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Oc tech?

A friend of mine got a hold of a tech wich came with both an oc and a closed guard. Are there sets like this?
Anyone have pictures of such a set?
 
No, the tech was only a safety bar. It probably has the baseplate from on old type with it.

Nope ... they exist!


http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...luminum-Tech-OC-version?p=5683605#post5683605

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...hare-Gillette-sales-display-NOS-19?highlight=

attachment.php
 
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Edgar is correct. They do exist and the bottom plate came in two variations. They also came with Nacet branding, alligator stamped on the top cap, and Minora branding, Lion stamped on the top cap.

As far as I know they were all made in England. I have yet to see one stamped made in the USA, but you never know.

Here are a couple more pictures of mine with the case.
$oct1.jpg

$oct2.jpg
 
Whoa. Mind Blown. Thanks for the correction. Never seen anything like that before.

Yeah, they're definitely a strange beast. Technically, we really shouldn't even be calling them Techs since the whole "Tech" name referred specifically to Gillette's guard bar. But, of course, we have nothing better to call them, so there you are.
 
Very informative and thanks for the knowledge, Edgar. OP, let's see a picture of what your buddy has. We love pics.
 
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Porter, I always thought the Tech name referred to the manufacturing technology Gillette used in the production of these razors, stamping. Tech or not, they are indeed oddball razors.

As http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Tech says the safety bar was important. But the key manufacturing innovation was the stamped plate, which eventually made its way into TTO designs too.

The Gillette Tech was notable as the first Gillette razor sold with a solid safety bar rather than an open comb guard. From a manufacturing standpoint, the Tech was the first safety razor made with a guard plate stamped from sheet metal. Previously guard plates had been machined or swaged (die-forged) from stock. This technique was patented as US 2,270,388, filed 9 Aug 1938 and issued 20 Jan 1942, and gave the Tech its characteristic diamond-indented guard plate. This depression stiffens the plate. Some UK variants do not have this feature, and may have been stamped from thicker sheet-metal, or may have been machined or swaged.


The plate is clearly stamped, and the cap and handle are also in the style of a Tech. So while an open-comb Tech sounds like an oxymoron, that is what I would call it. Possibly it was made as an experiment, with an eye to keeping an entry-level open-comb in the UK product line? The UK factory made quite a few variations on the standard NEW design, too.

Those stamped teeth look like they might be uncomfortable to use. How does it shave?
 
Porter, I always thought the Tech name referred to the manufacturing technology Gillette used in the production of these razors, stamping. Tech or not, they are indeed oddball razors.

Not really, Chris. Porter is right, of course ...

The ''Tech'' referred to the new safety bar feature. Even some of the first TTOs were also called ''Tech'', Milord Tech, Ranger Tech, Milady Tech.
 
Porter, I always thought the Tech name referred to the manufacturing technology Gillette used in the production of these razors, stamping.

The '30s Aristocrat, Sheraton, and Senator all used stamped guard plates, but it wasn't until they switched to the guard bar that they became "Tech razors."
 
True Edgar. But here is something I have always wondered, wouldn't razors with similar stamped diamond base plates all be "Techs" at heart if not in name?

Yes, the handles offer different weights in the various Aristos and Rangers and TTO doors are different across the various razors offering different levels of blade exposure and or gap relative to the tightness of the handle, and there are slight differences in the bottom plates due to the various tto door / end cap style used.

But has anyone ever taken measurements to determine if the guard bar/bottom plate dimensions are different on across the various razors with the diamond stamped bottom plates?

Or are they all the same bottom plate with slight variations?
 
The '30s Aristocrat, Sheraton, and Senator all used stamped guard plates, but it wasn't until they switched to the guard bar that they became "Tech razors."

Aside from the cutouts for the TTO door it appears to me that the Sheraton/Senator have very similar diamond bottom plates when compared to Elmerwoods French market OC "Tech".

But the Sheraton/Senator appear to have been swaged/forged as the bottom plates are thicker that the latter stamped diamond shaped Tech bottom plates.
 
But the Sheraton/Senator appear to have been swaged/forged as the bottom plates are thicker that the latter stamped diamond shaped Tech bottom plates.

I'm looking at a Senator, Ranger Tech, and a pre-WWII Tech right now, and I'm not seeing any kind of difference in thickness at all between the guard plates. I've also got an OC Tech somewhere that I can get out, but that's almost beside this particular point.

Gillette didn't start referring to their razors as "Tech razors" until they introduced the guard bar. Their advertising from the time also spelled out the benefits of the new Tech razor:

$Screen Shot 2015-04-01 at 3.44.27 PM.png
 
Point taken Porter. The Sheraton I owned years back seemed thicker than an aluminum Tech but it has been years since I've seen one in person and I'm going off memory.

But my question of if all the stamped diamond bottom plates are the same still stands. I don't know as I have never measured the plates and I don't own any US made tto razors.

If I were Gillette it would make sense, to me, to stamp one type of bottom plate and modify said plate to use various TTO doors/handles/plating types. I would also sell it as a three piece with different caps/handles/plating.

That way I could sell razors at various price points using slightly different parts.
 
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