Unfortunate Futur Dissapointment.

[FoamFace]

Hey guys,

I just shaved with my step-father's Futur. I got a nick free, irritation free BBS with the highest setting. Love the results.

However, something just didn't feel right. My first razor was a Parker. Simple three piece, mild. Good shaves. Every razor since that Parker has been vintage. Techs, Fatboys, slims, super adjustables, injectors, NEWs, Aristocrats, 1912s, Micromatics, the works. When I went to the Futur, I felt something was missing from the experience. I was using something modern, and made of cheap zinc alloy. It didn't feel like a vintage that had stood the test of time. It just felt like any other shave, not really special like a vintage.

Merkur makes some good razors, but they aren't for me, I guess.

 

[Shave A Buck]

There is a heavier one made of brass out there.

 

[DrAwkward]

There is a heavier one made of brass out there.

What do you mean? A solid brass Futur or some other Merkur model or some entirely different modern razor? Is the Vision all brass?

 

[Fidem Scit]

I really didn't enjoy the three shaves with my Futur. It now sits in the cabinet. I still prefer my EJ89 above all others.

 

[Kev Kev]

I got a nick free, irritation free BBS with the highest setting. Love the results.
However, something just didn't feel right. I was using something modern, and made of cheap zinc alloy. It didn't feel like a vintage that had stood the test of time. It just felt like any other shave, not really special like a vintage.

Hmm, my face really can't tell the age of the razor I'm shaving with, nor the era in history from which it came, nor the alloy it is made of.
All I want to know is, 'do I get a good shave?' I've had good success with vintage as well as modern.
Another one of those YMMV experiences.

 

[Frankthetank]

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum, as I couldn't find a single vintage razor that I found "awesome". In fact, I couldn't find a single vintage razor that I even enjoyed. I think almost all of my vintage razors are now gone, and I'm going modern razor all the way.

Using vintage stuff has a cool edge to it, but in the end all I care about is getting a good shave. And the Futur gives a top quality shave in my books.

 

[dundak]

The Futur is 30 years old and alloys have been used to make razors since the "vintage" days

 

[Kev Kev]

The Futur is 30 years old and alloys have been used to make razors since the "vintage" days

...Which makes me wonder whether my father in the 1950's looked at his 'modern' Gillettes and pined for the 'vintage' feel of his father's razors from the 1920s & 30s.

I don't think so.

 

[kingfisher]

The Futur is 30 years old and alloys have been used to make razors since the "vintage" days

Alloys like brass, yes. Zamak is not really an alloy in the sense that brass is an alloy.

 

[Teddyboy]

The Futur was one of the first razors I bought over six years ago. I have tried, on and off, to like it. However, I find that its performance varies too widely with the blade used. Similarly, my 38C tends to "bite" with the wrong blade. Note that I am talking about generally accepted top tier blades. For example, Gillette 7 o'clock yellows are rough in these razors.

Conclusion: forget the Futur and try the Progress/Mergress, which is a great razor.

 

[mblakele]

Alloys like brass, yes. Zamak is not really an alloy in the sense that brass is an alloy.

What do you mean by that, exactly?

Zamak is an alloy of zinc and other metals. Brass is an alloy of copper, zinc, and other metals.

 

[onotoman]

Zamak is an alloy of any old pot, pan, engine casing, oxo or Kitkat wrapper that can be found and chucked into the melting pot. Vile stuff and the work of the devil.

What do you mean by that, exactly?

Zamak is an alloy of zinc and other metals. Brass is an alloy of copper, zinc, and other metals.

 

[mblakele]

Zamak is an alloy of any old pot, pan, engine casing, oxo or Kitkat wrapper that can be found and chucked into the melting pot. Vile stuff and the work of the devil.

Funny, but not true. As described at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamak the zinc has to be as pure as possible, to reduce the risk of zinc pest and other flaws. Similarly, brass and steel alloys have to be made with care so that the resulting material has the desired properties.

However zamak may be more difficult to get right than brass is. Appropriate QC processes would reject substandard raw material, flawed castings, and poor plating.

 

[Facial Blood Donor]

Mine tried to kill me the first few times I used it, but with practice and good blades I am now driving that Futur around my face like a Ferrari! I am also finding that a blade that doesn't work well in my Futur is probably not going to work well(for me)in my vintage Slim or Super Speed either.

 

[Icebear]

Hey guys,

I just shaved with my step-father's Futur. I got a nick free, irritation free BBS with the highest setting. Love the results.
....

YMMV in terms how you want to achieve this result but that you achieved it at all is something.

If you consider the journey more important than the result, then OK choose a different razor but just because of something you read about the material, I wouldn't reject a perfectly working tool that gave you the best shaving result possible.

 

[kcb5150]

Razors have been made of zamak for ages, I really don't see what it has to do with it being modern in design... The futur, shape aside isn't even modern.. In some ways as far as I'm concerned, the design is kind of a cheaped out progress in a slick costume.

 

[FoamFace]

YMMV in terms how you want to achieve this result but that you achieved it at all is something.

If you consider the journey more important than the result, then OK choose a different razor but just because of something you read about the material, I wouldn't reject a perfectly working tool that gave you the best shaving result possible.

I can get said result through vintage razors as well. Being a bit of an amateur metallurgist and blacksmith, the material really bothers me if it isn't up to par. YMMV, as always.

 

[FoamFace]

The Futur is 30 years old and alloys have been used to make razors since the "vintage" days

This may be so, but these zinc alloy razors wont last as long as, say, a brass or stainless steel razor.

 

[Icebear]

... The futur, shape aside isn't even modern.. In some ways as far as I'm concerned, the design is kind of a cheaped out progress in a slick costume.

LOL, when was the last time you used both razors ?
Apart from both being adjustables, they are quite different animals.

 

[onotoman]

I'm an engineer so I view most things from this point of view, including razors. Brass can be cast and machined without issue (we've been doing it for hundreds or even thousands of years) and if the plating wears on a brass razor 50 years after, it's easy to remove the plating, polish and re-apply. The razor is good for another 50 years.

Zamak (zinc alloy) is awful stuff and only used because it's cheaper (in terms of the material itself and the fact that it flows like plastic and is easier to injection mould). The price of the resulting razor isn't that cheap to buy though.

Once the plating wears (and it only takes a pinhole) the zamak will rot from the inside. I've been sent many a Murkur, Personna or similar razor that on the face of it looked reasonable. Once the plating was removed it was a different story though. The corrosion present was so deep that buffing was impossible. Even on a good example, any pit in the Zamak will leak black fluid into the plating tank, ruining the result of the replate and polluting the whole tank into the bargain.

This is why I loathe the stuff so much, it may provide advantages for the manufacturer, but if I were making new razors, I'd rather produce something in brass for a few pence more than resort to that stuff.