Thread: ZY chinese razor.

I broke down and just bought two honed by Master Shifu. I had wanted to do a microscopic examination of the edge that someone was going to mail me, but that seems to have fallen through, so if I wanted to see the honing by the Master, I had to buy my own.

One is for trying out and the other is for breaking and other experiments!

Hi
The handle is crap but the blade is the thing.
Post your results.
I would like to know how consistent the blades are.
I may put together a 7 day set. :<)

Originally Posted by mainaman

How an edge feels and performs has to do with how it was honed. Stropping on leather does not affect the edge like a hone does, it does not remove steel.

Understood. I mentioned that by way of saying that nothing special was required to get it to shave as well as all my other blades. In other words, it was a good shaver out of the box; no additional honing was necessary.

Mine shaves OK as well. Not that I can say I feel it, but the edge seems to have more micro chips in it when viewed under magnification than my other two stainless razors. Perhaps I was not as gentle with the stone considering it's price. As delivered, I think Master Shifu used a used a fairly fine file to burnish the edge, but my scales were not broken. $12.49 for mine, but it included a monkey hide and cotton strop, and .5m diamond paste. The strop is unusual that it is fake leather glued to suede. I will say that a little diamond paste rubbed into the monkey hide will certainly smooth the edge and make it shave quite well after the 8K. It is a good value as a gateway setup, but left me desiring a well made set up. I have since bought 3 razors made in Solingen. I just received my SRD strop today. You get what you pay for, but $12.49 including shipping is a bargain IMO.

Hi

I have a fairly strong glass but not in the 2-300x range.
I have been thinking about one of the USB microscopes, maybe next month.
I would like to examine my work under high magnification.
I can see the scratches made by my 10000 chinese stone and my strop loaded with car polishing compound takes the scratches off and the edge apears smooth with my glass.
My loaded strop is impregnated with this stuff.
It works quite well for me.

$7 shipped! How can you go wrong!!! While not pleasing to the eye like a refined German, if they work they work. One thing I found out when personally in China and walking the streets and going into the shops and talking to the owners was the Chinese do remarkable things with a lot less than other countries! I have to say I admire a people that can make chicken salad from chicken manure!

And real authentic Chinese food is absolutely a palate changer if you have never had "REAL" cuisine from that country! We make our jokes about the products that come from there and I admit it can be hit and miss, but they truly are an amazing people to do what they do!

Originally Posted by dkwflight

Hi
The handle is crap but the blade is the thing.
Post your results.
I would like to know how consistent the blades are.
I may put together a 7 day set. :<)

I like this idea! Maybe I will too. I could identify them with a sharpie for the day of the week and store them in a ramen cup. Maybe Honemeister Shifu could sign them all with a sharpie as well, for a small fee. My stepson could then inherit a real family heirloom. I say this somewhat tongue in cheek, but these do shave well enough to convince me to buy a Friodur & two Dovos, that do not shave X% times better.

Hi
I don't have much to compare.
I am still battling with my old razors. Getting a relatively smooth one pass wtg shave with little blood.
I usually have to let my face heal for two three days :<)
To me the blade is the thing. I am not a collector, if I was I might put a lot of money in the pretty and unusual blades out there.

Originally Posted by dkwflight

Hi
I don't have much to compare.
I am still battling with my old razors. Getting a relatively smooth one pass wtg shave with little blood.
I usually have to let my face heal for two three days :<)
To me the blade is the thing. I am not a collector, if I was I might put a lot of money in the pretty and unusual blades out there.

Did you start off with a DE prior to this? I thought I had sensitive skin, but I do a two pass shave with a few extra strokes on my chin every day without burn. I might actually get less irritation with a straight. I do go painfully slow though. It takes me 15-18 minutes as opposed to 3-4 for DE. I hope you win your battle soon.

Hi
Around 1964 I started with DE razors. A few years later I went to a Shick injector.
Since then I used a Norelco, not very satisfactory.
Then back to a DE razor and the multi blade disposables.
Since I retired I tried a number of thing like making myself a pair of shoes along with another Norelco, a little better this time.
I don't know why I started with straights. I had one laying around.
I finally decided to sharpen the old ERN. Now I can shave with it. I learned a bit and still learning.
Since I got the welsh slates I find I can get a better edge, best so far.

Also a wood lathe and bowls and platters to fill the time since I retired.