Stainless Steel & Zamac: When would you use one vs the other?

I'm guessing that most all of the vintage Gillette's and other razors that folks love are zamac. ...

I have nothing against Zamac but that's certainly not the case. AFAIK Gillette only made the permanent changeover from brass caps with the 64 Tech.



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Again I marvel at some of the pieces that have passed through my possession over the years and the slow elevation in that sometimes arguable measure of quality. Truth be told; most people starting out would flee back to disposables faced with the expense if only stainless steel, badger knots and even certain soaps and scents were available.
I learned to drive stick in an old sky blue Hillman Manx I bought for $50 in 1970. What I did to that gearbox will remain silent and mercifully forgotten by time and distance. I never would have managed the more valuable british steel I moved on to without it.
Subnote: that damned Hillman was the flying car in Harry Potter. I would have made a fortune with it when the movie came out.

I think there are many quality Zamack razors - Edwin Jagger, Merkur, etc. My only concern has been refinishing them - there is no good way that is reliable. Thus it is just easier / cheaper to buy a new one.

I'm guessing that most all of the vintage Gillette's and other razors that folks love are zamac. ...

I have nothing against Zamac but that's certainly not the case. AFAIK Gillette only made the permanent changeover from brass caps with the 64 Tech.

Good to know. Thanks for the clarification.

I'm curious. Once upon a time a company sold home plating kits for firearms with an inexpensive electroplate solution kit in silver and gold. Most people used it to gold plate already finely tuned actions for an even smoother trigger pull. If Zamack is factory plated in chrome surely there is a simple fix for those exposed threads?

At this point , and after many years wet shaving with DE and SE razors , I only care if the razor shaves well or not.I like that these days we have so many good options to choose from , brass , aluminum , stainless steel and zamac , but I dont care if the razor is made of Goldilocks hair : it it doesn't shaves well for me , bye bye.

The rest , is about how we like to debate things and make this pastime of ours more interesting.

BTW , the old Gillette Aristocrat UK are mostly made with Zamac and what glorious razors are !

Plating chrome on top of chrome is somewhere in between challenging or next to impossible. Chemical stripping the chrome off and working back up in layers is the best bet for a consistent finish from threading to top of cap.

However this stripping process is not a "science" to control - it is more of a controlled dissolve. This can lead to eating away the zamack and still having chrome left in some areas.

For this reason they are more or less risky too work on. But again, a lot of the time the price of just buying a new one is far cheaper!

There are some great providers that can update and refinish a razor, though unless it has importance, like being from within the family or being a birth month razor, it is probably best to buy a new one. The great thing about zamak is that the razors are reasonably priced.

There are some great providers that can update and refinish a razor, though unless it has importance, like being from within the family or being a birth month razor, it is probably best to buy a new one. The great thing about zamak is that the razors are reasonably priced.

couldn't agree more!

There certainly was a time when it really mattered that I had stainless steel razors. A little more time under my belt I now realize it really doesn't matter what the material. I treat all my razors the same way, like gold. This is a precision tool that houses a very sharp blade, being applied to something I love dearly, my face! All that to say, the material isn't as important as the shave i get with the razor. Muhle, colonial, wolfman, Charcoal, Timeless all receive the same care regardless the cost, so I can expect they will all last longer than me.