Brand New Carbon Cx Razor - The Cx-904L

CarbonShavingCo. 
If you're interested into creating razors from
"exotic" metals and alloys ,then you should
consider Niobium (Nb)
Belongs to the Ti family ,it's biocompatible ,
non-allergic and non-toxic .It shares a lot of
characteristics with Titanium .
But it is heavy.Has almost double density than
Ti.
Usually has the same price with sterling silver.
It's a PITA to machine ( it's a "gummy" material)  and when anodizing ( same techniques and materials as with Ti ) it
boasts really vivid colors .

Here is a vid of mine working on 
anodizing two tube specimens 
( one made of Ti grade 2 while the other is pure Niobium ) .Niobium anodizing starts at around 11:28 on the vid.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c572473byLo

Edit : Just a humble opinion .
Any possible material for the making of DE razors,
does not have to be super hard or super tough or 
super robust.
I can't think of anyone,not a single case ,
using his DE razor to open bottles of beer.
Or use it as a mini hammer for mini hammering 
jobs.

Facts and real life have shown that 
any possible material has to withstand 
tap water,warm water,cold water,soaps,
and contact with the human skin ,
at most cases.
So the material has to be corrosion resistant.
The more ,the better.

Also the material has to be "gentle" 
with human skin.
It has to be non-toxic enough,non-allergic enough,
non-irritant enough and generally be as safe as possible.

Or at least ,that is the way humble me thinks 
it has to be .

There is a plethora of such materials.
With lots of different physical and chemical 
properties,with different levels of machinability,
and of course with different prices and availabilities .

Bravo for the 904L choice once more.
It's a rarity for a DE razor and that is 
a solid fact.Personally I'm fully aware 
about how hard is to get a relatively 
small quantity of that alloy ( for making 
DE razors for example) ,
as also that it is quite expensive to buy 
and even more expensive to machine it.

I can not find the $600 needed 
to own this kind of rarity as a shaving tool.
There are other priorities that need 
constant financing as they grow up.
But I can pay all the respect 
to the maker of such razor.
It's something unique.
A true heirloom of personal hygiene item.
In the time-keeping world ,definately 
the Cx-904L would have been a Rolex.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
surfboat

I can't have it ,but I can admire it 
for what it is .A rare piece of arts .
Yes,arts .Of quite a few of them .

These items belong to the lucky 
people who can afford them .
They are not for every me and 
every you.
They have the halo of desire ,
around them for a reason ,
dear negative Nancy.
C' est la vie .
Think of others around the globe,
that shave with DE razors costing less than 
a whole us dollar.
Google for the amazing ALSHABAB 
DE razor .
My razors cost about $100 each.
But they are what they are.
Stainless (316L ) steel shaving tools.

Something like my Casio watch.
Will do.It's ok with me.
But that does not stopping me from
admiring a Rolex for what it is .
And it's not just a time keeping device,
like my humble Casio.It's lot more 
that that.And has lots "of what's the point" 
features ,called "character" .

This : https://m.aliexpress.com/i/1005004578739477.html
surely can give you a nice and smooth 
shave.
But ...There's a "but" ,right ? 

No offense intended.

Sorry stephanos, while I can appreciate the manufacturing hurdles that were overcome, I don't see a lot of value for the consumer. I'm sure the polish is really nice but that not unique these days. Reminds me of the 17-4 fad but with extra hurdles. If we are talking heirlooms with unique aesthetic, I prefer the stuff under the custom tab. Otherwise let's see a new design.

I can agree about the 17-4 fad .
This alloy ( aka AISI 630 ) is not something
special and for sure was something that
made lots of "noise" without any special reason.

I'm not going into details about the commonly used 
AISI 303 alloy.I prefer to keep for myself the
thoughts about it .

As a first material 904L is a bit over than 300%
more expensive than 316L .
There is only a few consumer items made from
this alloy.
That alone makes a DE razor made from this
material truly a rarity.

As for the aesthetics ,that is a whole another
chapter which actually reveals how different
we people are and that what is considered
aesthetically pleasing can be a very subject matter.

For me the 904L alloy is almost as corrosion resistant
as Ti grade 5 ,but with the bonus characteristics of
added weight ( not a fan of lightweight razors ) and
ability to take a superb lustrous finish
( I find that polished razors glide better on my skin ,
but it can be just my imagination ) .

As I 've stated and truly believe ,the 904L
is the final frontier regarding austenitic
stainless steel alloys
for manufacturing DE razors.
There is not any more
corrosion resistance than this ,
can't get shinier than this ,
can't get more luxurious than this.

