The almost sort of Comprehensive Guide to the Gillette Tech

Ok, here's my other oval-slotted tech. I call it that since I think it actually might be a contract tech, so I paired it with the appropriate handle for the pics.



The reason I think this is all a contract tech is because I saw an eBay listing today from one of those seller's who actually deals in razors, and he listed it as a contract tech. It also has the 2-tone head like mine. It didn't show up well in the pics, but the cap looks like copper, but the base plate is goldish. Could the cap actually be copper? The top cap is not creased, if that matters.

What'dya think?

Thanks

 

Handles...
I believe the fat handle is made of aluminum since it is light, and when I scrubbed it when I received it a few years ago, it didn't change color. I don't remember which head this came with. I never kept the heads with the handles since none matched in color, so I assumed they were mismatched by others.



Here are my 2 oval-slotted baseplates next to each other. On the top in each pic is the slightly darker one which I believe may be a contract tech. Note that the "contract" one is slightly wider if you look closely.



So, could the wider one be a "contract"? The lettering on both are identical: "PAT. NOS. ON PACKAGE."

 

they are both post war,this is a war tech

note the triangle slot type baseplate but with oval slots and stamped "s".
this is the triangle slot one..

here is a contract tech set..triangular slot baseplate

here is a 1945 contract tech with oval "s" stamped early baseplate..


and here is your gold contract tech circa 1946 with post war oval slot baseplate.


hope this helps.

check out mr razor's website for more detailed look.

https://mr-razor.com/

 

Thanks.

Oh, yes, I always look at Mr. Razor's site, but it sometimes makes my head spin with all the variations, lol. But what's the difference between that 1946 contract tech's head and the one in my picture, which also has oval slots?

I won't link to it, since I'm not sure it's allowed, even though it's a BIN listing, but here are pics of what the seller is calling a contract tech.

Looks the same as mine, although I'd guess this handle isn't zamak, and has different plating.

And why is one of mine a bit wider than the other?

Thanks

 

that is a post war/gold 1946.look closely between the 2 baseplates,yours and the oval slot "s " stamped one.with width difference most likely a stamping issue/blank size.

 

Dupe post.

 

Thanks. How do we pin the head to 1946 and not 1947-1951-ish? Could be the wrong handle.

I'm not seeing an 'S' here; that's why I'm confused. I do see the 'S' on the other ovals.





Mine:


So seller is wrong? Not a contract? No 'S':

Mismatched contract handle to non-contract head?
Thanks

 

Thanks.

The 1946 "contract" in mr razor's pic shows the oval holes, no 'S', and shows the indentations in the baseplate, which clamps the blade close to the edge as in the post-war. So given the base plate alone, what identifies it as a "contract"? It's not the same geometry as a prewar triangular. That's what I was asking. It looks the same as my "oval-slotted" post-war. And also the same as the one in the eBay pic, which you said was a 1946 post-war, not a "contract."

For a triangular slot, if it's black, it's a "contract'. What if it isn't black, as in the 1942 one above from mr razor? He doesn't specifically call that one "contract", but "WW II issue". Not sure if they're synonyms. And what if the black plating has completely come off?

I thought this was true: all "contracts" have the pre-war geometry, regardless of the shape of the slots. Is it true?

Sorry for the detailed questions, but I'm an IT guy, and I used to be a programmer. When you program, the decision tree for logic has to be complete. I'm essentially trying to determine the algorithm for identifying a "contract" if you only have one piece of the 3-piece razor, since you never know if people have swapped out parts or not.



I looked at post #1 again:

I've added bold italics.

My top cap could be "red brass" or "copper" then. So could the one from eBay. Isn't that a clue to it being a "contract?" Or did "non-contracts" have that too?

This could all be academic, since one would think that a pre-war and a "contract" would shave the same given the same geometry, but in the vid I posted above, the guy said he likes the way the "contract" shaves the best. Again, I'm not sure if he's tried British and Canadian Techs.

I'm confused by this from the first post:

Early war and contract years are the same. Why? They weren't made for civilians during U.S. involvement years.

Plus, mr razor has a 1946 as a "contract", which is out of the range of "contract" years according to the above. Someone must be wrong.

 

That's the easy case, since the middle one has an 'S' and pre-war geometry.


Reminds me of some 30 years ago, I was working with a business user on a financial calculation for our software, and he gave me one formula. I went back to him with a 3x3 grid, or something like that, and told him their were 9 distinct cases. He looked puzzled, then realized the differences in the cases and why I needed 9 different formulas to calculate properly.


If I see bakelite handles, S's, ovals with pre-war geometry, or black plates and caps, I know I got a "contract." It's the other cases that confuse me.

