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Post by PJGH on May 28, 2014 15:27:47 GMT -6
Woo! I just reeled this fish in for little over £10! I've seen these things go through for over £50 ... I am very pleased! I do hope it will take a GEM or Feather, otherwise I'll be knocking Marcus' doors down for his one spined short blade.
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Post by drumzalot on May 28, 2014 15:50:50 GMT -6
Simply ... gorgeous! Wonderful texture on the handle. A great score Paul!
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Post by mjclark on May 28, 2014 19:13:53 GMT -6
That's lovely Paul! The Empire has become one of my absolute faves, and that looks like the Blade Runner edition You can certainly have the two mini-frameback blades in my possession...
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Post by PJGH on May 29, 2014 3:20:41 GMT -6
Very generous of you, mate. Thank you.
Yeah, it's a good looker (from the pictures) and hope it will be as aesthetic and tactile when it arrives.
I'll take some more detailed pictures then ...
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Post by PJGH on Jun 3, 2014 12:36:05 GMT -6
It arrived ...
Very dirty inside with an old blade and old hair. Yuk! Damn good scrub up and it's very shiny, almost minty.
Great news! It fits a GEM blade just perfectly. It's not adjustable, so I'll see how it plays.
More pictures in due course.
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Post by mjclark on Jun 3, 2014 13:34:27 GMT -6
It arrived ... Very dirty inside with an old blade and old hair. Yuk! Damn good scrub up and it's very shiny, almost minty. Great news! It fits a GEM blade just perfectly. It's not adjustable, so I'll see how it plays. More pictures in due course. Well you are the wizard cleaner Paul, so looking forward to seeing this one! Do you have a photo of the old blade too? Is it one of those Tom Beasley wedges?
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Post by PJGH on Jun 3, 2014 15:27:52 GMT -6
It's a Wilkinson Sword spined/frameback.
I'm just back from fencing and I'm knackered ... photographs shortly. It's a little cracker, but I'd like to get some good light and get right in there to show the detail.
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Post by PJGH on Jun 4, 2014 17:17:55 GMT -6
Here we go ... ... so, there we have it. Clean, shiny, modern looking and takes a GEM like a good 'un! It is not adjustable and looks to be quite mild. I'll see when I get a shave with it. In other news, this dropped through the door today ... ... fully adjustable in just about every direction. What a lovely razor. Full kit, too, including a couple of blades ... both in poor condition, but one might well come up if a Whetter would like to have a go? Meanwhile, yes, it takes a GEM. ... a lovely pair, representing quite opposite ends of the Wilkinson Sword range.
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Post by mjclark on Jun 4, 2014 22:36:03 GMT -6
Awesome Paul! That late Empire is quite radical. Does it have a fixed guard rather than the revolving Archimedes Screw type? Does it still have the built in stropping mechanism and how does the blade fit in behind the blade guard if it's not adjustable? And yes I'd love to sharpen up that wedge for the earlier Wilkinson - is that a Pall Mall? It looks like a dream come true
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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 Jun 4, 2014 22:41:49 GMT -6
Very interesting razors!
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RocketMan
Gem Star
RazorAddict
Welcome To The Sharp Side!
Posts: 4,167
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Post by RocketMan on Jun 4, 2014 23:16:03 GMT -6
Wonderful pics Paul! It feels like I am right there with them! The newer Wilkie - that is 1950's or so yes? It is great that the GEM fits so snugly. I am absolutely red with jealousy over on my end of the keyboard. I hope you are going to give us a great feedback on the shave you get. Great looking razor really.
That 1920's one too. I wish I had your door!
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norfolkdick
Master Shaver
Captain of the Razor Blades
Posts: 1,601
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Post by norfolkdick on Jun 5, 2014 0:20:31 GMT -6
Greetings
A wonderful couple of razors, it looks like the late model is chromed rather than the usual nickel.
I particularly like the Pall Mall, it is only fairly recently that I discovered (from this forum) they would take a standard SE blade. I have passed on several of them on e-bay in the past because of an erroneous belief that they only took a proprietary wedge blade.
Great clean up jobs and photos as well.
Regards Dick.