To phrase it differently ...
Have you seen any Wolfman razors made
from 303 or 304 ss alloys ?
No ,of course and there are plenty of reasons for that.

James is a machinist who has dealt with
stainless steel alloys for long time.
He must know a thing or two when he has chosen
the 316L as a ss alloy to make his pieces.

There are more than a few DE razor makers that
surely did not had the slightest idea about metallurgy
and machining ,but still managed and prevailed
in this particular market.They maybe have
good marketing skills and/or good designing
team or even personal designing skills  .
Nevertheless ,myself as an ex-machinist
can "see through" -sort of speaking -these
products and see a rather great margin of profit.
Unjustifiable great margin of profit ,to the point of
being profiteering ,plain and simple.
Not that the razors themselves are bad.
They are exceptional designs and pretty
fine shaving tools.
It's just me that can 't stand seeing products
being so overly blatant overpriced ,
pretending to have some value of
some sort ( their material for sure does not add
any value to them ,but kinda throws them to the
"easy and massively made" category ).

Imagine any custom razor design you like .
Have a machinist make two identical razors.
One from the easy machinable AISI 303 and the
other from the 'impossible" AISI 904L .

To your eyes they may seem the same.
To your face they may shave the same.

But they are as different as day and night are to the "trained" eye .
'Cause one has next to zero value as a machined
object while the other will be causing some jaws
to drop. It may not be your jaw ,but that
alone does not affect the value of a CNC masterpiece.

Edit: There are of course expert machinists who entered
the DE razor manufacturing ,each with different skills,knowledge and equipment.

James from Wolfman razors is a truly 
talented machinist regarding his designs and 
his workmanship.It's relatively easy to 
notice that he has a tremendous experience 
working with stainless steel alloys.

Chris from Karve is also an exceptional 
machinist.I think that he has more experience working 
with brass and plain carbon steel ,than working with 
exotic stainless steel alloys.
His designing approach to 
DE razor manufacturing is kinda of 
old schoolish to my eyes ,but proven to 
be functional and reliable.

Sean from Carbon Shaving is also a talented machinist ,
bold enough -me thinks- to be experimenting with a large variety of exotic materials.And that 
alone takes a lot of effort and is time consuming .
His has sort of "standardized" his designs ,
but why fixing something that ain't broken ?
Me also thinks that the web /matrix design of the 
baseplates tend to become a trademark of 
Carbon Shaving.

Theodoros from Lambda razors .Also a talented machinist.Maybe more familiar with bronze alloys,
than stainless steel ones and still refining his designs .

There are plenty of other machinists also.
Each one of them has his "strong" and "weak" points .

These are the ones that lead the way into 
DE razor evolution .
Because theyhave the passion for the 
art .They create.

The rest of DE manufacturers have just the ideas,
(some being recycled or even copied-pasted ones ,
some being truly great and some being utterly crazy) and of course the money needed to make them become a reality.
They surely contribute to the evolution of the art ,
but they are far from being the pinnacle of it.
Because above all they are businessmen and 
not craftsmen .They do finance their ideas
but they do not turn them into reality by themselves.

These are my just personal thoughts and nothing more ,
nothing less than that.

I think the Carbon range of exotic metals/alloys is for those who
have got a good handle on the specs they want. I landed on the ++ plate with just one
misstep and I know this is the one for my needs.

For me, the polish on the 316SS model is pretty good as it stands, so the lure of 904 is
not so great...but those wavy steel and Ti alloys with Japanese names are really amazing.
Functional art.

What I love about the CX head is that it is a very good replacement for the Wolfman WR1
head with NO compromise...gives me the low and sleek profile...with the comfort that (for me)
was lacking in WR1. And the way the head grabs on to a blade (tolerances?) are the tightest
I have ever come across...almost makes the blade seem a like part of the razor, not an
extraneous element.

I think the Carbon range of exotic metals/alloys is for those who
have got a good handle on the specs they want. I landed on the ++ plate with just one
misstep and I know this is the one for my needs.

For me, the polish on the 316SS model is pretty good as it stands, so the lure of 904 is
not so great...but those wavy steel and Ti alloys with Japanese names are really amazing.
Functional art.

What I love about the CX head is that it is a very good replacement for the Wolfman WR1
head with NO compromise...gives me the low and sleek profile...with the comfort that (for me)
was lacking in WR1. And the way the head grabs on to a blade (tolerances?) are the tightest
I have ever come across...almost makes the blade seem a like part of the razor, not an
extraneous element.

