Titanium Razor?

[WadeF]

So what's the deal with this titanium blade razor they are advertising on TV? I know titanium has been discussed as a metal for making knife blades, but everyone seems to think it's to soft to take a really keen edge, and hold it. So how can it make a better razor blade than whatever steel they were previously using? It seems to be they are just using titanium as a marketing gimmic and make it sound like it's vastly superior to steel. I remember a commercial where a giant saw blade slices a car in half and they are like "THIS IS TITANIUM!"

I doubt they had a giant saw blade made from titanium...

 

[TexasNativeDRJH]

I've been thinking the exact same thing. It has to be a gimmick to try to justify the ridiculous prices of their shaving products. It would be nice if they would actually give some details about their titanium usage, but the lack thereof makes me think its all a sham.

 

[JCaswell]

Anyone that has used (made something) with titanium can attest to the fact that it is strong, but malleable. Generally these are undesirable characteristics in a knife/blade.

I haven't seen the ads, but I'd be willing to bet they're referring to a titanium nitride hard coating steel blades (TiNi). Titanium nitride is a very hard coating (about 80 RC) that's sometimes used on drills and saw blades to enhance edge retention and increase lubricity. It's usually a gold color, though there are variations of this technology that result in other colors or no color.
It would lend to corrosion resistance as well. It might work well no a razor, and could easily legitimately increase the price quite a bit.

To say, "this is titanium" and imply that it's the use of titanium --the metal, in the blade is, I think a misrepresentation.

 

[M Wadel]

if the blade actually is titanium it wont be good, probably as good as wood

 

[Jeff Clark]

I would suspect that there is no titanium in the blade. I have run across knives with "titanium" stamped across the blade that were heavy and magnetic (obviously steel). For some people titanium is a color or a measure of "coolness".