this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2025
6 points (87.5% liked)

WetShaving

742 readers
15 users here now

This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.

New subscribers welcome!

Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.

๐Ÿช’ Check out these alternative front-ends for this server:

https://gem.wetshaving.social/ - a nice modern interface

Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social/.

๐Ÿช’ Track the uptime of our various services here:

https://uptime.splettnet.com/status/wetshaving

๐Ÿช’ Community Rules

Rule 1 - Behaviour and Etiquette
Rule 2 - Content Guidelines
Rule 3 - Reviews and Disclosure
Rule 4 - Advertising
Rule 5 - Inappropriate Content
Rule 10 - Moderator Discretion

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

For those unaware aluminum bronze is an alloy of aluminum, copper, along with other trace metals and is characterized by being corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and strength. Sounds like the perfect material for safety razors and yet, I haven't found any examples of razors being made out of this. Why do you think this is? P.S. Turns out there is also an alloy called aluminum brass which is similarly corrosion resistant but slightly less strong. I would ask the same question about this material as well.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

This is a cool question and made me think.

Common metals for safety razors (not including plated razors) are:

  1. Aluminum
  2. Stainless steel
  3. Titanium
  4. Brass
  5. Bronze

The prices of these razors depend mainly on how difficult it is to machine. Titanium, I believe, is the most difficult to machine. The material cost also varies, but most of the price is reflected in how much time it takes to machine a razor.

From a marketing perspective, people solid metal razors for one of a few reasons.

  1. Appearance
  2. Weight preference
  3. Some people like a patina

To compete with the other metals, Aluminum Bronze only appeal to people who want a dark metal razor, but no patina. Most people who buy Brass or Bronze want a patina.

That being said, as someone who owns a stainless steel razor and a titanium razor, I'd totally buy an Aluminum Bronze razor knowing it won't get a patina (or at least not much of one). The only question is price. How difficult is it to machine? I assume it's pretty easy.