I agree the polish on the stainless Cx is amazing. And I have other polished stainless razors that look great as well. For me, the allure of something that polishes even better is definitely something I would be drawn to, but that’s the only thing that would draw me to this razor. Personally, I don’t feel I need the other properties, though others certainly may.

That said, while this particular razor is not for me, I’m sure there are other folks who would be interested in it, which is why I posted it here. It’s definitely cool to see the envelope pushed with new designs, different metals, etc.

As for the plates, I definitely also like the ++ plate. I really wasn’t sure which one to go with, but knowing what I like and my past experiences with other companies that offered different plates, I just went for the largest gap right off the bat. But my curiosity about the original plate still lingers. There is definitely a significant difference in the gap, but it does have more blade exposure so I’m really curious how that would compare to the ++ plate. Plus I know so many other things play into the efficiency. Which is why I know Blackland Razors no longer lists that information, and rates their razors on a scale of 1-10.

Perfectly said Tester28 :

“What I love about the CX head is that it is a very good replacement for the Wolfman WR1 head with NO compromise...gives me the low and sleek profile...with the comfort that (for me) was lacking in WR1. And the way the head grabs on to a blade (tolerances?) are the tightest
I have ever come across...almost makes the blade seem a like part of the razor, not an
extraneous element.”

zaclikestoshave we never got past exploring specific tooling, techniques or grades for Zirconium since the issue of flammability and loosing a mill came up. Its a real risk...extra insurance and safe guards are required, however we would likely use similar techniques to machining Titanium and Damascus, also hard aloys, but slower feeds and speeds. Not many products are milled from it(like 904L), its mostly ring makers(using a lathe) and knife/knife scales(using a belt grinder). 

Stephanos1920 I'll explore the Niobium...very cool video, thanks for sharing. You also bring up Sterling Silver which is also intriguing...some of the bacteria killing properties of this metal are fascinating(I have a customer who has requested this). As a side note, we "flame" annodize our Damtanium, but with the electrolytic, as you show, "Cory" used to do some awesome work anodizing our Cx-Ti! Sadly he doesn't do it anymore...Stephanos, thanks for your comments.

surfboat I appreciate your note. I realize the Cx-904 is a niche of a niche part of the shaving world. In my research into 904L it led me to watch forums and your same comment comes up with Rolex watches. With regards to the blog, not much is known about the material except for what Rolex says in its marketing. I thought it would help and its a cool story...if this was for money only, I wouldn't be in this business. Making our razors is a full time business for us but I also enjoy the exploration and creativity of the metal work and making. I really do enjoy the challenge and artistic element...

To your other point, while I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of cool material, I will admit, I have looked at other designs but how can you beat a DE safety razor? To Stephanos' point is a single edge better? Is an adjustable razor better? I struggle with it...is this not marketing?(no disrespect to the makers of these products) I am open to being swayed? Personally I love the design element of these projects so I don't need much "swaying" but why? Variety sure but functionality?

Stay well all and have a good weekend,
Sean

zaclikestoshave we never got past exploring specific tooling, techniques or grades for Zirconium since the issue of flammability and loosing a mill came up. Its a real risk...extra insurance and safe guards are required, however we would likely use similar techniques to machining Titanium and Damascus, also hard aloys, but slower feeds and speeds. Not many products are milled from it(like 904L), its mostly ring makers(using a lathe) and knife/knife scales(using a belt grinder). 

Stephanos1920 I'll explore the Niobium...very cool video, thanks for sharing. You also bring up Sterling Silver which is also intriguing...some of the bacteria killing properties of this metal are fascinating(I have a customer who has requested this). As a side note, we "flame" annodize our Damtanium, but with the electrolytic, as you show, "Cory" used to do some awesome work anodizing our Cx-Ti! Sadly he doesn't do it anymore...Stephanos, thanks for your comments.

surfboat I appreciate your note. I realize the Cx-904 is a niche of a niche part of the shaving world. In my research into 904L it led me to watch forums and your same comment comes up with Rolex watches. With regards to the blog, not much is known about the material except for what Rolex says in its marketing. I thought it would help and its a cool story...if this was for money only, I wouldn't be in this business. Making our razors is a full time business for us but I also enjoy the exploration and creativity of the metal work and making. I really do enjoy the challenge and artistic element...

