One for Gillette connoisseurs

donnie_arko said:
Even though I'm not looking I'd like a Bakelite Tech one day.

I have a 30's Souplex DE razor which is all Bakelite aside from the brass top cap, and it has a short Bakelite handle with a M5 brass screw which I use for a few modern razor heads.

Of course it's not as heavy in the hand as brass but I think Bakelite is an under appreciated material for razors.

Back to Techs, I own a few and the 3 Brass ones I own are all excellent.
For a good mild shaver all the same lines I'd recommend an Old Type as well. With a sharp blade, they are a superb razor for daily shaves. For some reason they seem to get a little overlooked in comparison to Techs but IMO they are excellent razors in their own right whilst sharing something with Techs.
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A propos Bakelite razors, I have found that Wardonias are pretty good, except for the need to alter standard DE blades to fit in them.
 
Bogeyman said:
I think the later zamak ones shave a tad smoother oft times than the post-war BE Tech. Strange, no? I have also stated that if someone would duplicate exactly the modern zamak Super Gillette Blue/Sterling razor in stainless or brass that it would be perfection. Added durability & weight with a more nimble design. I can surmise this as I own a first year zamak head Travel Tech with a brass baseplate. I think it was only for one year, '63 or '64, and it shaves like a dream.
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I find the exact same, the zamak heads shave much smoother for me, I've actually never got on with the brass techs. I can buff the heck out of my face with a zamak tech (and decent blade/soap), but if I try that with a brass tech I'll take a layer of skin off...
 
TobyC said:
Yep, one is a nice post-war "oval hole" brass Tech, the other is a zamak crapper. I prefer the pre-war "triangle slot" brass Tech.

Techs came with brass, aluminum, zamak, Bakelite, plastic, and who knows what parts over the years, if you grab any two from the bay or elsewhere, the chances of them being the same are slim. But they all shave amazingly well. Enjoy my friend. (y)
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Have you ever seen a triangle slot on an English made razor? So far, I’ve only seen it on USA made ones.
 
Taipan said:
Have you ever seen a triangle slot on an English made razor? So far, I’ve only seen it on USA made ones.
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Canada, too.

The British Techs were born from the British 'New' which were based on what we call the twin slot flat bottom.

The diamond base with a hole at each end (like the ones made in the US) accomodated the long bar, which was de rigeur for the US 'New' which had a long ridge down the middle of the base (yes, some like that in the UK, too from the early 'New' period). Long bar caps in the British market were further accomodated in the 'New' and the 'Tech' line with a "raised flat bottom" (RFB) ... and the much rare "long slot" baseplate which was seen in both the 'New' and 'Tech' line. These were probably the earliest of the British Techs after which the twin slot flat bottom was settled upon for both the incoming Tech and the (remaining) outgoing New line. That, or a use-up of old stock.

Triangular holes were a US/Canada thing.
 
Taipan said:
Have you ever seen a triangle slot on an English made razor? So far, I’ve only seen it on USA made ones.
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pjgh said:
Canada, too.

The British Techs were born from the British 'New' which were based on what we call the twin slot flat bottom.

The diamond base with a hole at each end (like the ones made in the US) accomodated the long bar, which was de rigeur for the US 'New' which had a long ridge down the middle of the base (yes, some like that in the UK, too from the early 'New' period). Long bar caps in the British market were further accomodated in the 'New' and the 'Tech' line with a "raised flat bottom" (RFB) ... and the much rare "long slot" baseplate which was seen in both the 'New' and 'Tech' line. These were probably the earliest of the British Techs after which the twin slot flat bottom was settled upon for both the incoming Tech and the (remaining) outgoing New line. That, or a use-up of old stock.

Triangular holes were a US/Canada thing.
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Yep, what he said. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

100_2033.JPG
 
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pjgh said:
Blah blah blah ...
Click to expand...

Let's map that out with pictures:

AM-JKLX0p83LA6cqk802ZKPXF_MMIgu3MqPhEqMeapAS0V_x-X8xNj94NPvb9W62ar9dQ3tcC9yknt-qsFIEb0I1H76jQpMgcgzQw8JeEoyWQs9cvT8pdDMcDd0yqmpYt7_ZhIG5gZszuB_VkLRnmc9Uf2jokg=w1200


It's the 1930s and Gillette release the 'New' which (the type 134?) which had a long bar that secured the blade and fitted into a slotted baseplate to accommodate. The US (1) got a slightly shorter comb than the British (2) and notice the teeth on the British New (2) were slightly thinner? Other variants of that long slot can be found in Britain with the so-called "Long Slot New" (3) but notice the long bar has slight indents so that the handle nips all the way up to the new fully flat bottomed base. Conversely (and without function or purpose), that middle section was nipped out for the so-called "Raised Flat Bottom New" (4) which would happily accommodate a full long bar like (1) and (2). But, notice the width of these bars new "twin slot" caps.

