Yintal Brass 3 Piece Razor Review

[huck1995]

Final Update

Once again, a very irritating shave, my neck is pretty sore once again. Used a 3rd use Astra SP and Florena cream, and while there was no weepers today, there is quite a bit of irritation. For whatever reason, this razor hasn't REALLY agreed with me since my first shave with it. The next couple shaves I'll revert back to using my Rapira Platinum Lux razor, because even though it's my most aggressive and poorly finished razor, I find that I consistently get my closest and most comfortable shaves with it. After a while, I'll come back to the Yintal again and see if I can figure out how to get it to work for me, but as of now, it's the only razor I have that I can't get consistently good shaves with.

 

[albsat]

@huck1995

Give that razor a try with another blade maybe. I started to like Fatip razor after shaving with it for 6 months.

 

[Marlor]

@huck1995

Give that razor a try with another blade maybe. I started to like Fatip razor after shaving with it for 6 months.

Yeah, I’ve started to begin to understand why Fatip razors are so well-loved, but it required six months of on-and-off use to work it out (resting my face in between), and a switch from my go-to Gillette Yellows to comparably gentler German Wilkies.

If the razors didn’t have such a cult following, I honestly wouldn’t have bothered.

 

[rasoio]

I have one of these, and use it quite often.
I've bought it mostly for the handle, then discovered it's a good shaver - if a bit on the aggressive side.
The head had a few imperfections, one of them creating a wave on the blade, had to level it flat with fine sandpaper.
Other than that, excellent value for the money.
Pros: excellent weight and handling, if you're into long/heavy handles that is, low-profile head perfectly fitting under one's nose, nice looks.
Cons: quality a bit on the rough side, and it tends to bite some.
All in all, I'm glad I've bought it
PS: as others have noticed,its head looks suspiciously similar to the Maggard v3a head...

 

[Ad Astra]

I have one of these, and use it quite often.
I've bought it mostly for the handle, then discovered it's a good shaver - if a bit on the aggressive side.
The head had a few imperfections, one of them creating a wave on the blade, had to level it flat with fine sandpaper.
Other than that, excellent value for the money.
Pros: excellent weight and handling, if you're into long/heavy handles that is, low-profile head perfectly fitting under one's nose, nice looks.
Cons: quality a bit on the rough side, and it tends to bite some.
All in all, I'm glad I've bought it
PS: as others have noticed,its head looks suspiciously similar to the Maggard v3a head...

Nicely said, and agree!

Haven't written mine off yet; it's good-looking - sanded one edge as well (clearcoat overage).

Going to cut another piece off the handle and try the topcap on other baseplates.

Wish it actually WAS bronze, for that, maybe have to buy a Timeless ...

AA

 

[huck1995]

@huck1995

Give that razor a try with another blade maybe. I started to like Fatip razor after shaving with it for 6 months.

I will once I give my face a deserved rest from it. Got awful irritation with both Gillette Platinum and Astra SP blades with it so far, but I'll figure out something else to try in it after I pamper myself with actually getting good shaves, which all of my other razors actually do.

I have one of these, and use it quite often.
I've bought it mostly for the handle, then discovered it's a good shaver - if a bit on the aggressive side.
The head had a few imperfections, one of them creating a wave on the blade, had to level it flat with fine sandpaper.
Other than that, excellent value for the money.
Pros: excellent weight and handling, if you're into long/heavy handles that is, low-profile head perfectly fitting under one's nose, nice looks.
Cons: quality a bit on the rough side, and it tends to bite some.
All in all, I'm glad I've bought it
PS: as others have noticed,its head looks suspiciously similar to the Maggard v3a head...

I too got it for the handle, and I am happy with the handle for sure, but except for the first use of the razor, the shaves have been pretty much consistently bad regardless of what blade and soap I have used, so unfortunately for me, I haven't gotten the added bonus of good shaves to go along with the handle.

In regards to the pros and cons, I agree that the weight feels nice in the hand, but I think that it has actually dulled my control of the shave. My finish is quite nice on it though, much better than on my RPL razor (which creates waves in the blade, like you note with the Yintal). The ironic part is that while the finish of this razor is nice for me and the RPL finish is bad, this razor has given me all of my worst shaves, whereas the RPL consistently gives me my best shaves. Bit funny that our experiences are almost exactly the opposite, but that's why this is definitely a YMMV heavy hobby.

 

[rasoio]

For me the Gillette 7 o'clock black is the best blade with this razor, followed by the Personna reds (which aren't red where I live, but that's another story).
7 o'clock yellow, Astra's and Gillette silver blues where a bit too much for my skin with this razor..

 

[rasoio]

Unrelated/off topic: i truly hope they can fix Tapatalk soon enough to work again with this site... Editing posts with the mobile version of this site for some reason makes the phone keyboard go nuts... What you see is NOT what you get...

 

[John Rose]

Is it supposed to be an open comb razor? The gaps between the teeth look awfully narrow.

