Vintage DE shave off

Drubbing

Drubbing

110% Smiley-Free
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Location
Perth, WA
Yes, I know. I only use the Merkur HD and have rejected all-comers for a long time. Mark was disturbed about this. Seriously disturbed. He felt my mind needed expanding. I was open to that, but when his package arrived, there was no Jimi Hendrix CDs, Superman blotters, mushrooms or Lava lamps. Only this:

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I'm going to give them all a crack, and have started this week. If it goes well, I'll add in my Flare tip SS and Slim for a revisit. I'm keeping it simple, two blades, Reds and Astra, as this is pretty much all I have. Things didn't start well, Mark didn't check that the razors he sent me weren't auto-dismantling. After getting past that I started with the 'Crat.

I'm keeping it simple. Two blades, and not listing my lathers. No point, I get a good lather from anything I use, as they've been well road-tested. The razors will be the biggest variable.

Week 1:

'Crat and Red, 2 days. Not good. Not terrible, but my face looked a bit blotchy and felt beat up all day. Red felt more tuggy than I'm used to. Shave pretty avg and was rough by lunchtime. The most comfy forgiving blade I use, was a really poor blade in this razor and I almost gave up with the lot right there. This typified my experience with Vintage razors.

I switched to the Rocket and went Astra. Much better. Really decent shave and no issues. The Rocket tames the Astra a little, but has a tendency to slide over, rather than through lather, because the balance is different.

'Crat Jnr and Astra. Better again. Close comfy shave. Will try the Big 'Crat with the Astra next time.

Flare Tip SS (mine, so not pictured) and Astra. Better than my last outing a long time ago. Astra is quite tame and very smooth in this. Not super efficient, lack of weight means it slides over lather easier, so adding some grunt is needed. Pretty god, comfy result all round. Neck was avg though, not as close as elsewhere.
 
Drubbing said:
Yes, I know. I only use the Merkur HD and have rejected all-comers for a long time. Mark was disturbed about this. Seriously disturbed. He felt my mind needed expanding. I was open to that, but when his package arrived, there was no Jimi Hendrix CDs, Superman blotters, mushrooms or Lava lamps. Only this:

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Oh HELL YES! Great thread!!!!!

Drubbing said:
I'm going to give them all a crack, and have started this week. If it goes well, I'll add in my Flare tip SS and Slim for a revisit. I'm keeping it simple, two blades, Reds and Astra, as this is pretty much all I have. Things didn't start well, Mark didn't check that the razors he sent me weren't auto-dismantling. After getting past that I started with the 'Crat.
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Well done for taking the plunge, much props to Mark for supplying the instruments of torture I mean the finely crafted tools!
 
They may have been instruments of torture for Drubbs trying to fix them!

Glad he got them sorted out and I hope they go well :D :D :D
 
Now you're going to have to try a different soap combination with each of the razors and each of the blades and of course a different aftershave.... So if it's 5 different ones of each would that be 625 or 3,125 different combinations?
We're looking at atleast 2 yrs min of trails!!! Or is it 10yrs?:)-)
 
Great idea for a thread, and you couldn't have a better sponsor than Mark!

Forgive my probable ignorance (since I'm probably wrong) but what you have labeled as a Aristocrat Junior looks to actually be a 1940's style Super Speed?

For comparison, here is a photo of (one of) my 40s Super Speeds (on the left) and my Aristocrat Junior on the right:



Anyhow, thanks for the cool thread. I may just have to do my own sometime!

 
mr626 said:
Great idea for a thread, and you couldn't have a better sponsor than Mark!

Forgive my probable ignorance (since I'm probably wrong) but what you have labeled as a Aristocrat Junior looks to actually be a 1940's style Super Speed?

For comparison, here is a photo of (one of) my 40s Super Speeds (on the left) and my Aristocrat Junior on the right:

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The difference is the flat base plate. There are two forms of what is commonly called the Aristocrat Junior. One like yours which is also called the #49 and one like the one Drubs has also called the #48. Check out the thread at TSD here for more info.
 
Excellent- thanks for clearing that up Mark. Always something new to learn :)
 
Week 1

Last shave. A full day and half beard, so should have been a pretty easy shave.

