The Haul: October 2017

I gave him fair warning

 

I agree with you 1 million percent. Pitbulls aren't any different from any other breed, we had a good boy, his name was Petey, the poor boy was afraid of our cats.
Bruno is a handsome boy!

 

That's OK, Andrew, Derbys get a bad rap, and I get good shaves with them. Technique rules...

 

Who's a good boy? Bruno's a good boy. Yes, he is.

 

Won a GEM 1932-33 OCMM on ebay and just received it today. Excellent condition. It looked basically unused and the case is a nice green bakelite. I will need to break it in tomorrow! I never use an OCMM. The only GEM I used previously is my 1912 Ever Ready. I really like the 1912 so I am hoping the OCMM will provide an equally enjoyable shave.
Steve

 

Was out of town, and stopped in a small antique store I hadn't visited before. They had a few brushes and razors, and I picked up a ball-end Old Type for a very nice price. I did notice a small crack in the handle, but the top and comb were in exceptional shape. After cleaning up, I realize that I probably have a frankenrazor, as the top appears to be gold-plated and the handle isn't:


This one is Made in USA with no serial number. I have pictured it beside my Made in Canada serial numbered OT that I've had for awhile.

The tops are identical save for the plating. What doesn't show very well is that handles are different. My Canadian is a little thicker and significantly heavier. The neck is not as long as well. The handle is still significantly thicker than the ball-end Tech handle I have. The Tech is heavier than this one too.
Is this even an Old Type handle on the USA one? Does anyone else have both a Canadian and American Old Types that they can compare the handles on? Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

nice set............

 

Wow!

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

Your Canadian OT may be a pocket edition. The handle on the USA looks like a typical ball end handle.

 

Sorry, probably wasn’t clear enough, Andrew. It is the Canadian that has a slightly thicker and significantly heavier handle. I will research the pocket edition, though. Thanks.

 

I heard the Tian Li were actually very good I believe @Linuxguile and @jmudrick have used them. I might try them. For less than $5 per 100 hard to go wrong.

 

IIRC, there are a couple of different Tian Li blades. One, as I understand it, is very good; this is the other one. It's *almost* there but not quite. Perhaps with the right razor, but I doubt it.

 

For me this blade was awful, the other Tian Li (dark blue pack) just great. But trust your own experience you never know.

 

Oh, I thought that Tian Li blade was awful, too. I gave it two tries in two different razors. I really didn't expect much, however, given that the name and packaging seemed to be trying to rip-off a similar Gillette blade.
The frustrating part was that its performance was neither fish nor fowl. Had it been totally useless like many Chinese blades, it would have been expected. (Like I would expect a socket wrench from the Dollar Store to break on a rusted bolt.) OTOH, if it had performed adequately or better, like the other Tian Li blade or that Pacific blade from Dollar Tree, I would have been pleasantly surprised. This blade was neither. It did remove whiskers, but not smoothly or overly well.

 

After taking a circuitous route, JR#231 has arrived!

 

Star-type head but no markings, definite Tech ball-end handle. Have a Perma-Sharp Super loaded in it now, so I'll give it a go here in a little bit. Cap looks more silver-plated than nickel, handle is brassy at the neck.

 

Very excited!!

 

That brush is awesome!!

 

Thanks, Jim does fantastic work.