High Quality Chinese Razors

[Boring Euroshaver]

Can i vote in favour of Weishi 9306 F/FL or is it too obvious?
(the golden tint is just an artifact from light reflection).

To the question "but how will they hold up in time?", i answer with "quantity has a quality of its own". I would also advice to have a look at Baili BD176, which is 3 piece, and according to my searching, shaves like a Tech.

To give an idea of how much i like the Weishi, the Weishi FL, sells for slightly more than the EJ DE89BL here, while the Weishi F for slightly less. Practical parity of price. Result: I have 4 Weishis, 1 EJ DE89 Kelvin and 2 DE89BL.

Weishi = no zamak!

 

[frstplce]

These are some great suggestions. The German 37 is something that I keep circling back to. It's just a pity that the Italian Barber does not offer economy international shipping like Maggards do....which means I'll have to order the Wunderbar instead to offset the cost of shipping

It's also sold on Amazon and Groomatorium. Not sure what kind of shipping rates they would provide.

 

[CamberwellCarrot]

These are some great suggestions. The German 37 is something that I keep circling back to. It's just a pity that the Italian Barber does not offer economy international shipping like Maggards do....which means I'll have to order the Wunderbar instead to offset the cost of shipping

There's no such thing as cheap shipping in Canada. That's just a fact of life for us... Sounds like being forced into the Wunderbar isn't bothering you too much however.

 

[Obiwanhug]

Definitely... Weishi 9306! Only surpassed by the Ming Shi. The 9306 was my first real safety razor, and still have a place on my shaves!

 

[Esox]

There's no such thing as cheap shipping in Canada.

Cheaper shipping options are out there. I just had a Maggards order come in today. It took 22 days, but the shipping was only $4.25USD to me in Ontario. From ebay, 200 Polsilver blades from Bulgaria, shipped to me in two weeks to the day for $4.50CAD with full tracking.

I agree cheaper shipping options are harder to come by, but there are some available.

The least expensive shipping option I've seen from Italian Barber was $9.95USD. I can drive to Hamilton and back for almost that much lol. They have some good buys, but when you factor in the $15 shipping at the current exchange, its no deal to me which is why I ordered from Maggards.

Most sellers on aliexpress will offer ePacket as an option and its never cost me more than $2CAD and thats tracked two week shipping. Some sellers have ePacket shipping included in the price.

 

[carm10]

Weishi = no zamak!

What are they made of? I assumed zamak.

 

[Groomatorium]

What are they made of? I assumed zamak.

Brass IIRC

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[carm10]

Brass IIRC

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Nice, thanks.

 

[Groomatorium]

It's just a pity that the Italian Barber does not offer economy international shipping like Maggards do....

Trust me, all vendors would like to be able to provide economy shipping, however in the US, you have to be able to commit to 100 international shipments per month in order to be able to offer it. In Canada I don't even know if that is offered.

It's kind of a catch 22 - I can't offer cheap international shipping until I have a lot of international orders, but I won't get a lot of international orders until I have cheap shipping.

I guess once my domestic volume picks up, I would be able to subsidize the shipping, but at this point that is not an option.


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[CamberwellCarrot]

Cheaper shipping options are out there. I just had a Maggards order come in today. It took 22 days, but the shipping was only $4.25USD to me in Ontario. From ebay, 200 Polsilver blades from Bulgaria, shipped to me in two weeks to the day for $4.50CAD with full tracking.

I agree cheaper shipping options are harder to come by, but there are some available.

The least expensive shipping option I've seen from Italian Barber was $9.95USD. I can drive to Hamilton and back for almost that much lol. They have some good buys, but when you factor in the $15 shipping at the current exchange, its no deal to me which is why I ordered from Maggards.

Most sellers on aliexpress will offer ePacket as an option and its never cost me more than $2CAD and thats tracked two week shipping. Some sellers have ePacket shipping included in the price.

Yes, the irony is that it's usually cheaper to ship into Canada than it is to ship within Canada. You've got to admire companies like Italian Barber who can actually overcome the huge competitive disadvantage they're at with shipping costs.

 

[Boring Euroshaver]

What are they made of? I assumed zamak.

