Wilkinson Empire

**jkingrph** · 03-10-2012, 09:53 AM

Shaved with my Wilkinson Empire this morning. Handle and head is the same as their 7 day model, but it comes with only 4 blades, 3 spares in wooden tube. I have been honing old blades this last week, and decided to try this one this morning. I had treated one side of the strop with a little bit of Tormek honing paste, and gave the newly honed blade 20 strops on the treated side then another 20 on the untreated side.

I was suprised as how smooth it was. I did discover that the little screw on the back that I thought was to loosen the blade for removal was in fact an adjustment, that advances or retracts the blade to vary the exposure of the edge. With the little roller safety bar it just glides over your face.

Sitting here now abour 5 hours later I am feeling no stubble yet. I honestly had one of the best shaves yet, no nicks or irritation at all.

I am having a bit of fun playing with these old tools now that I have a bit more time on my hands.

**TheVez2** · 03-10-2012, 10:31 AM

Nice, I've heard you can put a modern SE blade in the Empire. Ever tried it? I have an Empire back home, but haven't used it yet.

**RocketMan** · 03-10-2012, 01:13 PM

Wonderful post. It is great to hear success stories with revitalizing these vintage razors. The Empire is really a terrific looking piece of machinery. I didn't have great luck with resharpening my blades, but it sounds like I should look at trying again.

thnx

**jkingrph** · 03-10-2012, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by TheVez2

Nice, I've heard you can put a modern SE blade in the Empire. Ever tried it? I have an Empire back home, but haven't used it yet.

I just went and looked, a Gem SE is too wide, edge to spine and too narrow. A Schick injector blade is to narrow cutting edge to back edge but otherwise wide enough. There may be other models but mine appears to be made specifically for the thick hollow ground blades.