7 O'clock razor restore

Marcel · Friday July 22, 2011

Just wanted to share some pics of one of my latest finds, a vintage 7 O'clock open comb razor.
An interesting head design, as it seems like a blend of an old type head and a NEW head.
It's a 3 piece razor like a gillette single ring, so the baseplate is fixed to the handle.
If I remember correctly, the 7 O'clock company was bought by Gillette in the 1930's, does anybody have more details about that?
Got it for â‚¬7,50 and thought it was in good enough shape to take the gamble:

After some soaking and a gently polish, the razor turned out to be a beauty. The handle and baseplate both seem silver plated, the head plate is probably chrome.
I haven't tried to clean the tin, as I'm afraid the paint will chip off.
What do you think?

tritrek · Friday July 22, 2011

nice job! wouldn't touch the tin though... I too think the paint would chip of and ruin the whole retro thing...

erik1963 · Friday July 22, 2011

Looks like you have done a great job on the razor.

What was your process in getting the head to look so good. I have a poor condition razor and would like to try and restore it, as practice, but I am crap at that sort of thing - but want to learn.

Thanks.

hunnymonster · Friday July 22, 2011

Take a look at

Very similar looking no? (ie. it's a 1930s New clone rather than an "old" clone (which would have a curved baseplate and pegs for holding the blade in place) or a "New improved" (which would have a similar base plate but pegs))

If it turns out to be silver plated then it's more like a #77 or #88 clone

Marcel · Friday July 22, 2011

hunnymonster said:
Take a look at

Very similar looking no? (ie. it's a 1930s New clone rather than an "old" clone (which would have a curved baseplate and pegs for holding the blade in place) or a "New improved" (which would have a similar base plate but pegs))

If it turns out to be silver plated then it's more like a #77 or #88 clone

I think that it could be a #77 or #88 clone, apart from the head of course, as I see more similarities with those than the one you pictured:
http://mr-razor.com/Rasierer/The%20NEW/1933%20NEW%20No77%20Set%20England.JPG

How can you tell it is silver? Is has a different shine/color than my nickel plated or chrome plated razors.

hunnymonster · Friday July 22, 2011

Silver tarnish honks!

Rub your finger over its surface and smell it. The "tarnished" base metal will not smell; if it is dirty silver its acrid odour will lodge in your nose - of course you just polished it so that's not a lot of help

Marcel · Friday July 22, 2011

Thanks, didn't know that!
I guess I'll just have to wait for it to turn black then;-) I polished it gently with some toothpaste, not polishing paste as I find these too desctructive.

antdad · Friday July 22, 2011

Nice job Marcel, I have one or two 7 o clock OC's but I don't think I've ever seen a short toothed open comb two piece by them. Only ever seen short toothed OC's by US Gillette (could be wrong about that) so you have a very interesting piece, maybe it was a forerunner to the #77?

Marcel · Friday July 22, 2011

erik1963 said:
Looks like you have done a great job on the razor.

What was your process in getting the head to look so good. I have a poor condition razor and would like to try and restore it, as practice, but I am crap at that sort of thing - but want to learn.

Thanks!
What I did was soaking the razor overnight in dishwashing soap, a lot. The next morning I gave it a scrub with an old soft toothbrush and let it soak for a couple of hours. After that I gave it a thorough scrub with a toothbrush and after that I used toothpaste. After drying I took an old rag for some added bling. That's it, no aggressive detergents whatsoever.

antdad said:
Nice job Marcel, I have one or two 7 o clock OC's but I don't think I've ever seen a short toothed open comb two piece by them. Only ever seen short toothed OC's by US Gillette (could be wrong about that) so you have a very interesting piece, maybe it was a forerunner to the #77?

That's an interesting thought and you could be right given its looks.

kt66 · Friday July 22, 2011

That came up beautifully! Nice find.

Marcel · Saturday July 23, 2011

I've got a #77 set coming my way so I can compare them by the end of this week. I have also been told that this is an earlier version of this type of razor and that it is silver plated indeed. Later versions were nickel plated.

Marcel · Sunday July 24, 2011

Talking to myself here:
Woah! This is one effective razor! As I also wanted to try a 39c that came in this week, so I shaved the left part of my face with the 7 O'clock razor and the right half with the slant. I'm used to handling a slant and a horde of open comb razors, so not much adjustment was needed. They both had to deal with 2+ days of stubble.
Prep was a hot shower and MWF, face lathered. The 7 O'clock was loaded with a fresh NOS Gillette Bleue extra, the slant with feather that was used once before.
First difference, the slant isn't half as loud. Other than that? I'd call it even, both did a great job and gave me a 3 pass BBS! The difference in handling is substantial though, the 7 O'clock is a lean and mean razor with average weight, the 39c, well, you probably know what it looks like. It is a sledgehammer!
Summary: I like both razors!