gillette 1911, what too expect for this razor?

Hello all! I saw on a website, a gillette old school 1911 (year) in good condition. Now ive read the old school ones were more aggressive, yet ive read many feel they arnt. i just got a 1930's gold tone open comb and it shaves ike a dream! one of the most comfortable shaves ever! close too but not as close as a sabi T1...
So..this 19111 model...would it be aggressive as lets say, a fat tip form italian barber? or a cadet TP27 open comb? or would it be a mild normal shave? ive seen one from 1904, and one form 1919too... would the 1911 be pretty much the same as the 1904 gillette?

The Old Type will feel a fair bit more aggressive than the 1930's New.
My advice would be to prep well & try 1 very light WTG pass, using short controlled strokes & take it from there. Pay constant attention to angle. You will be surprised how much you can feel the blade on your skin.
Also, the Old Type is quite fussy blade-wise. Some blades you think are perfectly ok on a milder razor will be found out when using the OT. Use the smoothest blade you have first up, something like a Personna Red or Gillette Silver Blue would be my suggestions.

thanks~! would lets say, the 1904 old type, be the SAME identical too this 1911 model? or would one be more or less aggressive than the other? or pretty much were all gillettes openc ombs, made the same till 1919?

i see the new head was mintroduced around 1930* and the new old head, around 1920-1921..so before that, all old types were all made with the same head? from 1904-1919?

and..how would this be rated in terms of aggressivness? between the fat tip and muhle r41? or less than the fat tip? like the jaws ive read, is placed between the fat tip and r41..

ziggy1706 said:

thanks~! would lets say, the 1904 old type, be the SAME identical too this 1911 model? or would one be more or less aggressive than the other? or pretty much were all gillettes openc ombs, made the same till 1919?

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ziggy1706 said:

i see the new head was mintroduced around 1930* and the new old head, around 1920-1921..so before that, all old types were all made with the same head? from 1904-1919?

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http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Category:Gillette_Old_Type_Razors

ziggy1706 said:

and..how would this be rated in terms of aggressivness? between the fat tip and muhle r41? or less than the fat tip? like the jaws ive read, is placed between the fat tip and r41..

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If I understand the general consensus correctly ... there is nothing between the FaTip and the R41.

+1 for this. Remember, the Olds were just one step removed from a straight. Just take your time and be careful with the angle.

zygalski said:

The Old Type will feel a fair bit more aggressive than the 1930's New.
My advice would be to prep well & try 1 very light WTG pass, using short controlled strokes & take it from there. Pay constant attention to angle. You will be surprised how much you can feel the blade on your skin.
Also, the Old Type is quite fussy blade-wise. Some blades you think are perfectly ok on a milder razor will be found out when using the OT. Use the smoothest blade you have first up, something like a Personna Red or Gillette Silver Blue would be my suggestions.

Click to expand...

ziggy1706 said:

and..how would this be rated in terms of aggressivness? between the fat tip and muhle r41? or less than the fat tip? like the jaws ive read, is placed between the fat tip and r41..

Click to expand...

I emailed Italian Barber (Joe) a similar question a couple of weeks ago, asking which was more aggressive, the RazoRock open combs or the Fatip, and he replied "I would say the Fatip is slightly more aggressive, but not by much." As usual, YMMV.

For me, my Old is fairly mild. Just slightly more aggressive than me Merkur 1904, but less than my pre-war, triangle slot Fat Handle Tech. It really is YMMV!

Are you holding the OT by the right end?
Seriously though, I think if you asked 100 B&B'ers who have used an OT & a FH Tech which was more aggressive, 99 of them would say the OT.

zygalski said:

Are you holding the OT by the right end?

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zygalski said:

Are you holding the OT by the right end?
Seriously though, I think if you asked 100 B&B'ers who have used an OT & a FH Tech which was more aggressive, 99 of them would say the OT.

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Yep, I dare to be different, LOL. Not sure why I feel this, but I do. I can do 3 passes with my 1904 or my Old with no irritation at all. Today, I could barely get through 2 passes with my Tech before I had to stop. My face was screaming at me. Really not a good shave. If I don't shave for a couple of days, the Tech is fine, but I can't use the day after a good shave!

I find my Canada FH Tech is about the same shave as my DE89. Kind of middle-of-the-road aggressive. Are you using the same type of blade in both razors?

zygalski said:

I find my Canada FH Tech is about the same shave as my DE89. Kind of middle-of-the-road aggressive. Are you using the same type of blade in both razors?

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Yes, either 7 O'clock Green or Yellow. And I found the DE89 to be too aggressive for me.

I also get more irritation from the suppossedly milder razors - using the same blade, same prep, same no-pressure, same blade angle, and same 3 passes (wtg, xtg, atg). My tech is the most irritating of the bunch... I think it's because the milder razors don't reduce the stubble as far on pass 1 or 2. But I've tried doubling the prep time to 4-5 minutes and doing 4 passes (wtg, wtg, xtg, atg) and I get less but still noticeable irritation - so my theory may be wrong about "why". I don't get irritation from my straights though

Ps: I don't have an OT, which I read needs a much shallower blade angle than everything gillete made from the NEW onward.

zygalski said:

I find my Canada FH Tech is about the same shave as my DE89. Kind of middle-of-the-road aggressive. Are you using the same type of blade in both razors?

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I have several Old Types, the early Single Rings (1906-1911 or so) are nowhere near as aggressive as my Ball End Old Type that I believe to be from the mid 1920s. The 1920s Ball End is slightly less agreessive than a DE shavette.

I started DE shaving about two months ago using a Gillette Tech ball end (1940s), which my late father-in-law used. After some adjustment, it consistently gave me ideal BBS shaves. Very recently, I treated myself to an Edwin Jagger DE8911. I now use the EJ for the main shaving process; I use the Gillette for hard to reach areas under my neck, nose, and for touching up rough spots, using Astra SP blades in both razors; both razors are consistently giving me a BBS shave.

Thanks for the replies all! god this is the best forum!
mm well, is the 1904 and 1911 head THE same thing? are thier any differences or variences between them?

ziggy1706 said:

Thanks for the replies all! god this is the best forum!
mm well, is the 1904 and 1911 head THE same thing? are thier any differences or variences between them?

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The thicker cap was released only later, so yes, the heads from that period are the same.

ziggy1706 said:

Thanks for the replies all! god this is the best forum!
mm well, is the 1904 and 1911 head THE same thing? are thier any differences or variences between them?

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