The almost sort of Comprehensive Guide to the Gillette Tech

Thanks.

Handle or head?

The zamak "contract" handle had a lot of black on it that I thought was corrosion/dirt of some sort, so I used something abrasive to clean it.

I looked at my eBay purchase history, but all they keep for viewing is a thumbnail pic, so although I can see the "contract" handle, I can't see much detail about the head. I bought my oval-slot and triangular slot about a week apart back in 2021. The other one looks like it has a fat handle in the thumbnail pic.

Both plates (oval and triangular) still are gold, but the caps are both copper-colored. I remember scrubbing both plates and both caps with something abrasive, since they were pretty dirty. I was curious why only the caps resulted in that copper color. The caps were definitely not black when I received them.

I took a quick look at that vid I posted again -- he does talk about British and Canadian ones. He shows some on-screen charts at the end that kinda summarizes the different gaps: .020, .025, and .030. Some gaps I think were only non-U.S. Vids can be good, but it would be nice to have a transcript of the audio for quick reference.

Mr. Razor's site is great, but does it shows every variation of a given razor? In other words, if it isn't shown on his site, does that mean it doesn't exist?

That silver-colored fat hande that I showed, I'm convinced it is aluminum. It could be from a British set:
https://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/Tech/1940s Safety Razor Set No14 aluminum Tech.jpg

UPDATE: I can see in my eBay purchase history that it came with an Old head -- so a mismatch. When I bought my New SC, New LC, and the Old, some didn't come with the correct handle, although I do have a gold common-bar that came with one of them. I was more interested in getting the different heads, and getting them with odd handles yielded better deals.

 

your contract handle most likely had a black coating on it originally.if the handle had gold plate it would have been sold after the war with either a leftover "s" stamped oval slot early baseplate or a post way baseplate,either one in gold plate to match.it seems the contract tech got it's name for that style of handle,regardless of case or baseplate.
mr.razor's site is very informative in many ways,but there are examples of missing razors/sets and such.his site is always updating as newly found examples and information come to light.few things are cut in stone when it comes to gillette.
as for the brits,they have some rareties.their red tip both ss and rocket is has the largest gap/exposure of all non adjustable tto's
the brits dabbled in aluminum fat handles ,france as well.

 

I just searched on eBay for "contract tech", and I only saw one or two with a black bakelite handle. None seemed to have oval-slotted S-marked pre-war geometry. Some had black caps.

A few ball-end handles with the grooves though. Many had the 2-tone head like mine -- copper-colored cap, gold baseplate. Some had standard fat handles, being sold as a "contract." Some had date codes stamped on the plate -- couldn't be a "contract" then.

I know many on Ebay don't know what they're talking about, though.

 

very true and most likely.copper looking caps are red brass and have more copper content than yellow.known for more strength,especially with the threaded portion and resistance against warpage when clamping.

that example has a post war plate/cap.on from early 1946 or late 1945 could have the 's " plate..they changed as the parts bins emptied of older parts.

 

as a side note.the gold plating on the later "contract"razors was very fragile,similar to the New open comb series.very thin and plated directly over the brass.later gold plated gillettes were gold plate over nickel.
most heavily used gold gillette razors from this era have little plating left.

 

Thanks. I remember talking about the variations of the black-handled super-speed in another thread.

 

the canadian flat bottom tech with 2 piece travel handle

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I have wondered about this Canadian one I found in this case. It is black and similar to a US military set, but with the built in mirror. Any thoughts?

 

yes,it's the canadian non military tech set circa 1953 ish.there is an NOS one for sale on ebay canada.the razor is an early 1939 -46 example.

 

Good ebay eye eh. And my bad, accidentally switched razors - it came with a 1951 razor that I will return (I was wrong, bourbon and Techs don’t go together after all.)
So these must have been left over US early 40’s cases they were too cheap to get rid of. So what, stick a plastic mirror in and dump them on Canadiens ten years later? Ahh. I guess I should be happy to have one of the near last Cdn Techs then. Perhaps they were sold for those heading to military duty in Korea?

 

possible,but there were khaki military ones as well. some,y-3 i think also had a unique fluted handle.

 

Thanks for that. I had not realized they sold well past WW2. Do you mean military type civilian razor, or military issue item regarding the khaki one you reference?

 

the pic is a khaki military issue ,now surplus set.there have been a few on ebay for the past few years,mostly NOS sets with 1951-53.date codes.the ones with the fold out inner lid front and separate mirror were ww2.

 

brit techs
aluminum #24



#27 thin handle tech

 

a-2 agentenina tech set

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PlanOfMan,
Thank you for the review. So based on the materials used a nickel plated brass fat handle Tech with triangular slots should be rather 1938 - 1941 than 1938 - 1945?
I have one along with a brand-new Canadian 1932 one.

 

that may apply for the U.S one.the Canadian was 1939-45.The Brits didn't have a tech until 1946.

 

Except for the hybrid. But then they used rhoduim, which they had access to.