Got this back from the coating business in California today.
It isn't a gold plating. It is titanium nitride coating, like what they put on drill bits to extend their lifespan. The business, "Titanium Gun", is of course geared towards coating gun components. They agreed to take on my project.
I wanted to have one of my adjustables get the coating, my preferences were the Osprey or the Yaqi Avanti first. But that picture shows why the Ultima was the only suitable choice. It was my only one that is stainless or titanium and able to be completely disassembled. The other razors would still have their compression springs in, which would lose their tempering in the high heat of the process. Of course any stainless or titanium 3-piece razor could get this, no problem.
TiN coating is only microns thick and won't alter any of the geometry of the parts. It is an 80 on the Rockwell Hardness Scale. To put that in perspective, a high end stainless blade steel for a knife is usually around 58 on the scale. So it is highly scratch and wear resistant in a way gold plating, and perhaps even Rhodium, can never be. It will never tarnish or develop a patina.
This the sort of thing that gave rise to the phrase "gilding the lily". And it weren't cheap! I only live 1.2 miles from the post office, but I nearly turned around three times driving there to send this off. The fact I had six pieces to coat was the expensive part. Sending my Game Changer or Yaqi Bohemia would've been much cheaper, as they are just 3 pieces.
But for now I'm pretty sure this is the only TiN coated Gibbs type razor on the planet. Again, it is the only Gibbs type that can be easily broken down for the process.
It isn't a gold plating. It is titanium nitride coating, like what they put on drill bits to extend their lifespan. The business, "Titanium Gun", is of course geared towards coating gun components. They agreed to take on my project.
I wanted to have one of my adjustables get the coating, my preferences were the Osprey or the Yaqi Avanti first. But that picture shows why the Ultima was the only suitable choice. It was my only one that is stainless or titanium and able to be completely disassembled. The other razors would still have their compression springs in, which would lose their tempering in the high heat of the process. Of course any stainless or titanium 3-piece razor could get this, no problem.
TiN coating is only microns thick and won't alter any of the geometry of the parts. It is an 80 on the Rockwell Hardness Scale. To put that in perspective, a high end stainless blade steel for a knife is usually around 58 on the scale. So it is highly scratch and wear resistant in a way gold plating, and perhaps even Rhodium, can never be. It will never tarnish or develop a patina.
This the sort of thing that gave rise to the phrase "gilding the lily". And it weren't cheap! I only live 1.2 miles from the post office, but I nearly turned around three times driving there to send this off. The fact I had six pieces to coat was the expensive part. Sending my Game Changer or Yaqi Bohemia would've been much cheaper, as they are just 3 pieces.
But for now I'm pretty sure this is the only TiN coated Gibbs type razor on the planet. Again, it is the only Gibbs type that can be easily broken down for the process.
