Let me start by saying that these are my "Desert Island Razors".
The chrome plated brass versions are smooth shavers throughout their settings and I haven't found a blade that they don't like.
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Some people call them a 15, others a 17 but in reality that come numbered with either no number, a 15 or a 17. (See the first image below)
There is also a version that has Diamond Checkering and one that does not dismantle.
All the parts are interchangable between all three versions. The only issue that is likely to arise is that the adjuster dial need to be reclocked so that it starts on 1.
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How does it shave? I think that you already know.....
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Enough on the history - lets get to the fun part.
No razor is perfect, the Gibbs is no different. IMHO, they have two issues
1 - They are head heavy.
2 - The blade notches.
The first issue I solved by making myself a brass handle. The second took some time before I had what I consider the best solution - my blade notcher.
Early in 2020, I ended up with this notcher. I use it as below and it's also threaded for use in a reloading press. (I'll update with a pic in due course)
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After making the perfect notcher - lockdown arrived. I was gifted two of those Gibbs that don't dismantle one of which had a broken handle, the second was the two pieces below. I also had a fair bit of time on my hands and one evening thought about fixing one of the "gifted" Gibbs.
In order to dismantle everything, I had to drill out the stem on the middle plate. It was at that point that I decided to make a new middle plate with posts and shallow drilling the top cap to suit. I was also experimenting with Nickel plating and ended up with the Silver version below.
I had the other two pieces sitting in a spares box but I wanted something different to the first one. I knew that I wanted a "Crat/Rocket" style handle, but what about the adjuster dial!! Once I had an image in my head - this is what I came up with...
The three images in the second row below show, the two parts that I started with, all the completed pieces and then everything assembled.
It is either of these two Gibbs that would be my "Desert Island" razor and are the ones that I use the most.
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