I'm wondering what they are like? Will a new SE blade fit in them? Are they a nice shave? Any information or pictures would be very welcome. They seem to be quite reasonably priced. Thanks.
I've only used the DE blades but they are pretty reliable and I would definitely use them if they were in my sample pack.
Are you talking about the empire sets ? They take a proprietary SE blade (3rd image). They can be re-honed but a regular SE blade will not work in them
I have a couple of Empire sets. This 7 day set is complete with strop, instructions, and all 7 blades in reasonably good condition, circa 1949. This is an older Empire, circa 1933 or so. It was essentially NOS, with the strop and blade having never been opened. The protective grease had preserved the blade edge and I have been able to use it without honing, merely stropping as the manufacturer intended. The blades are proprietary. Other wedge blades will not fit, nor will modern SE blades. Wilkinson did not intend for the user to hone these blades, instead replacing them when stropping no longer produced an acceptable edge. Because of this the blades are made of extremely hard steel, which along with their diminutive size makes them a pain to hone. It is worth the effort. The unique roller comb makes for an incredibly smooth shave. --Bob
Yes, modern single edge blades will fit in the Wilkinson Sword Empire Razor sets. It's an easy modification, and I have done it many times. Just pull the spine off of the SE blade and clip the two back corners off the SE blade. The modern SE blades are slightly narrower than the Wilkies, so you have to carefully fit them onto the bladestop. I hope this helps @dangermouse .
One note, I agree that the original blades are hard to hone. I have had several NOS Wilkie blades ruined by someone, who supposedly knew what they were doing. Very very upsetting. Since then, I have learned to hone straight razors, and I might try to tackle the Wilkies again. Do not attempt to hone these, unless you really know what you are doing. The vintage wedge blades are worth more than the razors, in my opinion, and harder to come by.
Ooh - now that is interesting. The razors come up often and very cheaply usually. I might well try one.
I dont remember if the New SE blades can be fitted with the 7 Day sets. I haven't played with them in quite a while.
I'm not sure I qualify as really knowing what I'm doing, but I've managed to put a decent edge on two of the blades in my 7 day set using lapping film. I've been honing blades for Star and Gem Lather Catchers, Rapides, C. V. Heljestrands, Rolls and Darwin razors for some time, and none of those have presented the challenge of the Wilkinson blades. One of these days I'll get around to honing the rest of the blades. I guess I can only use the razor on Mondays and Tuesdays. I don't see how a modern SE blade could be made to fit in either of my Empires. The blade slides into a spring clip, it's thicker than a modern blade, it is slightly longer than a modern blade, and it isn't much wider than an injector blade. Blades are everything. A set with no blades is essentially a paperweight. I've heard that a modern blade can be used in a Wilkinson Pall Mall series, but I've never owned one of those (yet). --Bob
I know they definitely fit in the standard Empire sets, I've done it many times. I don't recall about the 7 days. I'll look at one of my 7 day sets and see if it will fit in. @spidey9 It's a very simple blade modification. I'll post photos when I get around to it.
This is a common Wilkinson Sword Empire set. The modern Gem blade has been modified. In this razor, its a close fit, to get the narrower Gem to sit on the blade stops. Some razors they fit more easily. Next is the Gem next to a 7 Day Blade, its a disposable 7 day blade, but the same dimensions as the wedge. It's just the first one I grabbed. The Gem is too long, not too wide, to fit into the 7 Days. Major blade modifications are needed to get it to fit. It's easier and cheaper to buy the non 7 Day sets if you want the razor to shave with. But, for display purposes, nothing beats a well kept, full blade set, Wilkie 7 Day. Beautiful.
Thanks for the pictures - most enlightening. I was using the term length to mean the length of the shaving edge and width to mean the distance from the edge to the spine, perhaps causing some confusion. I would be afraid that wedging a modern blade into the blade holder as shown might damage the blade holder so it would no longer hold wedge blades securely. To be honest I'm not a big fan of using modern blades in razors designed for wedge blades, as the shave with a modern blade is completely different. Besides, there is something immensely satisfying about shaving with one of these old razors using a blade that I've restored to a shave-ready edge myself. --Bob
@spidey9 , no worry about damaging the blade holder, because on the 7 day razors, they just plain wont fit. Look at the photo. You would have to take a large amount of the blade off the spine end to make it fit. Just to dangerous. As for the others, no damage done, or can be done by inserting a modern blade, as long as you modify it. It's really easier than you think. The only problem I've run into, is that the blade stops on some are too wide to hold a Gem. Most will fit the Gems though. Easy fix, just narrow the distance between blade stops. If yours is like that, I have an easy fix.
I get that they won't fit the 7 day sets - I was referring to my other Empire (in the wooden box in the picture above). A de-spined Gem blade will not fit under the tab indicated by the arrow without some tweaking. While that probably wouldn't hurt anything, I am loathe to start bending things on this razor. I suppose that if I had a user grade Empire with no blades I might feel differently. --Bob
@spidey9 , I understand the loathing part of modifications, but the one or two that the Gem blades wont fit, because of the blade stop gap, were well worn examples, and the blade stops were probably out of spec, from original. Besides, it's just a fraction of an inch, so little you probably cannot tell. If someone didnt have a pristine example, what choice would they have. Each blade, on the market, in very good shape, is worth about as much a a Wilkie razor without any blades. As for wooden box razors, I have a few. The type of razor I have shown on the top photo, previous post, is no different than the other wooden boxed razors. . I have some in Wooden boxes, and they fit them all. Bottom right shows the Gem blade in a razor that comes in a wooden box, but its an older model, and the blade clamp is fixed. It fit. Pick a model, I think I have them all, even the solid safety bar model, bottom center. Its the hardest one to find. Next we have the metal boxed ones. Basically the same razor as the wooden boxed razors, although the handles might vary a little. These were a little pricier when they came out, made for a better presentation. They almost always had the silver plated handles, from what I've seen. Next up were the 7-Day models. They cost the most when new, and now. They cannot use a modern Gem Blade, unless you are very tallented at blade modification. I have tried, and its too dangerous. They are very pretty though. Any more doubts??
Thanks Bob. I had a hard time passing on them, when I bought them. Most were between $5-$8. Shipping usually cost about the same as the razor. The 7-Day sets were $12-18. At the time, the eBay UK sellers were having a hard time giving them away. The nice thing is that the 7-Day sets have blades, and I have been able to acquire many wedge blades with the others. I have yet to be able to hone any wedges. But, now that I have been able to hone a few straight razors, with some success, I feel like trying my hand at a Wilkie blade again.
I didn’t see this, and just honed Monday from my 7 day set. The blade was kind of a pin to hone, but worked well. It appears to be the only one used previously, and had some chips. The other six still have protective grease on them. No strop on my set though. Need to make one of those. DMT, 1,3,5,8,12k and green paste an stropped on linen and leather. I tapped the spine, and had to work the corners a bit, as the itty bitty blade was slightly warped and had a wobble. It was a good shave.
