Scored 2 Gillette DE Razors for Free!

Last night I was at my boss' house doing some pc tech support stuff. Her husband is a pack rat and has little collections of all sorts of crap, so I asked him if he happened to collect straight razors. He said no, but he did have a small collection of safety razors. He came back into the room with two DE razors that were a nasty, pale green, moldy color, and said I could have them. They were so nasty, I felt like I needed a tetanus shot just from holding them.

I soaked them in a bowl of Simple Green for about an hour, scrubbed them with a tooth brush, and polished them up with Never Dull for about 30 minutes each. What emerged from beneath the nasty, pale green, moldy layer were to pristine condition Gillette DE razors. The action on both razors works great. I do not know much about these yet, but the bottom of the handle twists and the two halves of the head swing open for the placement of the blade. One is marked K 2, and the other is marked L 2 on the under side of the head. The other marks in that location are identical, being: REG. U.S., PAT. OFF., MADE IN U.S.A., and Gillette in a diamond w/ arrow. The bottom, inside the head is marked PAT. NOS., and ON PKG.

I tried to take some pics, but they were all pretty bad, so I gave up on that. Maybe when I build a light box, I'll remember to take a few pics of these.


I'm pretty excited by my good fortune. I bought some blades last night, and plan to shave this morning. If anyone has a good resource for determining age on these, I appreciate it. I've searched a little bit, but haven't found anything yet. My uneducated guess is they're from the '50's-'60's.

I'm going to post my review of my first shave with the DE in the Shave forum.

Well just by the dates you posted I can tell you the razors are either a flare tip superspeed or a slim adjustable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AaronX

Well just by the dates you posted I can tell you the razors are either a flare tip superspeed or a slim adjustable.

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What part is the date? The L 2 and K 2? After further research, I do believe they are Super Speeds. They look just like this:

http://countryjoescollectiblestuff.c...uper-speed.jpg

If you look at this site
http://www.geocities.com/safetyrazors/gil_ser2.htm
I would guess that they are 1965 and 1966 since it shows different razors for 1940 & 41. The 2 signifies the 2nd quarter of the year

Bob

I was given two more DE's by the same person. One is a Superspeed F2, and the other is an adjustable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CactusBob

If you look at this site
http://www.geocities.com/safetyrazors/gil_ser2.htm
I would guess that they are 1965 and 1966 since it shows different razors for 1940 & 41. The 2 signifies the 2nd quarter of the year

Bob

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Ah, the Gillettes! (My specialty.) You're right about the dates.

Christopher

I love the DE, it shaves so smooth and well.

I used the same cleaning procedure as the first two, to clean the other Superspeed and the adjustable, and the adjustable was back to pristine condition; but, the other Superspeed didn't turn out so well. I'm still going to work on it some more. Not bad, though, 3 excellent DE's, plus a badger brush, all for free!

The Super Speeds are great shavers. Does your adjustable have a long handle or a short stubby handle (adjustable's are also great shavers)?

It is about .25" longer than the Superspeed that I posted a pic of; I guess you could say it has a short, stubby handle. The adjustable is an N2 model, which I guess is from 1968. The little sucker is pretty heavy.

Sounds like the slim adjustable. Great razors (I have 2)! Great score.

Use some MAAS or Flitz metal polish to them and they will shine right up. Do this as the final step after your simple green cleaning. Also, scrubing bubbles soap scum spray in the can works great to take crud and soap scum off in seconds.

I've been using NeverDull because I had a can of it. It works OK. I looked in Wal Mart for MAAS, but didn't find it. Where should I be able to find it?

I got mine in Wal-Mart in the cleaning section. It was with the Barkeeper's Friend and Brasso if I remember correctly. Others have found it at Walgreens, KMART, or other dept. stores.

I do like the SS and its cousin, the FTR (flared-tip rocket) from across the pond.

One thing to note about cleaning up these vintage razors is that they are plated, so
polishing with anything abrasive is not advised as it will reduce the thickness of the
plating and increase the likelihood of it coming off in the razors lifetime.

Regards,

- Scott

I found an "L2" in an attic, and it looks exactly like the one pictured (except not that shiny). I just ordered a pack of ten feather blades, and I think I'm going to give this DE thing a try in addition to my SR addiction.

Wow, lucky stuff! Those superspeeds are great, and an adjustable!!! If they're in good condition, he just gave you an easy $100!

I'm just getting the stuff to get into SR shaving, I've been DE shaving for about a year now.

I used a Merkur HD up until this week.

These are my scores for this week:
1964 Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip: $1.
1973 Gillette Black Handle Adjustable: $1
1956 Gillette Red Tip, with case: $4.

I used the adjustable for two shaves. Not bad, but I don't think I have it dialed in yet.

I used the red tip today...

What a smooth shave. I always shave top to bottom from sideburns to base of neck first, then from outside of the face in to center, than from base of neck up to sideburns.

It was like the last two passes were a waste of time.

What a great razor. And I bought all these at a fraction of their true value. They all cleaned up into excellent condition.

I boil them for several minutes, then put them in a tray and cover them for about a half hour in scrubbing bubbles. Then take a toothbrush to them. If there's any scratches or dull areas, I break out the Flitz and the dremel.

nice, i bought a red tip super from ebay this week, shavec great and a adjustable 1978 slim, tweeter brush, now i,m waiting fro my special 1 dubl to come in to see how it shaves.