Thread: venus titanium

I think we all need to remember that all of the commercial sources for new razors are all well known and documented. When someone comes out with a new brand no one ever heard of before I think it prudent to assume its either Pakistani or Chinese or comes from some other place you would not want to be getting a razor from.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think we all need to remember that all of the commercial sources for new razors are all well known and documented. When someone comes out with a new brand no one ever heard of before I think it prudent to assume its either Pakistani or Chinese or comes from some other place you would not want to be getting a razor from.

Yep, agree it seems a very rare occasion this happens. But there is a precedent... Wapis!

Having said that, this titanium thing does sound like a turkey.

Venus has been around for awhile. It was almost six years ago when I bought one of their razors, before I found the SRP, but I doubt the quality has improved.

Originally Posted by Lt.Arclight

If its titanium nitride, all it is , is a ceramic coating. Short of being familiar with industrial tooling,most people see it on drill bits. Its REALLY hard-something like 85 Rockwell. Which would be a true B&^%H to hone.

Then since it would be practically impossible to make the coating PERFECTLY uniform, you would wear through some and still have coating on what's left of the edge-then the hone would wear the edge unevenly.

It really does'nt work on drill bits-other than for non-professional use.The coating wears off,almost immediately . Most very high end drills are made from a steel alloy containing COBALT. It seems they are trying to reinvent the wheel. Most custom razor makers have a very good working knowledge of metallurgy and manipulate the materials molecular structure to make a more durable edge.

There are already very fine steels, some found on even on vintage ebay specials. IMO, its just another marketing ploy to sell a product that really isn't needed.

This is very true IME as a welder/machinest the best tool's for an experienced hand are cobalt, and the reason i say experienced is they DO NOT like to flex. If you use one and flex the bit its going to shatter wich is why super hard materials arent good for razors. Yes hair is small and easy to cut but the fine edge of a razor is equally small and if it cant flex even infantesmaly it will break, remember that all things that dont bend break. On the same turn you dont want the edge basicly moving out of the way of the hair. Wich im guessing is why the stated razor while sharp wont cut. The metal is to maliable and just dances around the hair. i may not be an experienced bladesmith but as a third gen, metal worker i know metal like most people know there kids lol

Originally Posted by wopmanfixit

Venus has been around for awhile. It was almost six years ago when I bought one of their razors, before I found the SRP, but I doubt the quality has improved.

It hasn't - it has only changed names

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

A diamond blade would be a terrible idea. Most diamond blades I know of do not have sharp edges at all. The diamonds cut with a gravity feed device and the diamond really kind of chips away at the material. I'd be willing to bet a diamond blade would not cut whiskers at all unless they developed a type of amorphous type coating almost microcyrstaline.

The sharpest blades I've ever heard of are made of diamond, they are used to cut microscopically thin cross sections of little resin infused beads to view under electron microscope. (whatever is being analyzed is infused with a resin like material then is shaved by the diamond blade to a sub micron sliver) it is said the blade is so fine that the oil from your finger can totally degrade the edge. Obviously it would not be suitable to shaving but diamond blades can be made very thin and remain functional for specific purposes. Also from what I've read the blades are quite expensive, as in representing a significant portion of the operator of the scanning electron microscope annual pay, and each technician usually owns their own.

This thread is magic. Once a year it gets necro'd

I've made this observation on every one of these Venus Titanium threads that I have encountered but I guess I missed this one. For the sake of anyone who might consider buying one of these, consider the following.

This thing defies all logic. They declare that the blue titanium coating makes the edge sharper and stronger. Well, look at the EDGE. Do you see any blue there? The only place the coating might matter is the one place where it ain't. I could go on, and I have in other threads, but just read the description of the razor. They declare that the coating is not removed by honing. Well if that were true, then it would be impossible to sharpen, since sharpening involves steel removal, but clearly this is not true because the coating is not at the edge! Do you see any logic in that?

Originally Posted by wopmanfixit

I bought a Venus razor when I first started straight shaving, I'm embarrassed to say. To be blunt, they are Paki made pieces of crap! The thing would not hold an edge. I ended up giving it away. Buy one at your own risk.

Now that is worth knowing, and it doesn't surprise me.

Titanium is a fascinating metal, amazingly strong for its light weight, and yet it is nowhere near as hard as razor steel. I recently bought some thin titanium welding rods as a guide for silver soldering the tiny tubes to put a new hinge on a pocket watch case, because it is about the only metal in common use which simply won't solder. I don't think it is likely to be possible to firmly bond it to steel, either. I'm sure what Venus has is a titanium nitride coated razor.

This is immensely hard, but quite brittle, and therefore not likely to be much better than the steel under it. A razor edge does bend this way and that, and needs to be straightened up by stropping. Steel can indeed be chipped, on a microscopic scale, by hair. A very sharp hunting knife undoubtedly would, if you hacked a substantial chunk of horn with it, and hair is made of keratin too. You would need a synthetic hone or diamond lap for initial and perhaps every honing.

Of course if you were making a razor out of miserably bad steel, the priorities might change.

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

This thread is magic. Once a year it gets necro'd

As it should be, so it shall be.