The almost sort of Comprehensive Guide to the Gillette Tech

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.

 

Ok, here's my other oval-slotted tech. I call it that since I think it actually might be a contract tech, so I paired it with the appropriate handle for the pics.



The reason I think this is all a contract tech is because I saw an eBay listing today from one of those seller's who actually deals in razors, and he listed it as a contract tech. It also has the 2-tone head like mine. It didn't show up well in the pics, but the cap looks like copper, but the base plate is goldish. Could the cap actually be copper? The top cap is not creased, if that matters.

What'dya think?

Thanks

 

Handles...
I believe the fat handle is made of aluminum since it is light, and when I scrubbed it when I received it a few years ago, it didn't change color. I don't remember which head this came with. I never kept the heads with the handles since none matched in color, so I assumed they were mismatched by others.



Here are my 2 oval-slotted baseplates next to each other. On the top in each pic is the slightly darker one which I believe may be a contract tech. Note that the "contract" one is slightly wider if you look closely.



So, could the wider one be a "contract"? The lettering on both are identical: "PAT. NOS. ON PACKAGE."

 

they are both post war,this is a war tech

note the triangle slot type baseplate but with oval slots and stamped "s".
this is the triangle slot one..

here is a contract tech set..triangular slot baseplate

here is a 1945 contract tech with oval "s" stamped early baseplate..


and here is your gold contract tech circa 1946 with post war oval slot baseplate.


hope this helps.

check out mr razor's website for more detailed look.

https://mr-razor.com/

 

Thanks.

Oh, yes, I always look at Mr. Razor's site, but it sometimes makes my head spin with all the variations, lol. But what's the difference between that 1946 contract tech's head and the one in my picture, which also has oval slots?

I won't link to it, since I'm not sure it's allowed, even though it's a BIN listing, but here are pics of what the seller is calling a contract tech.

Looks the same as mine, although I'd guess this handle isn't zamak, and has different plating.

And why is one of mine a bit wider than the other?

Thanks

 

that is a post war/gold 1946.look closely between the 2 baseplates,yours and the oval slot "s " stamped one.with width difference most likely a stamping issue/blank size.

 

Dupe post.

 

Thanks. How do we pin the head to 1946 and not 1947-1951-ish? Could be the wrong handle.

I'm not seeing an 'S' here; that's why I'm confused. I do see the 'S' on the other ovals.





Mine:


So seller is wrong? Not a contract? No 'S':

Mismatched contract handle to non-contract head?
Thanks

 

look at the shape of the baseplate...
prewar triangular on left,same as "s" with oval ports. Same as New LC..post war on right..same as New SC..What do i need to explain here..


and my rh example is a dual crease canadian cap..

 

Thanks.

The 1946 "contract" in mr razor's pic shows the oval holes, no 'S', and shows the indentations in the baseplate, which clamps the blade close to the edge as in the post-war. So given the base plate alone, what identifies it as a "contract"? It's not the same geometry as a prewar triangular. That's what I was asking. It looks the same as my "oval-slotted" post-war. And also the same as the one in the eBay pic, which you said was a 1946 post-war, not a "contract."

For a triangular slot, if it's black, it's a "contract'. What if it isn't black, as in the 1942 one above from mr razor? He doesn't specifically call that one "contract", but "WW II issue". Not sure if they're synonyms. And what if the black plating has completely come off?

I thought this was true: all "contracts" have the pre-war geometry, regardless of the shape of the slots. Is it true?

Sorry for the detailed questions, but I'm an IT guy, and I used to be a programmer. When you program, the decision tree for logic has to be complete. I'm essentially trying to determine the algorithm for identifying a "contract" if you only have one piece of the 3-piece razor, since you never know if people have swapped out parts or not.



I looked at post #1 again:

I've added bold italics.

My top cap could be "red brass" or "copper" then. So could the one from eBay. Isn't that a clue to it being a "contract?" Or did "non-contracts" have that too?

This could all be academic, since one would think that a pre-war and a "contract" would shave the same given the same geometry, but in the vid I posted above, the guy said he likes the way the "contract" shaves the best. Again, I'm not sure if he's tried British and Canadian Techs.

I'm confused by this from the first post:

Early war and contract years are the same. Why? They weren't made for civilians during U.S. involvement years.

Plus, mr razor has a 1946 as a "contract", which is out of the range of "contract" years according to the above. Someone must be wrong.

 

all good.

post war,war ,.prewar.

 

That's the easy case, since the middle one has an 'S' and pre-war geometry.


Reminds me of some 30 years ago, I was working with a business user on a financial calculation for our software, and he gave me one formula. I went back to him with a 3x3 grid, or something like that, and told him their were 9 distinct cases. He looked puzzled, then realized the differences in the cases and why I needed 9 different formulas to calculate properly.


If I see bakelite handles, S's, ovals with pre-war geometry, or black plates and caps, I know I got a "contract." It's the other cases that confuse me.

 

the "contract" is purely about the handle ,nothing more,black,gold or pewter looking..the head/cap/ baseplate is just manufacturing upgrades..materials are determined by shortages etc during war years.avaiability.left overs..

 

the 's' oval plate ..it's the only true war only version,no civilian models..

 

Well, we do know that there were 2 different geometries among those 3 Tech types. So at least 2 have to shave differently, however small the difference is. Now in the vid I posted above, the guy said he liked the "contract" the best. He also talks about 3 different gaps.

So I do have a "contract" then, since I have a "contract" zamak handle. I can put my pre-war or post-war head on it. One thing I do know -- that "contract" handle came with one of my techs -- I don't know if it was with the pre-war or the post-war (not the one with the embossed "Gillette" on the top of the cap, though). It could have been mis-matched by previous owners, but there is no way to tell.

 

yes i believe so.because any of these head/cap configurations were avaliable.where i question it is the plating.only the post war comes in gold plating as far as i know,was yours originally black or gold?
"s" oval slot early plates were produced during war years for war sets,in a couple of different cases,plastic,pocket sets etc,all the gold plated ones were for civilian use and sold after war was over,with left over parts and then the new postwar baseplate,i still don't fully understand all the theory as there are many holes in the story.most of this info is from other collectors,gillette employess and reseaching books,charts and fixed ads.where does the "contract" part come from?light handle made under contract for the war department?baseplates in steel with painted caps? hard to say.more to research.only the U.S had them,england didn't have a tech,only after the war,other countries including the U.S had bakelite sets also.there are still some unknowns...