Stainless TTO from Pakistan

[Skeezixx]

A friend of mine came over with a new razor he purchased from Publisher's clearing house for under $16.00. It's all stainless. Has anyone here heard of or tried one of these?









It came with a pack of 5 7O'Clock SharpEdge blades and one in the razor's head!

 

[kcb5150]

It could be referring to the blades. It looks like a typical brass tto from that region.

 

[The Dean]

My Ri-Mei says Stainless on the package, too. But as it includes a blade, I assume that is the reference. I'd bet most anything it is not a totally stainless steel razor. Of course, the main thing at $16 is, how does it shave?

 

[Skeezixx]

My Ri-Mei says Stainless on the package, too. But as it includes a blade, I assume that is the reference. I'd bet most anything it is not a totally stainless steel razor. Of course, the main thing at $16 is, how does it shave?

Here is the description from the website. It states: All stainless steel construction.

The handle is not ferrous but a magnet does lift the silo doors.

http://www.bodytoolz.com/Vintage-Safety-Razor.aspx

I have no idea how it shaves, it's not mine.

 

[Vlamgat]

Why "Vintage" though?

 

[Beard Dregs]

It's "vintage" to help get it noticed by the people who would ignore it for the "toolz"?

Does look decent though.

 

[chamm]

My wife is a dental hygienist, and Pakistani Stainless Steel instruments have an established reputation in the field. They can be had for $2-4 each. They look nice, but they would never be used in practices in the US because they are considered very, very low quality. (I can't tell you exactly what that means.) By comparison, similar instruments which are used can easily cost ten times as much.

Visually, I probably couldn't tell the two sets apart. The super cheap ones are, in fact, stainless steel, and look OK. I believe the difference has something to do with how difficult they are to sharpen and sterilize using normal methods. However, you can still buy them in the US. They're great for many household tasks where you need to poke or scrape something, just as long as that something isn't in your mouth.

So seeing a Stainless Steel razor from Pakistan doesn't at all surprise me. And honestly, I wouldn't even be wary of trying one. I mean, I probably wouldn't try yo clean my teeth with it or put it in an autoclave, but the hair on my teeth grows very slowly.

 

[Skeezixx]

Although I haven't shaved with it (it's still sitting on my desk until the friend comes back for it) I have handled it a bit. It's not as heavy as a superspeed. The handle is longer which I like. The mechanism works easily. I do not like that you open the doors with a wheel located at the top of the handle only because I'm used to the other way. I guess I'd get acclimated to it in time.
I'm no expert but I believe it to be stainless. Like Chamm I have seen plenty stainless surgical instruments hailing from Pakistan. I can't see why their manufacturers couldn't produce a razor in the same media.
Assuming it's comfortable to shave with I see nothing wrong with it especially for the price.

 

[The Dean]

Pretty interesting, if it is really stainless. I wondered what that was at the top of the handle---I thought for a second it might be adjustable. Let us know how it shaves.

 

[santamariasteve]

Although I haven't shaved with it (it's still sitting on my desk until the friend comes back for it) I have handled it a bit. It's not as heavy as a superspeed. The handle is longer which I like. The mechanism works easily. I do not like that you open the doors with a wheel located at the top of the handle only because I'm used to the other way. I guess I'd get acclimated to it in time.
I'm no expert but I believe it to be stainless. Like Chamm I have seen plenty stainless surgical instruments hailing from Pakistan. I can't see why their manufacturers couldn't produce a razor in the same media.
Assuming it's comfortable to shave with I see nothing wrong with it especially for the price.

Wouldn't a stainless steel razor be noticably heavier than any Gillette Super Speed?

I too doubt that the razor under discussion is stainless steel.

 

[blzrfn]

It could be 100% stainless with a hollow handle, if it is solid and lighter than a super speed then it is definitely NOT stainless.

 

[Skeezixx]

Wouldn't a stainless steel razor be noticably heavier than any Gillette Super Speed?

I too doubt that the razor under discussion is stainless steel.

No, quite the opposite as brass is more dense than stainless steel and will therefore be heavier for the same given volume of material.

Density of brass: 8440-8730 kg/m^3
Density of stainless steel: 7480-8000 kg/m^3

http://www.simetric.co.uk/si_metals.htm

Why would you doubt that it's stainless? Stainless Steel, which is available in many varying grades and alloys, is a common material used in manufacturing of a superfluity of everyday items. I find it much easier to believe that a manufacturer located in a country which has flooded the market with a plethora (pun intended) of SS surgical instruments now produced another ancillary product, a razor, than I would believe that some marketer is trying to "pull a fast one with spurious claims"

The question is not whether it's made of stainless or not. It appears to be to your metallurgical layman of a narrator. The question is whether it is of the same fine quality as other custom machined razors which we identify with the words Stainless Steel. It is not.

