Yep, they're junk to most people......heh.

Injector blades are also found on occasion, and most of those older ones are excellent. Those are all I use when shaving with the M type, which is a favorite injector of mine. Now those really should be tried by anyone serious about using that type of SE razor.

Here's some vintage DE and injector blades in the arsenal:
 

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Never tried an injector but I do have a whole host of vintage blades I picked up some years ago on ebay. They came with a couple of razors. The Gillette super stainless (USA) and Wilkinsons (UK) are excellent blades...
 
I admire your patience. I just seem to have a gene in me that won't let me try old blades in case they're bad.

I do have a few different vintage blades, but only for aesthetic reasons. Some of them look lovely in their old wrappers, the French 1960s blades (thank you Frenchblade) are cool as anything, and Mikael sent me some very strange Swedish blades long ago of a very different design, I doubt I could even find a razor that they would fit, but they look cool as anything.
 
Canuck said:
I admire your patience. I just seem to have a gene in me that won't let me try old blades in case they're bad.
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What's doin Canuck,

Well, if a blade doesn't feel right after a few downward strokes of the first pass, I'll usually toss the thing away. Yeah, there's no sense in continuing to use a blade if it pulls or is uncomfortable.

I gotta say though, that many vintage blades work well for me, keeping in mind my normal blades are Iridium. Matter of fact, I've recently been shaving with a blade from 1965 that almost rivals those Iridiums. Before that I had loaded one from 1981 with almost the same results. Some other blades used in the past were as good or better than my regular blade of choice.

I'm happy to send you out a few to sample for yourself......IF that pesky 'gene' will let you. I think you may find some of these older vintage Gillette, Schick, or Wilkinson types will do the job quite well. Use the pm feature if interested, and no problem if you'd rather pass on the offer.

Martin
 
Dodgy is generous like that. He's sending me out some vintage injector blades as I bought some modern ones for a PAL injector I recently picked up and they just don't give a close shave at all. He's even sending me another injector razor to try! I'll post him back some Polsilvers as a thank you - everyone should try these Polsilvers, they're excellent!!

I'm sticking some findings for the vintage blades I've been using lately in my Blade Review Spreadsheet; may or may not be of interest. I would have thought a post-1950s Gillette blade would be worth a go; although the black carbon steel ones might feel a bit different by our modern standards, the vintage razors we know and love were designed for those types of blades.
 
I have noticed that our Dodgy is a very kind man. Thanks Martin, but I think that gene will only nag at me and they will stay as conversation starters and not stubble whackers. Cheers again though, you're very generous.
 
Canuck said:
Thanks Martin, but I think that gene will only nag at me and they will stay as conversation starters and not stubble whackers.
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Hah, I get it now! The lightbulb in my head just lit up about why you don't wanna try these old blades. I bet it's because you're afraid of Yankee cooties that you have no resistance to.

No need to worry if that's the case, since I can clean each one using my normal method of spit and a not too dirty bathroom towel. Seems to work fine for the razors I send out to Slimbo.

See that, nothing to worry about,

Martin
 
Hello Sir dodgy!

I just tried those Schicks last night. My word, there sharp!!!

Also very strong blades too with zero flex.

I was quite impressed but very cut up as I rushed my shave.

I'll report back on how shave 2 goes tomorrow....
 
I have a few older vintage blades I try hunting down....

Dont dismiss older stuff, its often very good.

Wilkinson Sword UK made
Wilkinson Sword "Falcons" Brazil made
Gillette Bleue Extra
Gillette Bleue
Gillette Super Silvers (1970)
Gillette Platinums....

The list does keep growing as I find others I like - Im also partial to Xpom Russian blades...
 
Dipesh said:
Hello Sir dodgy!

I just tried those Schicks last night. My word, there sharp!!!

Also very strong blades too with zero flex.
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What's doin buddy,

Yeah, you gotta pay a little more attention to detail when using those injector blades. If I remember right, you have the Plus Platinum version, which is a nice blade.

I'll bet your next shaves will be lots better, now that you know the deal,

Martin
 
Dipesh said:
Not the injector ones, those DE ones Dodgy.

My face was nick city!

We shall see this evening how it feels. Can I tame it?!
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Ok, I got it now. Wasn't that long ago I sent those out, but I still managed to be a little confused. Sheeesh. Thanks for the gentle correction.

Yeah, some of those old Schick DE blades are pretty darn sharp all right. I have a few that I'll use for a very pleasant change of pace.

Martin
 
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