09-29-2021, 10:09 AM
I came to possess a goofy old razor made by "Segal." After I got it, I did a bit of research on it. It' was a "Segal One-Piece Uni-matic Razor." That's a pretty cool name! It uses a goofy proprietary blade, rather than a regular DE razor blade, though.
![[Image: igJxfar.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/igJxfar.jpg)
Twisting the knob on the base of the handle raises the cap up, whereupon it tips to one side. The blade is loaded down over the tipped cap onto the baseplate. That's why the blade has that goofy giant hole in the middle. Twist the knob to close the razor. As you screw the bottom knob, the cap returns to horizontal and lowers snugly in place. It's a very cool mechanism.
![[Image: dSq0Lru.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/dSq0Lru.jpg)
But I couldn't use it without an oddly-shaped proprietary blade with a great big football-shaped (U.S. Football, that it) cutout in the blade.
Ugh.
![[Image: anDW0TD.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/anDW0TD.jpg)
I did a little surfing online and folks were manufacturing their OWN blades for this oldie out of regular DE blades. They made 'em with cuticle scissors or a Dremel tool, among other things. The only problem was that you needed an original blade to use as a pattern. Nooooo! I didn't have a blade to use as a guide! Drat! Foiled again! Then I ran across INTEL somewhere online (either shave nook or shave den) that suggested the blade indexes on the end openings, not the middle --THAT made a WORLD of difference! This little bit of trivia made me think I could make one without a pattern! So I tried. I used my scissors on my little Victorinox pocket knife to cut out a big hole in the middle of a Shark blade. (If it was a failed experiment, then I'd only lose my least-loved blade and I had a tuck of those terrible blades on hand.)
See below; it's one image with 4 pictures...
First pic shows the cap tipped up and ready to load the modified Shark blade I made. When making a blade, wear safety glasses, be VERY careful on those sharp blade edges, and watch where the little pieces of blade fly when you snip... it took me about a half hour on my hands and knees with a flashlight to find a sliver that went flying across the room.
Top right pic shows the blade indexed on the end holes from the regular DE blade (red arrow). The green arrow shows the big cutout I made without really caring how oversized I made it.
Bottom left shows the razor with blade loaded. Note, this particular photo was taken BEFORE I cleaned up the razor. After I hit it with hot, soapy water and an electric toothbrush, it looked MUCH better. I thought the blade looked pretty good in there after my first fitment. Good enough that I DARED to try shaving with it. So I cleaned it up, sterilized it, and gave it a spin on my ugly mug.
Bottom right is a post-shave pic. A VieLong horsehair brush and a Viking Revolution soap puck. The old Segal gave me a great shave. It had a LOT of blade "feel" but seemed to do a good job. I'm sure it'd perform even BETTER if I had used a higher-quality blade than the Shark. I "rode the cap," too, because I wanted to be careful with the homemade blade arrangement and my natural hesitation when using a new, unknown razor. Yeah, I'm chicken. After shaving I used my Gentleman Jon alum block, rinsed, and finished with Cella aftershave splash. I'm a Cella Fella.
![[Image: oDnxz5u.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/oDnxz5u.jpg)
I was surprised at how EASY it was to get this old razor back in action. It really was a pretty simple blade modification, and is one that'll make any DE blade fit the old Segal razor. If you see one of these that's cheap, it might be fun to pick up. It was a fun toy, and now that I've learned how easy it is to make a usable blade, I can add it to my lineup. The Segal and Wolfman OC will get me through Open Comb October, I guess.
I got my Segal One-Piece Uni-matic Razor for a buck. It's already paid for itself, because I got WAAAAAAY more than a dollar's worth of fun out of it this morning!
:-)
- Bax
Twisting the knob on the base of the handle raises the cap up, whereupon it tips to one side. The blade is loaded down over the tipped cap onto the baseplate. That's why the blade has that goofy giant hole in the middle. Twist the knob to close the razor. As you screw the bottom knob, the cap returns to horizontal and lowers snugly in place. It's a very cool mechanism.
