What a Red tip taught me

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by richdad, Oct 19, 2018.

  1. Lord Gillette

    Lord Gillette Active Member

    I just shaved with a red tip. It shaved closer and felt better in my hands than the fare tip. Love it. But the difference between the two isn't that huge.
     
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  2. Lord Gillette

    Lord Gillette Active Member

    but the nail polish will come off after awhile, right?
     
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  3. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    Focus on one razor even if it's just for one shave, especially for a 30 day period. If you are the kind of person that can learn from mistakes your technique can improve. One of the most active threads on TSD month after month is The 30 Day Rule/Focus thread. Sure it's full of off topic discussion, SOTD photos, Enablers, inside jokes & shenanigans, but the unhighjackable nature of the topic is improving technique. Veteran & Newbie shavers always welcome.

    Short of getting the knob ceracoated (baked on ceramic) nail polish is a quick cheap alternative lacquer. Modern products are quite sophisticated in their formulations.
    I haven't stripped and refinished my RT knob yet since it's
    s 95% intact. Just doing my Boy Scout preparedness.
     
  4. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    :signs002:













    :happy097:
     
  5. brit

    brit in a box

    thats what happened, cut lip..
     
  6. Lord Gillette

    Lord Gillette Active Member


    Might need to try it out. Seems like a good idea.
     
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  7. brit

    brit in a box

    my incident was clearly an error on my part,rest of the shave was great..but my friend liked it more than i did,so he got it..i wasn t that into it ,so the sale money bought me another rocket.it was my peak british RAD era and i hadn t been de shaving for that long. if another redtip fell in my lap i would use it but i m not there yet.i still rarely use my fatboy and slim at 5 or less..
     
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  8. John Ruschmeyer

    John Ruschmeyer Well-Known Member

    This thread inspired me to pull out my Red Tip for today's shave. Since I hadn't posted a photo of in in a while...
    IMG_0745.jpg
    Between the passage of time and one last polishing attempt, most of the pink areas settled into various shades of coppery brown. The razor itself is straight and smooth. The eroded areas and divot on the doors are not noticeable when shaving. Today's shave, using a Nacet blade, was pretty much anything I could ask for out of a shave.

    A bit of a side note... over on B&B, they have a club/brotherhood called "Plating is over-rated! - The Brotherhood of worn-down Beauty". Now, I don't have an issue with user-grade razors that are missing most or all of their plating, but some of these people post photos of supposedly "great" razors that I would not put anywhere near my face (sorry, I draw the line at verdigris). I posted one of the "after" photos of this razor from the other thread and was told by more than one person that they would not shave with it and weren't the areas where the nickel was flaking off sharp and dangerous?
     
  9. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    Sure. Sharp like a razor blade. Feel free to start a gathering here John!

    I've got an Aristocrat that's lost it's gold wash off much of the doors. A NEW LC showing the red brass on it's cap and a SC that got "cleaned up" with 60 grit sandpaper, too. I sent a '76 Olympic Schick to @Spock that he could post - the handle is funky. Considering the amount of vintage gear kicking around and being used I'd be proud to post my glorious clunkers.
     
  10. John Ruschmeyer

    John Ruschmeyer Well-Known Member

    The funny thing is that the nickel isn't flaking off... certainly no more than on any heavily brassed razor. Actually, the only time I've ever seen nickel plating actually flaking off was on one of my pre-War Techs. Usually, it just seems to wear thin or completely evaporate.

    As for distressed gear... that's nothing... hold my beer while I pull some things together. :)
     
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  11. Redrock

    Redrock Well-Known Member

  12. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Krylon international harvester red has long been the gold standard for matching the red tip's knob color.
     
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  13. jwr3265

    jwr3265 Well-Known Member

    I think my Red Tip is my favorite vintage Gillette, with Rangers Tech, Milord, Rocket.

    Have used it the last 2 shaves with a Racer...BBS.

    Excellent razor, weight, knurling, sweet spot for aggressiveness.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  14. kfbrady

    kfbrady Well-Known Member

    This thread inspired me to bring out my '56 Red Tip for this morning's shave. For most of the last few months I've been using my '58 Fat Boy on 7.

    Well, the Red Tip certainly gave me a good shave. Comparing the heads, as you'd expect the profiles are practically identical. They're both fairly chunky with the higher '50s profile compared to the later Slims and Super Speeds with their 60's profile. The Fat Boy has a slight edge in weight (78g rather than 64g) and the Red Tip's handle is just a little shorter.

    Overall I think I prefer the Fat Boy. At 7 I get a little more blade feel - I used both with new GSB blades - than the Red Tip and I prefer the slightly heavier weight.

    They're both excellent razors though and if I only owned one razor I'd be quite happy with either of them.

    IMHO and YMMV, of course!
     
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2018
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  15. Parallax

    Parallax Member

    Not a bad little razor. I've long kept one in the top drawer of my cabinet for touching up around my sideburns (without soap or cream -- just a bit of hot water). The bulk of my shave has been, for the last six or so years, with a Futur set all the way to 6. The red tip isn't near as aggressive but I find it ideal for touch up.

    After so many years in this stable habit (Futur and red tip), I'm exploring other razors. But no regrets. Still love my red tip.
     
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  16. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    Just an observation. I own a few Red Tips, and the photo of yours looks off, to me. It looks to have an enormous amount of blade gap. Was yours tightened down, when you took the picture??
     
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  17. Lord Gillette

    Lord Gillette Active Member

    How does the red tip compare to the ranger and milord?
     
  18. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    I rank them in the following order; Most aggressive to least aggressive:
    Milord Tech
    Ranger Tech
    Red Tip
     
  19. jeraldgordon

    jeraldgordon TSD's Mascot

    Not sure why, but I find the Red Tip harsh. Not too aggressive, but harsh on my skin. Wrong angle? Maybe. Wrong blade? Possibly. I just don’t use it any more...
     
    brit likes this.
  20. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    The original gold washed razors were sealed in a nitrocellulose lacquer. Nail polish should certainly be a viable alternative since it is also a nitrocellulose lacquer. The better long term option is to use a spray type nitrocellulose lacquer like the stuff used to finish guitars, as long as it doesn't say not suitable for use on metals then it should be okay to use. Only thing is you will need to disassemble the razor when you do it if it is a full restore so you can get full coverage and finely sand after coating which could be up to 10 or 12 coats since it goes on very thin.

    If you are just trying to keep the rot from spreading or making contact with the skin nail polish is the better quick and dirty way to go.

    Making sure the surface area is clean of debris before coating should be a given but I have to add that just in case.
     
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