But, for what it is and for the price I believe one could have a useable (The jury is still out on this as no one has tried it yet) TTO razor which will never need to be replated and possesses the durability we have come to expect of SS. Personally, I prefer the example in my hand to a razor nickle plated over pot metal which seems to be the current state of the art.

 

[chamm]

I think the reason many people are having such a problem reconciling this in their minds is that in the American advertising culture, stainless steel is automatically equated with higher quality and more expensive. Indeed, in the razor market, it's practically synonymous with a higher tier of quality. It's got brand recognition, even though it's not really a brand.

What many don't realize is that stainless steel isn't "better" than any other steel. There are many different alloys of stainless steel at many different pricing tiers. When you're talking about something the size of a razor, the difference in the price of the raw metal isn't going to make more than a few cents difference in the price of a razor. I don't know this for certain, but I would guess that brass is in fact probably more expensive per pound than stainless steel. What makes the real cost is the increased difficulty in working with the metal. Stainless and brass usually start with a large chunk of material that gets pressed or machined down, as opposed to zinc alloy, which is cast into more or less its final shape. Compared to stainless steel, brass is incredibly soft, so it's much easier to machine. To work with stainless, you need harder tools, higher power machines, and the tools you use wear out faster. Titanium is even more difficult to work with for these same reasons, which is why the only titanium razor on the market costs $2000. You're not paying for the metal, you're paying for the fact that it's an order of magnitude more difficult to work with than stainless. Brass is even softer so it's even easier to machine. Zinc alloy doesn't really even need any machining at all. It's cast into its final shape, so it's the cheapest way to produce something from metal.

But in a country where labor costs are very low, the cost of manually working the metal is much less of a factor. Pakistan churns out tons of commodity stainless instruments at very cheap prices, so modifying the machinery to produce a razor handle probably isn't difficult at all. Producing the TTO mechanism out of stainless steel would probably be more difficult, so I'm not sure that part is stainless, but it's still a possibility.

I'd be pretty interested to try one of these. If anyone comes across a means to purchase one, please post it up here. I'm sure it'd be a big hit with the B&B crowd even if it turned out to be mediocre.

 

[buyandhold2018]

I've received a number of so-called stainless steel samples from Pakistan that were not stainless steel. I think they are referring to the blades.

 

[chamm]

I've received a number of so-called stainless steel samples from Pakistan that were not stainless steel. I think they are referring to the blades.

Of course it's entirely possible that it's a misrepresentation, accidental or otherwise. However, I think it's also entirely possible to make a razor handle out of low grade, poorly machined stainless steel for $16. And it might function perfectly well as a razor handle. The head, I'm a little more doubtful about.

 

[chamm]

I'm not sure why nobody has posted this yet:

http://www.bodytoolz.com/Vintage-Safety-Razor.aspx

Says there pretty clearly "All stainless steel construction." Now if that's not stainless steel, then they're lying through their teeth. I'm tempted to order one, but I probably couldn't get away with spending money right now on a razor.

 

[buyandhold2018]

Of course it's entirely possible that it's a misrepresentation, accidental or otherwise. However, I think it's also entirely possible to make a razor handle out of low grade, poorly machined stainless steel for $16. And it might function perfectly well as a razor handle. The head, I'm a little more doubtful about.

Definitely. I've never held that particular one so I can't comment on that one, just a comment on so-called stainless razors I've received from Pakistan.

 

[Skeezixx]

For $10.37 here you can decide for yourself if it's live or if it's Memorex:

http://www.brightonbeautysupply.com...-cs5500.aspx?gclid=CMa13temgbsCFaxr7AodZlgAZw

PLEASE NOTE The last line concerning the country of manufacture!

Product Description

---

Body Toolz Vintage Safety Razor CS5500 Want a close shave Vintage Safety Razor gives you that close, smooth shave every time. Traditional Double-Edge Razor. Balanced for proper maneuverabilty. Crisscross tooling pattern on the handle for excellent grip when razor is wet. Perfect blade angle for a smooth silken shave. Made from all stainless steel. Weight 2 oz. Comes with 5 Replacement blades. Made in U.S.A.



Curiouser and curiouser

 

[Skeezixx]

I just realized the package has a back side:

 

[The Dean]

For $10.37 here you can decide for yourself if it's live or if it's Memorex:

http://www.brightonbeautysupply.com...-cs5500.aspx?gclid=CMa13temgbsCFaxr7AodZlgAZw

PLEASE NOTE The last line concerning the country of manufacture!

Curiouser and curiouser

Interesting. $16.87 with shipping to St Augustine. This may be the first time in a week I am happy my credit card was compromised. I am still awaiting a replacement. If they took PayPal, I might be making a bad decision right now!