I just stumbled across this tidbit and thought I'd share it with all & sundry. I guess I just assumed that most modern nickel plated razors (Merkur, Muhle, EJ etc) were plated brass.....but apparently for the vast majority this is not the case.
They're actually made from Zamak, a Zinc alloy thats generally not given much respect by metallurgists due to it being used for generally very entry level and cheap cast metal products e.g matchbox cars.
Apparently its also known as pot metal (which comes from it not being used in pots but that due to the relative low melting points of all in the alloy it can often be made using a pot to hold the junk metal thats melted down).
Zamak tends to degenerate quite quickly if it's exposed to air/humidity so keep your eye out for any blemishes or plating loss on your razors as apparently they go rapidly down hill once the plating is lost.
Is an interesting thing as apparently until not too long ago(no definite time period was given but I'd guess ~10yrs) Merkurs sold really quite cheaply, sub-$10 each - but have had their prices go up significantly in recent times.
Perhaps if anything this reinforces the excellent value that vintage razors are - being brass they can have complete loss of their plating and still be usable for decades and decades afterwards with no performance loss.
PS. Before I get a bunch of folks angrily posting 'My razor isn't Zamak etc' let me again state that its not all of these modern brands' models that are Zamak, some of them still are plated brass....like I know my 37c is plated brass. Others have the handle brass and the head Zamak and others are entirely Zamak.
They're actually made from Zamak, a Zinc alloy thats generally not given much respect by metallurgists due to it being used for generally very entry level and cheap cast metal products e.g matchbox cars.
Apparently its also known as pot metal (which comes from it not being used in pots but that due to the relative low melting points of all in the alloy it can often be made using a pot to hold the junk metal thats melted down).
Zamak tends to degenerate quite quickly if it's exposed to air/humidity so keep your eye out for any blemishes or plating loss on your razors as apparently they go rapidly down hill once the plating is lost.
Is an interesting thing as apparently until not too long ago(no definite time period was given but I'd guess ~10yrs) Merkurs sold really quite cheaply, sub-$10 each - but have had their prices go up significantly in recent times.
Perhaps if anything this reinforces the excellent value that vintage razors are - being brass they can have complete loss of their plating and still be usable for decades and decades afterwards with no performance loss.
PS. Before I get a bunch of folks angrily posting 'My razor isn't Zamak etc' let me again state that its not all of these modern brands' models that are Zamak, some of them still are plated brass....like I know my 37c is plated brass. Others have the handle brass and the head Zamak and others are entirely Zamak.
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