Engraving and an enquiry

Trapezoid

Member
Joined
May 28, 2019
Location
Perth, Western Australia
Hello

I wanted to thank everyone who suggested the Razorock Game Changer 84 in my other thread. I’ve been using it for the last 2 weeks and have been quite pleased with it. Since I am still curios about the Muhle R41, despite the warnings of it being aggressive, I went and bought one anyway which arrived today.

Something I like to do with some purchases is to engrave the month and year of purchase. Does anyone know if/how engraving will affect the chrome? Or is generally not a good idea to engrave chrome? What about laser etching? I’m not worried about the GC84 since that’s straight up stainless steel.

As I said my R41 arrived today. Pic attached. Metal shavings fell out of the handle where the threading is and there is yellow discolouration around the pins (granted, kind of hard to see in the pic). Should I send it back or is this typical? My R89 did not have metal shavings fall out nor discoloured areas around the pins.


Thanks again

Daniel
 
Hello

I wanted to thank everyone who suggested the Razorock Game Changer 84 in my other thread. I’ve been using it for the last 2 weeks and have been quite pleased with it. Since I am still curios about the Muhle R41, despite the warnings of it being aggressive, I went and bought one anyway which arrived today.

Something I like to do with some purchases is to engrave the month and year of purchase. Does anyone know if/how engraving will affect the chrome? Or is generally not a good idea to engrave chrome? What about laser etching? I’m not worried about the GC84 since that’s straight up stainless steel.

As I said my R41 arrived today. Pic attached. Metal shavings fell out of the handle where the threading is and there is yellow discolouration around the pins (granted, kind of hard to see in the pic). Should I send it back or is this typical? My R89 did not have metal shavings fall out nor discoloured areas around the pins.


Thanks again

Daniel

Never seen that before!
 
Hello

I wanted to thank everyone who suggested the Razorock Game Changer 84 in my other thread. I’ve been using it for the last 2 weeks and have been quite pleased with it. Since I am still curios about the Muhle R41, despite the warnings of it being aggressive, I went and bought one anyway which arrived today.

Something I like to do with some purchases is to engrave the month and year of purchase. Does anyone know if/how engraving will affect the chrome? Or is generally not a good idea to engrave chrome? What about laser etching? I’m not worried about the GC84 since that’s straight up stainless steel.

As I said my R41 arrived today. Pic attached. Metal shavings fell out of the handle where the threading is and there is yellow discolouration around the pins (granted, kind of hard to see in the pic). Should I send it back or is this typical? My R89 did not have metal shavings fall out nor discoloured areas around the pins.


Thanks again

Daniel
I would absolutely advice against any surface manipulation of your "chrome" razors - because in reality they are made out of cheap "pot" metal (generally a low melting zinc alloy) which is then protected by a (generally thin) chrome plating. Any destruction of this plating will lead to corrosion and ultimately your razor will crumble. And that is without even going into the toxicity of the chromium plating...

On the contrary you should take great care of the surface of any of these razors - keep them clean, don't drop or scratch them, etc. etc. etc.

Engraving stainless steel might also cause issues: it says stainless not stain free. The thin channels you are creating by engraving your razor will take longer to dry and attract soap scum etc much more readily than a smooth large surface. Depending on where you engrave your razor, it might get into contact with your razor blade and cause even more troubles. If you insist on doing so, I would suggest the bottom of the base plate as probably the safest option and would definitely advice against engraving on the inside of the head (top of base plate, bottom of the top cap).

Another point: in a year or 2 you might want to sell/trade razors you don't like anymore - an engraved date will certainly not add to their value. Maybe a simple spreadsheet is a safer/easier solution? Our resident bean counter @Mark1966 will be certainly very happy and eager to help you set one up :D

As for your razor: the metal shavings wouldn't worry me too much - just a poor QC issue at the end of the process. Of course they should have been cleaned out...I assume they come from cutting the threads.

The yellow discoloration on the other had could be worrisome...have you tried to just polish them out with a soft cloth/kitchen towel (just dry, without any water/soap etc)? If that doesn't work, I would assume this is a result of poor chrome plating and will lead sooner or later the pins will be falling/crumbling off :(
 
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