Best Metal? Any Machinist, or Engineers here.

[Jay21]

If cost is not an issue:

Brass coated with gold. Brass has high tensile strength and is easily machined. Gold doesn’t corrode easily and has slickness to it. This razor should last generations.

 

[Rosseforp]

In a former life, I did some aircraft turbine engine maintenance. Due to the cost of some of the components we were sure they were made of unobtainium. That stuff would probably be great for high-dollar razors.

Inconel 718 and Waspaloy come to mind. Talk about making a durable razor, this stuff will survive re-entry from outer space. Definitely High End.

Titanium is obviously rather passé now. The thing we want is tungsten. It’s durable and has a nice weight to it. I don’t want to hear any excuses about difficulty machining it - that’s just negativity and it has no place among achievers like us.

Tungsten is machinable, Stellite is better. It can be sprayed on.

~doug~

 

[Rosseforp]

Wonder if guy with metal knowledge could chime in to talk about what they would build next super duper Razor with, and why.

I would use C954 Bronze, also known as Aluminum Nickel Bronze. It is tough and corrosion resistant.

Titanium is great as long as the handle has a bronze insert. Titanium threads gall. They are meant to be tightened once, not repeatedly.

You want the durability of Titanium without the high cost of machining, go with Hard Anodized aluminum. Beware the difficulty of maintaining tolerances with the build-up, though, which adds up the cost.

Standard color anodizing only builds up a "coating" of .0002" which is insignificant.
Hard Anodizing while greatly increasing the durability builds up a "coating" of .002"-.003" which can affect the final dimensions.

I say "coating" because technically anodizing is oxidation, both above and below the surface of the material. Plating only builds up on the outside.

Stainless Steel is a good option, and 316 is all the rave, but 303 was developed for aircraft parts, and just as corrosion resistant.

You really want lightweight, get yourself a Filament.

~doug~

 

[Bobovata]

When it comes to bronze there is so many grades of it and it also is another great metal and can hold up well in daily use.

Any preferred bronze type for razors?

 

[Phoenixkh]

Two of my recent razors are fabricated from bronze. The Wolfman WR2 and the Lambda Athena. They have a warm glow about them. They look more inviting than the stainless steel razors I have.

All of my razors will be around long after I’m gone and probably outlive our sons too, even the plated models.

 

[DesertIguana]

Well Mr. King C. Gillette's Company made a lot of Razor that stood the test of time, many only 3 Pieces are still in service. He did not have the modern metals, and alloys of 2023. Wonder what he would frabicte say a Three Piece Razor today out of to stand TEST of TIME?

The new King C. Gillette is poor price point trible to the man. Had one, dropped couple of times, let say it did not like landing on TILE.

 

[Rosseforp]

Had one, dropped couple of times, let say it did not like landing on TILE.

Not too many finely crafted devices like landing on TILE!

~doug~

 

[Ron R]

Any preferred bronze type for razors?

Lambda Athena makes a excellent razor out of bronze and I believe time less makes some nice razors from bronze. I do not own any of them so as for performance is unknown for these eye candy popping looking razors.

 

[BigJ]

Take care of a quality razor and it will last longer than you will (regardless of material)!

 

[RayClem]

If cost is not an issue:

Brass coated with gold. Brass has high tensile strength and is easily machined. Gold doesn’t corrode easily and has slickness to it. This razor should last generations.

Rhodium is even more expensive than gold, nearly 5 times as expensive. There are vendors who apply a rhodium plating to razors. Rhodium has a brilliant, lustrous, wear-resistant, and chemical-resistant finish. Rhodium is often used as a plating on jewelry, but it is ideal as a plating on a razor as well. It would be far too expensive to produce a razor from solid rhodium. It would also be quite heavy as rhodium is 50% more dense than brass. Rhodium currently sells for $241 per gram, so a solid rhodium razor would cost upward of $25,000. You could get similar quality and appearance by plating a brass razor with rhodium and save yourself thousands of dollars.

 

[DesertIguana]

Take care of a quality razor and it will last longer than you will (regardless of material)!

Sound advice with most thing. If they are quality items.

 

[blethenstrom]

Not too many finely crafted devices like landing on TILE!

~doug~

Maybe they should start making razors out of stainless tool steel and actually harden/temper it, like spring steel. I think that would survive a drop It would make for an expensive razor though.

 

[Rosseforp]

Maybe they should start making razors out of stainless tool steel and actually harden/temper it, like spring steel. I think that would survive a drop It would make for an expensive razor though.

Carbon fiber would make an excellent material, strong, lightweight, corrosion resistant, close tolerances are easily maintained, and definitely able to withstand a drop on tile. Cost? Don't know there.

~doug~

 

[Calyshaver]

Forget stainless steel, how about some Corten with its nice rusty protective layer.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I think if I was absolutely honest with myself I would probably say a good quality plastic is better than any metal for razors. Plastics are warm, soft-feeling, lightweight, easy to manufacture, easy to clean, and most don’t oxidize (ebonite oxidizes horribly, so not that). Good plastics can take a very high polish.

For irrational reasons, however, we all just think ‘plastic’ means cheap and low quality. We are such Luddites.

 

[Old Navy_1]

Within the realm of 'obtainable' versus 'unobtainium' material, I'm very fond of 316L stainless steel. It's Marine Grade and highly corrosion resistant, used for Petro-Chemical industrial purposes. I worked at Kennedy Space Center for 30 years, we used 316L SS for LH2 and LOX cryogenic piping as well as Hypergol Fuel and Oxidizer systems, which are highly corrosive acids.

Several modern CNC machined razors use it. My personal favorite is RazoRock Game Changer and Lupo. Both are machined from 316L SS.

b/r

ON_1

 

[Bobovata]

All things considered, 316L gets my vote. Its only real issue is its weight, but that could probably be managed by using hollow handles.

Though a nice bronze would be very close.

Mostly it just needs good corrosion and wear resistance, and dimensional stability.

 

[ewk]

And then this brings us to Zamick. . . . the whole razor will corrode away. Sometimes its not good to be a complete penny pincher, and what can happen to zamick razors, is a great example of spending a few more dollars.

On the other hand, a replacement topcap of a Muhle R89 or R41 can be purchased for $16. The threaded post is the most likely place to see corrosion. Even replacing the topcap two times over the course of 40-50 years after the initial purchase of the razor will cost significantly less than a titanium or most stainless steel razors.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

On the other hand, a replacement topcap of a Muhle R89 or R41 can be purchased for $16. The threaded post is the most likely place to see corrosion. Even replacing the topcap two times over the course of 40-50 years after the initial purchase of the razor will cost significantly less than a titanium or most stainless steel razors.

And I’m pretty sure I will turn to dust long before my Merkur Progress zamak razor does. It can happen, but if you take reasonable care of the razor they are perfectly durable and fit for purpose.

 

[Blackland Razors]

The best material for an application depends on your goals for the product. You create some boundaries based on what you want to accomplish and then let those limitations dictate your material choice. Design also plays a huge role here because it can limit your material options or you can use design to accomplish goals with one material that you might use another material for.

For example, the Vector cannot be made with brass or aluminum because the center post is too thin. So that limits us to stronger materials like steels and titanium. For this design limitation, these are the best metals.

Example #2, say you want a razor that shaves like a 50g titanium razor, but you want it to cost $150 instead of $300. Instead of using material to cut that weight, your design can be skeletonized or hollowed out to reduce material by 50%. Then you can build it from stainless and meet the goals you had. Or maybe you use aluminum and then add weight in the form of brass, tungsten, etc to get it to 50g while under cost. So with these limitations, stainless with a clever design or using multiple materials are your best options.