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Post by PJGH on Sept 2, 2014 11:39:27 GMT -6
I have my 1912s lined up in a display cabinet. I was just looking at them and the light seemed to glance off the comb on my Star 1912 differently to all the rest ... I've looked and looked and looked and it's given me headache. I've tried to photograph it, but you might not see it - it's subtle. In the first picture, you can see how the light is different compared to the GEM alongside. The comb appears to alternate between teeth. In the second picture, if you look really closely ... and this is what I think I can see by eye ... the teeth actually alternate: thin, ever so slightly thicker; hence the alternating appearance when the light hits it. It's slight, it's subtle, but there is something different about that comb. Guys - Check your Star 1912s. Is this a mis-stamp, or are they all list this? I cannot find this effect on any of my other 1912s.
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Post by fram773 on Sept 2, 2014 12:23:53 GMT -6
I've checked my ER and Junior and the widths are the same. Yes, it does look from your picture that the Star's comb teeth alternate in width.
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Post by PJGH on Sept 2, 2014 15:53:46 GMT -6
Can you see what I'm referring to in the photographs? If you squint at the first one, you can definitely see a regular irregularity (if that's a phrase) on the Star, the second picture shows it - slight, but it's there.
Anyone got a Star themselves?
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ShadowsDad
Gem Star
None boring shaver!!
"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
Posts: 4,534
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Post by ShadowsDad on Sept 2, 2014 16:03:19 GMT -6
I see it. I don't know what I see, but I do see something.
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Post by drumzalot on Sept 2, 2014 17:26:26 GMT -6
I don't own a Star 1912 but I can see what you are saying. I would chalk it up to a slight difference in the in the way it was manufactured?
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Post by birdlives on Sept 3, 2014 1:44:31 GMT -6
You know...it's close, but now I sware I see kind of the samething going on with mine...ha,ha... If I'd been drinking tonight I'd chalk it up to that....but neary a drop...ha! OK, got out the magnifying glass and the wife to verify......yep there are differences between every tooth of the Star....But there are also some small differences between the teeth of my Damaskeene. Ha,ha, unbelievable....my wife is now caught up in this. She has them both under a bright lamp with the magnifying glass....At first we didn't see then we did. She thinks its more noticeable at the end of the holes opposite the combs edge....make sense? But I believe from you picture, your's is more pronounced and regular at the sametime than mine.... Now my GEM has small differences, but my ER 1914 is damn near perfect.....Ha! Might have to shave with that one tomorrow as a reward for whoever was cutting this one almost 100 years ago....He showed an above average attention to detail....ha,ha...I think the chap who cut yours might have missed his coffee break earlier that day....};^) Kind of cool looking though...maybe he was experimenting for a smoother lather flow.... Uh oh...I broke out my ER 1912, the Gold one...This one is legendary...One of my all time best shavers, and it has a perfect irregular pattern alternating teeth....and the hole between goes longer shorter in an alternating fashion...and this one is my best shaving 1912 "In the House"....Maybe thats a thing with the post 1930, 1912s.... Here's a picture of one like mine I FOUND on the web...
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Post by PJGH on Sept 3, 2014 2:35:09 GMT -6
Well, I shaved with my Star the other night and afterwards thought to myself that it was quite an aggressive shave. I thought nothing else of it at the time, having "enjoyed" a Gillette Guard for the previous week, or so. I double-checked the blade and thought I might have had a duffer, so pushed that into the used blades section ...
... then, the light caught the comb of the Star just right. It most definitely looked to have an alternating comb.
I'm sure we can find subtle differences in the combs on some of these, but not quite so regular. Curious, eh? I'm going to put down that more aggressive shave to the razor. I'll try is again after a couple of regular 1912 shaves and see.
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Post by birdlives on Sept 3, 2014 2:40:21 GMT -6
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Post by PJGH on Sept 3, 2014 2:55:51 GMT -6
YES! YES! YES! Squinting, it's quite visible an effect.
I wonder how these were stamped out, whether the comb was stamped in one go or in two goes ... in two goes, I could see how this effect might happen.
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Post by mos6502 on Sept 3, 2014 19:11:01 GMT -6
I've noticed this on a few of my 1912s. I'm not sure if it is intentional or just a variation caused by the stamping process. On the later "junior" type heads I've noticed that tops of the comb bars often slant in alternate directions. I'll see if I can get this effect on camera.
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Post by mos6502 on Sept 3, 2014 19:32:24 GMT -6
Thick and thin bars: I have a feeling this is an unintentional variation. As sometimes it is not noticeable at all, or there will be only one or two thin bars on the whole comb. Alternating angles: All of my later "junior" style heads exhibit this, although some are more pronounced than others. Genuine mis-stamping resulting in accidental open comb:
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Post by mjclark on Sept 4, 2014 3:15:32 GMT -6
Well spotted Paul - we're all looking now... ...my bog-standard ornate handle British ER 1912 also has alternating thick and thin bars. How has this even happened? And while we're at it, the bars on my Damaskeene alternate thick and thin too, and the comb is skewed one way as well! My ER 1912 Brooklyn on the other hand has regular and even teeth. The dyes were handmade presumably, and perhaps this is why there's such a variation in shave between different instances of the same model. This thread, I think, has advanced the science of GEMology
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Post by PJGH on Sept 4, 2014 6:56:41 GMT -6
The alternating angles is interesting.
Yes, I guess the comb is stamped out in two stages. The thick/thin would arise out of the spacing of the die and that would also account for the alternating, especially if the metal was more malleable at the point of stamping.
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