... which curiously DO NOT fit the "Twin Slot New" (5) or "Twin Slot Tech" (6) on these new (fully) "flat bottomed" baseplates. The width of the bars on these newer "twin slot" caps are slightly shorter than the slots on the baseplate. Go figure!

... and so, the British Tech was born and we're into the 1940s now.

I've put in a so-called "Hybrid Tech" (9) at the end of this run to show use of the shorter tabs in a "twin slot" cap (again, entirely without function) for this model. This is definitely into the 1940s.

So, at the end of this little run of 'New' and Tech models, let's just spin back to the 1930s and look at the birth of the US Tech (8) which has the triangular shaped holes and a diamond stamped base with holes at each end to accommodate the long bar of the top cap of the era. Notice, too, that the long bar cap returned in the 1950s, once the Tech was well established in Britain to gain the same design, albeit with lozenge shaped holes now.

... and so the British R/FB Tech was put to rest by the end of the 1940s, something you might look at in light of what design came beforehand (long bar and diamond base) and which design was adopted afterwards (the same) as some kind of weird experimental phase that somehow got out of the lab!

So, what happened in the middle? Like, WW2?

America met this with "Contract Techs", often entirely black and showing the triangular holes. In Britain, we went to plastic (well, bakelite) as it was a "war effort" thing to conserve certain metals for munitions, something we also saw in 1951/1952 with aluminium TTOs and plastic tips while the US was in Korea.

That's another picture we could do ...

Contract Techs, Bakelite Techs, Khaki Sets, etc.
 
pjgh said:
Let's map that out with pictures:

AM-JKLX0p83LA6cqk802ZKPXF_MMIgu3MqPhEqMeapAS0V_x-X8xNj94NPvb9W62ar9dQ3tcC9yknt-qsFIEb0I1H76jQpMgcgzQw8JeEoyWQs9cvT8pdDMcDd0yqmpYt7_ZhIG5gZszuB_VkLRnmc9Uf2jokg=w1200


It's the 1930s and Gillette release the 'New' which (the type 134?) which had a long bar that secured the blade and fitted into a slotted baseplate to accommodate. The US (1) got a slightly shorter comb than the British (2) and notice the teeth on the British New (2) were slightly thinner? Other variants of that long slot can be found in Britain with the so-called "Long Slot New" (3) but notice the long bar has slight indents so that the handle nips all the way up to the new fully flat bottomed base. Conversely (and without function or purpose), that middle section was nipped out for the so-called "Raised Flat Bottom New" (4) which would happily accommodate a full long bar like (1) and (2). But, notice the width of these bars new "twin slot" caps.

... which curiously DO NOT fit the "Twin Slot New" (5) or "Twin Slot Tech" (6) on these new (fully) "flat bottomed" baseplates. The width of the bars on these newer "twin slot" caps are slightly shorter than the slots on the baseplate. Go figure!

... and so, the British Tech was born and we're into the 1940s now.

I've put in a so-called "Hybrid Tech" (9) at the end of this run to show use of the shorter tabs in a "twin slot" cap (again, entirely without function) for this model. This is definitely into the 1940s.

So, at the end of this little run of 'New' and Tech models, let's just spin back to the 1930s and look at the birth of the US Tech (8) which has the triangular shaped holes and a diamond stamped base with holes at each end to accommodate the long bar of the top cap of the era. Notice, too, that the long bar cap returned in the 1950s, once the Tech was well established in Britain to gain the same design, albeit with lozenge shaped holes now.

... and so the British R/FB Tech was put to rest by the end of the 1940s, something you might look at in light of what design came beforehand (long bar and diamond base) and which design was adopted afterwards (the same) as some kind of weird experimental phase that somehow got out of the lab!

So, what happened in the middle? Like, WW2?

America met this with "Contract Techs", often entirely black and showing the triangular holes. In Britain, we went to plastic (well, bakelite) as it was a "war effort" thing to conserve certain metals for munitions, something we also saw in 1951/1952 with aluminium TTOs and plastic tips while the US was in Korea.

That's another picture we could do ...

Contract Techs, Bakelite Techs, Khaki Sets, etc.
Click to expand...
I have to add,... the Short Comb and Long Comb New are completely dissimilar razors, different stampings top and bottom. The Short Comb blade bed supports the blade fully, all the way to the outer edges of the cap, the Long Comb used a fulcrum, or cantilever effect.
 
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