 

the "contract" is purely about the handle ,nothing more,black,gold or pewter looking..the head/cap/ baseplate is just manufacturing upgrades..materials are determined by shortages etc during war years.avaiability.left overs..

 

the 's' oval plate ..it's the only true war only version,no civilian models..

 

Well, we do know that there were 2 different geometries among those 3 Tech types. So at least 2 have to shave differently, however small the difference is. Now in the vid I posted above, the guy said he liked the "contract" the best. He also talks about 3 different gaps.

So I do have a "contract" then, since I have a "contract" zamak handle. I can put my pre-war or post-war head on it. One thing I do know -- that "contract" handle came with one of my techs -- I don't know if it was with the pre-war or the post-war (not the one with the embossed "Gillette" on the top of the cap, though). It could have been mis-matched by previous owners, but there is no way to tell.

 

yes i believe so.because any of these head/cap configurations were avaliable.where i question it is the plating.only the post war comes in gold plating as far as i know,was yours originally black or gold?
"s" oval slot early plates were produced during war years for war sets,in a couple of different cases,plastic,pocket sets etc,all the gold plated ones were for civilian use and sold after war was over,with left over parts and then the new postwar baseplate,i still don't fully understand all the theory as there are many holes in the story.most of this info is from other collectors,gillette employess and reseaching books,charts and fixed ads.where does the "contract" part come from?light handle made under contract for the war department?baseplates in steel with painted caps? hard to say.more to research.only the U.S had them,england didn't have a tech,only after the war,other countries including the U.S had bakelite sets also.there are still some unknowns...

 

Thanks.

Handle or head?

The zamak "contract" handle had a lot of black on it that I thought was corrosion/dirt of some sort, so I used something abrasive to clean it.

I looked at my eBay purchase history, but all they keep for viewing is a thumbnail pic, so although I can see the "contract" handle, I can't see much detail about the head. I bought my oval-slot and triangular slot about a week apart back in 2021. The other one looks like it has a fat handle in the thumbnail pic.

Both plates (oval and triangular) still are gold, but the caps are both copper-colored. I remember scrubbing both plates and both caps with something abrasive, since they were pretty dirty. I was curious why only the caps resulted in that copper color. The caps were definitely not black when I received them.

I took a quick look at that vid I posted again -- he does talk about British and Canadian ones. He shows some on-screen charts at the end that kinda summarizes the different gaps: .020, .025, and .030. Some gaps I think were only non-U.S. Vids can be good, but it would be nice to have a transcript of the audio for quick reference.

Mr. Razor's site is great, but does it shows every variation of a given razor? In other words, if it isn't shown on his site, does that mean it doesn't exist?

That silver-colored fat hande that I showed, I'm convinced it is aluminum. It could be from a British set:
https://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/Tech/1940s Safety Razor Set No14 aluminum Tech.jpg

UPDATE: I can see in my eBay purchase history that it came with an Old head -- so a mismatch. When I bought my New SC, New LC, and the Old, some didn't come with the correct handle, although I do have a gold common-bar that came with one of them. I was more interested in getting the different heads, and getting them with odd handles yielded better deals.

 

your contract handle most likely had a black coating on it originally.if the handle had gold plate it would have been sold after the war with either a leftover "s" stamped oval slot early baseplate or a post way baseplate,either one in gold plate to match.it seems the contract tech got it's name for that style of handle,regardless of case or baseplate.
mr.razor's site is very informative in many ways,but there are examples of missing razors/sets and such.his site is always updating as newly found examples and information come to light.few things are cut in stone when it comes to gillette.
as for the brits,they have some rareties.their red tip both ss and rocket is has the largest gap/exposure of all non adjustable tto's
the brits dabbled in aluminum fat handles ,france as well.

 

I just searched on eBay for "contract tech", and I only saw one or two with a black bakelite handle. None seemed to have oval-slotted S-marked pre-war geometry. Some had black caps.

A few ball-end handles with the grooves though. Many had the 2-tone head like mine -- copper-colored cap, gold baseplate. Some had standard fat handles, being sold as a "contract." Some had date codes stamped on the plate -- couldn't be a "contract" then.

I know many on Ebay don't know what they're talking about, though.

 

very true and most likely.copper looking caps are red brass and have more copper content than yellow.known for more strength,especially with the threaded portion and resistance against warpage when clamping.

that example has a post war plate/cap.on from early 1946 or late 1945 could have the 's " plate..they changed as the parts bins emptied of older parts.

 

as a side note.the gold plating on the later "contract"razors was very fragile,similar to the New open comb series.very thin and plated directly over the brass.later gold plated gillettes were gold plate over nickel.
most heavily used gold gillette razors from this era have little plating left.

 

Thanks. I remember talking about the variations of the black-handled super-speed in another thread.