With all probability, it's brass, just like the vintage Gilette Superspeeds. In the weird local translation from chinese, they say "copper alloy". Brass is a copper alloy. In the US Amazon, it says "Solid brass,Hand-crafted." And consider that a Gilette Superspeed weighs 58g, while the short handle Weishi F weighs 63g, then brass it must be. Except for the doors, about which, i wouldn't swear that they 're brass. I suspect the doors could be zamak, because they feel light. Can't be sure though. The good thing, is that i have dropped the long handle Weishi (75g), about 3 times (twice from about 1.60m) and nothing happened. Not even the slightest deformation or dent.

 

[chongo gordo]

I went through a period, after discovering DE razors, of trying every cheap Chinese DE shaver I could. It was a fun process, but nothing stacked up against vintage Gillette. The Ming-Shi Futur clone is the only one above par.

Chinese produced shavettes however, are a completely different matter. Throw caution to the wind and buy several different models. Soooo Cheappp....

Rule of thumb: Any Chinese produced razor available for less than $7 is worth checking out. Unless it looks like you might get lead poisoning from it.

 

[Boring Euroshaver]

I went through a period, after discovering DE razors, of trying every cheap Chinese DE shaver I could. It was a fun process, but nothing stacked up against vintage Gillette. The Ming-Shi Futur clone is the only one above par.

Chinese produced shavettes however, are a completely different matter. Throw caution to the wind and buy several different models. Soooo Cheappp....

Rule of thumb: Any Chinese produced razor available for less than $7 is worth checking out. Unless it looks like you might get lead poisoning from it.

The Weishi, usually gets "bad" reviews, from people accusing it for being "too" mild. There are some youtubers that bash it exactly because of that. However, before buying i viewed all the reviewers, including a video called "Are all chinese razors junk? Weishi 9306-i razor review". From a man, that immediately stood out from the rest of the crowd for me, as having a lot more experience than most wet shavers and to my newb eyes, better technique too. And so i bought it. So happy i bought 3 more afterwards... God bless that man!

 

[mpontiff]

Made in Russia instead of China, the Rapira Platinum Lux is well worth the ~$10. I bought mine on eBay and it came with 105 RPL blades for like $12 shipped.

 

[chongo gordo]

The Weishi, usually gets "bad" reviews, from people accusing it for being "too" mild. There are some youtubers that bash it exactly because of that. However, before buying i viewed all the reviewers, including a video called "Are all chinese razors junk? Weishi 9306-i razor review". From a man, that immediately stood out from the rest of the crowd for me, as having a lot more experience than most wet shavers and to my newb eyes, better technique too. And so i bought it. So happy i bought 3 more afterwards... God bless that man!

My first DE was the Weishi. I had the brass version, there are also aluminum versions which, I'm betting, are not as well made. They look identical, but a little google-fu will provide the model number of the brass version.

Anyway, if you like a mild razor it's fine. The price is right, and it never deserved the negative criticism, especially considering the few options of new DE razors just a few years ago.

 

[Boring Euroshaver]

My first DE was the Weishi. I had the brass version, there are also aluminum versions which, I'm betting, are not as well made. They look identical, but a little google-fu will provide the model number of the brass version.

Anyway, if you like a mild razor it's fine. The price is right, and it never deserved the negative criticism, especially considering the few options of new DE razors just a few years ago.

I don't mind doing some blade buffing. It's so mild that i can pass many times over a spot, without lather and not get anything bad.

 

[Drunk Bender]

I can confirm that the doors of the Weishi are brass as I nicked one today while I was converting on to a DEvette and it was that lovely gold color under ther chrome plate.

 

[Boring Euroshaver]

I can confirm that the doors of the Weishi are brass as I nicked one today while I was converting on to a DEvette and it was that lovely gold color under ther chrome plate.

Really? Thank you very much for this information! You made my day!

 

[BSAGuy]

To me,"high quality" and "Chinese razors" don't go in the same sentence. Decent quality, yes, but jot high quality like an ATT.

 

[frstplce]

To me,"high quality" and "Chinese razors" don't go in the same sentence. Decent quality, yes, but jot high quality like an ATT.

That's an interesting point. I find the Weishi for example to be a well made, all-brass razor that may likely last as long as a Superspeed. This is the same country that makes our iPhone. I think ATT or one of the others could offshore the job to China and either sell razors at a lower cost or increase their profit margins. The "Made in the USA" bit is nice, but I think it's more of a bullet point for sales than quality.