Gillette Three-hole Blade

I have one of Gillette's three-hole razor blades. These were the blades that Gillette made through 1935.  They say "No Stropping" and "No Honing" on the face. They sported a four digit code: this one is 2425. It has a meaning for when the blade was produced, but I have not broken the code yet. They were made through 1929.  The New blade, which was slotted, began in 1930. The New blade would fit all the Old Type 3-hole razors as well as slotted razor.

I have a Twinplex Stropper that can be used to strop the old three-hole blades and modern blades as well.

The blade is ready for stropping. With each rotation of the handle two edges are stropped simultaneously then rotating the blade 180 degrees to get it ready to strop the other two edges simultaneously. 

Below is my Gillette Model 100 razor. It has the nick name "Double Ring" given for the two rings on the handle just below the head.

The handle insert has its serial number stamped on it. This one is 225338 which means it was made in 1905.

The base plate and handle are one piece. The top plate has a long screw on it.

Next, the blade is placed over the threaded rod and the two alignment studs.

The head is placed on the baseplate. This blade is pretty ridged. 

I have seen advertisements touting this razor as an adjustable razor. As the handle is tightened, the blade is bent downward. So, theoretically, there are many points one could use for a shave from a large exposure to small.

Next the head is screwed all the way down leaving the smallest exposure.

This is a very nice open combed razor.

The back side of the blade says, "Not to be Re-sharpened."

Blade Storage

 I got this tackle box at Walmart to hold my razor blades. I have filled it. It is a good place to keep the majority of my blades. I still have SE and injector blades that I keep separately because the box if full, but this works well for the most part.

Blades in Waiting

I got two magnets and glued them to the inside of my medicine cabinet door. On one I put my current double edge blade, and on the other I put my current single edge blade. I have been removing my blades and cleaning them and drying them after each shave. It is especially important with my SE blades which tend to be carbon steel blades. Otherwise, they would tend to rust.

This has worked out very well.

Sha-Ve-Zee Blue Back Blade

I had my first shave with the Sha-Ve-Zee Blue Back Blade today. It was a very nice shave. I had three days growth, and I used the blade in my GEM Junior 1907 lather catcher. I did two passes and ended up with a great shave. I took some pictures of the blade to show the differences from a modern SE blade. I took these pictures after my shave. I washed and dried the blade and coated it with some 3in1 Oil and put it back in its original wrapper for a future shave.

 I washed and dried the blade and coated it with some 3in1 Oil.

It has a little surface rust, but nothing on the edge.

Here you can see the Sha-Ve-Zee on the spine.

The blade is .009 in like modern blades, but it has no cut outs or notches.

The spine is .068 in thick, almost two times a modern blade.

This is my CVS CS blade. Its spine is .037 in thick.

Blade Testing - Gem and Pal Carbon Steel

Andrew of Andrew's Shave Shop was looking for testers for two blades he is carrying. I volunteered, and he sent me two of each to try out and give feed back. Both blades are by Personna, are 3-facet, and carbon steel.

This week I will be putting these blades to the test. My plan is to use one of each for each shave Monday through Friday. I will use one blade for the first pass, change blades, and use the other for the second pass. Then I will do the same next day reversing the order. I will be using my Micromatic Open Comb, Micromatic Clog-pruf, and Micromatic Bullet Tip razors for the tests.

Monday:

The plan was to use the Gem CS blade for the first pass and then change over to the Pal CS for the second pass. That is exactly what I did. The GEM blade worked well on the first pass. It was more audible than the Pal probably because it was encountering thicker beard. I followed up with the Pal on the second pass. It did a great job of finishing off this excellent shave. I got no nicks, cuts or irritation from the blades. After rinsing the blades thoroughly and drying them off, I put them aside for tomorrows shave. I will reverse the order for that shave and use my Micromatic Clog-pruf.

Thanks, Andrew, for the opportunity to try these blades out.

Vintage Blades

My old friend, Mort, brought me two packs of some vintage blades: Twinplex Perfect Edge Blades and Wade & Butcher Cleverly Curved Blades.

