First SE shave - I get it!

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78
So, before lockdown my wife bought an Ever Ready razor with USA head for me, bakelite box and some ancient Sheffield made blades. I had a few SE razors before but moved them on before actually trying them, being obsessed with vintage Gillette DEs. Anyway, I got some GEM blades from Connaught and had a go this morning. Very enjoyable shave. Lots of audible feedback. Some problem areas for me (beneath chin and jawline) were handled with aplomb. I didn't have any trouble adjusting to the blade angle and I loved how rigidly the blade is held. With the grain under my nose was a bit tricky, but ATG in the same area tidied things up nicely. The alum block gave only a slight sting so I must have done OK. I think the first pass got more than I usually do with DE. Anyone who's on the fence about SE should just give it a try. Despite their slightly intimidating looks these are fine shavers (but then you guys knew that). (y)
 
I'm really into SE razors since first trying an AC razor a month or so ago. For more than two decades of my experience shaving with DE I'd never really realized how annoying the lack of rigidity in DE blades is ...
 
Funnily enough, after a good number of years, I'm really enjoying DE shaving again - I'm using a Star razor, which has very little blade presentation and so holds the blade rock solid. No blade chatter and feels more like an SE shave.

Interesting. And which razor model is that?
 
Star ... a Gillette Tech clone. The same model came under the Treet, PAL & Personna brands as well. Often the PAL had etched caps and the Personna came with embossed caps. Star & Treet could be had with that familiar hexagonal handle as used on the SE razors. There's also a gold washed Star. Watch out for aluminium baseplates on the later models (largely PAL & Personna).

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For @TommyP who has just started to enjoy single edge shaving, you'll find Ever Ready, GEM and Star brands of vintage SE razors. In the later years, these brands all kind of came under the Personna umbrella. There was a Gillette Tech clone under the brands mentioned above and these razors can be considered the legacy of the SE razors. As I said above (and shown in the second photograph), some of those came with the hexagonal handle you'd find on all those SE razors previously.
 
Thanks for the pointers @pjgh . I'll look out for those razors. I do have a fat handle Tech and a replated NEW short comb. Would the aftermentioned Tech clones be overlap or complimentary? Do they hold the blade more rigidly than the Tech or NEW? Shaved with the Ever Ready again today and it was even better as I get used to it. Astounding to me that an ancient design is still so capable. It does a superb job on some areas that have always been a compromise for me. I'll have to do a SOTD soon - I haven't done one in a while.
 
Thanks for the pointers @pjgh . I'll look out for those razors. I do have a fat handle Tech and a replated NEW short comb. Would the aftermentioned Tech clones be overlap or complimentary? Do they hold the blade more rigidly than the Tech or NEW? Shaved with the Ever Ready again today and it was even better as I get used to it. Astounding to me that an ancient design is still so capable. It does a superb job on some areas that have always been a compromise for me. I'll have to do a SOTD soon - I haven't done one in a while.

The NEW razors were quite something, as were the British Tech razors with the same baseplate ('40s)? The diamond slot American Techs from that era are also very nice. They give what I'd call the definitive DE shave. The Star type razors above a quite a different shave. The blade exposure is so slight and the shave so mild feeling, you'd be forgiven in thinking that it wasn't shaving effectively. That small blade gap translates as a very rigid edge and not at all like DE shaving, generally.

From your original post, the conversation turned rather quickly back to DE shaving and I hoped to give some background that might introduce this slightly different type of DE razor that grew out of the SE market. We're kinda tribal (DE vs SE) but we're not - a good shave is a good shave, and collecting vintage shaving equipment is a lot of fun.
 
There are some really lovely single edge razors out there, all with their own character. My collection has focussed on the American Safety Razor Corporation (so, Star, Ever Ready, GEM & Treet brands) and lately consolidated on the pre-1933 models.

Here's a snap I took for a straight razor friend who asked for an introduction to single edge:

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Left to right: 1924, 1914, 1912, 190 ... er 6? & Featherweight

For me, the 1912 is the definitive single edge shave. Get a British one - the quality is consistent and the plating quite excellent, cleaning up near perfect every time. The 1924 probably my second favourite and I still have a thing for the Featherweight, which is a really capable razor and a modernisation of the 1912. The 1914 was a bit of a fail in my opinion, delivering a shave that's not up there with the 1924 or 1912. The old looking one is a pre-Damaskeene (the 1912 prototype) and gives a really nice shave - it's more angle sensitive than the 1912 for getting a smooth shave.

There are, of course, other models from the American Safety Razor Corporation group - quite a lot, in fact. These represent probably the core that every collection should have, the Micromatic Open Comb, the Clog-Pruf and the Natural Angle. Oh, and that Treet 1912/Featherweight hybrid thing. Streamline/Jewel, of course once the bug bites as they can get expensive ... and then, for me, the holy grail: the Sun Ray!

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... arguably more rare than the Steamline, often similar prices (especially for a full stropper set) but still "just" a 1912 ... but what a 1912!
 
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ER1914 landed yesterday. The 101+ yrs old razor cleaned up nicely. But the tiny handle is a joke.
I've already got a couple of thread adapters here. And also a custom wooden handle from a famous Cackalackian gentleman is on its way.
But this thread forced me to purchase a Star DE razor. And I think that hexagonal ribbed Star handle shall match ER1914 style rather well.
I'll play with different combinations when everything arrives and then post my findings.
 
The very short handles do indeed appear to be quite inadequate, but I would encourage you to try it out - it puts the focus of the shave very close to the razor head.

Yes, if you can find a longer handle from another razor ... great! Be aware that the thread from the 1912 (actually 1919 on, but the original patent was 1912 and we did see a number of razors of that style as the 'Damaskeene') is different to the earlier razors like the 1914. Here's a lovely long ebony handle from a turn of the century Zinn:

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Another idea is to oversleeve the original handle with, say, some silicone tubing and something stuffed in the end to lengthen.

Or, drill out the threads and tap with M5 screws so you can use practically ANY handle from the DE market:

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... a couple I converted a few years back.
 
Thanks!
That Zinn handle looks like a custom rosewood I'm waiting to arrive. Beautiful.
The two thread adapters that I have are of the proper type (8-24 to 10-32). So I can use any M5 handle with ER1914.
 
Did Gillette make a DE that had a diamond style connection with a solid bar? I've been looking for a star like was mention that shaves like a SE but all I see are the cheap ones that are pitted and I think made of pot metal. I bought one and it just fell a part.
Thanks
 
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