The almost sort of Comprehensive Guide to the Gillette Tech

I'm a big fan of Tech's. Thanks for sharing all this valuable information. I find it very interesting.

 

u.s ww2 era tech sets

​

 

while visually similar to the canadian fb tech,the caps/plates do not intechange beyond the threads.

 

#27

​

 

thank you Ryan.i had another handle with a triangle slot canadian tech as well,but this flat bottom one is the only one i have seen so far.the cap and baseplate are unique. although they look similar to the brit version ,they don't interchange.tolerances are quite different.it also has gillette etched on the cap,long before it was on 1951 up versions.

 

what year do you think it is?.after the triangle slot tech but before the oval slot? brit flat bottoms were around from 1948 to 1950 ish.but the canadian one has an etched cap similar to 1951 up.

 

I've always been uncertain about identifying a contract tech head. Do they always have triangular slots, always oval, or can they be either?

Here is a "pre-war" tech head I have. The handle in the pic is for a contract tech, correct? I don't remember if it came with that head. I've always assumed that the head is regular "pre-war" and not a "contract". I assume handle , cap, and baseplate are brass. What do you think?

Note that the cap seems like uncoated brass, while the baseplate still has its gold plating.

 

Here is my post-war tech head. I assume pre-1951, correct?I also have a similar one, but without the "Gillette" embossed on the top of the cap. Both are NDC.

 

yep,1949-51 ish.

they came in various forms..oval slot gold in 1946 was one of the last contract ones..

 

this one has a single crease cap..

 

Thanks. So mine is probably not a contract, right? Although that handle is.

BTW, in addition to the other post-war I mentioned, I also have a 1965 zamak travel tech.

Here's an interesting vid, but frankly I'm even more confused now, lol. He says Techs were made in 3 different blade gaps, but I'm not sure if that includes the British, Canada, and other countries. My understanding is that the 3 gaps are: pre-war, contract, and post-war, but I've also heard that for post-war, gaps can be different. (I've never compared my 3 post-wars in that detail.) And I know that there are several British ones with different geometries. And for aggressiveness, pre-war>contract>post-war.

Note that, like many people, he doesn't like the term "pre-war," since it is innacurate.

 

i would agree on the prewar term,but it only really applies to u.s razors due to their later ww2 involvement.your contract tech could be accurate.


but a could be a mixed set.
canadian triangular slot razors are said to have the largest gap/blade exposure of the early techs.brit techs fb techs are just different for their own sake and not even called techs officially.post war techs are all the same as far as i know gap/exposure wise.the canadian double crease caps seem to be a one year or 2 year /late 40s deal.canada stopped tech production in 1954 and there are no seen examples on date coded razor with said cap.

 

Thanks.

About 2 or 3 years ago, I bought my first techs, in separate listings. One was the pre-war, the other was a post-war (not the one shown in the pic.)
Neither had matching handles, so I don't remember which head that contract tech handle came with.

When I received it, the contract tech handle had a lot of black on it. I wasn't aware at the time that a) it was a contract handle, and b) that it was supposed to be black.

For b), it wasn't obvious, since it wasn't completely black. In fact, it just looked like it needed a good cleaning, so I scrubbed it down. I thought it was just a ball-end. I was just beginning to learn about techs at the time.

Given the color the handle now is, I guess it isn't brass. It is too heavy to be aluminum. Not heavy enough (I think) to be stainless steel. So it's zamak?

I had vigorously scrubbed down the top cap and the baseplate of my pre-war, yet the top cap turned color, but the baseplate retained its gold color. If I remember correctly, though, the top cap wasn't very goldish when I got it anyway.

My other post-war is similar, with the top cap and baseplate not matching color. I will have to take a pic and post it later.

My 1965 zamak head, with the short travel handle, has the faceted cap, as I'm sure you are aware. I got it in a lot with other razors I was looking for -- didn't really care to get it particularly. Wouldn't you know, it turned out to be from my birth quarter! (My Slim is right year, but wrong quarter. Had I been born the year before, I would have needed a GOLDFINGER slim, lol.)

 

is it magnetic? if not then most likely zamak

 

The handle? Tried it -- no. I guess zamak, then.