To your other point, while I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of cool material, I will admit, I have looked at other designs but how can you beat a DE safety razor? To Stephanos' point is a single edge better? Is an adjustable razor better? I struggle with it...is this not marketing?(no disrespect to the makers of these products) I am open to being swayed? Personally I love the design element of these projects so I don't need much "swaying" but why? Variety sure but functionality?

Stay well all and have a good weekend,
Sean

I didn't notice it in a post, I must have missed it. I was going to ask about Sterling Silver myself. I would love a silver razor. Any idea what that might end up costing vs. 316L? It's been done by others, but how about bronze?

zaclikestoshave we never got past exploring specific tooling, techniques or grades for Zirconium since the issue of flammability and loosing a mill came up. Its a real risk...extra insurance and safe guards are required, however we would likely use similar techniques to machining Titanium and Damascus, also hard aloys, but slower feeds and speeds. Not many products are milled from it(like 904L), its mostly ring makers(using a lathe) and knife/knife scales(using a belt grinder). 

Stephanos1920 I'll explore the Niobium...very cool video, thanks for sharing. You also bring up Sterling Silver which is also intriguing...some of the bacteria killing properties of this metal are fascinating(I have a customer who has requested this). As a side note, we "flame" annodize our Damtanium, but with the electrolytic, as you show, "Cory" used to do some awesome work anodizing our Cx-Ti! Sadly he doesn't do it anymore...Stephanos, thanks for your comments.

surfboat I appreciate your note. I realize the Cx-904 is a niche of a niche part of the shaving world. In my research into 904L it led me to watch forums and your same comment comes up with Rolex watches. With regards to the blog, not much is known about the material except for what Rolex says in its marketing. I thought it would help and its a cool story...if this was for money only, I wouldn't be in this business. Making our razors is a full time business for us but I also enjoy the exploration and creativity of the metal work and making. I really do enjoy the challenge and artistic element...

To your other point, while I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of cool material, I will admit, I have looked at other designs but how can you beat a DE safety razor? To Stephanos' point is a single edge better? Is an adjustable razor better? I struggle with it...is this not marketing?(no disrespect to the makers of these products) I am open to being swayed? Personally I love the design element of these projects so I don't need much "swaying" but why? Variety sure but functionality?

Stay well all and have a good weekend,
Sean

I didn't notice it in a post, I must have missed it. I was going to ask about Sterling Silver myself. I would love a silver razor. Any idea what that might end up costing vs. 316L? It's been done by others, but how about bronze?

Sterling Silver would at least be easily machined.

zaclikestoshave we never got past exploring specific tooling, techniques or grades for Zirconium since the issue of flammability and loosing a mill came up. Its a real risk...extra insurance and safe guards are required, however we would likely use similar techniques to machining Titanium and Damascus, also hard aloys, but slower feeds and speeds. Not many products are milled from it(like 904L), its mostly ring makers(using a lathe) and knife/knife scales(using a belt grinder). 

Stephanos1920 I'll explore the Niobium...very cool video, thanks for sharing. You also bring up Sterling Silver which is also intriguing...some of the bacteria killing properties of this metal are fascinating(I have a customer who has requested this). As a side note, we "flame" annodize our Damtanium, but with the electrolytic, as you show, "Cory" used to do some awesome work anodizing our Cx-Ti! Sadly he doesn't do it anymore...Stephanos, thanks for your comments.

surfboat I appreciate your note. I realize the Cx-904 is a niche of a niche part of the shaving world. In my research into 904L it led me to watch forums and your same comment comes up with Rolex watches. With regards to the blog, not much is known about the material except for what Rolex says in its marketing. I thought it would help and its a cool story...if this was for money only, I wouldn't be in this business. Making our razors is a full time business for us but I also enjoy the exploration and creativity of the metal work and making. I really do enjoy the challenge and artistic element...

To your other point, while I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of cool material, I will admit, I have looked at other designs but how can you beat a DE safety razor? To Stephanos' point is a single edge better? Is an adjustable razor better? I struggle with it...is this not marketing?(no disrespect to the makers of these products) I am open to being swayed? Personally I love the design element of these projects so I don't need much "swaying" but why? Variety sure but functionality?

Stay well all and have a good weekend,
Sean

I didn't notice it in a post, I must have missed it. I was going to ask about Sterling Silver myself. I would love a silver razor. Any idea what that might end up costing vs. 316L? It's been done by others, but how about bronze?

Sterling Silver would at least be easily machined.

I did wonder about the ease of machining it. It also has antimicrobial activity which would seem fitting in this application. Kind of makes me curious why it hasn't been done before or explored. There must be a reason.