Razor: GEM 1912
Blade: GEM Single Edge Stainless
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Orange, Cedarwood & Black Pepper
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block, Gentlemen of Sweden Original Beard Oil, Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Monthly Archives: August 2019
WTB: G-type injector
I’ve realised that my only injector probably feels lonely, and is in the market for a reasonable priced G-type injector. Preferable without cracks in the handle, case optional, must be in good working order although scratches and plating loss is okay. In other words; I’m looking for a user grade razor.
Contact me over at the Shave Nook, or email me directly.
2019-08-18 @ 1700UTC
BullGoose, Sunday the 18th… one hundred Vie Long limited edition Two Band European White Badger. Check it out, they will guarantied sell like hot cakes.
There is a thread at my favourite shave forum and Phil have a page up on his shop, ready to go.
Shave of the day 14th August
The back end of safety razors: Grinding machine and machine for printing and for other purposes
Often when people talk of people inventing safety razors, they dive into the shape of the top cap, how the base plate was curved, the way the handle was attached and all those bits and pieces the end-user – ie.: the shaver – saw and used.
A lot of what made and broke early safety razors was the “back end” though… the infrastructure to supply consumables. For a razor using a wedge blade this would be a non-issue but if your razor and business idea depended on replacing the blades on a regular basis, you needed to make sure that you could keep up a steady supply of identical blades that are easily recognised as being yours.
Enter left; two early Gillette patents describing just that: A grinding machine that allowed for fast, easy and repeatable sharpening of the blades in an industrial setting, and a machine especially suitable for printing on both sides of a razor blade of the Gillette type.
The sheer size of the patents is perhaps indicative to just how important building the proper infrastructure is… while the original Gillette safety razor had one (1) page of illustrations, while these two patents have nineteen total. And these two devices don’t cover the whole process of making and packaging blades, only two steps among many from the moment rolls of raw steel bands entered the factory until tucks of finished blades were packed in boxes and shipped from the factory.
The OCR is horrendous on both patents, but the images are both clear, detailed and interesting for anyone with a mechanical bent
The grinding machine, US 1 126 839:
The machine for printing and for other purposes, US 1 075 989:
Shave of the day 13 August
Please note: I got home after midnight, hadn’t shaved since Friday and decided to shave in the shower… no brush, just rubbed the cream around with my fingers. Used a handheld mirror, and a disposable so I wouldn’t drop a vintage razor on the tile floor. It worked, but I think I’ll reserve this way to shave for dire emergencies only… there was no Zen.
Razor: BiC Sensitive SE
Pre-Shave: The Lavish Gentleman Charcoal Mask
Lather: Nivea Mild
Aftershave: BullDog Sensitive Aftershave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block, BullDog Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Shave of the day 10th August
Razor: GEM 1912
Blade: GEM Single Edge Stainless
Brush: Wilkinson Sword Badger
Pre-Shave: The Lavish Gentleman Natural Strength Oil Cleanser
Lather: Arko Shavestick
Aftershave: Body Shop Macau Root Energetic Face Protection
Additional Care: Alum Block, Gentlemen of Sweden Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Old GEM advertisement
Shave of the day 7th August
Razor: GEM Micromatic Clug Pruf
Blade: GEM Single Edge Stainless
Brush: Vie-Long #13051M
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Orange, Cedarwood & Black Pepper
Aftershave: BullDog Sensitive Aftershave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block, BullDog Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
A quick look at the Segal Twist To Open
The Segal was possible the first ever one piece razor, where the shaver twisted the handle to open the top cap. It worked very differently than the silo doors we’re used to today, and required a speciality blade.
Recently I found a video on YouTube that gives a very good impression of how it works:
As for the internals; here is the drawing from the patent: