Ultra cool Slant-Stroke bakelite DE razor

Hi all,

I'm pretty new at this forum, and looking very eager at all the vintage razors around the 'bay and locally. These can be had for chicken feed sometimes, like the one I wanted to show you to get some background on it. Here you go:







It's an american bakelite razor, black, from Slant-Stroke apparently. It's in pretty good shape as you can see, just a bit of rust showing on the screw, so either it hasn't been used a lot or just very well taken care of.
On the head, which is shaped quite remarkable (or maybe that's pretty standard because of the screw inside, like I said: a newbie..) it has the numbers 1 and 2 on either side of the blade-sides. Does this mean there is a difference between them? I would also love to know when this razor was produced. If it's any help (if you haven't spotted it already), there's a number 4 just above "USA".
And, not to be overlooked: can I use regular blades in this?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this great addition to my, ahem, herd (it's joining my Gillette aluminium Ball End Tech and Slim adjustable 1963).
Ferdinand

It looks to me very much like a WWII-era Gillette Tech. But I'm not sure if "Slant-Stroke" was a competitor or some onetime trade-mark of Gillette's.
I'm certain other B&B members more well-versed in razor history than I can shed some light on the provenance!

I've never heard of it, but it's certainly interesting.

There usually isn't a difference between sides of the head (and, if so, that difference would be at the safety bar, not the cap). I suspect that the numbers are just for the sort of person who might want to use just one side of the blade at a time, for some reason.

I suspect that the no. 4 on the base part is a mold cavity number. These parts would have been injection molded in a multiple cavity die and the cavities would be numbered to aid in any troubleshooting, if necessary, in getting things working properly. The four circular marks on the same part correspond to ejector pins that would have popped the part out of the die after it had hardened.

This razor should take standard DE blades with no problem.

The one thing that puzzles me is the "slant" name. Is there anything slanted about the head geometry? It looks perfectly conventional to me.

- Chris

I don't have any info on the razor, just wanted to say I picked one up of the 'bay in "lot" auction. So I am interested as well.

82R100 said:

The one thing that puzzles me is the "slant" name. Is there anything slanted about the head geometry? It looks perfectly conventional to me.

- Chris

Click to expand...

Hi Chris, thanks for the info! My pictures don't show it so well, but the head has quite a dome shape on it, sort of a hill on top; I guess to be able to put in a larger screw?

Ferdinand

"Slant-Stroke" to me sounds more suggestive of the "Gillette slide" technique than the geometry of a slant-head razor. Perhaps this was a Gillette competitor?

I've seen those a lot on the 'bay as part of vintage travel kits, but never on their own.

I love to see new razors.

Well, this morning I loaded my new WWII razor (so it seems) with a twice used Super Stainless nameless blade I got in a sampler, supposedly from Personna, that usually lasts about 4 shaves.
(Please take into account that I haven't yet got my technique down as I've started DE shaving about a month ago - there's still a lot of factors that might blur this "review"...)
The first strokes went very smoothly, until I noticed that I wasn't getting through the lather . So I retried in the same area for 3 or four strokes until I felt some hairs popping. Then I flipped the razor to the other side to find that now the razor seemed significantly more aggressive .
After flipping the razor from side to side it appeared the nr 2 side was cutting deeper, but a bit too deep for my liking so I finished the shave (3 passes, wtg, xtg and atg) with the nr 1 side to my face only.
It felt ok, my throat area wasn't sensitive as was the case yesterday, but after about half an hour I felt a considerable amount of stubble left. I will try shaving with the nr 2 side and let you know about it tomorrow...

Ferdinand

A fair number of razors seem to be afflicted with the 'one side is sharper than the other' syndrome. Try different blades, if you have them, and there is a good chance you will find one that works to your liking.

At leasst yours takes modern blades. I bought several Wardonia razors, which were made in England but look similar to yours. Unfortunately, they only take th old 3-hole blades.

Good luck in your journey with this razor.

Blade alignment can be a real problem with some razors. Before you use it again, look down on the head and see if more blade is showing on one side than the other. You may have to adjust it a little so that both sides are equal.

blackfoot said:

Blade alignment can be a real problem with some razors. Before you use it again, look down on the head and see if more blade is showing on one side than the other. You may have to adjust it a little so that both sides are equal.

Click to expand...

There seems to be more showing on the nr 2 side, but it's ever so slightly - as actually is the difference in aggressiveness. After shaving this morning I realise this is a very mild razor indeed, it takes plenty of strokes to get the notion I'm really shaving. On the plus side, it is the first shave I've had with absolutely no irritation or razorburn
But: what has probably contributed also to this result is the fact that I put on my preshave oil after Kyle's prep (the hot towel on the lathered face) instead of before, straight after my shower. I also put on some extra oil on the forgotten bits in my neck, after the 2nd (and final) pass. To be absolutely sure I will experiment with this change in my prep, as well as with different blades (this morning it was the fourth shave with a so-so blade, so I reckon I will get some more bite from this razor...)

Ferdinand

I have a different "Slant Stroke" head that came as part of a mixed bag of DE razor stuff. Marked on the bottom of the base plate "SLANT STROKE" in 2 lines. Then "PAT. NO. 2093851" in 2 lines and finally "MADE IN U.S.A.", again in 2 lines. All print going across the short dimension of the bottom plate in sans serif block capital letters. No handle came with it. I presume the plastic is Bakelite and it is brown on this razor. No sign of a slant design on this and I have over a dozen genuine slant razors to compare it against including the Fine, the PAA Bakelite slant and three 3D printed slant designs from a Shapeways designer. I suspect the "Slant stroke" name is a take off on the Gillette recommendation as another poster mentioned.

The top cap mounted stud for the handle to screw to appears to be copper or copper plated brass with silver plate over the copper.

Slant Stroke is Souplex USA! They're all Double Six clones

Like Eclipse with Neillite.

I wish Souplex had added the 1 and 2 numbers to UK made caps...