How much can last a saftey razor?

My questions for you guys:

1. When you must replace your saftey razor ?
2. How long resist a saftey razor ?
3. Can you shave with a saftey razor if dosen't have no more the nickel plating?

A good safety razor should outlast the owner.
Brass is fine to shave with.

I'm shaving with razors that are over 100 years old. They will outlive me.

TheVez2 said:

I'm shaving with razors that are over 100 years old. They will outlive me.

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+1

I shave once a year with my 1905 double ring Gillette. Plus I have 40 other razors that are 50 years old or older.

My grandchildren will be shaving with them 50 years from now.

If the brassing bothers you, consider having it replated.

drews50 said:

+1

I shave once a year with my 1905 double ring Gillette. Plus I have 40 other razors that are 50 years old or older.

My grandchildren will be shaving with them 50 years from now.

If the brassing bothers you, consider having it replated.

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Replate in my opinion it's not a good ideea because the plating in our days it's poor quality and unprofessional.
Nobody will replate a thing in our days, replace is the answer, we lost the value of thigs everything it's cheap an easy to get. And because of this there are no more professionals in plating, watch repair, and so on. I will gladly replate a saftey razor but in this conditions no way.
I replated with gold a pendant, and after 10 day it was worst than befor plating.

bohemondus said:

My questions for you guys:

1. When you must replace your saftey razor ?

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Only if it is broken, and that takes some effort. Like others above, I shave regularly with razors that are 40, 60 or 100 years old. And they shave just fine.

2. How long resist a saftey razor ?

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Not sure just what you mean by this question. So don't have an answer.

3. Can you shave with a saftey razor if dosen't have no more the nickel plating?

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Yes, you can. But I personally feel a little more of a feeling of the razor "dragging" when I've shave with razors with no more plating.

My razor was made in the 1920's and has plating loss on the teeth but it shaves just fine. I would imagine it will last a couple more centuries or so
Wp

1. When you must replace your saftey razor ? - do you mean the blade? Some guys get one shave from ablade, some get 10. Depends on your face, your prep and the brand of blade in question.

2. How long resist a saftey razor ? Modern ones - probably a decade or so. Vintage ones - there's no limit. Lots of us use razors from the 1920s or earlier.

3. Can you shave with a saftey razor if dosen't have no more the nickel plating? Absolutely. The plating is entirely cosmetic, doesn't affect the shave at all.

I have Razors from 40-80 years old and they will still be shaving when my Great Grandchildren will be in thier 60's and beyond. The 3 piece razors are all built like Tanks. Common sense care will keep them going forever.

amishmotorboat said:

A good safety razor should outlast the owner.
Brass is fine to shave with.

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Amishmotorboat:
+ 1 and my razors (Merkur's 23C & 38C), and kit will most likely be in the hands of my great, great, great grandkids.

Christopher

Some older razors only came in brass, no plating at all when new.

I have a small, growing collection. I find it hard to resist buying antique razors to use.

One of my razors was my Dad's when he was in the army. He has the identical match to it and shaves with it daily still. Replacing good equipment is a choice. You can always cycle through several razors and enjoy them.

Phil

bohemondus said:

Replate in my opinion it's not a good ideea because the plating in our days it's poor quality and unprofessional.
Nobody will replate a thing in our days, replace is the answer, we lost the value of thigs everything it's cheap an easy to get. And because of this there are no more professionals in plating, watch repair, and so on. I will gladly replate a saftey razor but in this conditions no way.
I replated with gold a pendant, and after 10 day it was worst than befor plating.

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That entirely depends on who is doing the replating. There are plenty of high quality platers around. Look at the car and motorcycle industry...all that chrome/powercoating/etc. needs to last.

sandmountainslim said:

My razor was made in the 1920's and has plating loss on the teeth but it shaves just fine. I would imagine it will last a couple more centuries or so
Wp

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+1

1. As long as it works and you are happy with it keep using it! (That is, of course, unless you want to have a rotation of razors)
2. I have a razor from 1949 and it is amazing
3. Plating is used mainly to prevent the brass from corroding and to add to the aesthetics of the razor. As long as you take care of your razor, it should be in perfect shaving condition.

Hope this helps !

There are professional jewelers that can make your razor look better than it did when it was brand new.

About re-plating -I haven't had it done yet to a razor, but will soon. It really depends on a lot of things.

As noted, some jewelers and restoration services do re-plating extremely well and probably better than the manufacturer. It's not a terribly complicated matter. It also depends on the underlying metal, and the material being used for the plating.

About plating being solely cosmetic, and another comment about razor drag:

A smooth surface can matter. I don't think it matters whether the surface is silver plate or nickel plate or gold plate with lacquer. It's the smoothness. If so inclined, you can polish the brass or copper cap of a razor with successive grades of abrasives, finishing with red rouge, and achieve a very smooth surface. If you dry it every time like I do, you might have to use a bit of Brasso once per year to maintain the finish. There's nothing inherently draggy about brass.

- Bill

Had not thought about Brasso on a razor to make it more smooth. Will work on a couple of razors this weekend!

Trujillo said:

Had not thought about Brasso on a razor to make it more smooth. Will work on a couple of razors this weekend!

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Taylor, Brasso alone may not suffice. I suspect they didn't polish the underlying brass surface very highly if they planned to plate it. Added smoothness would have come with the plating material and process.

I'd get some metal polishing compounds. Mine are in stick form in four grades, I've had them for years, and they'll probably outlast me. You can use a rotary buffing wheel but it isn't really necessary. I scrape some onto a damp paper towel and rub by hand. It is slower but works just as well in terms of outcome. Go from coarse to finer and don't skip grades.

Once it's smooth, the Brasso is only needed periodically to remove tarnish - forming as a result of chemical reactions with the atmosphere etc. The current version of Brasso seems to me to be less abrasive than its predecessors (a good thing), but I could be wrong. It mostly does its work by chemistry, removing the products of tarnishing.

- Bill

Go West Young Man said:

1. When you must replace your saftey razor ? - do you mean the blade? Some guys get one shave from ablade, some get 10. Depends on your face, your prep and the brand of blade in question.

2. How long resist a saftey razor ? Modern ones - probably a decade or so. Vintage ones - there's no limit. Lots of us use razors from the 1920s or earlier.

3. Can you shave with a saftey razor if dosen't have no more the nickel plating? Absolutely. The plating is entirely cosmetic, doesn't affect the shave at all.

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Why you that modern razors last a decade a poor quality? What is the difference between a modern razor and a vintage one? Whay a vintage razor resist more time than a modern one?

Unless you drop the comb bit and break a tooth off they should last for an eternity. My only complaint with a razor where the palting has worn through is that it smells 'brassy'.