Injector & SE Party !!!

Yes, it does. I was a little surprised at how mild it is, I was sort of expecting it to be similar to the E and G types. It is very heavy compared to most other injectors, 90g compared to 80g for a Gillette Fat Boy and 32g for an I2 Hydro-Magic.

 

yes indeed

Same here Tom, how good does it shave. I finally broke down and bought a B-model. It's on the way. You clean thatup so good Tom you would think it was never that messed up.

 

Got some!

Oh my the way Tom, I have some of those Gillette Platium Plus Injector blades. They came with my Gillette Injector. They are in a Black plastic injector case with the words "Gillette Platium Plus 7 blades "on the side. If I get time I will snap a photo to post.

DC

 

I think you'll like it, it's sure got a different feel mainly because of the weight.

Yeah, I'd like to see them since I can't remember ever seeing them before.

 

So I picked up my first 2 GEMs today, a Micromatic Clog Pruf & a Junior. I'd love to learn more about these razors but I can't find much. Can someone point me in the right direction? I'd like some history & timeline info. Is there a way to determine when my razors were made? How do these shave compared to a Merkur 33C or Gillette Ball End Tech? These aren't as nice looking as the ones with the ornate heads. I can't wait to have one of those in my den. I drool everytime I see someone else's. *

My new SEs, a couple of GEMs:

 

A couple of great finds there, Brian. Sorry, can't put a date on 'em for ya, but I'm sure someone will be along who can.

As for the shave, you're going to find these much more aggressive than the two DEs you mention. In fact more aggressive than most DEs out there. They can take some time to tame, but once you do, you're in for some super fantastic shaves. Just stick with 'em and let patience do her thing.

 

According to Waits Compendium, the Clog-Pruf was introduced in 1941. The version of the Junior you have is one of the ones covered under the 1912 patent. According to Waits, it would have been from 1919 or later.

I like them both, but prefer the 1912 style. Wouldn't necessarily compare them directly to a specific DE razor except to say that I prefer SE ones in general.

 

Am I correct that the Junior is not the same as the Junior Bar, but rather a travel version of that razor? Do we know when Gems stopped being made?

 

There is a picture of a Gem Junior Bar in post #66 in this thread, the razor on the right. They came out in 1907 (although they have 1900 and 1901 patents) and are more of a lather catcher type razor, although they take modern blades. There were other variants of these with different handles.

There is a pretty big variety of the later 1912 styles, including the Junior, and I don't know which ones were specifically marketed as travel razors.

Waits breaks off with the Gem Pushbutton and Feather Weight in the 1950s. There were two models after that, the Contour and Contour II. I don't have definite information, but believe that the Contour II was sold in stores into the 1970s, and continued to be available by mail order only for a long time after that. Can't really give you a cutoff date, though.

 

I shaved with the Clog Pruf this morning. WOW, what a difference from DEs. This thing mowed down my coarse stubble like it was nothing. Things were going so great that I did more on my touch up than I normally do & did irritate my neck & earn a couple tiny nicks. But all in all I'm very pleased with the shave. This is the closest I've ever been to BBS & I did it with less passes. Now to just control myself on the touch ups to get less irritation.

I think I'll shave a week w/ the Clog Pruf & then a week w/ the Jr. to determine which I like better. So far though it seems like the SE approach is better for me & my beard than the DE. Now I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for any lather catcher I can find. My search of the bay last night didn't produce any results. Let the hunt begin!

Thanks all for your tips & advice helping me to prepare for this amazing journey into SE shaving!

 

The 1912 Gem Junior is not the travel version of the Junior Bar, they're completely seperate models. No one really knows why some of the 1912's are stamped with the Junior and others aren't. The only cosmetic difference I can find is that the Junior version of the 1912 has a flat tab that flips it open and the non Juniors have an indentation, other than that they're identical. Some of the 1912's with the fat black handle known as the Baton are stamped Junior and some aren't.

There are several 1912 models with shorter handles that are usually called travel models and I've never seen one of them with the Junior stamping.

 

That is good information because I was wondering about my 1912 with the ornate handle that is stamped Junior, but it looks exactly the same as one not stamped with Junior.

 

Anyone win the Burham on ebay last night? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250853904756
If so, I'm Sorry I bumped the price up. I was trying to snipe it on the cheap.

 

Three Micromatics

Nothing rare here, just a picture of the three main types of Gem Micromatic. L-R, Clog-Pruf, Open Comb, Bullet Tip.



The Open Comb and the Bullet Tip came to me with the cases you see. The Clog-Pruf case came with a 1912 in it; I'd gotten the Clog-Pruf itself in a separate lot of razors. Don't know if the case is correct for this specific variant, but it's good enough for me.

All of these are easy to find, usually pretty cheap. I'll claim that they all shave well. Some people find the Bullet Tip to be too mild, but you just need to find the right angle, and maybe take an extra pass.

 

Schick B1

Hey guys, got a Schick B-2 I bought, can't get the thing to load the last blade(I believe), got any ideas? I had read somewhere on those instructions, that it will only let you reload it, after all the blades are used and loaded. Tom, Slivo, I need some help!!!!

DC

 

Pic later

Thanks Tom! I get a chance, I will have to snap a pic of them. It's coming don't worry!

DC

 

Pic

Pic coming of the Gillette Injector Blades!

 

Sorry, but I can't help you. When I got mine I dug a couple of used blades out of the Altoids tin just to see how it worked, the first one I tried came out backwards. After that I put a couple in the right way and they both came out fine. When I actually used it I loaded the new blade in manually by just sliding it in the head and positioning it by hand. There's a small groove in the very back of the blade compartment for the edge of the blade to slide in.

 

Yea, saw that. Theres a blade thats in there that wants to come out. But when I cock it back, and then slide it forward, the blade only moves enough for the very tip sticking out, not enought to even go towards the head. Not even enough to grab with needle nose pliers. THe holder in the handle will not move, only the cocking mechanism. So , is it useless?

 

Are you sure that's a blade you're seeing? There is a metal guide, for lack of a better word, that pushes the blade into the head. On mine this protrudes a tiny bit from the handle and looks like the end of a blade.