Shovelhead round and square guards.

@hahnevince559 posted a picture yesterday at my request, and after I fixed my other Shovelhead I realized I had one of each!

I thought I'd try to post some pix of my own if anyone is interested.

Good pix! The last one is one of the best I've seen at showing the difference between the rounded and flattened teeth on the comb.

But wait! There's more!

In addition to the difference in the combs, there are several variations on how the handle is mounted.



The two on the left have a cast handle mount that is sometimes called the pedestal base, while the three on the right have a handle mount made of stamped sheet metal. Also note that the one in the center is slightly different from the two on the right. There is at least one more version that is not pictured.

Unlike the combs, the differences in handle mounts do not seem to have any effect on the shaving experience, although the pedestal mount makes the effective length of the handle (very) slightly longer.

--Bob

Very cool! The two on the right are slightly different also, where the latch attaches. That's the two versions I have.





You can see it on the blade bed also.

Yours on the far right has the little punch mark in the middle in front of the handle hole like mine, it doesn't seem to have a purpose. Assembly fixture mark?

Bump.

The left one is the round comb?

On the right here.









On the left here.








And I got it wrong!!!! The round comb is more aggressive!!!


Let me say that again!


I got it wrong!!!! The round comb is more aggressive!!!




..

I stared at these for what seems like forever, and I think I have a square comb.

ciderguy said:

I stared at these for what seems like forever, and I think I have a square comb.

Click to expand...

Show it.

TobyC said:

Show it.

Click to expand...

Very difficult to do without natural lighting. Here is my attempt.

I think it's round. Looks like the third one from the right in this pic.






But I'm not 100% sure based on those pics.

Look at yours from the end and compare it to these.

TobyC said:

I think it's round. Looks like the third one from the right in this pic.

But I'm not 100% sure based on those pics.

Click to expand...

I think it is round too. It does look like the middle one in the photo of five. So many different variations within the same model.

I believe mine is of the rounded guard variety

Better picture of the guards

muiriddin said:

I believe mine is of the rounded guard variety

Click to expand...

Yep.

Excellent comparison photos [MENTION=89729]TobyC[/MENTION]

While busy inspecting a Shovelhead I'm selling to a friend I noticed the shape of the guard and remembered this thread. Turns out it's a round guard (pat applied for) and my other one is a square guard (also pat applied for), which I hadn't noticed before. I haven't tried the round guard one yet (I'll have to now, can't sell an untested razor ) and it could just be me, but with a blade installed the round guard version looks like it has a slightly larger blade gap. It also feels like it has less of a ledge below the blade edge if you know what I mean.

I'm not to good with taking these close up photos (they are tricky to get right), maybe you could take some with a blade in each to aid in the comparison.

Mine seems to be the round one. I have never Shaved with a SE the closest I have come is an injector. One of these days I will give it a try but I'm not really in a rush as I love DE shaving.

211bma said:

Mine seems to be the round one. I have never Shaved with a SE the closest I have come is an injector. One of these days I will give it a try but I'm not really in a rush as I love DE shaving.

Click to expand...

I used to feel that way, also! I rarely use my DE razors anymore. I usually reach for a Schick E2, Shovelhead, 1912, 1914, MMOC, Mongoose or Valet Auto Strop. My Wolfman, ATTs, Ikon Tech, FaTips, R41s, and many vintage Gillettes are riding the pine these days.