After 2 1/2 years of lawsuits and countersuits, the nation’s two largest razor makers have settled most of their differences out of court, a whisker short of the trial.

Gillette Co. and Schick Wilkinson-Sword have been waging a legal battle since Schick started its Quattro four-blade razor in August 2003, with one more blade than Gillette’s three-bladed Mach3 razor.