'Crat and Astra. Better result than the Red, but still an overly aggressive/rough razor. Took it pretty easy and got a decent results, although some patches still a bit rough and got half a dozen weepers.

Aftershave was Home Alone Territory. Possible the optimal blade angle has very little tolerance for being off. Will give it one more run after the others and if it's still poor, it's all over for this one.
 
Week 2

'Crat update. It's Gorn. Residual irritation was annoying, despite taking it really easy last shave, so it's shelved permanently.

Last 2 days 'crat Jnr & Astra.

Quite a different animal the Jnr. Astra is sharp, yet smooth, and less aggressive than 34C and 'Crat, in this razor. Light handle, but good weight and balance in the head allows it to shave through lather, not over, like the SS does a lot. Result as good as the 34C. No issues.

Next day shave was more of a challenge, as there was still minimal stubble, which in my case, makes the beard tougher. Another good result. AS went on a bit hot, as I probably pushed things in a couple of areas, but still a comfy result.
 
lenard said:
My prediction is you will go back to the HD, sorry Mark:)
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No need to apologise - I reckon that the HD is one of the best. The 'crats just look nicer :)
 
Drubbing said:
I think he means 34C
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Yes I was talking about the 34c, I forgot there was a Rocket HD in the mix. I will readily admit I haven't tried a lot of the old Gillettes but I keep coming back to my 34c and 39c. Sorry for any confusion.
 
lenard said:
Yes I was talking about the 34c, I forgot there was a Rocket HD in the mix. I will readily admit I haven't tried a lot of the old Gillettes but I keep coming back to my 34c and 39c. Sorry for any confusion.
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Sorry, yes forgot about the HD nomenclature on that - I think you may be right but the Rocket HD is still a great shaver IMHO
 
Mark1966 said:
Sorry, yes forgot about the HD nomenclature on that - I think you may be right but the Rocket HD is still a great shaver IMHO
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Can happily agree with this- my Rocket HD gives me the best shave out of any in my collection.
 
Two days on the Rocket & Astra.

Still good, probably nothing in it between this and the Jr. Will need to try both with the Reds and see if they're compatible. Will start tomorrow.

I know, I haven't got onto the 46 yet, but my experience with Open combs has been poor. Tried a few vintage and new and didn't get on with any. Found the blade angles really have a narrow margin of error. Will give it a run after the weekend, when there's a decent beard to shave.
 
Crat Jnr & Red. The love has left the room again. Didn't like the feeling of the Red in the Jnr, so only went with 2 WTG. Usually do a W/A and a touch up.

Glad I didn't. Got the sort of shave I'd expect to get with WTG only, plenty good enough for work, but again, my face just didn't feel right; all day it felt 'shaved', when usually it just feels good. Not only that, my skin has broken out a bit, and while it may be coincidence, it's not a good look on a 45+ bloke.

These razors don't like Reds and me, and I'm not going to trial them all with other blades (not when I've spent 3 years finding out which work best for me) to find out. I'll give the Rocket a go with a Red, but I'm not feeling confident, both the Rocket and Jnr were good with Astra, so I expect they'll bot be bad with Reds.
 
Hold onto the rocket for a bit longer, I have dropped something extra in the package for you to try with it.
 
Weekend of Week 2.

Dropped the Astra in the 46. I really didn't like the feel of this on my face from the first few strokes, and for me, it's probably an open comb thing - I've sold 2 of them already. I bailed, because I could see what would happen if I did a full shave with one.

Switched to the Merkur 34c. Daddy's home...

Also gave my '65 Slim on 6 a run this morning. Again I bailed though, as the shave on my neck first pass, was pretty ordinary. This might be worth a revisit, if only because of the adjustability, I might try opening it open a bit more.

Still got to try the Rocket and Red, but sorry to say Mark, the Fat Lady is running through her scales.
 
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Well, I know what it feels like. Have tried loads of DEs and the only one I really like and trust is an ugly looking bastard bakelite jobbie. Very nice gesture Mark, but to be honest, I was hearing ol' lardarse clearing her throat a long time ago.
 
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