A modern SE razor?

[roboboticus]

Is anyone still making SE razors? If not, should I start?

[Squire]

Ivan there are quite a few vintage SE razors around and they certainly have their fans. Blades are still being made but the selection is limited.

[CMur12]

Virtually all of the SE blades are made by ASR, and there is considerable variety of performance characteristics between them.

It's interesting that ASR's SE blades are much better than their Injector blades.

- Murray

[Squire]

Murray I thought there were a couple of other manufacturers, Treet comes to mind.

[CMur12]

Squire, Treet SE blades are made by ASR, as are GEM and PAL.

The Treet DE blades that we all know, of course, are made in Pakistan.

- Murray

[desertbadger]

The Cobra Classic is the only modern one I'm aware of.

Regards,
David

[brothers]

I keep forgetting about the Cobra Classic. It's pricey, but eventually, I think I owe it to myself to try one out.

[Squire]

That escaped my notice Murray but then I don't pay much attention to SE blades.

[themba]

Is anyone still making SE razors? If not, should I start?

If by SE razors you are referring to razors that take GEM type blades, then there plenty of used SE razors in the pipeline, and prices on almost all of them, save for the highly collectible ones, are dirt cheap. Making a modern SE would have to something you would do as a custom job for yourself, and maybe a few other interested parties since I highly doubt you would be able to see returns on the investment need for production.

SE razors are easier to design/make than DE razors due to the fact that the SE blade is rigid. Looking back at many of the older wedge blade razors one can see how spartan they were in design. If you wanted to make a SE razor going this route would make things much easier.

http://www.razorandbrush.com/perkam.html

Scroll down in the url above to the Monk's Pig Scraper. It's as sbout as simple as a SE design can be. It is simple L shaped piece of metal with some type of srew mechanism at the back of the blade to help hold the blade in place and adjust it.

Also take a look at the Dime Safety razor below. That is ascually the blade in the razor and NOT part of the razor head. The razor is basically a handle and a piece of heavy guage bent wire. The wire forms the blade stops and the guard bar. The top handle keeps the blade in place from the back. The blade simply snaps in between the two. A scary looking razor but it is a somewhat mild shaver.

[brothers]

Themba, awesome razor! A blade with a handle and a piece of wire. I'm impressed.

[Gibbs]

And they still make single edge straight razors (that take the disposable blade) as well. Feather comes to mind, Personna makes a hair trimmer that one can use for shaving, and I think one other, Dovo and Filarmonica also make a holder for the SE long shaving blade. I'm not talking about the DE blade broken in half, but an actual thicker SE blade that fits these razors. I have some and they work quite well.

[SharpSpine]

I would love to see a modern SE along the lines of the Gem Micromatics. It definitely wouldn't be a huge profit margin without charging a ton for them (ie the Cobra Classic). I think the SE blades don't have that much of a difference between them like you see in the DE blades. For a lot of people the lack of blades to choose from turns them off to SEs. This makes no sense to me. Why would I want to torture my face with many different brands of flexible steel ribbon when a thicker, stiffer, more efficient SE blade gets the job done right the first time.

I say bring on some affordable modern SEs!

[ShadowsDad]

Is anyone still making SE razors? If not, should I start?

As previously stated, there are so many in the pipeline there's no shortage of them. They are great shavers and as Sharpspine mentioned that blades work great even if there isn't a lot of types.

I'd definitely get a SE. Some good starter SE razors would be a Featherweight or G-Bar. They are pretty mild yet good shavers, both have the same head, but each has it's own feel. In the mid aggressive range would be an Ever-Ready '14, GEM Damaskeene, or an AutoStrop. If you like aggressive, a MicroMatic. There are lots of others, those are the ones I know.

If you get an AutoStrop, be sure to get the kind of blade holder that is a "half width" (my term). These blade holders can take either a modified SE blade (inexpensive) or a SE Feather. Get an AutoStrop with a "full width" blade holder with clips or a hinged door and you must use either AS blades or the Feathers.

[bbqncigars]

I would rate my Gem 1912 as more aggressive than my Micromatic, but I only have the one Micromatic vs two of the earlier models.


Wayne

[SharpSpine]

I would rate my Gem 1912 as more aggressive than my Micromatic, but I only have the one Micromatic vs two of the earlier models.


Wayne

The 1912s don't shave as well for me as the OCMM and Clog Pruf do. Now if the micromatic you have is the Flying Wing (aka Bullet Tip), then that's the mildest of the MMs. The only 1912s I'm interested in anymore is the OC Gem Deluxe. The EverReady 1924, however, ranks up there with the OCMM in terms of aggressiveness and I've yet to try the ER 1914 so I'm not quite sure where that one lies in comparison. The Gem Featherweight is very mild but still a good shaver. I actually get better shaves from the featherweight than I do from the 1912s.

[MaxP]

Virtually all of the SE blades are made by ASR, and there is considerable variety of performance characteristics between them.

- Murray

Is there consensus as to which one(s) are better performers?

[ShadowsDad]

Max, I'm pretty sure it'd be a YMMV item.

I absolutely love my Featherweight, yet the G-Bar which has the same head I really don't care for, it's heavier and has "rounded over" knurling that's slippery under all conditions IMO. Lots of folks love their G-Bars. It's among my most disliked razors.

I absolutely love my OCMM, yet am just above lukewarm to my Ever-Ready '25/'14 ('25 with old head) and Damaskeene. I like 'em, just not my favorites. But they're beautiful razors and using them keeps away boredom.

I'd be willing to bet that as many folks find the razors I merely like to be their most loved razors. That's cool, and it's to be expected. We're all different and that's why I think it's a YMMV item.

Too, the more aggressive the razor the more demands it places on the operator. An aggressive razor can chew you up pretty badly if technique isn't there 100%. If technique is there you can shave with anything. (OK, maybe not Dorco 300 & 301s- they're the DE blades from hell- YMMV)

[haiti222]

The Treet SEs are still made in the USA by ASR. It would be interesting to know the terms of the trademark arrangement, as it appears ASR owned the Treet trademarks, but sold or licensed them to Treet Pakistan, but retained a license or ownership for use in making the SE blades......

[SharpSpine]

Virtually all of the SE blades are made by ASR, and there is considerable variety of performance characteristics between them.

- Murray

Is there consensus as to which one(s) are better performers?

I'm with ShadowsDad on this. The short answer is YMMV.

The longer answer is that the 1912s get the most praise overall. They are good razors that aren't too mild and aren't very aggressive. These tend to be most peoples start into SEs because of their easy availability, low price, and easy to use.

To me all SEs are much easier to use than DEs, I just prefer the more aggressive razors which is why the OCMM is my favorite and the 1912s aren't as much.

So short and long answer are both... YMMV!

[MaxP]

Great replies. Thank you.

I have a decent selection of SE razors (1912, Damaskeene OC, Featherweight, GEM Jr)

The question I was asking is about blades. The only readily available blade around her is GEM SS from Walgreens. Are there "better" blades that should explore?