Help solve a razor mystery?

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by Freddie Jaye, Jan 12, 2021.

  1. Freddie Jaye

    Freddie Jaye Member

    I recently acquired a gold ball-end Tech from FB Marketplace (see photo). It actually hurt the few times I've used it. I finally noticed the large gap between the cap and base plate. I swapped-in the plate from the razor on the right, and the gap disappears.

    The ball-end plate is stamped "Pat Nos on Package" on top; the bottom surface reads "Reg US/Pat Off/diamond logo/Made in USA." It also has a pair of thin metal strips/shims ball-end a.jpg ball-end b.jpg running along the top (a feature I've not seen on any other razors), which could account for the gap. The strips appear to be afterthoughts, as though a previous owner added them.

    Any ideas why someone would do that? I have a supposedly-aggressive Red Tip, and it glides smoothly over my face. But this ball-end razor feels like I'm dragging raw metal across my face.
     
    Hembree and brit like this.
  2. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    Those strips are aftermarket done by a previous owner. That is your gap problem right there. Why they did it who knows but remove them and the razor will work as it was originally intended.
     
    Hembree, brit and PLANofMAN like this.
  3. Hembree

    Hembree Not as pretty smelling

    Could it be that it was done to "shim" the blade to make the razor more aggressive?
     
    brit and PLANofMAN like this.
  4. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    Most likely. If it was done to make the blade more rigid without increasing gap then they would have been put on the cap side instead.
     
    Hembree, brit and PLANofMAN like this.
  5. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Somebody went to a lot of effort to make a tech aggressive. Interesting. There's a few members here who would probably enjoy the shave.

    I wouldn't be one of them.
     
    Hembree and brit like this.

Share This Page