The reason I ask is because of the use of aluminum in razors such as The Techs starting in the 50s. I understand it is lightweight compared to brass and it does not rust but what other benefits are there. Am I safe to assume it is a cheaper material, which I assume it is.
Here's a nice side by side pros/cons of Steel vs. Aluminum http://www.item24us.com/about/benefits-of-aluminum
From what I read about vintage Gillette's with the aluminum handles, it was because the brass was being used for bullet and shell cases during the war.
I used a Merkur, Bakelite, razor over the weekend. I would think it would resemble an all aluminum razor in weight. It shaved well, and make me think there might be a market for an all aluminum razor. I think I would buy one, but I'm razor-crazy. Ron
My tech is a 65 so it makes sense since that is when The Vietnam War was going on. The weight is not an issue since it was a travel tech and I paired it with a Tradere Handle.
My belief is only slightly different. The war ended in the late summer of 1945. During the war, brass was in very high demand, but, so was aluminum (aluminium to our friends across the pond). Because aluminum was so highly demanded, they were forced to develop more cost effective ways of refining. The aluminum industry came out the winner. Between 1939 and 1950 the price of aluminum dropped by almost 75%. By the 1950's aluminum was much cheaper than almost all forms of steel. Combined with the ease of machining aluminum vs steel, aluminum became a huge cost savings in manufacturing. This leads me to believe that Gillette, like a lot of manufacturers, choose aluminum because of the cost.
I view this the same way. Cost is the primary push with weight is a secondary issue. The feeling back in that time was the lighter the better. We have different views today with heavy weight handles and razors.
My daily driver is a blue tip Superspeed, which has an aluminum handle. In the case of the blue tip, aluminum was used to make the razor lighter and milder. In my opinion, the idea as a great success.
I have use aluminium and brass in my handles of brushes and DE razors The brass may looking betters as "gold" but needs some work for shinning. Aluminium is much preferable,you can shine it much easier I use it in my handles knobs and inside a rod of metal to compensate the loss of weight Thus the handle is heavy enough to do the work and looks better.