Hi im thinking of getting a SE razor as they seem popular i was looking for some advice as to which ones are good or not so good, as with the blades for them. Thanks.
Gem and Ever Ready seem to be the GO-TO razors brands, at least the most common. You'll get lots of ideas and suggestions. Like everything else, though, some folks love 'em, some folks hate 'em. I get fantastic results from my Gem Jr. lather catcher and my Gem MicroMatic Open Comb (MMOC). The Gem Push Button is another one that is high on my "like a lot" list. I have a Gem Clog Pruf that isn't too bad. I've found the Gem Featherweight too light and mild for my taste. 1912 style razors aren't bad for me. Many folks prefer them over the MMOC, stating the MMOC is far too aggressive. Google images for any of the razors mentioned and you can educate yourself with some pics. As for SE blades, I've only tried Gem and Treet. I would recommend the Gem. I did not care for the Treet blade in the least.
I picked up a Gem 1912 SE for $10 (you can find them even cheaper than that, I think) not too long ago from a member here and although I had no experience with SE's at all, it just took a couple strokes to find the right angle and ended up with a great shave. The blades I use are the Gem Persona blades from Walgreens and they work great for me. In my opinion it's a great way to start with SE shaving, because you don't have to shell out a lot of money to see if you like it and it was really not difficult to learn to use.
The Gem Jr. is my Go-To Se razor and I love it. I never had much luck with the micromatic's but am thinking about going back to it again shortly for a re run.
There are quite a few good models, but the Gem 1912s (also the Star and Ever-Ready versions) are easy to find at low prices, easy to use, and give great results. Blades like these Gem stainless ones are at many Walgreens, but their prices are kind of high, $5.99 vs $4.49 at my local ShopRite. CVS brand is okay to start with, but they rust more quickly, even when I carefully dry them off. Treets are available at some stores, and seem to be the same as the CVS ones.
GEM OCMM is a personal favorite, with GEM blades. I lucked into my frist one on a trade. I then stumbled across 2 of them for less then 6 bucks on the bay which included the shipping. IMHO they give great shaves, with less passes for me. Just remember with more blade out, don't forget to apply NO pressure unless you want a nice weeper.
I don't know why I keep forgetting about Injectors when I talk about SE's! I've got a Shick Stick (shift knob model) hanging on my shelf that I love. Quick clean shave every time, and the real Shick blades are excellent.
Another vote for the 1912s. There is pretty much zero 'learning curve' and they give a great shave. The simplicity of blade loading is elegant. The 1912's guard is IMO a quasi perfect blend of aggression AND safety. Add to that its cheapness and ready availability, and you have no excuse not to have one. Go for the 'ornate' handle, as the heft is most satisfying. You can also fairly easily construct a holder for half DE blades that works a marvel in the 1912, and you can get a 100 decent half DE/shavette blades for just a few bucks, and I can count on 3 good shaves with a half Derby in a 1912, one of my favorite razor/blade combos. As if that wasn't enough, some of my most satisfying shaves have been with a 1912 and 'vintage' (ER/Sha-Ve-Zee) blades, which can indeed be honed (C12k) and stropped to utter wickedness - these un-notched/punched blades sadly can't be used in the Micromatics, but can be in the Featherweight/Heavy flat top (which frankly suck). YMMV of course but you have almost everything going for you with a 1912.
I'll put a vote in for the Autostrops. They are cheap and when you get the feather blades for them, they are the best shavers out there. A shave for me lasts about 2 days when I do a 3 pass shave with this razor. The runner up is my GEM Lather Catcher, light but nice! I'm not too fond of the GEM Jr. I have nor the Featherweight. However the only downside of the Autostrop is the price of the blades.
I've used a Gem 1912 & a Clog Pruf. So far the Clog Pruf is my favorite. I can't wait to get my hands on an OCMM.
Of the Gem's I like the Clog Pruf and the G-Bar the most. My favorite s/e at the present time though is the Burham. It's basically a blade on a stick, It's aggressive and very lite weight. I find it a challenging joy to use.
Today I picked up 2 Gem OCMMs, a Gem Featherweight, a 1912 Gem & a 1912 Ever Ready. Gonna clean them up tonight & shave with an OCMM in the morning. I passed on a G-Bar today as I thought it was overpriced @$12.
The G-Bar and Featherweight have the same head, just much different weight. They may be the mildest shaving SE razors, but they give a great shave none the less. Good starter SE razors. Of the 2 I prefer the Featherweight, the G-Bar is too heavy for me. I really like the OCMM. As previously written, the AutoStrops are really good too, very aggressive, but great shavers.
I've held the G-Bar. It didn't seem any heavier than the OCMM. I haven't shaved yet with the featherweight but it is extremely light compared to the MicroMatics.
I never weighed the g-bar or OCMM, but the handle is different on the 2. The G-Bar slips too much because of the useless rounded diamonds on the handle. I can handle the weight of the OCMM better, but not because of the handle as it exists, but because it was suggested to me to put o-rings in the grooves on the handle. That made all the difference. Before the o-rings I disliked the OCMM also. Liked the shave, disliked the handle. Yup, there's a reason it's called the Featherweight. It's the plastic handle.
Interesting, I'd never thought of putting o-rings on the handle. But then again the handle feels pretty good to me. Good idea though that I'll remember for anyone else that doesn't seem to like the feel of the MicroMatic handles.
You can do as I did to test and see if the o-rings would make a difference. Just wind some rubber bands on it, small ones so as not to get to much of a build up. The difference is like night and day, or at least it was to me. If you want the size of the o-rings I used from the Home Depot rack, let me know.
