Vintage Gillette Blue blades

**Moondancer** · 03-04-2012, 03:31 PM

I've received a couple sealed packets of these with various 'bay buys.
Are they usable? Or should I just consider them eye-candy for displays / pictures?

**CWX** · 03-04-2012, 03:37 PM

As long as there is no rust on them they are fine to use. Being carbon steel, they are an "acquired taste" and tend to get a bit smoother after the first shave or so. Be sure to remove and dry thoroughly or dip in alcohol to get rid of any moisture and prevent rusting. Some people don't like carbon blades while others swear by them - I haven't used them enough to form a solid opinion either way - YMMV.

**Dalejr** · 03-04-2012, 03:37 PM

Sure.

**Straight Arrow** · 03-04-2012, 06:18 PM

Yes, you can use them. But you will probably hate them on the first shave. If you stick with them you might acquire a taste for them. I did. Try them in a mild razor to start out. I like them in an adjustable set low.

**michiganlover** · 03-04-2012, 07:53 PM

I used some vintage Pal Injector blades (from around 1950 I would guess), and while they shaved, it was far from a comfortable feeling to use them. Felt like they were pulling the hair out, rather than cutting it.

The old Gillette carbon blades are not very well regarded. The top of the line, often raved about, vintage blades didn't come about until stainless steel blades came on the scene.

Sure you can use them, but I think you are in for quite a bit of disappointment.

**Synthetic Badger** · 03-05-2012, 12:47 AM

The sealed-in-plastic carbon Gillette Blues from 1950s I have tried have simply been too dull to shave with... don't know how sharp they were when new. My prediction is your experience will tally with mine -- you want to stop before seriously hurting yourself with those things. I don't know if the later Super Blues are better. Someone said the carbon steel variety used on those blades was less prone to oxidization, hence the super moniker.

**Diehard441** · 06-30-2012, 05:22 AM

Yesterday I was given a Whole Whack of the Super Blue blades from '60 and I'm using them in a Merkur 38c and honestly Best blades I have used thus far.

**Disburden** · 06-30-2012, 08:10 PM

Give it a shot and let us know!

**IronHammer** · 09-04-2012, 05:17 PM

Sorry to revive and old thread but I recently came into the possession of a retailers box of 120 Blue Blades in mint condition. Found them at a yard sale for $4. I just couldn't say no ;-)

Anyway, I can see the 'W' showing through the plastic so they are all from 1976. I am hoping they are still good since I have so many. I think I'll give them a go this week and report back on them. I am hoping that these are better than the earlier 'blue blade' since they were sold at the same time as the stainless blades.

**Sledgehammer39** · 09-04-2012, 06:13 PM

Try one if it doesn't have any rust on it.

**IronHammer** · 09-05-2012, 08:47 PM

Well, I just finished using my very first Gillette Blue Blade (1976 - W4). I tore open the bubble pack and the dispenser and even the blades appeared to be brand-new. I slid out the top blade and it looked to me as if it had just been made yesterday! A close analysis of the edges showed no rust or other spots. Even so, I slid it into my Twinplex stropper and gave a good half dozen turns. I knew that $10 stropper would come in handy some day! LOL!

After my usual prep (a hot shower with conditioner on my beard), I went straight to work. I am really amazed by the smoothness of this blade, as smooth as any stainless blade I have tried. It is extremely sharp, even as sharp as my usual Astra SP or Gillette Blue Platinums. I always, always try to achieve BBS (and usually get it). Normally I have to go over certain tough spots on my face several times from different angles to get BBS. But with the Blue Blade, it seems to require less work. I had a few of the usual weepers I get from very sharp blades. Nothing that good, cold water doesn't clear up afterwards though (I always cool my face down with water as cold as I can get it).

The end result is that I have received an extremely BBS shave with zero discomfort from my 1976 Blue Blade. I think I really like carbon steel particularly because I should be able to extend the life of each blade for a very long time with regular stropping. Stropping stainless blades only results in a duller blade. I will continue to use this one blade over the coming days/weeks and report back my findings.

I don't know what the shave would be like without stropping it first and I am pretty certain I don't want to *grin*. There is a reason there are tons of stories of grand-dads stropping their Blue Blades inside kitchen glasses, stropping machines or even on their bare palm periodically.

I am so happy I spent the $4 on these blades and that I have 119 more of them! If I can make a blade last for a month, they will last a very long time!

Cheers!

**man00ver** · 09-07-2012, 06:08 PM

Good show, Todd! I've been using quite a few vintage carbon blades lately, and though they show some variation between brands, the standard profile is a little tuggy on the first pass but with an excellent and skin-friendly finish. I'll be curious to know about your stropping experiment, but I encourage you to try a fresh one straight out of the pack.

**haiti222** · 09-08-2012, 04:07 PM

The mid to late 1970's standard Blue Blades had PTFE added. They are top quality blades. Your blades should have one or both of the patent numbers that confirm PTFE use on them.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...Patent-3071856

I would cautiously experiment with stropping. The PTFE coating wears off with use. Stropping may hasten this loss. I get 4-5 shaves without stropping on those blades. Still, with 120, try some different approaches, and let us know what happens. I would suggest trying at least one blade all the way through naturally, to get a base line....

**IronHammer** · 09-08-2012, 04:58 PM

Very interesting information! I had no idea that blue blades were PTFE coated. I will definitely check the package for the patent numbers used when i get home. I am surprised that Gillette was still selling their Blue Blades in 1976 when their stainless was such a hot seller.

I used that Blue Blade this morning again with fantastic results. It pulled a bit a first so I hand stropped in a bit and it did great. I think, like haiti222 mentioned, I wore the PTFE coating off by stropping it the first time so now it will have to be stropped from now on.