But I couldn't use it without an oddly-shaped proprietary blade with a great big football-shaped (U.S. Football, that it) cutout in the blade.
Ugh.
I did a little surfing online and folks were manufacturing their OWN blades for this oldie out of regular DE blades. They made 'em with cuticle scissors or a Dremel tool, among other things. The only problem was that you needed an original blade to use as a pattern. Nooooo! I didn't have a blade to use as a guide! Drat! Foiled again! Then I ran across INTEL somewhere online (either shave nook or shave den) that suggested the blade indexes on the end openings, not the middle --THAT made a WORLD of difference! This little bit of trivia made me think I could make one without a pattern! So I tried. I used my scissors on my little Victorinox pocket knife to cut out a big hole in the middle of a Shark blade. (If it was a failed experiment, then I'd only lose my least-loved blade and I had a tuck of those terrible blades on hand.)
See below; it's one image with 4 pictures...
First pic shows the cap tipped up and ready to load the modified Shark blade I made. When making a blade, wear safety glasses, be VERY careful on those sharp blade edges, and watch where the little pieces of blade fly when you snip... it took me about a half hour on my hands and knees with a flashlight to find a sliver that went flying across the room.
Top right pic shows the blade indexed on the end holes from the regular DE blade (red arrow). The green arrow shows the big cutout I made without really caring how oversized I made it.
Bottom left shows the razor with blade loaded. Note, this particular photo was taken BEFORE I cleaned up the razor. After I hit it with hot, soapy water and an electric toothbrush, it looked MUCH better. I thought the blade looked pretty good in there after my first fitment. Good enough that I DARED to try shaving with it. So I cleaned it up, sterilized it, and gave it a spin on my ugly mug.
Bottom right is a post-shave pic. A VieLong horsehair brush and a Viking Revolution soap puck. The old Segal gave me a great shave. It had a LOT of blade "feel" but seemed to do a good job. I'm sure it'd perform even BETTER if I had used a higher-quality blade than the Shark. I "rode the cap," too, because I wanted to be careful with the homemade blade arrangement and my natural hesitation when using a new, unknown razor. Yeah, I'm chicken. After shaving I used my Gentleman Jon alum block, rinsed, and finished with Cella aftershave splash. I'm a Cella Fella.
I was surprised at how EASY it was to get this old razor back in action. It really was a pretty simple blade modification, and is one that'll make any DE blade fit the old Segal razor. If you see one of these that's cheap, it might be fun to pick up. It was a fun toy, and now that I've learned how easy it is to make a usable blade, I can add it to my lineup. The Segal and Wolfman OC will get me through Open Comb October, I guess.
I got my Segal One-Piece Uni-matic Razor for a buck. It's already paid for itself, because I got WAAAAAAY more than a dollar's worth of fun out of it this morning!
:-)
- Bax
09-29-2021, 01:04 PM
It's Chazt's fault for coming up with "Open Comb October" and I only had one OC razor (Wolfman Guerrilla). So I had to get another one. I can't rotate OC razors if I only have ONE, after all. Believe it or not, that lame rationale satisfied my lovely bride, so I got another razor. And it was only a buck...
;-)
- Bax
;-)
- Bax
09-29-2021, 03:32 PM
(09-29-2021, 01:04 PM)Bax Wrote: Bax
It's Chazt's fault for coming up with "Open Comb October" and I only had one OC razor (Wolfman Guerrilla). So I had to get another one. I can't rotate OC razors if I only have ONE, after all. Believe it or not, that lame rationale satisfied my lovely bride, so I got another razor. And it was only a buck...
;-)
- Bax
(09-29-2021, 01:13 PM)Chappy Wrote: My bride was not as rational as yours so I blamed my new razor on Charlie also due to Open Comb October. He's such an enabler....
![[Image: 0lFtq7S.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/0lFtq7S.jpg)
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