Single edge (SE) razor and blade jargon

nosedog

nosedog

Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2011
Location
Petersham, Sydney
Quoth gthomas04 in the November 2001 Acquisitions thread:

what is an MM and MMOC and a 1912? I did suggets we needed jargin WIKI at some stage....
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Perhaps this thread can cover some basic SE terminology. I remember not having a clue at one stage. Perhaps this has been covered in another thread, but I didn't find it (but see links at bottom of this post). Besides, what's a forum without copious amounts of repeated information?

Single Edge razors are "the original safety razor" (see The Original Safety for a forum devoted to them). I don't know the chronology, but it seems they precede Double Edge razors.

The American Safety Razor Company (ASR) produced the quintessential SE razor: the GEM 1912. So "GEM" is a brand name, "1912" is the model name. The exact same razor was also produced with the "Ever-Ready" brand (yes, the same brand name that currently live on batteries). I think there was another brand name as well. And I'm pretty sure that the Ever-Ready company bought ASR at some stage, just like Proctor & Gamble (P&G) bought Gillette at some stage.

I presume 1912 represents the year that this razor began production, but they were manufactured for at least a couple of decades. There were several variants, typically with different handles.

The concept is much simpler than DE razors. SE razors take a single-edged blade, which is rigid and typically used for scraping paint, making model aeroplanes and cutting up frogs. DE blades are bendy and the razor must bend the blade to a chosen angle. Different DE models bend to different angles, and some are of course adjustable. The GEM 1912 has a dead-simple flip-top mechanism: flip it up, put the blade in, flip it down. Because the blade is stiff and heavy it feels different on the face compared to a DE blade; more like a cutthroat (I'm told).

Anyway, over the decades until about the 60s or 70s, ASR (American Safety Razor co, remember?), continued to release various models of SE razors, but I guess their success declined and they got out of the market. Gillette "won", and DE became the only thing most people knew, then cartridges, etc. and here we are. It beggars belief that we have a modern DE manufacturer in Merkur (to say nothing of the others) that are content to produce dozens of DE razor models but are too damned lazy to produce a SE model. SE may have lost out, but traditional shaving is now in a revival period, and the SE approach to shaving is perfectly sound. It's not like a flawed model that has no place in the modern world. But I digress...

Anyway, the GEM 1912 is the poster-child of SE shaving. The blades are available from Connaught Shaving and a couple of other places. There are a few brands of them. The ones I use are marked "GEM", so I guess there's a link to the past there. They must be produced by ASR, which is also the manufacturer of at least some Personna DE blades. There are also "Ted Pella" blades which are PFTE (teflon) coated. I don't even know if those are actually different from what I have.

Apart from the GEM 1912, there is:

* GEM Lather Catcher (LC), which I believe is an earlier model
* GEM Micromatic Open Comb (MMOC), a real aggressive bastard, twist to open
* GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf (MMCP), gentler than MMOC, probably rare
* GEM G-Bar, starting to get ugly

There were others as well, but this was the golden era of metal razors with nice patterns and so forth. The later models were plasticky and don't arouse much discussion on forums.

A word of warning: I am NOT an expert in this domain and did NO research for this article. I've soaked up a bunch of info in B&B threads, the B&B wiki, the original safety razor forum mentioned earlier, and goodness knows where else, let it stew, and regurgitated it here. I could not honestly vouch for most of the facts presented above. If you knew nothing about SE razors and read the above, you now know something. But don't go boasting your knowledge in educated company or you may be made to look like a goose!

Please issue corrections and additional information in replies.

Links to existing P&C threads:
* http://www.paste-and-cut.com.au/f4/single-edge-razors-305/
* http://www.paste-and-cut.com.au/f4/gem-1912-a-144/
 
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Star was the other brand for ASR, with GEM and Ever-ready.
They all shared the lather catcher models and the 1912 design, but went their own ways after that.
Ever-Ready made the 1914 and 1924. While GEM kept the 1912 a little longer and then made the micromatic on it's own. Edit: Forgot, because I've never had one, Ever-ready had the 'streamline' and GEM had the 'Jewell' between the 1912 and later razors too.
Star just went into DE razor and blade production after their rare 1912

The 1912 model was made until the 1950s, it was basically the SE version of the DE gillette tech, the cheap and less aggressive razor. So they kept making them until GEM started selling the cheaper and less aggressive featherweight, push button and contour etc.
 
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Lots of blades available here...

At Barbiera Italiana, heaps of DE blades are listed (including Gillette Swedes...?!?) and a few SE blades are at the bottom of the page.

I found it through this blog post: The GEM G-bar

Just like to add that the blades I bought from Connaught Shaving are indeed the same as the Ted Pella PFTE-coated ones here. I dragged my box out and it's the same as the picture on the Ted Pella website. Interesting that these are recommended by SE shavers for shaving but it says on the packet "For industrial use only".
 
