Thread: Mystery DE in the hands of a noob

I agree, sure looks like an Old Type. I have a few New Types, Techs, a Fat Boy, a Speed; some oddballs like a Star; tried a bunch of them fancy new razors; for my money the Old Type is the perfect DE, so I think you lucked out. Of course for shaving pleasure there's nothing like a straight.

BTW Hibco does beautiful plating work at a good price and they are nice people.

Thanks for the new knowledge, mpontiff. I'll correct my terminology.

Thanks, jmabuse. I'll try fixing it up myself, but will definitely keep Hibco in my thought.

And, I agree completely - I use my straights daily, but I'll try to get this guy up and running for travel purposes. Years ago, I could mail my straights ahead of me when I flew, but shipping fees have eliminated that option. Now, onto DEs.

Here are a couple of my old Gillette DE's I keep on display. Looks like the old needs a bit of cleaning, Ha.
The OLD (aprox. 1920) has the bullets that hang down thru the base plate. The NEW (aprox. 1930) doesn't have the bullets and has longer comb teeth. Both are great shavers. If I had to say one was better than the other I'd say the old was better. Dont know why I'd say that as they both shave about the same.
Both of these are the standard "Ball End" and both used to be plated. All the plating has worn away and now are polished brass. I like the look of the brass.

Clean up yours with a tooth brush and soap, Slap some polish on it and spend an hour or two polishing. Then drop in your fav. DE blade and enjoy the shave, thinking about when it was made and who used it over the years!

BTW in terms of aggressiveness I find the Old to be the Goldilocks razor. The Tech is too mild and I can't always tell if the edge is in contact with my skin; the New is too aggressive and I nick myself; the Old -- "this one is just right!"

So, here it is, more cleaned up. Like Gasman's, it has the hanging bullets, making me think it's an Old Type from Wayback. This isn't what could have been done by a professional, I'm sure, but it's what I could pull off. Blades will be coming tomorrow!

Looks like your half way there. Ha. Keep polishing and this thing will sparkle. But i bet your just in the same boat as me and using the cell phone for pics. It never does justice. If youve used DEs before you will be in great shape. If not then just go slow and easy. Read about the angles. What helped me was to picture in my mind the razor in contact with my face. Keep all three pieces touching the skin at the same time. Blade, base and top cap. And NO PRESSURE!. Hold it by the ball end at first. Weight of the razor. Good luck.

Baking soda and vinegar will greatly help you clean that beautiful DE. Just beautiful! Good luck.

Great! What proportions?

This is a picture from yesterday morning, but I used the DE for everything in this morning's shave. Worked great! I suspect that, next to a straight razor, I have no idea what "aggressive" means - but the razor and blade worked beautifully. Thanks for all your help!