Agreed. I love my NEW's, but I get slightly better shaves with my OT's.
Gillette OLD type vs NEW
- Thread starter glm38
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Agreed. I love my NEW's, but I get slightly better shaves with my OT's.
Thanks. Will give it a try.
I too think the New Deluxe is fairly agressinve. I love the one I have but it is, for me, too aggressive. But, just "had" to have one
I love the Tech ... so what do I know
Very well said. I appreciated it.
Now that I own and have had the opportunity to use both. I will echo the majority here. The OT is definitely a more aggressive razor than the NEW. I cannot say anything on the blade fit as all of my blades fit perfectly in both. The cap on the OT is thinner and has a lower profile signature than the NEW as well. Both are exceptional shavers and being that I primarily use straights now I am biased towards the OT because of it's more aggressive shave. As far as the handle cracks. My OT has cracks at both ends but everything fits together snugly and no issue at all. I am actually going to look up the repair thread on these though myself and see what it will take to fix the cracks if I can but it is purely cosmetic in my case.
So in summary: Either one is a great choice so I say get both and choose for yourself since they are very readily available and don't hurt the wallet much
So in summary: Either one is a great choice so I say get both and choose for yourself since they are very readily available and don't hurt the wallet much
If you can get both I recommend it.
if you like more aggressive razors the Old Type is the way.
I modified my New Handle to make it heavier which made it a little more aggressive.
Third party handles only work with certain model NEW.
if you like more aggressive razors the Old Type is the way.
I modified my New Handle to make it heavier which made it a little more aggressive.
Third party handles only work with certain model NEW.
New is smoother. Old Type is mean. Spacing of combs/teeth is an issue too IMO. The Old type combs teeth are smaller and pointy. After one pass you could take the blade out and just rake the teeth across your face and it could irritate.
New is smoother. And if you get the bar handled new it really doesn't crack.
New is smoother. And if you get the bar handled new it really doesn't crack.
I can't speak to the NEW, I've never used one. That being said I've been using an Old Type for the past few shaves and its a great shaver in my opinion. The NEW's that I've seen on the bay seem to be a bitter higher priced than the Old type...so for cost alone I'd suggest the Old Type. I saw one go the other day for less then $8, shipping included. Best of luck!
I put the handle repair in the DE sticky. See the link in my signature.
That is outstanding, now I have my weekend project for next weekend
I belive I may add some weight to the handle while I have it apart for repair as well.
I generally agree with this, but I doubt it was entirely by design. I mean I doubt that Gillette's thought process was that they needed to make the first safety razor relatively aggressive, but rather that they started with the simpler design (the Old Type) and then tweeked the design from there. I doubt if Gillette's first design had been the NEW that they would have decided it wasn't aggressive enough and went back and made the OLD in order to ween people away from straights.
It would also be interesting to know how many people actually went from the OLD to the NEW. Safety razors weren't cheap for the time, and not everyone could, or would, automatically buy the latest and greatest, especially as the Old Type lasts forever. I would suspect that there may have been more people going directly from straights to the NEW than from OLD to NEW, making the idea that they needed a go-between not entirely true.
But I could be way off, I have no personal recollection of that era.
Just something else you never know until you try. I used a Super Speed for decades, every since I started shaving, that and a Schick Injector, I never took the cartridge detour. It was within the last couple of years, thanks to B&B I decided to try an Old Type, and then a LC NEW, and then a SC New. Having read stories similar to yours I started using the OLD very gingerly with some trepidation. I soon found my fear was misplaced, I can get good comfortable and nick-free shaves with all my razors, including (maybe even especially) with the OLD and NEWs. I'd be hard put to place either the NEW or OLD as better, other than that for the price I paid it would be hard to beat the value of the OLD Type, as mentioned above.
Maybe it has some to do with experience/technique and expectations that leads to different experiences. Maybe if I hadn't shaved with a safety razor for years, and hadn't heard how aggressive the OLDs and NEWs were supposed to be, I wouldn't have been so careful when I first tried and would have tore my face up.
It does seem to me that even a Super Speed would be closer to an OLD or NEW than a straight would. Shimming the OLD Type doesn't seem to make a noticeable difference to me either, maybe I'm just particularly insensitive.
