Thread: ZY chinese razor.

Originally Posted by kcb5150

I still find their straight razor attempts interesting. They are bound to make something acceptable eventually...

There is evidence from the knife industry, Reate / Kizer and some others, that Chinese can make very high quality tool if they wanted to. To me it seems that there is no interest in producing quality razor so far.

They are still screwing up the basics then

“Why/how does polishing compound leave a harsh edge? Wouldn't a smoother (smaller striations) edge be better for your skin?”

Yes, it will polish the bevel, but the abrasives, probably Aluminum Oxide do cut harshly and when looked at 400X the edge is micro-chipped and is abrades skin, the harsh feeling. Much the same complaint with .50 diamond only finer chipping. Diamond will add some keenness, but too much is notorious for making a harsh edge.

Try some Chromium Oxide for smoothness after the .50 Diamond it will smooth it out some. For the polish, I find jointing the edge and resetting on a high grit stone works best, then polish again, on Chrome Oxide or CBN for comfort. Make sure to buy Razor Quality pure Chrome Oxide, not hardware or woodworking store polishing sticks.

I haven't read the rest of the thread forgive me. I just wanted to add a comment about these razors. I bought one off a fellow on etsy "Shave ready" He honed it himself. I got it and it was the most brutal shave I have ever had. The bevel was wonky and not set. After a few hours, mostly grinding away to get a bevel going it got shave ready. It not sits as an acceptable shaver in my drawer. A word to the wise is to listen to where the shave ready term is coming from. Even some north americans state their razors are shave ready... just because it scrapes hair off the face uncomfortably doesn't make it a shave ready razor. I've said it before about GD's as well. Once you grind the blade the way you want it it hones up nicely. The part that takes the longest is grinding it to the initial bevel.

H
I took some pics of my ZY.
THe blade is heavy because of the thick spine.
I still feel with a proper hone and finish on a loaded strop, it will give reasonable shaves.
A good hone includes setting the bevel.
On my old blades, rusted, setting the bevel gets back into good metal condition. It will remove any pitting etc.
You can see a bit of "Smile"

Originally Posted by mainaman

With my angle cube, the front side is 20.30 deg, the back side is 19.75 deg. For a stainless steel that blade is extremely magnetic by the way.

I noticed that my ZY was magnetic as well. I put a fridge magnet on my Henckels Friodur Inox and my Dovo Inox and I was most surprised to see that they both stuck to it also.

Hi
I drove my sons truck to Colorado to help them move to florida so I have not done anything with the straights.
Maybe after the 25th I will get back into the shaves

So I have one zy that was honed by Frank misa and it is wonderful. But I purchased a zY recently white handle like the one that was pictured and the scales were broken when I got it . It does feel sharp though

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Originally Posted by Brent375HH

I noticed that my ZY was magnetic as well. I put a fridge magnet on my Henckels Friodur Inox and my Dovo Inox and I was most surprised to see that they both stuck to it also.

Stainless is not completely nonmagnetic, different grades will have different affinity to magnets. However a Friodur is a lot less magnetic than a ZY. In general the more magnetic a steel is the more iron there is in it and the closer to carbon steel it is. I have not tested how easy it is for a ZY to rust, I know tat Friodurs are very rust resistant.

Originally Posted by Jay123

So I have one zy that was honed by Frank misa and it is wonderful. But I purchased a zY recently white handle like the one that was pictured and the scales were broken when I got it . It does feel sharp though

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The term sharp can apply to many things that will not otherwise shave. For example my kitchen knives finished on 1k are sharp, they will easily cut me if I am not careful. A piece of broken class is sharp enough to cut skin. Sharp does not mean good to shave with. It is important to understand the difference so one can focus on the important part at making a sharp razor shave ready.