Muhle handle, leaded

[Haegar]

The Muhle rosegold handle of my R41 was a bit on the light side for my taste, so I filled it with as much lead as would fit in.



Now it weighs almost twice as much as before and I like it.

 

[Apex]

Good alternative

 

[Jeff_H]

So did you have to drill out the threads and then re-tap them? I'm not very mechanically inclined, so the process of doing something like that doesn't naturally come together in my mind. If I were to try something like that I would have tried to get the end cap off and go in that way.

At any rate, that's a good idea to add some weight to that beautiful handle. Do you find it too slick when you shave? I have both the regular size, the grande size and one of the white resin handles. Granted I shave in the shower, but for me the metal handles just didn't have enough grip.

Nice work and good idea. I'm always amazed at the ingenuity of people on this board.

 

[Haegar]

Cheers Jeff. Yes, taking off the end cap or the top of the handle would have been nice, but I did not dare to attempt it. Not too long ago a B&B member here was "lucky" enough that the top fell off by itself after a couple of years of use (although I don't know if he took advantage of the situation to fill the handle with something heavier than air). But I did not want to wait until this happened to my handle, plus I think there is no guarantee that it will happen either...

So did you have to drill out the threads and then re-tap them?

No.

Instead I took care that the drill did not touch the threads. To protect the threads from the drill I cut a short piece of brass tube that would fit loose in the threaded hole of the handle and at the same time allowed the drill pass through it:



While the fishing supply leads of 3mm diameter go into a NEW handle without a problem, they will of course not pass through a 3mm hole, so I had to modify the lead balls a bit by press-rolling them with a metal file against the base of the drill press into cylinders (two file strokes on 160 lead balls sounds like a lot of work but is done within a few minutes:



At the end I put the filled handle upright, heated it up with a temperature controlled heat gun set to 120°C and little by little let some candle wax melt down through the leads to bake them together in order they would neither rattle nor find their way out of the handle again. I think a hairdryer would also do the job, but might take a little longer. Of course one could run some thin superglue or even epoxy down into the handle, but then, if you lated discover that there still is a ratteling lead ball there would be no way to stop it, while if this happens using candle wax you simply can reheat the whole handle to solve the problem.

I don't find this handle too slippery. In fact it looks much more slippery than it is, but then I also normally don't get soap on my shaving (right) hand, and if I do I quickly rinse the fingertips and continue shaving.

 

[Jeff_H]

Very ingenious method of getting the lead in there, and I agree that wax is the much better option for securing the lead. I love the way those Rose Gold handles look. I may have to break down and get one for my R41 anyhow, if I ever see one for sale on the BST.

Nice job on yours and I hope you enjoy the new weight. I think a heavy handle makes a really big difference.

 

[Apex]

Very clever Haeger, defiantly a good alternative.

 

[Lather]

Thanks for the great idea.

 

[Haegar]

Thank you guys for your kind comments!

and I hope you enjoy the new weight. I think a heavy handle makes a really big difference.

Yes I enjoy it a lot, but of course this is a matter of taste, others may prefer the original weight and balance of this razor. Before, I often or almost always used the R41 head in combination with the Weber bulldog handle which is only 1.5 grams heavier than the now "leaded" rose gold handle. I really preferred how the R41 performed with the bulldog handle over the original one. But hey, it buggered me to have paid extra $$$ for the in my opinion beautiful rose gold version just to then see it sitting on the shelf instead of using and enjoying it!