Read my post above #2540!
Phoenixkh: An Old Man's Continuum....
- Thread starter Phoenixkh
- Start date
Well, I'll wait if anyone can come up with a comparison for the two stainless finishes.
I'm guessing that the Ti is different. At least in pictures it looks different!
My WR2 in Basic brushed looked just as good to me as the shiny razors and didn't stick drag at all. I also had the Timeless Bronze polished. The Timeless is tarnished now and doesn't get used. The Brushed Wolfman sees the most use in my den and is full of hard water marks and Proraso scale. Neither effect drags that i notice. I bought some citric acid to clean it, but, haven't bothered yet. I don't take new shave of the day pics for shame. Oh well.
The original Winning is one of the models I polished from machined. Given the large, flat surface, if anything would show a change, that should. It was machined and I polished it to near mirror. No change at all. Others reported a change, but I think that is confirmation bias. I can't blame them, it takes a lot of work to polish. Drag with the Winning is more of a lather problem.
Last edited:
Or maybe did not want fingerprints to show so much.
lasta
Blade Biter
No, they do it because bead blasting/tumbling is a cheaper option. Manual sanding/polishing can take up to an hour per razor, even if aided by rotary tools. Especially if they care about keeping to spec.
Plus, I haven't seen any CNC polishing machines apart from camera lenses etc. Even if they are available for the micro maneuvers of a razor, they'd probably be in the 6-7 figures range.
Not exactly feasible for someone who sells a couple hundred razors a year. Even if a few thousand.
lasta
Blade Biter
I suppose this is a good opportunity to tip the hat for innovative brands. RazoRock probably sells as much as the rest of the "artisan" brands combined. But they are cheaper, not because of lower quality products, but because of economies of scale.
The chemical polishing (probably some sort of copper bright dip equivalent but for steel) on their razors are miles ahead of the brushed finish (or god forbid, "machined finish") of some ~$200 razors. While not "mirror", anyone can get a decent shine on a RazoRock base with only a rag and some polishing paste.
I don't even want to get started on on Yaqi/DSC. CNC steel mirror polished razors at <RazoRock prices? There is a reason why ATT is not around anymore.
The chemical polishing (probably some sort of copper bright dip equivalent but for steel) on their razors are miles ahead of the brushed finish (or god forbid, "machined finish") of some ~$200 razors. While not "mirror", anyone can get a decent shine on a RazoRock base with only a rag and some polishing paste.
I don't even want to get started on on Yaqi/DSC. CNC steel mirror polished razors at <RazoRock prices? There is a reason why ATT is not around anymore.
Mr. Shavington
Knows Hot Turkish Toilets
We are used to shiny razors because they used to be plated with chrome, nickel, gold, etc. In the modern era of machined solid metal razors polishing is very labour intensive - so expensive - and hard to do well. Many razors have gone wrong due to clumsy polishing affecting the precise tolerances of the razor head (e.g. I have a Barbaros TR3 polished razor that is one of only 18 made - there were supposed to be 50 but after the polisher did their work only 18 were sellable).
As examples, a steel Wolfman WR2 costs USD 320 but for a mirror polish the price is USD 560 (so the polishing alone costs 75% as much as the razor itself). An Atelier Durdan steel La Faulx is EUR 230 but with a premium polish it costs EUR 515 (so polishing costs more than the razor itself).
There are a few examples of very nice polishing that is offered for not much money - Alpha Shaving in Hong Kong, for example - and I think they only manage this by doing the polishing personally, for almost no charge per hour. Lambda bronze razors are a steal too, for the polishing you get.
What’s my point? I guess I’m saying that polishing is the graveyard of many good razors and it is very rare to find a well polished modern razor that is not extremely expensive. So I only buy polished razors if I already know the razor is one of my very best, and worth the extra outlay. It looks nice but we can expect to pay near double the price of the razor if we want a nice polish. I see comments sometimes that one razor is too expensive compared to another razor, and usually it is because one is polished and the other isn’t - so they aren’t comparable and we are underestimating the cost of polishing.
