Okay my injector friends, please enlighten me! Pal Injector Razors, I can not find out much on the net about them. A little history on them would be nice and opinions as to their shave too! I have seen a few on the Bay and would like to learn more about them. As always... Thanks in advanced!
I am not knowledgeable about their provenance, but I do have the non-adjustable version in rotation. I like it. The flat handle takes a bit of getting use to but it shaves great. I have seen differing opinions on the shave from the PAL, it is a love / hate thing when it comes to the non-adjustable. I have seen more negative opinions on the adjustable version though. I had the adjustable and did not care for it at all.
It's been brought to my attention that in the text below, right is used to mean left, and left is used to mean right. In the photo below, the razor on the upper right is a Pal Injectomatic. It has the distinction of being my cheapest injector, got it for $4.58 including shipping. The two on the left are the Pal adjustables. Lower right is a Personna injector and the other razor is a Gillette injector. The Injectomatic didn't really stand out for me in any way. It was okay, and I may give it another try some time. The adjustables are both pretty mild, even on the top setting, and one of them more than the other. From comments I've seen by other people, there was a lot of QC variance on these, so your experience with one might be much different. I used up one package of vintage Pal injector blades. They were pretty good, but rusted faster than modern blades, so I didn't get as many shaves with them. No information at all on the history, except that PAL was an American Safety Razor brand, right?
PAL was an ASR brand. They marketed their version of the injector (according to Wait's Compendium) after certain Schick patents had expired. They are from the 1950'-60's.
Are you saying I don't know my light from my reft? You may have a point. Yes, adjustables on right, injectomatic upper left. Main bralfunction.
The Pal Adjustable, set wide open, is the most aggressive I've ever used, possibly second only to a Rolls that one hasn't gotten the hang of yet. But as stated above, they sure did have lots of quality control issues so that may only have been my experience. The Injectomatic had a nice bite, too. Both were more aggressive for me than any Schick. I now wish I hadn't parted with my Pal Adj. but ah well.
Pal was originally known as Pal Cutlery Company based in Massachusetts and later in New York in the 1920s and 1930s. They made double edge razors and double edge blades similar to Gillette razors of the time. After the company went out of business and in the early 1950s, the brand name was acquired by American Safety Razor Company, aka GEM, aka Personna, who continued to make double edge razors and blades under the Pal name but also marketed its injector razors and injector blades under the name after Schick's patents on injector razors expired. More Pal injectors were sold in Europe than in the US because Schick pretty much owned the injector market in the US. Even Gillette's attempt at an injector failed because people equated injector with Schick. That's why you find more Pal injectors on eBay UK than you do on eBay US.
a bit aggressive to me! I have the exact same 5 razors as Slivo has pictured. The Pal adjustable is a tad bit aggressive for me. Now I am quite fond of mild razors. This Pal is not mild. Now guys used to more aggressive razor might say otherwise. The Flat Pal and the Star Trek Pal are also a bit aggressive. More so than some Schicks. Now remember, I'm partial to mild razors. DC
The Pal Adjustable is to the razor world what Bauhaus is to architecture and furniture. It is perhaps one of the few items from the pre-cartridge razors that would look at home in the next century. It is more slippery than many razors, even with the no slip plastic side. A high tech piece of functional modern art that is still well ahead of it's time.
I've seen some people describe the Pal adjustables as aggressive, while others had my experience in finding them rather mild. As I don't think that my face or beard are extraordinarily tough, I strongly suspect that this is either due to loose quality control, or changes in design over the period in which they were made. The adjustable in the box on, er, the other side of the picture from the Injectomatic, is milder than the one next to it. Haven't tried any of these in a while, though. Now that I'm reminded, I may take out the Injectomatic fairly soon. I want to use up the blades in my current razors first.
Interesting... I find this quite interesting... I have purchased a Schick Adjustable and some blades from a fellow on another site that I want to try. I am a lover of the Gillette's but would be remissed if I did not try a injector. I am going to keep my eye out for a Pal adjustable for future reference. I just wonder if there was QC differences between years of makes? Thanks for all the good information guys!
I have one of the Pal Injectomatics. I kind of like the handle, and find the shave is pretty similar to a Schick L type.
I've read several times that the QC on the Pal Adjustable wasn't good but I've also read several times that people love the Pal Adjustable. It seems to be one of those razors where you'll get a good one or a bad one... kind of like Merkur's DE razors... so good luck.
As they used to say at Basic Training in Fort Campbell.....YOUR OTHER RIGHT....:transport024 CAPs intended because the Drill Sgt. always screamed it
As far as I know, no one ever found a way to accurately date Pal's razors with the specificity Gillette can be dated, due to an absence of date codes. Apart from general decade ranges, I'm unsure they can be dated at all. I once had a particularly bad Pal Adj...obviously and visibly bad. It had been machined that way. You could still get a shave out of it but it just wasn't right and would be truly dangerous if you didn't realize it was defective (as I learned to my cost).
If you buy one that is new or almost new, the Pal Adjustable is one of the best razors both in quality and use IMHO. There is a thread by some of the best and most knowledgeable Injector addicts on one of these Boards that quantified the used Pals as having weak or faulty springs, Floating Tension Bar spring, from abuse or over use. They also had a way of adjusting some of them so that the gap and dials were tuned up to original specs. I ended up buying several new ones with the cardboard insturctions and the original copper storage blade still in the head. They are outstanding and have the heavier head that is different than most injectors. There are two attachments that show the cardboard instructions and the copper storage blade on an unused Pal Adjustable. Sorry for the blurred picture as I couldn't hold the razor still enough. Doug
Also, I've heard that while the Pal Adj. (if it works) will range from pretty aggressive to very aggressive, the non-adj. Pal, the one that looks like it without the dial, is somewhat mild when compared with, say, the older Schicks. I've never used the non-adj. so, again, someone else can correct me if I'm wrong.
This is my Pal injector. It's a beautiful razor. As far as I know it's only been used once, by me. I find the spring that holds the blade in is weak and the blade does not align perfectly. To me the design is flawed. But it's still a nice razor that will stay in my collection but probably not used again. Len
