First things first, moderators, if this is in the wrong category, feel free to delete it. Okay, do you have any of those old green package Gillette blades lying around somewhere? Maybe you picked some up as a decoration piece. Maybe you received some as a gift from a family member. Well, I sharpened one. It's not as sharp as a Feather, understandably, however the fact that it is actually possible to sharpen an old 1907 Gillette blade is almost mind blowing to me. Here's what I did: 1. Rubbed it back and forth flat, all around on the stone (don't know the grit). 2. Inserted it into a razor, and stropped it on a leather strop for about a minute or more. If you find it isn't as sharp as it should, repeat step one and two until it's ready. I'm no honemeister, or anything like that, however I got it good and sharp enough to shave with. I'm not normally one to reuse DE blades, I just thought the old 1907 Gillettes are so cool, and I've always wanted to shave with one. I might try throwing it in the old Twinplex to see what happens. If anybody has tried it before, let me know what you did, if you haven't done it before and you are ready to get your hands dirty, give it a try! Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk
I would be worried about cutting my strop. How did you avoid that? Did you hold the blade flat like a straight razor or at an angle? Very cool!
I completely understand that concern, I held the blade flat like a straight razor. Its tricky to get the angle, you have to really keep an eye on it. Everybody's Favourite Uncle
And I'll add, that palm stropping would work too If you didn't want to use a strop. Everybody's Favourite Uncle
If you can zoom in and see, the first photo here is the one I resharpened. The second one is a blade untouched after over 100 years. The first photo has a straight edge, the second photo you can see the crooked angle. Everybody's Favourite Uncle
Valet Auto Stops had a built in mechanism for stropping the single edge carbon steel blade in the razor. Feather now makes these blades in both stainless steel (not stroppable) and carbon steel (stroppable).
I've been looking into an autostrop but since I got my Rolls I've backed off a bit. What would you consider a good price for one? Everybody's Favourite Uncle
Thank you for the pics and explanation. If I get a chance to buy one the old blades I’ll try to hone it out of curiosity.
Autostrops are a dime a dozen except for the Type A models. You shouldn't pay more than $20 online with shipping factored in, exception being the the Type A models . They aren't that desirable or great enough of shavers that you see anyone in the vintage realm using them on a regular or even semi-regular basis. Also it is caveat emptor with them, for every one good working razor you'll find at least as many with levers that don't stay tight when shaving, bent base plates that affect how well the razor works and broken blade stops which make the earlier ones unusable. Usually the ones that are preferred are the Type B and C models that can use Gem blades with the spine removed along with the Feather blades. Another rule of thumb with Autostrops, the earlier the model the more aggressive the razor.
I should slightly amend this, the ones designed after the merger with Gillette aka the VC3 and VC4 models are a bit more robust than the earlier designs. They don't have the same issues being a bit more solidly built and using moveable tabs to hold the blade as stops. They only take Feather blades though or if you can find them Kai best carbon steel single edge blades.
Hi, I'm sorry I just saw your post. I just bought one from razor emporium 10 mins ago. But thank you! Everybody's Favourite Uncle
Congrats! Hey no worries. I happen to have 2 sitting in a box. I have one that use regularly but i modify a gem blade to use it.
Here is how I do it with standard single edge blades. This only works with the Valet versions that have this type of head The tools i use plus an old valet blade With pliers grab the very end and work it back and forth. Eventually you will loosen and be able to separate the blade from the end cap I usually just cut off these edges because they can be a little too long Should look like this Slide it in all the way to the other end And now sir, you can enjoy your shave Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow. Wonderful presentation I thank you very kindly for putting this together. It seems very simple if I get the hang of it. Here is the razor I ordered. It looks similar to the one you showed me. Will it work on mine? Again, you're a good man for showing me this. Everybody's Favourite Uncle