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The Eversharp Schick G Type Injector Razor

As you start to shop for vintage safety razors you'll notice that, in addition to the many Gillette double edge and Gem/Star/Ever-Ready single edge models, there is a third group of razors known as "injector" razors. From time to time people post questions about how they work, how to determine if they're good and how to fix them if they're not good. We have a pretty accepted set of terms for DE razor anatomy but most of us aren't comfortable discussing the parts of an injector razor, never mind how they function.

Recently one of our more experienced DE collectors who goes by the user name poonjaji contacted me with a concern about a gold handled G type razor that he'd received that had a very loose head. He observed that the spring rivet was loose and I suggested how he could re-set the rivet using a bearing ball and a vice-grips tool. Much to my surprise, he ultimately just sent me the razor. I decided that I should document this particular razor fix so that people would feel a little less queasy about approaching these razors.

First, there's a good reference for identifying the various models of "Schick" injector razors. It can be found here. If anyone knows of other on-line references, I'll gladly add them to this posting.

To the casual observer, the Schick razors of the mid 30's to mid 40's and the Eversharp Shicks of the mid 40's to mid 50's all look to be the same design. For the sake of this article we'll treat them as more or less the same. I have, so far, only owned G type razors, so that's what you will see in the illustrations. Most of what you see here should apply also to the E type and even the very rare D and F types.

Here's a view of the underside of a G type head:

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It has one "floating" part, which I've named the floating blade plate. I pulled that name out of the air. I'm open to other part names. The blade plate is held in place by a large curved spring (the big blur in the center of the figure). The early versions of the E model razor head readily allow this spring to pivot ~110° counterclockwise for removing the blade plate. The later models (including all of the G types) have the spring retained in such a way that it has to be seriously deformed before it can be pivoted. I'm convinced that many springs get damaged as people attempt to open these razors up and I strongly recommend against that practice.

Here's a side view of the head:

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The beauty of the injector head design is that it allows replacement of the blade without actually handling the blade itself. As with an SE razor, the blade cutting edge is positioned by direct contact with two small protruding stops, one at each end of the safety bar. The spring plays a very important rôle here. It forces the blade forward against the stops (or the stops backward against the blade) and at the same time clamps the blade tightly to avoid blade chatter.

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Since the blade is inserted from the side of the razor (pushing the old blade out ahead of it) there's a risk of drawing the new blade's edge across the nearside stop during its insertion, effectively ruining it. In order to avoid that, the injector cartridge key and key slot are designed to force the floating blade plate outward (to the left in the illustrations) while the new blade is inserted up and away from the stop.

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After the cartridge key is removed, the spring forces the blade plate to the right, seating the stops against the new blade edge and rigidly clamping it in place.

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The "problem" razor's head that I mentioned earlier was very loose. As you can see, the blade plate was already floating. The risk of using such a razor primarily is that the blade will "chatter". This really means that it will bite you. :scared: It may also means that the blade won't automatically seat against the stops. Practically speaking though, once you've pressed against the safety bar the blade plate floats into its appropriate position anyway.

While the rivet on the problem razor was slightly loose, it appeared to be soundly set and I thought there was a greater risk of damaging the (irreplaceable) rivet than of it failing to hold the spring load. With that in mind, I opted to apply a localized "tweak" (end moment) to reform the spring as close to the rivet end as possible using needle nose pliers cushioned with a rag. Alternatively I could have wrapped the spring in cloth tape to protect it.

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Two or three twists of the pliers and all looseness was gone.

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Here's my excruciating guide to injector sex. If you want music with that, you'll need to view Mantic's video.

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This shows the blade entering an empty razor. This is actually hard work, since the blade has to wedge the blade cavity open as it's going in. Usually you're pushing the old blade out, to the left.

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That's it for now. I welcome any questions or comments and will try to improve this posting as I mull it over.

- Chris
 
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Wow, awesome job!! :w00t:

The injectors give a wonderful shave, and are very under-appreciated on the board.

I purchased an E type last weekend, it joins my I type Hydro-Magic. Both are in great shape, and provide wonderful shaves.
 

Wow! Hopefully the razor was a sufficient "payment" for all of the work you put into that documentation. Clearly it is in the hands of its rightful owner. :001_smile

I hope this post does not get buried, but gets put into a Wiki or Sticky somewhere!
 
. . .I hope this post does not get buried, but gets put into a Wiki or Sticky somewhere!

Absolutely. Very useful information. Although it's not quite the same as all the original razor instructions, I wonder if it might be a good idea to post it in that thread. Then people looking for injector instructions will be able to find it easily. Thanks for posting this.:thumbup:
 
Kudos to Chris and Poonjaji!!!!

Thanks to both of you for your effort. As long as there are gentlemen like you two on B&B, I will continue to become a better man.

Thanks for setting such a good example for us to follow.
 
I have one of these with a beautiful white marbled handle with a similar problem. I can push the large bowed part of the spring with my thumb and actually see the other curved end of the spring move against the floating blade plate. The difference I see in mine and the one in your pictures is that mine has a "wing" on each side of the spring, whereas the one in yours doesn't.

I don't understanad exactly what you did to tweak the spring. Can you clarify please?

Edit to add pictures. If I understood correctly you put the pliers through the spring and turned it. Do you see any way to fix this model?

And thanks for all the effort you put in this. I love the injectors and would like to put this one in the rotation.

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I have one of these with a beautiful white marbled handle with a similar problem. I can push the large bowed part of the spring with my thumb and actually see the other curved end of the spring move against the floating blade plate. The difference I see in mine and the one in your pictures is that mine has a "wing" on each side of the spring, whereas the one in yours doesn't.

I don't understanad exactly what you did to tweak the spring. Can you clarify please?

Edit to add pictures. If I understood correctly you put the pliers through the spring and turned it. Do you see any way to fix this model?

Can you swing the spring counterclockwise to open the razor or is there a tab on the blade plate to the left of the spring?

The ears on the spring would get in the way of what I did but if the spring is free to pivot open you could work with it while its swung open then close the head back up.

- Chris
 
Well I'll be darned, the spring does rotate away fron the blade plate. I thought they were locked in place. Thank you very much!

See, I can't do that with the G type. Now just experiment with tweaking the spring a little while it's free to get it to preload the rattle out of the head. You can clean out the blade channel in the head while you're at it. That's why people like that model!
 
Now I'm trying to get it back in place, there's a little ntab that the top of the spring has to slide over.

O.K., if you have to cheat it, you can curl up the leading corner of the spring very slightly so it will ride up over that, but be sure that you have your spring the way you want it because it won't swing back out willingly once it snaps into place. It would be better if you could use a very small screwdriver to ramp the spring up as it approaches the tab so that it can cross it.
 
I had the same looseness with an E and was indeed able to fix it by following these directions (though it's a little harder since the E has those little flaps that stick up off the spring).

Cheers.
 
Thank you. With the screwdriver I was able to open up my "E" model and discover all the grunge I didn't know about. I'm off to clean it now.
 
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