I see Fendrihan also offers a solid brass head for $12.95 US.
Fendrihan Bay, anyone tried one?
- Thread starter bdehne
- Start date
I picked up a Bay. The head is aggressive. it is like The maggard v3a head as was stated earlier. The Bay handle I am not enjoying. It is a little slippery when wet.
Sounds like you’re, “Livin’ On A Prayer”
Hmm ... that is odd. The Fendrihan brass razors come in two different heads; some show a V3A-looking head, the others show a DE89 (or possibly Merkur) clone head. The photos of the Bay razor on the Fendrihan site show it with the DE89/Merkur clone head. But you're saying that yours both looks and shaves like the V3A?
Since it is all brass, the aggressiveness could be reduced by a couple of strokes on the top side of the baseplate where the blade rests on it. That would reduce blade gap just a little as desired.
The base of the baseplate resembles the DE89, however the top is more like the V3a, kind of a hybrid between the two as the Maggard V3a has the completely flat base to the baseplate, as opposed the the curved look on the DE89. And that convoluted explanation just made me think of Baloo in the Jungle Book:
Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don't need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw
My Fendrihan "Bloor" arrived today. I'll save you the suspense and say that , in my opinion, the head of this razor is not brass, but zamak. To my fairly detail oriented eye, this head appears identical to the Maggard V3A that I have. Here are a couple of comparison pics; in each, the Fendrihan is on the left:
I can see no discernible difference. Here is the kicker: on my kitchen scale the V3A weighs 3.2 grams; the Fendrihan weighs 3.1 grams. It's a quality scale. I'm no metallurgist, but I found a comparison between brass and zamac on the UK website of a dealer of door, cabinet and furniture hardware. It says this on the subject of weight:
2) Weight: Brass weighs 8.4 grams per cubic centimetre, whereas Zinc ore weighs 3.4 grams per cubic centimetre. With the addition of other materials you can expect a Brass product to weigh around double that of an identical product made from Zamak.
The handle, I would surmise, is indeed solid brass as it weighs 83 grams and is actually pretty nice. So, it wasn't a total waste of $16.
I don't need the head, and I'd cut it in half just to confirm my conclusion but I'm not really set up to do it, plus I'm not sure I'd know what I'm looking at. So, if any of you wants to cut this in half and take a look, PM me your address and I'll send it to you if you promise to report your results, with pics, of course.
I can see no discernible difference. Here is the kicker: on my kitchen scale the V3A weighs 3.2 grams; the Fendrihan weighs 3.1 grams. It's a quality scale. I'm no metallurgist, but I found a comparison between brass and zamac on the UK website of a dealer of door, cabinet and furniture hardware. It says this on the subject of weight:
2) Weight: Brass weighs 8.4 grams per cubic centimetre, whereas Zinc ore weighs 3.4 grams per cubic centimetre. With the addition of other materials you can expect a Brass product to weigh around double that of an identical product made from Zamak.
The handle, I would surmise, is indeed solid brass as it weighs 83 grams and is actually pretty nice. So, it wasn't a total waste of $16.
I don't need the head, and I'd cut it in half just to confirm my conclusion but I'm not really set up to do it, plus I'm not sure I'd know what I'm looking at. So, if any of you wants to cut this in half and take a look, PM me your address and I'll send it to you if you promise to report your results, with pics, of course.
- Thread starter
- #28
I should receive the "Bay" Saturday. I will post pics and observations.
I believe zamac will be a dark blue gray in color. Brass should be a shade of yellow. You probably do not need to cut part of it into two pieces, just remove some plating in a small area. If it is brass, it will serve you a long time. If it is zamac, it may crumble in time, but you should also get some good use from it in the meanwhile.
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That's helpful; I might give that a try. But I think the virtually identical weights of the Fendrihan and the V3A, which we know from the seller is zamac, tells it all. At the exact same weight, the Fendrihan head can't be brass.
I agree, cast zamac is certainly an acceptable material for razors, even if not as durable over time. I really have no problem with a $16 zamac razor. But I do have a problem with a vendor that clearly states that a razor is all brass when it appears very obvious that isn't the case.
If this is the case, you should contact them and give them a chance to respond. They sell many products and it is possible they could have been lied to. I had a QC issue with my first Mark II and they sent a new razor out no questions asked. Mine also has the lifetime warranty. Only as good as long as they’re in business but nice just the same. I’m sure they’ll make it right if the material is not as described.
I have a Merkur razor. It is zamac, as everyone knows. I did something with the baseplate that caused a small nick in the plating. The dark blue gray color is what I see. Now I disassemble that razor after use and dry it to give it as long a life as possible. Still, it has already saved me more than its cost compared to the 5-blade Fusion cartridges I had been using.
- Thread starter
- #33
I received the "Bay" today. Nice looking razor, no blemishes that I could see. As @Spang noted, the handle is heavy and most likely is brass. The head felt light so I compared it to my Earnest James. The heads look identical. I know the EJ is zinc so I weighed them both. The Earnest James head weighs 30 grams. The Bay head weighs 28 grams. Checked multiple times. I am guessing the head is zinc. I emailed Fendrihan. I am sure they will have a reasonable solution.
First let me correct my earlier post: the weights I recorded for the Bloor head and the V3A head are 31 and 32 grams, respectively. A stray decimal got in there; sorry. But the conclusion is still the same as @bdehne reached: the weights are virtually the same. Brass would be significantly heavier. So these heads are almost certainly zamac.
I agree with @THall; it is likely that Fendrihan is describing these razors based on their supplier's representation and does not really know what they are selling. My purpose in buying this razor and then posting my findings was not to bash Fendrihan, but to share information about these razors that are represented as all-brass, as that is pretty unusual (actually otherwise non-existent) in the field of modern DEs at budget prices. I haven't reached out to Fendrihan about this, but I will be interested to learn of their response. Thanks for your post.
- Thread starter
- #35
I contacted Fendrihan support via email. This is the response I received:
"Thank you for contacting us. You were sent the correct head that goes with this the Bay razor. The producer of this razor informed us that the head is brass so that is what we go by. As far as we know, it is brass. If you would like, you are welcome to return the unused razor for a refund or store credit.
Please let us know if there's anything else we can do to assist you."
I have asked them if that includes shipping. Have not received a response yet.
"Thank you for contacting us. You were sent the correct head that goes with this the Bay razor. The producer of this razor informed us that the head is brass so that is what we go by. As far as we know, it is brass. If you would like, you are welcome to return the unused razor for a refund or store credit.
Please let us know if there's anything else we can do to assist you."
I have asked them if that includes shipping. Have not received a response yet.
If a foreigner asks you what it is made of, just say it is all brass. Too hard to explain. It is pretty dissapointing that Fendrihan is unwilling to make any effort to verify what appears to be a clearly bogus claim by their producer. They are being sold a bill of goods and are unfortunately passing this along to their customers. I think it may be time to get out the cutting wheel.
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I wonder about their black anodized razor. It is listed as brass head and brass handle for less than $30. I read that it is easy to anodize brass, but not easy at all to anodize zamac.
It is not anodized, as far as I can tell from the photos. It appears to be powder coated using similar materials to the other razors.
The word "anodized" is being used as a marketing description, like a "bronze" coating on brass/zamak, which is not bronze, though it has the bronze look.
I looked at another razor on their website, where the company rep was responding to questions. He said the were updating their description of the material from "bronze" to "brass". Clearly, they don't know, they just sell the stuff and repeat what they've been told.
sad, I picked up their MKI stainless razor years ago because it was the first low cost stainless available. I thought they were a bit more reputable. I bought the bay on the promise of 100% brass head and handle.
