Vintage Brass 1930's Gillette Tech Safety Razor

This wild antique find was actually inspired by a trip with my partner to Daylesford. There, we visited the local Antiquities store Brick Lane Bazaar, which was when I laid eyes on an antique Gillette Tech 1930's full brass, long comb safety razor.

Prologue

It was in great condition, and yes, I was in 2 minds about acquiring it, simply because I did not know anything about this specific model of razor. I seriously thought that it was, in my own mind, rusted and damaged and upon holding it, my mind turned a bit towards purchasing it. I thought I'd sit on the decision, and think about it, because it was $70 bucks that I was not 100 percent sure on spending.

I really wanted something to take back to Melbourne from the trip, but on the day that we left, I thought to myself that if the razor didn't pop up in my mind before we left Daylesford, it was not to be.

Surely enough, as we were 120 kilometres from Daylesford, guess what happened.... It did! Simply put, it was too late to go back.

I then set about looking on eBay for available items, specific to the safety razor I saw in Daylesford and after a day or so of searching, I found a 1930's Brass Gillette Tech for sale with original case and in great condition. In no two minds about this purchase, it was done in a heartbeat!

The Good Stuff!

Now to the good stuff, and the fun part when I received the delivery and by goodness, it was all that I could imagine. A perfect conditioned, but tarnished brass, Gillette Tech Safety Razor. I'll tell you what, for it's age, it was simply impeccable.

There were absolutely no cracks, no scrapes or marks on the handle or top and bottom cap. There were no defects on the long comb stems from the head of the bottom cap, and all she needed was a good clean and a bit of TLC. Yes, brass does tarnish quite quickly if given the chance, but I wanted to see how beautiful this Safety Razor could get once given the chance, taking it back to it's former glory.

The Good Stuff - The clean up

My Grandfather was kind enough to offer his Ultra Sonic Bath for the first initial sanitation and top layer clean up of the razor. We attempted this with a diluted solution of Ammonia, Water and Dish detergent and set the razor to clean for 3 hours.

Layer by layer, we started to see some of the Razor's former glory come to life, and in the same instant, my Grandfather and I started to smile. We couldn't contain ourselves. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing something come to life in front of your very eyes, and that is what was happening.

Cutting the long story short, the ammonia took away majority of the tarnish, with some needed polishing and elbow grease for the final stages, needing to be commenced.

I used 2 products for this task, both of which my brother, who has experience with them cleaning his guns and hand made ammunition, suggesting them to me. They barely have any abrasive properties, and just allow you to take your time and take of the final hard-to-get layers of tarnish off the surface.

The first product was called Autosol, and it is a metal polish that when used sparingly, gave AMAZING results to take off all of the remaining tarnish. I used this with a cotton rag, but you could just as easily use a Dremel tool to buff the tarnish off. After 1.5 hours with this, I was left with an amazing shine and finish.

But come on, we all want out Safety Razors to shine like sun was rising behind them, right? Of course! The next and second course of final polishing came from a product called Mothers Mag and Aluminium Polish. 

This polish is again a very non-abrasive polish, that simply buffs out all imperfections of the prep polish and gives the surface an amazing final shine. Guess what? Exquisite results after using a cotton cloth, and a couple of nice ingredients called time and patience (both of which the razor seems to have given all of it's previous owners to last this long).

Please see below images for some before and after shots of the razor restoration.

Summation

The final result is an amazing Safety Razor that, lets be quite honest, they simply do not make anything like this anymore. A very honest, true to it's time, elegantly designed Safety Razor that I am proud to have as part of my stable of Safety Razors. Guys, this is why we are part of this amazing hobby, so let's all try and do this and bring back some of the staples of which have given us what we all love today. And I must say, it is AMAZINGLY satisfying to so do, and an honour as well. Happy Shaving!