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Post by PJGH on Jun 5, 2014 3:41:36 GMT -6
Awesome Paul! That late Empire is quite radical. Does it have a fixed guard rather than the revolving Archimedes Screw type? Does it still have the built in stropping mechanism and how does the blade fit in behind the blade guard if it's not adjustable? And yes I'd love to sharpen up that wedge for the earlier Wilkinson - is that a Pall Mall? It looks like a dream come true Yes, fixed guard. You push the ridged tab at the back to slip the head forward, releasing the blade holder to flop up exactly like the old Empires. The blade holder slides open and a short 'Tom Beasley' or frameback blade can be inserted. With a modern blade (the GEM), same deal as the older Empires: remove the spine and crack the back corner off. It fits up to the front, but as you can see there is a bit of a gap. The Feather is around 1mm shorter and that gap is huge. Feathers are not quite right with these Empires - it is a happy coincidence that the GEM is just the right size. I'll know more when I've shaved with it. As for stropping, I guess it does. The action of the blade holder is exactly the same as the older Empires. Oh, the handle is a little different - it's spring loaded, so you push it up first and then screw the end so that it fits snugly. The old one is lovely. I've got a little work to do on the inside, re-gluing the blade holder. It holds three blades - one is reasonable (so, thank you very much for offering to try to hone that back into play), one has a huge nick in it. On stropper.com, the closest is called a 'Three Day Set' Oak Box and is commented that the razor is the first release for that model. I think it fits in between the Pall Mall and the Empire. www.stropper.com/home/stropper_view_details.php?id=865&shortname=Wilkinson%2021a&page=1&category=&select1=wilkinson&select2=&select3=&select4=&select5=&select6=0Thanks, mate - yes, they very much represent the earlier and later models, the earlier from the '20s, the later from the '50s. It's the '30s where the Empire pretty much ruled for this brand. Good examples of the earlier ones are hard to come by, complete or unbroken. I think I got lucky here and will be able to fix the broken bit on the box. The purple padding is good and externally, it's good. Finding more usable blades will be fun. Good examples of the later ones shift for a LOT more than I paid. I could not believe my luck when I bid, got outbid, knowing how much they go for I put just one bid which pipped the bid that outdid me thinking it will rise and rise before the end ... and blow me down, I got it! Wonderful pics Paul! It feels like I am right there with them! The newer Wilkie - that is 1950's or so yes? It is great that the GEM fits so snugly. I am absolutely red with jealousy over on my end of the keyboard. I hope you are going to give us a great feedback on the shave you get. Great looking razor really. That 1920's one too. I wish I had your door! Yes, 1950s for the later one. I believe it's a W19 model and as you can see from the pictures at the top, it came in a metal box which has a little tarnish on, internal card present and intact, and there's a strop holder and blade case. The GEM fits well in this one. Greetings A wonderful couple of razors, it looks like the late model is chromed rather than the usual nickel. I particularly like the Pall Mall, it is only fairly recently that I discovered (from this forum) they would take a standard SE blade. I have passed on several of them on e-bay in the past because of an erroneous belief that they only took a proprietary wedge blade. Great clean up jobs and photos as well. Thank you, Dick. Aside from a lot of soap scum, almost all of which brushed off dry, there was some tarnish on the 'Wilkinson Sword' plate which came off immediately with a bit of Peek and a toothbrush. Good scrub with Fairy after and that was all ... maybe 5 minutes of work? Pushing, pulling, unscrewing, re-screwing and I got into all the little nooks and crannies. The GEM blade is not a perfect fit ... What you do is line it up on the front hooks and then press the ridged tab at the front which pushes the rear retaining tab back and the blade drops into place nice and secure. It is possible, in fact easy, to get the blade on an angle, only one side captured properly but with a couple of goes I got to where I could drop the blade in without issue. For shaving, it would appear to be secure. Hopefully Marcus can do his magic on the one good blade that came with this. Thanks, folks ... These are a couple of razors that I've had on my list for a while now and they both came up at the same time. I am really thrilled to have bagged them and will pull them into my rotation shortly.
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Post by mjclark on Jun 12, 2014 0:42:29 GMT -6
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Post by PJGH on Jun 12, 2014 2:28:21 GMT -6
Sweet! I hope to hear it's a good 'un
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