I know bronze is stronger than brass or copper, and it oxidizes beautifully. Is it really worth the extra two cents?
Is bronze better than brass or copper
- Thread starter fengcs
- Start date
In m y experience (with a Karve), brass has a smell when wet that I can't get past. Regardless of the metallurgy, brass would never be an option.
lasta
Blade Biter
Most Gillette's are brass right? I never noticed any smell...maybe all the puff puffs made me anosmic.
- Thread starter
- #5
Gillette is electroplated. It doesn't smell
Bronze is better than brass, but not as good as copper. That’s based on aesthetics only. Copper is a beautiful colour and it can present purples and reds when it patinates. Bronze was the colour of Homer’s sky and it was the armour of Achilles. Brass is for trumpets.
The mechanical properties of the metals don’t matter since it’s just a razor and these metals / alloys are all more durable than required.
The mechanical properties of the metals don’t matter since it’s just a razor and these metals / alloys are all more durable than required.
I’ll choose the color that shaves the best every time. Can you imagine telling your grandfather he should choose a razor because it is pretty lol
Copper is a pure element while brass is copper and zinc and bronze is copper & tin. All will patina unless they have a clear finish on them. I prefer unfinished so I can polished them or not.
The tortoiseshell celluloid scales on the unsalvageable razor and the gold leaf on the blade of the Tuckmar razor I inherited suggest he chose prettier razors than I did.
Copper weighs the most of the 3 and bronze weighs more than brass. I like the slight reddish tint in copper and I think it patinas more attractively than the other 2.
I love copper... I polished my heavy weight Captain's Choice heavy weight copper bowl (Thx @SgtCrppls ) and it's beautiful. That said, I have a Bronze alloy Athena and will be ordering a Bronze Wolfman in a few weeks. The Copper WR2 is out of my price range.
Mike M
...but this one IS cracked.
That was because the ancient Greeks had no word for blue!
He must have been the original Fashionista
Probably not technically true - there are ancient Greek words for some shades of blue - but it seems the ancient world (not only Greece) thought about colours differently and they considered more the other qualities of the things they saw. So the sky was ‘bronze’ because the sun shone like polished armour, and the sea was ‘wine’ because it was dark and fluid.
It’s always interesting to see a completely different way of thinking about common things, but I particularly like this example because it is so poetic.
If not always, then definitely when cleaning up for church
Bronze for sculptures, brass for maritime and shipping, copper for electrical circuits and pennies.
Romans and Greeks also knew Black and Amber wine, today we mostly talk just about Red and White... and in the grim dark future of Warhammer, all that is left seems to be called "Amasec".
Bronze is an alloy, brass as well. The bronze used by Timeless contains a lot of Aluminum. Their bronze razor stand weighs almost exactly the same as the stainless steel stand. Usually bronze would be expected to be rather heavier.
For instance, there are a few major types of brass, and a lot in between.
Naval brass has 59% copper, 40% zinc and just 1% tin.
Nordic gold is not gold, but 89% copper, 5% zinc, 5% aluminum, 1% tin, mostly used for coins
(I wonder if the Timeless bronze is close to this type.)
There is also a third, Muntz metal, a form of alpha-beta brass patented in 1832 as a replacement for copper sheathing on the bottom of boats that is very similar to Naval brass.
The most common seems to be this one:
Also known as C360 brass, Free-Machining Brass is an improved 60/40 brass, with the following composition:
61.5% copper
35.5% zinc
3% lead
Adding a maximum of 3% lead to brass is a safe way to increase malleability. This alloy has become the machining standard by which all other metals are compared. It is typically used for plumbing products, fittings, adapters, shafts, valves, screw parts, machine parts, couplings, electrical components, circuit boards, and industrial hardware. It is also corrosion-resistant, has a smooth finish, and accepts plating easily.
oceanusbrass.com
So, what is worth it, brass or bronze? We usually don't know which alloy got used. For example there are huge quality differences between the titanium alloys used for knife handles. The most popular of them is the Ti6AL4V alloy. But for instance, just to show that we rarely truly know what we get, what "aged bronze" is that some makers offer is supposed to be, no idea.
My least favorite knife handle is the Ti handle that turned out to be aluminum without titanium. I could scratch it with my fingernails. So I rather worry about scratching anything made of aluminum than about the difference between bronze and brass.
But to put it bluntly, given the choice bronze is better, and I would definitely pay 2 cents more.
Bronze is an alloy, brass as well. The bronze used by Timeless contains a lot of Aluminum. Their bronze razor stand weighs almost exactly the same as the stainless steel stand. Usually bronze would be expected to be rather heavier.
For instance, there are a few major types of brass, and a lot in between.
Naval brass has 59% copper, 40% zinc and just 1% tin.
Nordic gold is not gold, but 89% copper, 5% zinc, 5% aluminum, 1% tin, mostly used for coins
(I wonder if the Timeless bronze is close to this type.)
There is also a third, Muntz metal, a form of alpha-beta brass patented in 1832 as a replacement for copper sheathing on the bottom of boats that is very similar to Naval brass.
The most common seems to be this one:
Also known as C360 brass, Free-Machining Brass is an improved 60/40 brass, with the following composition:
61.5% copper
35.5% zinc
3% lead
Adding a maximum of 3% lead to brass is a safe way to increase malleability. This alloy has become the machining standard by which all other metals are compared. It is typically used for plumbing products, fittings, adapters, shafts, valves, screw parts, machine parts, couplings, electrical components, circuit boards, and industrial hardware. It is also corrosion-resistant, has a smooth finish, and accepts plating easily.
Common Brass Alloys and Their Uses
Brass is widely known as one of the most versatile alloys, perfect for several engineering and decorative applications. The pure copper+zinc alloy called “brass” has three types based on different crystal structures, as discussed in a previous post. But the versatility of brass is largely due to...
So, what is worth it, brass or bronze? We usually don't know which alloy got used. For example there are huge quality differences between the titanium alloys used for knife handles. The most popular of them is the Ti6AL4V alloy. But for instance, just to show that we rarely truly know what we get, what "aged bronze" is that some makers offer is supposed to be, no idea.
My least favorite knife handle is the Ti handle that turned out to be aluminum without titanium. I could scratch it with my fingernails. So I rather worry about scratching anything made of aluminum than about the difference between bronze and brass.
But to put it bluntly, given the choice bronze is better, and I would definitely pay 2 cents more.
My Grandfather, born in the mid 1920's would approve of buying a product that met a need while being satisfying to me.
He was never wealthy but believed that life was about more then having only what was needed.
If he was alive today I suspect he would be using a Titanium razor.
He passed with money in the bank...as much as anyone can hope for!
All three are pretty similar since they're all mostly copper. For the application of a razor, none is "better". They all work nicely so just pick the one you prefer. Also worth noting that brass and bronze are alloys so there many different versions of brass and bronze, each with its own pros and cons.
