Razor makers question

[hehndc]

Are all kits the same other than plating? I want to make one for my son, therefore I want a good one.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[thewishman]

There are kits from Berea and different kits from PSI.

 

[GColeman]

Do you intend to use wood or another material for the handle? I am curious to know how wood, even with a CA finish holds up to daily use with wet hands.

 

[65GTMustang]

I have been very interested in razors - I have spent a great deal of time and $ developing a method to make handles for the Fusion razor.
If you are making the Mach III
My personal opinion would be the Berea style kit / Arizona Silhouette / The Golden Nib.
TGN has a great supply of shaving materials - it could be a one stop shop for you.
But I am not saying one is better than the other - I buy from them all.....Notice I did not mention one of the suppliers style however????

If you are doing a wood Handle I recommend using Marine Spar as your finish.
CA is ok but does not hold up as well as the Marine Spar - Think about it this stuff is used on boats that are in water constantly?
I take the wood to 12,000 micromesh - clean with denatured alcohol, I use a thin wire to run through the barrel of the handle and dip in the spar. I actually swirl it around to remove any excess (outside or in a contain area of course)
Then let it hang over night. You need to keep a close eye on it for the first 15-20 mins of hanging to clean up any run down drops that will collect on the end.
I like to give the spar a week to cure (perhaps it will take less time now that it is warming up?

Let me know if you have any specific questions - I will be happy to help.

 

[hehndc]

Thanks for all the quick replies.

I have looked at the kits from PSI, BearTooth Woods and a couple other site. Seems they are all the same kit, thought Bear Tooth has more plating options. It is looks to me like all kits are the same except for the plating (hense the question).

I have been planning to use acrylic because of the water issue. I had not considered using Spar varnish, good suggestion.

Since this will be for my son, serving in Iraq, I want the best.

Thanks to everyone for the input. This will be my first razor and I do not have any first hand experience with the quality of the kits offered.

Steve

 

[65GTMustang]

If you want the best - I suggest picking out a piece of M3
Mokume Gane - Damascus
BTW the PSI kits is different - the components are a different size so there stands only fit there razors.
If you want M3 or even Truestone check out randbcrafts.com
I just spoke with him about M3 the over day - He has a great selection of both

 

[Boz]

I bought a handfull of kits at Woodcraft for last Christmas. I bought some of the razor stands from PSI and found out that the neck on the razors was larger that the opening on the PSI razor stands. I was able to carefully open the hanger to get them to work together without cracking the plating on the stand. Someone with more knowledge that I can could tell you in more detail but it appears that there are more than one kit out there and the specs are slightly different. In my case all the bodies I turned were PR so I did not have to worry about the wood and water problem. Also all the brass tubes were epoxyed because I do not trust CA and water. As a previous owner of a wooden boat even the best varnish and paint needs to be redone to keep her is Bristol condition.

 

[Seer]

Get a TI finish whether gold or black and that should stand the test as it is a great finish.

 

[65GTMustang]

Box - That's exactly what I experienced last week - I have a handful of Mach III razors that I wanted to pair up with stands....The only Razor Only stand I could find were the PSI type - I had to do the same thing - You need to be very careful, the plating will easily come off and you can snap the VERY weak weld joint the hook is attached to the stand with.
I have a completely converted razor stand that I had to get real creative with - It needed to be a razor only and I only had Brush and Razor stands. I ended up making the stand, center barrel and hook all from wood it looks pretty good and the recipient loved it.
If I don't have a pic in my album - I will post one soon.