Merkur Head Fits Original Gillette

[onotoman]

Hi Guys,

I had a Merkur Progress sat next to a 1908 Gillette and happened to notice that the head sections were very similar, so I tried the Progress head on the Gillette - it fitted, perfectly.

The thing I find odd is that surely the Gillette threads would be old UK/USA type (Whitworth or similar) and Merkur - being German would surely be metric - the threads are identical or at least so similar as to interchange!

So, if you need a head for your old Gillette - buy a progress etc and you are set (It would of course be cheaper to buy another Gillette, but it's interesting)

Here's a pic:

[Mr.Gentleman]

Interesting.
I didn't knew that!

[Haiku]

So am I right: does that not mean that it's interchangeable with a Merkur HD as well?

[tom myers]

I don't know why, but virtually all multi-piece razors use the same thread except for some early single edge models which are opposite gender anyway. It does seem odd that this is the case, since the thread is the 10-32 UNF (American) thread. The only other possibility that occurs to me, and I haven't researched the standard mechanical handbooks to check this, is perhaps by a quirk, there is a metric thread form which is so close that they, in fact, will fit together.

Regards,
Tom

[Etoyoc_Rebmos]

If my math is correct, a 10-32 would break down to this in metric...

10 refers to a 3/16 inch diameter which is 4.76 mm.
32 is 32 threads per inch. 25.4 mm / 32 gets us .794 mm per thread. That would be a metric equivalent of a 4.76 mm X .8 which is only 5% off of the metric threaded rod size of 5mm X .8 so... it could simply be a coincidence.

[onotoman]

So am I right: does that not mean that it's interchangeable with a Merkur HD as well?

I'd think so - but the Gillette head won't fit the Merkur Progress - only because the shank on the Gillette is shorter than the Merkur