Do the polishing myself? No chance. I haven’t the skill or the equipment, and I value my time too much.
As examples, a steel Wolfman WR2 costs USD 320 but for a mirror polish the price is USD 560 (so the polishing alone costs 75% as much as the razor itself). An Atelier Durdan steel La Faulx is EUR 230 but with a premium polish it costs EUR 515 (so polishing costs more than the razor itself).
There are a few examples of very nice polishing that is offered for not much money - Alpha Shaving in Hong Kong, for example - and I think they only manage this by doing the polishing personally, for almost no charge per hour. Lambda bronze razors are a steal too, for the polishing you get.
What’s my point? I guess I’m saying that polishing is the graveyard of many good razors and it is very rare to find a well polished modern razor that is not extremely expensive. So I only buy polished razors if I already know the razor is one of my very best, and worth the extra outlay. It looks nice but we can expect to pay near double the price of the razor if we want a nice polish. I see comments sometimes that one razor is too expensive compared to another razor, and usually it is because one is polished and the other isn’t - so they aren’t comparable and we are underestimating the cost of polishing.
Do the polishing myself? No chance. I haven’t the skill or the equipment, and I value my time too much.
Also, I suppose, another alternative would be to have a razor plated. I remember having a vintage Gillette chromed and it turned out pretty good. There's other finishes that might work, nickel, gold etc.
As far as I know the owners of ATT decided to retire because they reached that point in their lives. I don't think it was economics!
They still did pretty well in terms of sales when they closed shop.
And Blackland ended up buying them out so it can't be that bad.
I had a matte stainless cap. It worked fine, but it did look gritty and I didn't love the look. I imagine it's now in the scratch and dent catalogue.
Agreed. That design, regardless of material, is a soap vacuum.
Well, as of now it's not. No stainless stuff at all!
I'm guessing they accumulate a nice amount of stuff and then post it all for sale.
You should give Jeremiah a call. Tell him your an accomplice of Kim and me.
He'll either treat you well, or charge you double. I'm not sure which...
He'll either treat you well, or charge you double. I'm not sure which...
Jay21
Collecting wife bonus parts
I like the tool finish on RazoRocks. I have some mirror finished stainless razors made in china, and whenever I clean and dry them with a microfiber cloth, it adds micro scratches. Not problem with RazoRocks, plus the spartan nature suits me.
Ya know, when I get a matte finish razor I tend to polish the cap by itself. I usually don't mind a matte or satin finish. I prefer them when doing woodwork. With a polished cap any drag (if there was to begin with) is pretty much gone.
I'm kind of thinking that I find the same smooth(er) shaves with something polished.
Well, anything that isn't matte since machined has the same feel for me as polished does.
But I wonder if different matte finishes have a different "glide". That's why I'm wondering about the Timeless matte finish!
I tried the scalloped Stainless matte cap on a Timeless 95 for a while. It was fine. I did not notice any significant difference between that and the smooth scalloped Stainless top, relative to glide, smoothness or closeness. Both performed quite well. I preferred the look of the smooth scalloped top cap, but that is a purely subjective opinion.
- Thread starter
- #2,559
Larry, the matte finish looks quite nice, after you hand polish it a time or two. As you know, I use the Ti Crown handles with all my SS razor heads. I hand polish them until they match that particular head when they are both matte finishes. You can lighten up the titanium a bit with each polish..... I'm down to two matte finish handles now, as most of my razors are polished... In fact, after polishing my Blutt BR-1 1.20, I only have one matte razor left: the Claymore Evolution. I'm using the other matte handle for my razor heads with which I'm still experimenting.
That's what I'd like to avoid though (the polishing!)
I like and don't mind polishing shiny stuff but would like something matte that would just stay as is without a polish and have a nice glide as well. I think I also have like 2 matte razors left and they don't glide like the shiny ones. I guess I'm just avoiding matte because of the ones I've sold (plus the ones I still have) that simply feel more draggy as opposed to shiny ones.
But the Timeless matte intrigues me enough to maybe eventually give it an opportunity.
