Razor: Schick Type B2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
Pre-Shave: O Way Softening Shaving Cream
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Peppermint & Rosemary
Aftershave: Myrsol Aqua Balsamica
Additional Care: Alum Block
It is time for one of the Holy Grail razor again. Makes a Monday shave even better!
Razor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Artesania Romera Manchurian Badger, imitation horn
Pre-Shave: O Way Softening Shaving Cream
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Pine & Cedarwood
Aftershave: Proraso Wood and Spice
Additional Care: Alum Block
A fine Friday shave, and the last shave with the 1941 E2 for now. Next week is the start of the pre-injector Schicks 🙂
Razor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B
Pre-Shave: O Way Softening Shaving Cream
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Lemongrass & Eucalyptus
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
Another Mike-y shave in the middle of the week. One of the thing’s I like about Mike’s is how long the tubs lasts. This one I’ve had for… a decade? A little over a decade? Still retains the scent and still makes lovely lather.
Razor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Vie-Long #14033
Pre-Shave: O Way Softening Shaving Cream
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Hungarian Lavender
Aftershave: Myrsol Aqua Balsamica
Additional Care: Alum Block
A smooth start on a new week. Mike’s Natural is still the yardstick I measures other soaps against.
Razor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Vie-Long #13051M
Pre-Shave: O Way Softening Shaving Cream
Lather: Pereira Shavery Orange Blossom w/ activated charcoal
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
A fast Friday shave after oversleeping.
Razor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Wilkinson Sword Badger
Pre-Shave: O Way Softening Shaving Cream
Lather: Jabonman Mediterráno L.E. BullGoose
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
Another mighty midweek shave. Not much more to say, really.
Razor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Omega #10048
Pre-Shave: O Way Softening Shaving Cream
Lather: Proraso Menthol & Eucalyptus
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
Razor: Schick G4
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
Pre-Shave: O Way Softening Shaving Cream
Lather: Asylum Shave Works Flying Mango
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
A fast but fine Friday shave – my own fault for snoozing the alarm. Also marks the end of two weeks of using the vintage G4. Next week I’ll shave with the even older E2, before moving on to my pre-injector Schicks.
Razor: Schick G4
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Artesania Romera Manchurian Badger, imitation horn
Pre-Shave: Prep Original
Lather: Dr Selby Lavender
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
Not exactly midweek madness, more like a Wednesday wonder. A big, fluffy brush paired with the right soap means big, fluffy lather. And that means a big, fluffy shave.
Does a razor need five cogwheels, two axles, two pinion gears, a roller, quite a few pins, a guard, and a blade? I would say no. Frank X George Jr1 on the other hand… he would probably say yes. But then he was the one who filed a patent for an overly complicated razor in 1906.
And why did he do it? To make the blade rattle from side to side…
Or as the patent text puts it:
This invention … has for its principal object the production of a safety-razor or shaving device in which the blade may have a motion simulating that of the razor-blade in an ordinary hand-razor – that is, a motion oblique to the general direction. of the razor.
From US patent 850,529
Another object of the invention is the automatic production of this oblique movement oi the blade as the razor is moved over the face.
There are simpler ways to make a blade shake and rattle. Some even resulted in reasonable successful razors. Others are just gimmicky. But Frank X didn’t make things simple. He seems to intentionally have set out to make a overly complicated razor.
There is a big roller. On the end of the roller is a cog wheel. That cogwheel drives an idle wheel. The idle wheel drives another cogwheel. That cogwheel drives an axle. Attached to said axle is not one, but two crown wheels. These in turn turns two pinion wheels. The pinion wheels are connected to a crank disk with two stud shafts. On the crank disk is a blade clamp. In the blade clamp is a wedge blade – although I can see a GEM-style blade being used as well.
So when the roller is rolled over the skin, the motion is transmitted through the whole gear train and makes the blade move back and forth. Which, as I have pointed out before, is kind of pointless if the blade is sharp. After all, a razor is not a saw.
But pointless or not, Frank X got his patent for his overly complicated razor. I am unsure if it ever got manufactured though. I kind of hope not, as several simpler and less complex razors were already for sale.
You can read the full patent at Google Patents, and also at razors.click.