Thinking about this some more (I do tend to either over think, or not think at all), and it may seem counter-intuitive, but going from a straight to a safety razor, a milder one might would have been better. People switching over would have had to learn new angles and techniques, much as people switching from cartridge to DE today. Advertising may have led them to believe that "safety" razors couldn't cut you, and people may not have approached them with the respect they should have. Switching to DE shaving may not have been as much like switching from one brand of straight razor to another as people kind of make it sound.
Now that I own and have had the opportunity to use both. I will echo the majority here. The OT is definitely a more aggressive razor than the NEW. I cannot say anything on the blade fit as all of my blades fit perfectly in both. The cap on the OT is thinner and has a lower profile signature than the NEW as well. Both are exceptional shavers and being that I primarily use straights now I am biased towards the OT because of it's more aggressive shave. As far as the handle cracks. My OT has cracks at both ends but everything fits together snugly and no issue at all. I am actually going to look up the repair thread on these though myself and see what it will take to fix the cracks if I can but it is purely cosmetic in my case.
So in summary: Either one is a great choice so I say get both and choose for yourself since they are very readily available and don't hurt the wallet much
I think I saw a NEW in a case this past weekend, and it seemed pretty pricey to me:
That is a bit on the high side, I got mine which is a Rhodium Re-plated one for like 79 but I see them all the time on the bay for much less than that for a really nice user grade NEW. They are not beauty queens but they are in very good shape. That one is a very nice Bar Handle Long Comb set though for sure. I would talk them down if they were willing to negotiate
As a disclaimer, I don't have a New. But, I really don't find that my OT to be highly aggressive. Yes, it is aggressive. But it is a very fine shaver. I actually managed to have no weepers on my first shave with it. Yet, it mowed down 3 days worth of whiskers like you wouldn't believe. I suspect that back then guys only shaved 2 or 3 times a week (my grandfather religiously bathed 3 times a week) and razors were designed to account for infrequent shaving. So, the razors were designed to take down several days growth and closeness wasn't important until the 50s. Just my guess as a guy whose grandfather would be 110 if he was still alive. My 50's Red Tip gives closer shaves.
I tried an Old Type last night for the first time. ($7 shipped from fleabay!) I have used a NEW for the past year and a half or so. I was surprised at how much more aggressive it was. I paired it with a 7 O'clock yellow and got a very close shave - and a couple of weepers. The CC Bay Rum lit up my face afterward.
I need to refine my technique with this guy, but I like it!
I need to refine my technique with this guy, but I like it!
Then there is the NEW LC versus NEW SC debate. IMHO, the NEW LC is a better shave than the NEW SC, but this is a YMMV issue.
I shave with both and have tried them side by side with the same blades. My shaving style gets better results from a New Long Comb than an Old. YMMV
Sorry if this causes the values of Gillette New's to spike, but I think this Gillette design might be their best effort of all! I got a Federal like this one off le bay: http://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/The NEW/1930 Federal.jpg
I have (and use in my rotation) a Slim, triangle-slotted Techs, 70's rounded-corners Tech and the "sandblasted" Tech with the cool logo on the head. I also have a vintage Merkur slant and a new 23C which is fantastic with Astra SP's for me. I've even used a GEM single-edge and various straights. I loaded up the Federal with a brand new Lord Platinum (I know, not the greatest, but they work for me in certain razors), lathered up with Cella and proceeded to have one of my best DE shaves EVER! DFS in one pass, completely comfortable and complementary to my technique. The New is a winner. Where's my chicken dinner?!
I have (and use in my rotation) a Slim, triangle-slotted Techs, 70's rounded-corners Tech and the "sandblasted" Tech with the cool logo on the head. I also have a vintage Merkur slant and a new 23C which is fantastic with Astra SP's for me. I've even used a GEM single-edge and various straights. I loaded up the Federal with a brand new Lord Platinum (I know, not the greatest, but they work for me in certain razors), lathered up with Cella and proceeded to have one of my best DE shaves EVER! DFS in one pass, completely comfortable and complementary to my technique. The New is a winner. Where's my chicken dinner?!
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