Last night a friend of mine brought me his grandfathers old Gillette safety razor, it turned out to be a Gillette The Knack, by the letter codes it was made in 1974, the date code says U 2 , England. (this is a pic from the web) It looks exactly the same as the one on the picture. The razor it self was a bit blemished but the plating holds on nicely, except on the under side of the head where it has some brass showing, i suppose because it wasn't cleaned regulary (there was a layer of old soap scum and green oxidation on those places). Also it still held an old DE razor which rusted and some of the rust from the blade was holding on to the blade but it came off easily when i cleaned it. The blade seems nice, although bit head heavy, but the TTO mechanism works great. So far I haven't still used it but I'm thinking tonight is the night I'll keep you posted on the perfomrance, and i'll try to put some pics if I can.
Mild but good shaver. If one doesn't like the handle (many don't, including me) the head assembly is easily removed for transplant to a different handle of his choice. That also can improve the balance, which you've may notice is slightly off on this one.
I was thinking og getting it a new handle, right now i only filled this one with led, which helped a little
Very nice score! The shave will mimic a 50's SS. The English version is known as a "Slim Twist". Same razor just different names. There was also a version with a slightly fatter/shorter handle. The Cadet TTO razors "shaveabuck" has in stock now look similar and the handles are heavier. I've heard putting a heavier handle on it will up the aggression some(extra weight I guess) and looks sweet! I've also heard of, but never saw a "BRW" handle Bob made for one. Unfortunately Bob is no longer with us . At any rate it's one of Gillettes last TTO's and certainly especially as you know the pedigree and its personal to you it's a "WONDERFUL" addition to your collection. Also with the longer handle it makes a nice ladies razor. Enjoy your new find...
I decided I can't live with the handle, it's just too light so I am thinking of making a wood handle with a metal rod for weight inside, or i might go polymer we'll see, but as a temporary solution i used the old handle from my old Wilkinson Classic, and loctite repair putty.Yes it's plastic but I like the look, the whole peek-a-boo metal plastic thing. So here it is
I just had to try it out as soon as the 2 component putty set in. The shave is great, the weight is near perfect and blance is waaaaay better so happy now
looks like it came out REAL nice! And you say it shaves GREAT also, not much more you can ask for. Was it hard to get the old handle off? Perhaps you could show us how you accomplished the task?
Easy peasy The head is just jammed in the plastic handle, i used a thin flat head screw driver to push them apart, just that the handle is quite soft (probably from age), so if you want to keep it be carefull. Also you can take off the metal cap on the bottom and try to push it apart through the hollow handle.
