I don't have the photos of the razor after the basic cleaning; I'll post those later. Here's a Gem Micromatic that I picked up out of a lot of "non-Gillette" razors. (I'll post that lot separately) The photos mostly speak for themselves. The last photo is when I put it into an ultrasonic cleaner (basic 30 watt Chicago Electric from Harbor Freight) with a mix of SC-1000 and Dawn dish detergent - in water, of course. The picture doesn't show it true justice; the water is GREEN, and you can't see the bottom. Anyone who thinks that an ultrasonic cleaner isn't necessary - it is. It really is.
'A lot of scrubbing' wouldn't have touched this one. As it is, it took two or three days in the ultrasonic cleaner (it only runs for 3 minutes at a shot, so most of that was soaking) to get to the point where I could turn the handle completely. When I first put it in, I could only turn the handle about a quarter of a turn.
Here are the cleaned pictures. I have NOT used any power tools, such as a Dremel, yet, nor have I used anything like kerosene or lacquer thinner, which may be required to actually finish cleaning it. I've cropped these down, so even though this thread is picture heavy, it shouldn't be too bad. So, what do you think? Ultrasonic cleaner, and lots of elbow grease, plus repeated soakings and applications of oil. It can now be fully opened and closed without 'helping'.
that should be good enough and looks decent and usable. The one I'm shaving with it might not be as in shape as your but its for sure with worn out gold plating big time and shaves very smooth. The others that I keep for collection are tad bit in better shape
Heh.. I personally think it still looks like crap Kerosene is next. I want that black crap in all the grooves _gone_. I've also bought a couple of large scrub brushes to rob of their bristles. I think that we, the razor owners/cleaners, have been going the wrong direction by using nylon bristle brushes. Natural bristles, either hair or vegetable, splits into smaller and smaller fibers. Nylon does not do this, it simply gets fuzzy at the end, and bends. Considering the harping I've seen on 'breaking in' boar brushes, you'd think people would have caught on to this. So, the best kind of brush to get into all the small crevices, especially carrying a polishing or waxing compound, would be a natural bristle brush. Unfortunately, they don't _make_ them small enough. So, I'll be using a couple of tongue depressors glued together, boring a hole in the end, and inserting natural fibers into the hole until I have a double sided 'natural' toothbrush. Then I'll experiment with it, and post up an instructable.
I know these are a bit overexposed. I'll have to retake the photos later, with better, natural lighting. The above MicroMatic is not included in this row of four. I've never shaved with them, and I doubt I ever will. They're from batches.
Really? The one I have (part of another lot) is in good shape, and the button works well. The white plastic handled flat head is interesting. There doesn't seem to have been any improvement from the G-Bar next to it.
I find that the push button shaves as well as the G-Bar. It's a solidly built razor and while it has a plastic handle, the weight is pretty good.
Thanks for the warning, but too late! I saw all of it! I won't open this thread again. Only positive thing, i learnt that such ultrasonic cleaners can clean razors. Other than that, i wouldn't even touch that. It reminds me a razor i saw on ebay and it looked like it was 500 years old for how bad it looked. I will stick with new razors. My eyes are sore.