Thread: Ming Shi - model "Shaver 20005" Merkur Futur clone

Saw this several days ago in a search and for the price decided to get it. Looked like a Merkur Futur satin chrome. I have one of those, and I bought it new just a few years ago for around $70.00. It is a great razor and shaves very nice, especially if women are interested since the ends cover over the blade, so underarm are a bit more protected.

Got this Ming Shi razor in the mail today. Nice packaging and also contained a new pack of 5 stainless steel DE razor blades. Taking it out it looks and feels a lot like the Merkur Futur razor. Has dials that turn easily and I was even able to take the top cover off the Merkur Futur and put it on the Ming Shi razor as a perfect fit. They have this razor down to a T!!

Shaved with it tonight, using Feather SS blades I have. Shave was magnificent. I set it on 4 like I have my Merkur and shaved just as good and no notive of any difference between the two. This Chinese razor is a bit lighter, but not by a great lot. All in all I was impressed.

I posted pictures below showing how close these two razors are to each other.
I saw today, at a well known popular wet shaving shop that the Merkur Futur sells for $79.99 where the Ming Shi sell for $65.40 with free shipping.. OOPS.. that's not right!! My decimal is off. Razor + 5 new blades + free shipping cost me $6.54, about what one might pay for some DE razor blades at the local variety store. $6.54 !!!

I must confess, that I shave pretty fast using a DE. I hold the razor at a rather steep angle (mostly with the handle pointing downward toward the floor) and fast, long strokes. From the time I lathered up, and then shaved is about 3 minutes. I had no niks, cuts, scratches, nor irritation using this razor with my aggressive shaving habit. Nice clean shave as well.

One mention I might add. The shave head is a bit too wobbly with the spring that came with it. So I went to the hardware store, found a similar sized spring that was thicker in coil and used the dremel to cut it to the proper length. The adjustments are now a bit more stiff to turn than the original Chinese razor, but the head does not rock side to side, and acts more like the Merkur Futur. Spring cost me 59 cents IIRC. Just time with dremel to cut and make it fit and work right.

Talking about differences - beyond the obvious difference in price:
At 91 g/3.2 oz. the Min Shi/Q-Shave is considerably lighter than the 122 g/4.3 oz Futur.

The design of the genuine Futur concentrates more weight in the head than for most safety razors, which in case of the genuine article makes for a shave where virtually no pressure is needed.
As the clone is 25% lighter, the lower weight thus requires a somewhat higher amount of pressure.

The 25% weight difference in the same form factor can be explained by the materials being used. The Futur is advertised as being made from brass and the Ming Shi/Q-Shave clone is most likely made from Zamak, which is about 25% lighter than brass.

While I have no problems with Zamak, this material has the potential to break up over time if impurities during the casting are not removed - which is ultimately a question of quality control during manufacturiinng.


B.