I found this today at a Antique shop way off the beaten path and I got it for stupid cheap... It says Gillette - Made in Canada no numbers that I can find It seems in really good shape even had a couple of sealed "vintage" blades with it I cleaned it up and I am going to try a "Tiger" blade in it tomorrow... Is this an agressive razor??? Any idea on the age ??? BTW I am kind of enjoying asking the "Newb" questions instead of answering them Thank you in advance, gents of the DE persuasion, for helping out a Straight Razor "Brother of the Blade"
A Canadian made Gillette long comb new type open comb sir. With the handle of what looks like a fat handled Tech. I have the same but with the standard bar handle. About 70 years old I'd say. Yes it's aggressive..similar to British built..proceed with caution.. lol...
Edit addition: actually this one was a pretty interesting score because the Canadian version of this razor if I'm not mistaken, is significantly rarer than it's US made counterpart. You do seem to have what's called a frankenrazor here..a combination of two different shavers. In this case a Tech handle with the gold plated open comb head...
The NEW Long Comb head on a Fat Handle makes for a very nice shave. My blade of choice for any NEW is a SuperMax Super Platinum. I never once got weeper from a NEW, as I find Old Types more aggressive.
Same here. Overall I'd say it's a pretty safe shave if you know what you're doing. Excellent for two (or more) day growth jobs.
Nice razor, try anything but tiger, they was not very good when I tried them last week, I managed half a pass with the grain then changed to Astra sp, ASAP
As the Founder of the Brotherhood of the Open Comb, one of the the razors I always recommend tZZo Noobs that want to sojourn into OC razors is the NEW. What you may have in fact may not be a frakenrazor, as some have suggested...Gillette did sell them with the Tech handles....here is a pic on one with British patent numbers from Mr. Razors site
Although the head of the New Deluxe has more weight that the New Type i don't thing that shaves much deeper Nevertheless are very good razors.
Nice score, Glen! Personally, I don't find the NEW that aggressive. As Arley mentioned, the OLD is more so. Heck. You're a str8 user! You ain't gonna find anything more aggressive than that, my friend!! This NEW will be easy. Enjoy.
But as you can see, his head is made in Canada, so definitely not one of the British Made NEW's with a Tech Handle. At any rate, it will be a good shave.
Yep... Can see it's a Canadian NEW.... But little information is available on many of the Canadain Gillettes. Posted the pic of the British set just to throw out the idea that it may be original and not a frakenrazor.
Ya could be Ken is quite correct here Glen..the razor may have come with that Tech handle. Jody might be able to sort this out..he knows everything lol. Anyways it's a goody and they do shave very nicely..especially those Canadian one's eh. In fact I've heard straight shavers that go to DE are quite at home with the comb..
A few of us consider those long teeth the makings of the best open comb DE ever, or one of them, anyway. Never used mine (when I had one) as a daily shaver though...too harsh for daily...always kept it to mow down a couple days or months worth of growth. But that's just me.
+1....as far as being viewed by many as one of the best razors ever produced by Gillette. In the Brotherhood of the Open Comb, it is the most recommended of any razor. I feel OC razors get a bad rap for being overly aggressive. More aggressive than a 40's NDC Superspeed r a DE89? Yes. But not more uncomfortable. I find it, when matched with a great blade, to be one of the smoothest razors ever made. I prefer to use the term "efficient" when speaking of Open combs in general instead of "aggressive"....many newbies and oldtimers alike get scared away from, and they miss out on perhaps the greatest shave of there life.
If I understand my razor-physics correctly, then it's the blade gap that determines "aggressiveness" and not the comb. I found the Sheraton to be very mild. I really like my Gillette NEW. Mine is a frankenrazor (NEW + heavy sabi handle) and it's just right for me. Congrats on your razor purchase. Sure is pretty!
From another post I had some time back... Here are some of the issues that affect aggressiveness. 1. Blade Gap - The gap between the cap and the base plate. That can be adjusted on "adjustable" razors. 2. Head Curvature - This is the curve of the head. That is the pivot that allows you to create the blade angle of approach. 3. Open area versus Closed on the base plate. This is often referred as the Comb. If it has teeth that have open spaces that is an open comb. If it has teeth with closed spaces that is a closed comb and the straight bar is the the guard bar. This along with the blade gap helps to either accentuate or reduce the level of exposure along with the blade gap. 4. Weight of Head - How much the head and weighs (cap and base plate). 5. Handle Length - How long the handle is. That acts as a lever. The longer the handle, the more precision angle you can make since it take more motion to create angle chages at the head. A short handle will react with a greater angle change because it takes less physical difference to move the head at an angle. 6. Center of Gravity - This is where the entire razor (head and handle) if held on a single point would balance. If the center of gravity moves forward toward the head, it can apply more pressure so that is important. A hollow handle and a solid handle will cause two razors of the same size with the same head and materials to have different centers of gravity. 7. Material types uses and placement can also affect the aggressiveness of a razor. 8. The Blade itself. (That is another large set of issues so I will stop right there.) There are probably more that I have not listed. I know this is a lot to digest, but the design of mechanical items is not always straight forward. That is why there were so many different variant designs just on the double edge razor from the 1920s to the 1960s. Hundreds and hundreds of small tweaks to larger variations are documented pictorially in various books on the subject.
Although blade gap and the construction of the comb probably affect aggressiveness or efficiency the most, I'd suggest that blade exposure, i.e the distance from the tip of the blade to the front edge of the locking plate (TTO or otherwise), is also a serious detemining factor.