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Let me see:

GEM Damaskeene-so named because of the affiliation with Damakeene blades engraved on the inside of the top. Generally has a curved top.
GEM Junior-a GEM 1912 basically a few models with shorter and different handles.
GEM Baton - with a fat bakelite handle. Two differeing models.
Micromatic series - the TTO of the SE world consisting of the Open Comb, Flying Wing (Bullet Tip) and the Clog Pruf.
Featherweight-mild, lightweight SE with a square bakelite handle.
Heavy Flat Top-generally known as the G-bar due to a G for GEM engraved on the handle. Similar to the Featherweight but with a metal handle.
Push button-same head as the above two but with a push button opening and closing mechanism. Plastic handle.
Contour 1 and 2-similar to above. Also with a push button mechanism (I think) and plastic handles.
GEM Jewel and Ever Ready Streamline - Now you're talking. Can also double as WMDs. Beautifully built and finished razors. Seriously aggressive too.
Many of the above aside from the MM series were also identically made by Ever Ready and Star.
There's also the Ever Ready 1924 which has a reverse flip top closing mechanism (i.e. hinges at the front). Very agressive and as nasty as the MMOC (in my humble op of course).

All I can think of at the moment.
 
Pjotr said:
GEM Jewel and Ever Ready Streamline - Now you're talking. Can also double as WMDs. Beautifully built and finished razors. Seriously aggressive too.
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I just found a forum thread about these for anyone interested in more information.

And another thread with a bit of general SE chatter. Hope I'm not being a pest by including links to other forums. I just want to give an interested P&C member a taste of the SE landscape, which I am gradually learning, and enjoying, myself.
 
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nosedog said:
I just found a forum thread about these for anyone interested in more information.
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I've was lucky enough to nab one on e-bay a while back. Virtually untouched with the classic art deco case and blade boxes.

Talking of SE blades. I've tried one or two carbon steel ones and they're a pain in the butt and I'm not that much of an SE tragic to accomodate wiping, drying and storing in an airtight container with hydroscopic crystals which is basically what you have to do to after every use to keep them from instantly becoming instruments of torture. I didn't notice any difference beween tham and the PTFE coated ones so why bother anyhow. By the way anything other than PTFE coated blades are carbon steel. All useable baldes advertised as stainless are PTFE coated ones just repackaged and sold under a variety of distributor names. All SE blades, stainless or carbon steel, to my knowledge are made by GEM and redistributed either by GEM, Star or Ted Pella etc etc. On that basis alone there is no way razormonsta is ever going to become an SE shaver. He'd be forced to have a 10,000 blade stash of just one blade. Complete torture for the poor man!

And a word of warning, here in Australia some chemists stock Red Pack GEM blades in their shaving sections. They're good scrapers and will completely cut your face to ribbons. I'm not sure if they're aware of it or are stocking them for people wanting scraper blades but don't bother to find out for yourself. I've done it for you and although I threw it after a 10mm stroke I couldn't shave that spot and hence the rest of my face for a week.
 
Pjotr said:
All SE blades, stainless or carbon steel, to my knowledge are made by GEM and redistributed either by GEM, Star or Ted Pella etc etc.
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Christ! Better hope they don't go out of business.

I'm receiving a straight razor from whippeddog (no relation) soon. It'll be fun to learn to use it, and it's also some insurance against a possible future where it's hard to obtain SE or even decent DE blades. I don't want to sound paranoid -- my 800+ DE blade stash would last donkeys years anyway -- but learning a skill that means you can more or less take care of yourself isn't a bad thing.

And a word of warning, here in Australia some chemists stock Red Pack GEM blades in their shaving sections. They're good scrapers and will completely cut your face to ribbons. I'm not sure if they're aware of it or are stocking them for people wanting scraper blades but don't bother to find out for yourself. I've done it for you and although I threw it after a 10mm stroke I couldn't shave that spot and hence the rest of my face for a week.
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That's horrible, but at least I got a good laugh out of it ;)

To be honest, I'm ducking fisgusted at the paltry shaving offerings in chemists, so I'd give your chemist a pat on the back for trying.
 
nosedog said:
To be honest, I'm ducking fisgusted at the paltry shaving offerings in chemists, so I'd give your chemist a pat on the back for trying.
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There's one chemist near my Mum that sells Astras and some cheap DEs, along with some Col Conk stuff. Very surprised to say the least. Bought a few packs of Astras and the old dear at the counter said 'do people still use these?'

I don't know what else she thought I was going to do with them.
 
How pricey were the astras? Where was the chemist?

edit:
VVVVV

Trappers drive or whitfords ave?
 
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Drubbing said:
There's one chemist near my Mum that sells Astras and some cheap DEs, along with some Col Conk stuff. Very surprised to say the least. Bought a few packs of Astras and the old dear at the counter said 'do people still use these?'

I don't know what else she thought I was going to do with them.
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Listen to Placebo and cut your arm because PJ won't look at you in school?
 
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