 

[huck1995]

Is it supposed to be an open comb razor? The gaps between the teeth look awfully narrow.

Nope, it's a closed comb. Just the grooves are a bit deeper and more narrow (so they seem even deeper than they are) compared to say a Merkur 33C. But since the grooves are a little deeper than a typical closed comb, I guess you could call it a "semi-open comb".

 

[huck1995]

Been wanting to test out the Yintal again, but I've been getting consistently perfect shaves with my cheap, ugly, Rapira Platinum Lux razor, so I haven't gone back to it yet. Probably will test it out again after my parents come to visit this week, no sense in risking shaving irritation while they're here when I know that the RPL will give me perfect shaves while they're here. After they're gone, who cares. XD

 

[ivan_101]

huck1995

I have reviewed the black handle Yintal here Yintal black handle razor Just read the last sentence of my review. It has the same head, but there is a significant difference in the handles. The bronze one has a longer (and heavier) handle. Shorter handles give better control. Your handle makes it harder to control both the angle and the pressure. My good guess is you don't have experience with numerous different razors. Make no mistake, that head geometry is aggressive. A friend of mine bought that same bronze Yintal after trying only a Tech and he gets serious cuts.

 

[les24preludes]

huck1995

The bronze has a longer and heavier handle. Shorter handles give better control. Your handle makes it harder to control both the angle and the pressure. That head geometry is aggressive. A friend of mine bought that same bronze Yintal after trying only a Tech and he gets serious cuts.

Plenty of us shave every day with an R41 with no cuts, so there's nothing wrong with efficient razors. Personal taste of course, and all the usual things apply - optimise your angle, pressure, lather etc. Short or long handles are equally personal, and so is weight. Some of us saw the end off the Bronze handle and finish it off smoothly to make it shorter and lighter - easy to do since it's solid brass. I prefer the Yaqi Matte Black handle myself. The only thing I still use from the Yintal Bronze is the top cap, which is excellent. I have three in use on my R41, Old Type and Fatip OC.

 

[dmshaver]

Nice reviews @huck1995, I appreciate the updates after several shaves.

 

[huck1995]

huck1995

I have reviewed the black handle Yintal here Yintal black handle razor Just read the last sentence of my review. It has the same head, but there is a significant difference in the handles. The bronze one has a longer (and heavier) handle. Shorter handles give better control. Your handle makes it harder to control both the angle and the pressure. My good guess is you don't have experience with numerous different razors. Make no mistake, that head geometry is aggressive. A friend of mine bought that same bronze Yintal after trying only a Tech and he gets serious cuts.

It's definitely NOT the aggressiveness that's the issue, I actually get my best, most comfortable shaves with my most aggressive razors. This is very much a mid-aggression razor for me, falling almost dead center in terms of aggressiveness of my razor collection, but I get my worst shaves from it. The weight is definitely one factor that's probably contributing, as I prefer more aggressive but lighter razors. However, I've used other moderately heavy razors and never got bad shaves out of them, so as time goes by, I'm leaning more and more in the direction of saying this particular razor doesn't work for me, more than "aggressive razors don't work for me" or "heavy razors don't work for me". After all, this is very much a YMMV hobby.

 

[SuperMax_fan]

How much does a Yintal razor cost?

 

[ivan_101]

Depends on the model. There are 3 piece and TTO variants. Different type of coating, handle. $10 - 15 with free shipping.

 

[les24preludes]

It's definitely NOT the aggressiveness that's the issue, I actually get my best, most comfortable shaves with my most aggressive razors. This is very much a mid-aggression razor for me but I get my worst shaves from it. The weight is definitely one factor..

Agree completely. I like to keep the weight under 100g - that's pretty much a limit, and between 80g and 90g is nice since the balance is better and not so handle-heavy. Another issue for me is the closed comb - I'm not ruling out closed combs, but I get really good shaves with open comb razors. There are so many Old Types or variant like the Fatip or R41 going cheap that I don't see the point in investing in the Yintal Bronze (still the best of the Yintals) unless it's for donor parts like the top cap or a cut down handle.

 

[hydro-magic]

I just got one of these and had my first shave with it using a Polsilver SI. It's a pretty aggressive razor with quite a bit of blade exposure. The balance took some getting used to since it's so handle heavy. I can see why some of you cut the handle down and I might do that too. It's a little too heavy to "let the weight of the razor do the work". That much pressure would have given me irritation for sure. But with some attention to keeping the pressure off I got a pretty great shave with it. Three passes, BBS, and almost zero feedback from the alum block. I'll take a shave like that any day.

I wouldn't recommend this razor to a newbie but for someone a little more experienced it's efficient and inexpensive. There's plenty to like about it.

 

[ivan_101]

Yes brass is heavy. Even heavier than stainless steel. That's why I bought the 3 piece Yintal with the black handle. It is shorter and lighter.