Curious detail on this Gillette Tech

[ajc347]

I'm with you there Paul. I've seen more variation in Flat Bottom Techs and NEW's than I have in any other razor.

The absence of written records detailing the changes makes it all the more difficult to figure out a timeline.

That's what makes (or made, in my case), it so much fun in collecting them.

 

[pjgh]

Got it! Mulling over that the handle is wrong on mine (which is from the late 1930s/early 1940s British New), I started looking at which handles the Tech used just prior to the switchover to the ball end/diamond base and came up with an idea it should use the Service Tech open end handle ...

... and low, and behold:

Lifted directly from Mr Razor's excellent website: https://www.mr-razor.com/

We have a Service Set, here with the stamp on lower part of the baseplate and ... squint ... a ridge on the comb. Earlier side of mid-1940s.

I think that concludes it ...

Above, we saw a slightly different example from @ajc347 which is in that mid/late 1940s two-tone plastic case. So, a definite thing, a definite specification.

Cheers, all! Anyone got any more examples?

 

[doughnut operator]

this has turned into real education learned about some tech,s ,some info on 7 o/c,s & a razor co i never knew existed

 

[pjgh]

Love it! Even when you think you've seen it all ... something else comes along. I've seen all sorts over on the single edge side, specifically with my much loved 1912s. One thing I've learned about vintage razors is: never say never.

That was after poo-pooing the idea that an Ever-Ready (American Safety Razor Corporation) 1912 could be found in a box that bore the Ever Ready Co. (UK Battery company) logo and might have had an illuminated razor ... different company, different market, nah, doesn't exist!

Ever Ready 1912 'Razorlite'

6 new items · Album by Paul Halliday

photos.app.goo.gl

Never say never!

 

[doughnut operator]

Love it! Even when you think you've seen it all ... something else comes along. I've seen all sorts over on the single edge side, specifically with my much loved 1912s. One thing I've learned about vintage razors is: never say never.

That was after poo-pooing the idea that an Ever-Ready (American Safety Razor Corporation) 1912 could be found in a box that bore the Ever Ready Co. (UK Battery company) logo and might have had an illuminated razor ... different company, different market, nah, doesn't exist!

Ever Ready 1912 'Razorlite'

6 new items · Album by Paul Halliday

photos.app.goo.gl

Never say never!

and i picked techs figuring there the most numerous & easy to figure out ,to collect figure,s lol

 

[pjgh]

and i picked techs figuring there the most numerous & easy to figure out ,to collect figure,s lol

Haha! Yeah ...

Just getting the right handles onto them and into the right boxes is the first struggle. There's a right load of mix and match out there. Mr Razor's website is a great place to start if you're trying to fit something together or assemble a box a bits into the right order.

 

[pjgh]

So, looks like I need an open ended handle and a tin case ... I feel mine (being very brassy) was a Service Set, not a domestic set in a flash plastic case.

Meanwhile, here's a conundrum for you and me, @Bogeyman: Does this shave as well as the flat bottom? Does this shave as well as the diamond base? Yes! Which? BOTH

 

[Bogeyman]

There are also variations in the use of the font used in stamping ‘Made in England', Paul.

The usual version is in the left, whilst the less common version is on the right in the picture below.
View attachment 56109

Both of my "thin handle flat bottom" Techs are as the one on the left pictured above.

 

[creamgravy]

Cheers, all! Anyone got any more examples?

I've just got this early 40s no 44 set with a grooved, bottom logo, baseplate. There's also similar 44 examples with a nickel handle or the service set(?) handle.


The finish is noticeably rougher on the sides than my fat handle FB tech.


I've seen a few no 25 sets with the same combo you have in the first post

 

[pjgh]

I've just got this early 40s no 44 set with a grooved, bottom logo, baseplate. There's also similar 44 examples with a nickel handle or the service set(?) handle.
View attachment 116322

The finish is noticeably rougher on the sides than my fat handle FB tech.
View attachment 116323

I've seen a few no 25 sets with the same combo you have in the first post

Ah, cool! I have a couple of sets with that case, both 'New' types with open end ball-ended handles - one RFB and one long slot. I don't see any reason why it couldn't have come with a Tech head, particularly one with these specific detals (grooved comb and bottom orientated logo).

Neat! Makes some sense ...

 

[creamgravy]

That long slot New is epic! Was this the UKs first attempt at copying the USA 38 tech design without access to fancy stamping machinery?

The 'Gillette Safety Razor' case logo started replacing the classic diamond in 1939 for the #44 sets (black, red, brown, blue colours) Then shifted to the all leatherette green/blue sometime during the war until 1948, like this is lovely #44 RFB tech example.

Strangely the grooved FB tech has the same mild/smooth geometry as the RFB New/tech. Not the more aggressive FB tech you'd expect

It's a nice alternative to the RFB tech as prices keep going through the roof.

 

[creamgravy]

MAJE IN ENGLAND

It's funny how FB New baseplates seem to be MAJE IN ENGLAND, from 1935 all the way upto 1946! They must've been produced on the same line in Slough right? Or was the machinery moved to Brentford around 1937?

Hmm, I wonder if the grooved FB tech was also made in Slough? It's clearly produced on a different line (extrusion, stamping, machining etc) in smaller numbers.
Thinking about it, those handles might also come from Slough. They're Sloughs interpretation of the thin handle tech design? ...and it's also why we see old 25/44 set handles matched with them early on?


Prob going down the wrong rabbit hole here

The usual version is in the left, whilst the less common version is on the right in the picture below.

The one on the right looks similar to the font used for 50s stamped techs?

 

[pjgh]

Some ruddy reliable equipment that stamped out hundreds of thousands of baseplates with such accurate inaccuracy.

 

[ajc347]

The one on the right looks similar to the font used for 50s stamped techs?

I suspect it is more than likely a later version as they are less common than the other font.

It’s difficult to say for sure without the original documents and records which have either been lost to time or P&G still have in an archive somewhere (I suspect it to be the former tbh).