I had seen vintage Twinplex Stroppers, but this is the first time I have seen any Twinplex Blades. They are made in Switzerland.

The blades are individually wrapped twice.

The strings of a rare old violin and the sensitive edges of a fine razor are affected alike by the temperature. To give their best one must be tuned. The other stropped before using. This blade will shave with marvelous smoothness for many more shaves if stropped regularly on a Twinplex stropper.

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The Wade & Butcher blades look like original Gillette three hole blades except that they are curved.

Fit all safety razors in which the blade has to be curved. The blades you have been waiting for -- for your razor. Highest grade steel -- three times as thick -- assuring durability, temper, hardness and keenness. Curved -- They won't crack when clamped.

Personna ZiPak Reloaded

I got three Personna ZiPak dispensers from an auction on eBay. I read on a forum where you can easily disassemble one and refill it with new blades. So, I decided to do that. One dispenser had only two blades in it, so I removed those and put them in the dispenser with fewer blades.

This is the dispenser with just two blades in it.

Here I have taken it down to the point where the blades are accessible. 

Next, I removed the two blades along with the pusher.

 The dispenser is made up of four parts. From top to bottom: the bottom piece, the spring/used blade holder, the pusher, and the clear red plastic top.

Here I have an assortment of blades ready to go back in the dispenser.

First, I put the pusher back into the top piece.

Step two, I loaded the blades into the top.

Step C: the spring goes on top of the blades.

Lastly, the back/bottom is attached.

Here is the newly reloaded ZiPak dispenser. I have four Wilkies, two Personnas, and a Gillette Rubie ready for use.

I Receive a Blade PIF

I signed up for and won this blade PIF on TSD. I got one tuck each of Rapira, Voskhod, and Shark blades and four tucks of Gillette Wilkinson Sword blades.

The Patrick PIF

I received a package in the mail today from my friend Patrick. He said he had a few single edge blades to send m, so I was expecting an envelope with the blades in it. He sure surprised me.

I opened it and said, "Wow! This is more than a few blades!"

There was a puck of Williams Shaving Soap and a puck of Van Der Hagen Deluxe Shave Soap. And blades? A mass of blades.

• 10 Treet Single Edge blades
• 9 other unmarked single edge blades
• 10 Wilkinson Sword Classic DE blades
• 46 assorted DE blades

That is two soaps and 85 blades. Thanks, Patrick, for a great PIF.

Double Edge Blade Assortment

6  Gillette 7 O'Clock Permasharp Stainless

2 Lord Platinum Class

2 Gillette Nacet Stainless

2 Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge

5 Feather

1 Dorco Stainless Platinum ST300

1 Croma Diamat Stainless

2 Super Max Titanium

2 Super-Max Super Stainless

3 Super Iridium Extra Stainless

1 Ladas Super Stainless

1 Personna Platinum Super Stainless Red

2 Perma-Sharp Stainless

1 Perma-Sharp Super

1 Treet Platinum Super Stainless

1 Rapira Stainless

1 Voskhod Teflon Coated

5 Shark Super Stainless

1 Gillette Silver Blue

6 Wilkinson Sword (singles)

5 Wilkinson Sword Classic (white box)

5 Wilkinson Sword Classic (black box)

I Won the "Come on Spring PIF!!"

I was one of the winners of a PIF on The Shave Den. The name of the PIF was "Come on Spring PIF!!" Up for grabs was 120 blade assortment of Russian double edged blades. It was open to everyone, so I entered. You can't win if you don't enter.

The Rules

Respond by saying you’re in and add a picture of your favorite baseball team. This can be anything that has to do with your team. Vintage pictures always welcome!

My entry:
I'm in. My first major league game was a Colt 45s game in 1962. They later became the Astros.

My blades arrived Thursday, March 19.

April is going to be Adjustable Month for me. I will be using my Gillette Slim and Gillette Fatboy for ten days each. The other ten days will be covered by my Schick M2 Adjustable. Here are some pictures of  the Fatboy and Slim getting acquainted with my new Russian blades. Thanks, NCoxSTL, for a great PIF. That's a lot of blades.