Shaved sgain this morming with my gold MMOC. Even though my silver MMOC (with bumps)gives me a great BBS with 2 pass plus touch up, My shaves with the Gold MMOC (not using a shim) is 2 pass but the second pass is more of a touch up than anything else. I do have to take more care that the head is near flat on my face and stroke more slowly so I don't get a weeper. Also like my 1912's and the one with the door hinged in the front (forgot what it's called) Shovel head? Starting to use my SE razors now a bit more than my DE's
Thanks, @jmudrick . I was just curious before I thought about buying it. I messaged the seller for a picture of the opened head, but no response yet.
Every time that I test a new blade I do a review and place the blade were it performed the best for myself and possibly it may help others if not sure what to buy in the future needs. GEM Personna SS PTFE really impressed me and it has moved up to #1 for now, I received some perfect mating of this Blade with the GEM 1912 razor and I'm very pleased. I like the sharp and smooth crossing over into the Sharpest area for my beard type on the old school picture chart IMO. There are other important factors that I have considered like cost and longevity,metal material & coatings but it gets complicated and I'm not into that science right know. When a blade is a little rough 1st shave or 2 and smooths out it usually indicates high sharpness from my experiences.
Thanks @Ron R I look forward to your blade reviews. They are most helpful to get a comparison to my own experiences. Regarding your chart, do the blades rank in order for you from top to bottom (are Polsilver, Nacet through Gillette WS tied for 11th place and Bic being 16th)?
Ranking is hard and the chart is just a reflection of my experiences with these blades and some of the blades are so close to identical performance they are hard to measure other than the operator of the razor and it's just my opinion like so many different aspects of shaving. Take it for whats its worth, I have had fellows offer to send me different blades to test but I just test the blades I have bought. For the Bic blade it was sharp for the first 1 or 2 shaves and then it was a little unpredictable for my beard & skin type from what I recall.( I will have to revisit that blade later)
GEM 1912 Mid range razor Blade gap : .023 (.58mm) Weight: 2.4 oz (68 grams) Blade: Gem Personna stainless steel PTFE (DO NOT USE HARDWARE BLADES FOR SHAVING THAT LOOK SIMILAR, SHAVING BLADES ARE PRECISION GROUND & STROPPED) Blade Exposure : positive for sure! Razor handling: Very nice feel in my hand with the hexagon ornamental handle that is great to grip, cleaning the razor was reasonably easy & installing blades no problem. -This is one of the best razors I own out of 30+ and will be part of my main rotation. -Most of the shaves I have been receiving are DFS>BBS usually nick free, weeper free and very smooth feel to the skin post shave I noticed. -It does not seem to matter what soap I used to perform routine shaving, J hooking, buffing and the GEM Slide with no problems. - The audio feed back on the cutting action is a little higher(like buttering toast) because blade support on the underneath part of the blade does not exist like so many razors we use having a similar a feature like EJ DE89, Merkur 34c &.......... but some have less audio feed back. - For my daily shave the alum block sting was almost none existent for tiny abrasions with the odd little sting. - A good daily driver(7 daily’s) for my medium type beard and less sensitive skin than others might have, shaves were enjoyable. - very Light pressure with short razor strokes with shallow Technique worked well for myself. - Expect high efficiency with a close shave with minimal irritation. My typical passes WTG & ATG with a clean up.(when efficiency goes high less passes I perform) -To make the Gem razors perform you need a NEW blade. For economics a 100 blade lot can be bought around $20 US which is a fair price for SE or DE and of the high quality blade you receive IMO.(GEM Personna SS PTFE blade) -Final conclusion like so many have mentioned on other forum threads the GEM 1912(Mid range aggression) is one of the best razors with a NEW Gem blade will reward You. Added GEM operating manual and a focus technique for folks new to the GEM or EVER READY razors.
Great review Ron, I also love the 1912, the only thing I'd add is that the Gem blades give me at least 8 to 10 shaves compared to a few of my DE blades with 3-4 shaves
Good point, I have been doing some trials with the different Gem models for 1 week and then onto the next model with a fresh blade. There was lots of blade life for shaving after 7 shaves and the blades are really in that comfort zone most fellows really enjoy IMO. On to my Gem Micromatic open comb for another 7 shaves......
Gem Micromatic open comb Blade gap: .023 thousands of a inch (.58mm) Weight: 2.2 oz (65 grams) Blade exposure: Postive Blade: GEM Personna stainless steel PTFE(teflon coated)(1st use) Handling : reasonable grip and easy to clean and a joy to work the beard areas. - 1st shave with this new(used) model of mine and no real issues according to the Alum block and visually no weepers or nicks that delivered a DFS>bbs. I took a little extra care because it is a new razor and just learning the feel. - the Gem micromatic OC design is built with rigidity in mind and they packed a lot of improvements if that is what a person desires. See you all in a week or so for some more of my experiences with this model. Have some great GEM shaves!
Yes, the the OC Micromatic is another great razor . I like both , the chrome OC that give me a 2 pass + touchup for a nice BBS and also the Brass MMOC (no Bumps)that is more aggressive I don't use the shims in it, I just have to shave carefully. If I use 2 injector blades as shims, it about equals out the the brass MMOC to the Chrome one. Sometimes I wish I could shave 3 times a day
Interesting observations - I am led to believe that the razor bumps don't matter in single sided gem blades with a spine and they were introduced only to shim the reversible gem blades. I've also found the razors to be similar in aggression with a modern gem blade. Sent from my Redmi Note 6 Pro using Tapatalk
I'm going to test my totally brass MMOC with no bumps with the spline removed on a blade with about 6 shaves on it to see how more aggressive it becomes (not right now because I'm testing different GEM models). I would think you will instinctively just compensate the angle from audio and blade feel feed back? With no spline the razor would become aggressive I'm assuming?Has any one tried this test of removing the spline and shaving? The old micromatic single edge blades had a thicker spline than the modern ones that are produced today.
I've tried using the Brass MMOC with a Gem blade, spine removed. We have 7 layers of skin, if you want to remove 2 layers then shaving with the Brass MMOC with no spine on a Gem blade, is the way to do it. Lather will turn pink quickly. Two strokes got my attention.
I think I will take that advice and abandon the idea, just stay with in MFG parameters is a good idea. I thought it would increase aggressivness and you confirmed that and that is all I need to know. thanks @Tallships
Most 1912s (and 1924 Shovelheads) can be fit with a 10-32 setscrew and thus accommodate most modern or vintage handles. This is an ATT Atlas handle, works nicely.