gillette fat handle tech w2 1932

i have one of these. its from Canada. a friend said there should be no difference between these and the British or American ones. is this true. the year it was made is 1951. thanks.

 

I enjoy my Gillette "FAT" handle techs very much. I have several and I've found the modern razors(EJ89, Weber DLC, Merkur34C) I enjoy using the most shave much the same as the tech. My current daily shavers are a Stahly Live Blade shave head on a Weber Wave handle and a Phoenix DOC on a Weber Classic handle. British Gillette's are said to be slightly better made or more robust. All of my "FAT" handle techs are American made and shave wonderfully!

 

Other than the stamped info, not really. They're all Techs.

 

I've read on another forum where a couple guys said their Canadian Fat Handle Techs shave better than the American ones, but I don't have a Canadian Fat Handle Tech to test that theory. However, I do have a Canadian Khaki set from 1953 that will out shave almost all of my other Techs. It has 1932 on the bottom of the base plate, and it sports an unusual handle. I will post some photos in a minute.

 

Here's a few photos of my Canadian Military Khaki set.







I added the blade bank, but the blades that were with it were Canadian Gillette Blue Blades with a 1953 date code. These sets are fairly rare. At least I have never seen another one. The original owner had three more, he bought them at a Canadian Military Surplus sale. Mine is NOS. But the reason I posted this is to say some Techs do shave better than others. I have an English Gillette Tech that has an aluminum baseplate and handle, and it will outshave all comers! But of course, YMMV.

 

Mine is like that but has w 2 instead of y 4.

 

Hello Flaxton, that is cool! I have never seen another handle like mine. Is yours a part of a set like mine?

 

hi. no i got it on ebay in the uk. just the razor. cleaned and replated.

 

I really like the knurling on that Canadian tech handle.

 

The handle is solid brass as far as I can tell. It is fairly hefty. The handle contributes to the effectiveness of the razor. My Tech shaves great. I bet the OP is very happy with his when he gets his, I don't think these are very common.

 

Here are some possible head/base plate configurations on Techs (courtesy of @mr-razor):


but, as far as I know there's only one baseplate that came with the fathandle Tech that sells for a couple of hundred dollars when they come up for sale and it's not pictured above but can be seen below - the Tech Hybrid:

 

Hello Darkbulb, yes I know. I was not implying this razor was as valuable as a hybrid Tech, I was just commenting on how well it shaves, and how uncommon the handle is. I have never seen another handle like mine. That's all I was saying. I hope I didn't give the wrong impression.

 

Oh, not at all - I just added the photos above as tidbits for anyone interested in these razors in general

 

Never saw that handle before. Very nice!

My 1951 Z-4 Gold Canadian Fat Handle Tech

 

Stunning razor boojum1!!!

 

Sorry to revive this thread but does anyone know if the canadian techs all came in the same box/ have the gilette logo on top. Mine does not have the logo and I have yet to see one in the box mine has.

 

Not a ten year old thread, but I'll bump it up. I just picked up a Gold Fat Handle Tech ca. 1946-1950 today at the fleamarket for $5...

This is the After picture.

 

I have two pre war and one post war 1932 Tech. Two of which are standard fat handles and one is a four piece. I also have one 1946 english Tech slim handle. Techs are awesome!

 

What's the bottom plate look like?

 

If you go up to @Darkbulb's post and look at the 1946-1950 Tech photo, that's my razor. Bottom plate looks just like that.