Picked up something from the flea market. Need ID please.

H

hilux

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
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Looks like a superspeed or maybe even a rocket of some sort. But unsure of age.

Some details:
Diamond base plate
"11" stamped on the underside
Made in England
Blade notch
Doors look like they close pretty good

What i have done to it so far?
- Scrubbed it with a hard toothbrush and got rid of alot of scum
- Sprayed some WD-40 on and inside the knob and its now turning smooth as silk
- Tried to remove the rust, but there is some on the door hinges
- Tried to remove something like green mould?

Any tips on removing the rust is those tight areas and the green mouldy like crap on the underside?
 
hilux said:
Looks like a superspeed or maybe even a rocket of some sort. But unsure of age.

Some details:
Diamond base plate
"11" stamped on the underside
Made in England
Blade notch
Doors look like they close pretty good
Click to expand...

OK, so you have a flare tip Rocket. The gap between teh knob and the knurling on the handle distinguishes the English made Rockets from the English SuperSpeeds. See a great ID thread here.

What i have done to it so far?
- Scrubbed it with a hard toothbrush and got rid of alot of scum
- Sprayed some WD-40 on and inside the knob and its now turning smooth as silk
- Tried to remove the rust, but there is some on the door hinges
- Tried to remove something like green mould?

Any tips on removing the rust is those tight areas and the green mouldy like crap on the underside?
Click to expand...

The 'green mould' would be oxidation of the underlying brass. You can get it off but the brass with show through. The rust will be from blades.

Spaying with a gentle multi-purpose cleaner WITHOUT bleach or chlorine and soaking overnight in hot water will help to clean or loosen any residue gunk. If you do this then scrub with toothbrush and toothpaste as a mild polish that should get rid of most of the rust/oxidation. For hard to get at places physical removal with a toothpick can help. If all else fails soak overnight in penetrating oil - a bit more potent than WD-40
 
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Nice find mate! Can I ask how much you picked it up for?
 
Mark1966 said:
OK, so you have a flare tip Rocket. The gap between teh knob and the knurling on the handle distinguishes the English made Rockets from the English SuperSpeeds. See a great ID thread here.

The 'green mould' would be oxidation of the underlying brass. You can get it off but the brass with show through. The rust will be from blades.

Spaying with a gentle multi-purpose cleaner WITHOUT bleach or chlorine and soaking overnight in hot water will help to clean or loosen any residue gunk. If you do this then scrub with toothbrush and toothpaste as a mild polish that should get rid of most of the rust/oxidation. For hard to get at places physical removal with a toothpick can help. If all else fails soak overnight in penetrating oil - a bit more potent than WD-40
Click to expand...

Now why didnt i see that mega thread earlier. Will try to soak things thru and see what else i can get off it. I was almost tempted to spray some wd-40 and use some fine steel wool to remove it. But ill try the above first.

Mong. said:
Nice find mate! Can I ask how much you picked it up for?
Click to expand...

Seller wanted $20. eventually we met at $12. I think its a decent price.
 
hilux said:
Now why didnt i see that mega thread earlier. Will try to soak things thru and see what else i can get off it. I was almost tempted to spray some wd-40 and use some fine steel wool to remove it. But ill try the above first.
Click to expand...

Don't use steel wool! It will take off the platting or at least wear it down. The steps I've suggested should be enough to get it at clean as it can be.

Seller wanted $20. eventually we met at $12. I think its a decent price.
Click to expand...

Did well. $20 would not have been that much too much, $12 is better!
 
Mark1966 said:
Don't use steel wool! It will take off the platting or at least wear it down. The steps I've suggested should be enough to get it at clean as it can be.

Did well. $20 would not have been that much too much, $12 is better!
Click to expand...

Noted. To be honest, it isnt in too bad shape now. Just took it for a boil to sterilise it. I doubt anymore scrubbing/soaking/cleaning is going to get anywhere because I've already run a brush on it, toothpick in areas the brush missed, and even made the TTO smooth as silk.

Time for me to take it for a shave and report back my findings.

Even if this is delegated to the travel bag as a cheap carry on, i think its a pretty good price. Cant even get a decent DE for those prices. Not to mention I have a english made gillette. But if i've overpaid, feel free to let me know. Always good to know what others will pay for it. As unfortunately there is no redbook guide on razors ::p
 
$12 sounds like a pretty sweet price mate. I started having a go at cleaning a couple of old razors today too, a GEM SE and a Gillette that Mark kindly sent me with a PIF. I've soaked them all in hot water with detergent, then baking soda, then given them a good scrub with toothpaste/toothbrush/toothpick and they're looking okay. Bit of WD40 on the GEM to ease up the doors too. I'm surprised at how well they've gone. I figure all I need to do now is find a metal polish and chuck 'em in the cheap ultrasonic cleaner I picked up for a tenner.

Any thoughts on a specific metal polish? I have a microfiber cloth I can dedicate to razors, I figure I might as well get 'em as best as possible.

I'm a bit jealous, I wish I could find something like this at a flea market, I had a good time cleaning up these old ones.
 
Bringing old stuff to life is always rewarding. To think that someone else thought it was junk is amazing, only to have us revive it and still use them. roughly 50yrs after they were made. dont see our kids sitting around going, lets use dad's mach 3 :laugh:
 
hilux said:
Bringing old stuff to life is always rewarding. To think that someone else thought it was junk is amazing, only to have us revive it and still use them. roughly 50yrs after they were made. dont see our kids sitting around going, lets use dad's mach 3 :laugh:
Click to expand...

Yep - it is a great feeling!
 
went for shave this morning. was too lazy to shave on the weekend, so ended up with a couples day of growth.

loaded up the rocket with a feather this morning. shaved well. BBS all around. cant complain. great daily shaver to go on the cheap. i think this is going to be my new daily
 
hilux said:
went for shave this morning. was too lazy to shave on the weekend, so ended up with a couples day of growth.

loaded up the rocket with a feather this morning. shaved well. BBS all around. cant complain. great daily shaver to go on the cheap. i think this is going to be my new daily
Click to expand...

If its anything like my Rocket HD I'm not surprised- they are fantastic razors. I've not used a feather in mine yet, but I plan to give it a go soon.
 
mr626 said:
If its anything like my Rocket HD I'm not surprised- they are fantastic razors. I've not used a feather in mine yet, but I plan to give it a go soon.
Click to expand...

feathers are my benchmark blades. another blade that i seem to get good results from are the gillette blue. (i can almost never find the gillette). ill run the gillette in the next time and do another comparison.
 
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