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

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.

Well said!


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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!

I have written this before but here goes. I have 3 Harley Davidson motorcycles. One highly custom, one somewhat custom and one stock. The three shinny metals on them are either chrome plated, highly polished billet aluminum and stainless steel. The stainless is generally the most expensive because the stock depending on the formula and the machining is expensive. Today, razors are made from various metals even expensive titanium. I saw and new razor recently on a mail order site prices at $395. Does that razor perform any better or give a better shave than one made from zinc and chrome plated? I don't think so. I shave exclusively with an ATT Kronos. I also own an Muhle R89 and a Trumper Gold Warwick they also perform an excellent shave. There is one issue with a chrome plated item. If you look at any thing chrome plated on a new car or motor cycle it is perfect and will generally last forever. But when you strip a piece of metal that already has a finish on it be it chrome or something else within a year or two it will start to pit. For instance, take the two piece head from a razor that was chrome plated in the factory then take one that you striped for some reason and re-chromed it let them sit outside within one year the re-chromed one will pit.

Last thing I have a friend who has more degrees (2 PhDs and 2 masters) than common sense. He can design a space ship or write the code for a weapon system but still locks his keys in his car and sometimes in the ignition with the engine running. He took the heads from two Merkur razors from two different people. Measured the thickness on some electronic machine at the university he does research at and determined that there was enough difference due to the chrome that it changed the aggressiveness between the two identical heads.

I prefer machined steel or aluminum razors, but I have a couple of pot metal (and that's what zamak is) razors that I use, too.

Use whatever suits you.

Use whatever suits you.

What suits me are razors with heft, made of timeless metals -- steel, brass, bronze, copper, aluminum, titanium. Zamak razors can be pretty, but they lack the durability of timeless metals, and when you're in the third third of your life, like me, timelessness begins to matter -- you want something to pass on to your survivors. If you prefer a razor without heft, go for aluminum, or titanium (if you can afford it), or Bakelite -- or Zamak, whatever suits you. You may eventually find that the more timeless materials suit you better.  

I cannot recall the binomial Latin or common name, but there is a wood so dense it will not float, is nearly as heavy as an equal slab of iron and is nearly impossible to work. Yet native peoples with that rare industrialized commodity called time manage war clubs of fearsome striking power. The late gun writer Atkinson managed to get a rifle stock made
at great time and expense; mainly in replacing the stockmaker's tools and found it so unwieldly it remained a bench rifle. I think I will dig up my ethnobotanical notes for the name
and have a razor made of that.

I must admit my preference for material is towards Stainless. Even Aluminum vs Stainless, I'd probably go with SS, just because of my fear of over tightening it. In my mind, SS gives me the impression of being more durable and I could probably pass them on to my sons.

Nothing wrong with Zamak razors, many do shave very well and some are excellent value, however a klutz like me would be more comfortable using an SS razor as a daily. I like buy-it-for-life stuff and SS razors is probably that.

I cannot recall the binomial Latin or common name, but there is a wood so dense it will not float, is nearly as heavy as an equal slab of iron and is nearly impossible to work. Yet native peoples with that rare industrialized commodity called time manage war clubs of fearsome striking power. The late gun writer Atkinson managed to get a rifle stock made
at great time and expense; mainly in replacing the stockmaker's tools and found it so unwieldly it remained a bench rifle. I think I will dig up my ethnobotanical notes for the name
and have a razor made of that.

A wooden razor would be pretty damn cool. I wonder if that type of wood is hard enough and dense enough to be machined?

The future of wet shaving will determine the future of Zamack. How many SS makers are out there, and how many do they produce? How many Zamack and how many do they?
If everyone wet shaving in the world woke up tomorrow demanding a SS razor the parent company of Merkur may not want to invest in the considerable retooling. Zamack is here
for the foreseeable future.

Lignum vitae.

I'm guessing that most all of the vintage Gillette's and other razors that folks love are zamac. So, you currently can't say that the metal doesn't make a good razor. As well, I've seen plenty of vintage razors that look just fine many, many years after being made.

I haven't used a stainless double edge safety razor and can't comment.

On a similar, yet somewhat different, topic; straight razors are either regular carbon steel or stainless. Most straights are regular carbon steel. Stainless is recommended for those living in very humid and/or salty air places - either stainless or put a light coat of oil on the blade between uses.

Actually, no, Gillette razors were for the most part brass plated with nickel. Some were gold plated and some were silver plated. Gillette did not use zamac. To the best of my knowledge neither did GEM nor Ever Ready. Both used brass.

The story is very different when it comes to European makers. Pretty much all my European razors have zamac heads. There are exceptions of course. My Darwin is cobalt steel. My Rythmic is brass plated in chrome. Both are rare and both are among my most prized.