Favourite vintage DE

[majortom]

Sad, yes, it is sad! I really don't know how you can think of the Slim and Fatboy as Vintage Razors! Even more troubling you're selecting two razor with such poor design that they had to be made into Adjustables just so people could shave with them!
Lets go back to when a shave was a shave. A razor was a razor and a blade a blade, the Nineteen Teens and the '04's!
Some beards are coarse, some beards are fine. But Mr Gillette made them all equal with his '04.

You are a crazy old bastard, but I like you,

Now John......really.......that adjustable story is a little far fetched even for you. Heh, so those razors were so screwed up that only the adjustable setting keeps em from being utter crap. I have never heard that before and it made me smile.

To be serious for a fleeting minute, I think those 1904 models and any others with the Old Type heads were the start of the evolutionary process. Then through the years, that head was changed repeatedly, with what I imagine the reason being to improve the shave in certain ways. That sound right?

The goal seemed to make the shave more comfortable and less prone to nicks, with sacrificing a little closeness as a result. Then you had the safety bar heads down the road.

So to me it seems like the Old Type head is the least refined and least comfortable. Yeah, the shave is very close, but the experience is too harsh to enjoy. I have to tell you that you really don't like using those things. Too harsh? Sorry for the dose of reality buddy, but you are nuts.

Now when it comes to those antique Blue Blades..... I KNOW you must be kidding there too. Talk about a brutal shave. Man, using a 1904/Blue Blade combo gives me the creeps even thinking about. I woulda used a straight back then in self defense.

The Dr is IN all week.

C'mon don't sit on the fence Martin :dodgy:

 

[dodgy]

C'mon don't sit on the fence Martin :dodgy:

Well I gotta be a little bit hard nosed to get through to the lovable old codger. Plus, you can please imagine me typing in caps in that post, so as to look like I'm talking real loud for his benefit.

 

[Johnus]

Jamies and Dodgy wrote:

dodgy Wrote: Heh, that razor snobbery line made me smile. Now it seems only fair to show what those old beaters look like to any members not familiar with em.

I didn't want to clog up the thread with my pic's, but seen as you asked here they are, just as an educational exercise of course.

Just looked at those 'pic's' ... Most seem to be poor imitations of the '04!!! The only thing changed in 101 years is that they're bulkier because of the non investment grade castings used.

 

[Tall_Paul]

My opinion about the Gillette Old is they called the next one the 'New Improved' for a reason!

However, it'd be boring if we all liked the same things!

 

[IanM]

Tech for me, based purley on the number of shaves I've had with it compared to the others.

I've had a Slim Adjustable and a couple of Superspeeds and sold them on.

Ian

 

[Jamies]

Jamies and Dodgy wrote:

dodgy Wrote: Heh, that razor snobbery line made me smile. Now it seems only fair to show what those old beaters look like to any members not familiar with em.

I didn't want to clog up the thread with my pic's, but seen as you asked here they are, just as an educational exercise of course.

Just looked at those 'pic's' ... Most seem to be poor imitations of the '04!!! The only thing changed in 101 years is that they're bulkier because of the non investment grade castings used.

Is that the same investment grade castings that are all split/cracked at the neck on the '04's :icon_wink:

 

[Johnus]

No!! We're looking at the 1918 and before '04's!
[attachment=6422]

They have to be before the "M" dates.

The only good Gillettes after that date were made in England.*

*eventually even English Gillettes lost their 'cool':
Plenty of "cool" 70s colours out there on the G= SlimTwists - purple, orange, avocado, blue,... - and black & white for the stick-in-the-muds.

 

[Burgundy]

Gillette Old Type, for me. I'd use it more often but my other razors would complain - although I have been culling from the flock.

 

[Al H]

How does the merkur 1904 OC classic compare to an original gillette

 

[Rev-O]

We need separate polls:

Gillette TTO's (Superspeeds, Rockets, etc)

Superspeeds (Ft, 40's, coloured tips, TV etc)

Gillette two and three pieces (all you Techs and Old Types and whatever)

Open Combs and/or Slants

Adjustables (Fatboy, Slim, Merkur Futur)

English Razors (Rockets, Aristocrats, Stickies)

Non-Gillettes

And so on . . . .

For me, I'm liking my Ranger Tech a lot but the best Gillette ever has to be either the HD Rocket or the Flair Tip Rocket. For me, the latter has it by a whisker. Other great ones I've loved and lost include the Slim (better than the Fatboy), the Parat (i.e. the diamond-baseplate Aristocrat Jr) and the Blue Tip SS (standard US edition NOT the English version).

As a single Desert Island shaver? Flair Tip Rocket, best all-round razor ever.

 

[NotTheStig]

Feel free to set them up. I was gauging interest

 

[Johnus]

How does the merkur 1904 OC classic compare to an original gillette

I have one of the Merkur 1904. It does shave differently. The confusing part of it to me is the handle. I do have a vintage OC that has a nearly identical handle but I've never been able to determine if it was made by Gillette.
For the price if your only into new razors, the Merkur is worth having. But again it's physically different in size to the early '04's.

 

[Al H]

Cheers, I fancy a merkur open comb

 

[watchiekong]

Gillette Fatboy for me. Before I got my Mergress, that was my main daily razor. I still love it. In fact I may replate it in black chrome some time, simply to put new life into using it again...