I will continue to experiment with these blades. I also plan to try a blade straight out of the dispenser with no stropping. I am still intrigued with uncoated carbon steel blades. I have a large quantity of Don Juan and Prestige carbon blades I would love to experience.

**HoosierTrooper** · 09-08-2012, 05:02 PM

Nice find, Todd!

**IronHammer** · 09-08-2012, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by man00ver

Good show, Todd! I've been using quite a few vintage carbon blades lately, and though they show some variation between brands, the standard profile is a little tuggy on the first pass but with an excellent and skin-friendly finish. I'll be curious to know about your stropping experiment, but I encourage you to try a fresh one straight out of the pack.

Thanks! I am really curious about your experiences with older carbon steel blades. What brands/years have you tried and how do you prep them, if at all. How long have you gotten them to last? I always read stories of people who make a single blade last for weeks by stropping it.

**man00ver** · 09-08-2012, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by IronHammer

Thanks! I am really curious about your experiences with older carbon steel blades. What brands/years have you tried and how do you prep them, if at all. How long have you gotten them to last? I always read stories of people who make a single blade last for weeks by stropping it.

I'm not prepping the old carbons at all, though I think I might palm-strop if the edge looked a tiny bit spotty. Most of them start to decline after my 3rd 3-pass shave, but the '40s Gillette Blue Blade and the '60s Gillette Thin both went to six shaves for me. I haven't gone with any stropping-on-glass or other attempts to extend them, though I understand why these practices emerged in the Depression era. I had been using my moderate-to-aggressive open-comb razors to try these out, but I'm currently finding great results in handles that have been on my "too mild" list: The short-comb NEW and the fat-handle Tech turned in very nice performances over the last couple weeks, using some "The Blade Man" blue steel blades.

I've now tried many, and I'll let you know that Don Juan was one of my favorites. I hunted down 200 of them.
Some others I've used: PAL Hollow Ground, Blu-Strike, Mystery Edge, Sheffield Super (awesome), Smith, Veri-Sharp, Schick Deluxe Krona-Edge, Rex by Rexall, Tomac, Waltham, and some one-offs that have slipped my mind. Pretty much any un-rusted carbon that finds its way to me will get a turn.

Getting into a cycle with these blades has been a very productive learning experience. It's quite fun to switch back to modern stuff with a new perspective in tow. I go back and forth frequently.

**IronHammer** · 09-09-2012, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by haiti222

The mid to late 1970's standard Blue Blades had PTFE added. They are top quality blades. Your blades should have one or both of the patent numbers that confirm PTFE use on them.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...Patent-3071856

I would cautiously experiment with stropping. The PTFE coating wears off with use. Stropping may hasten this loss. I get 4-5 shaves without stropping on those blades. Still, with 120, try some different approaches, and let us know what happens. I would suggest trying at least one blade all the way through naturally, to get a base line....

Yep, sure enough. The blade is marked U.S. Pat. 3071856 so it's definitely coated with PTFE. I will be trying these out without stropping. But it's really nice to know that they *CAN* be stropped whereas modern stainless blades certainly can't be. My first blade is about to go through it's third use tonight. Since I have already stropped it, I will strop it again. I am curious to see how many shaves I can get out of these.

Due to the PTFE coating these blades wouldn't oxidize over time like untreated carbon steel blades are likely to do. Plus, being able to easily remove the PTFE coating and expose the raw carbon steel allows me to extend the life of each blade with simple stropping, like my grandfather did during the depression. In fact, it seems to me that the PTFE coating acts as a preservative, of sorts.

Thanks for the info, Haiti222!

**IronHammer** · 09-09-2012, 06:28 PM

In case anybody is interested, here are pics of these blades.

**IronHammer** · 09-09-2012, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by man00ver

I'm not prepping the old carbons at all, though I think I might palm-strop if the edge looked a tiny bit spotty. Most of them start to decline after my 3rd 3-pass shave, but the '40s Gillette Blue Blade and the '60s Gillette Thin both went to six shaves for me. I haven't gone with any stropping-on-glass or other attempts to extend them, though I understand why these practices emerged in the Depression era. I had been using my moderate-to-aggressive open-comb razors to try these out, but I'm currently finding great results in handles that have been on my "too mild" list: The short-comb NEW and the fat-handle Tech turned in very nice performances over the last couple weeks, using some "The Blade Man" blue steel blades.

I've now tried many, and I'll let you know that Don Juan was one of my favorites. I hunted down 200 of them.
Some others I've used: PAL Hollow Ground, Blu-Strike, Mystery Edge, Sheffield Super (awesome), Smith, Veri-Sharp, Schick Deluxe Krona-Edge, Rex by Rexall, Tomac, Waltham, and some one-offs that have slipped my mind. Pretty much any un-rusted carbon that finds its way to me will get a turn.

Getting into a cycle with these blades has been a very productive learning experience. It's quite fun to switch back to modern stuff with a new perspective in tow. I go back and forth frequently.

I am very surprised that you are getting good performance from these older carbon steel blades without any preparation at all! To my knowledge, most people don't have that experience. Perhaps you are one of those rare men who have skin tough enough to shave with a tin can lid ;-)

I have tried 1940's and 1950's era Blue Blades and Thins with disappointing results. They were extremely rough and pulled terribly. I was careful to select blades that appeared to be in fine condition with no spots or oxidation. I did not, however, try stropping them.

For this reason I haven't tried any of my Don Juan blades yet. I have 200 NOS blades I found once. I am hoping my stropper will breathe new life into them, if they aren't oxidized.