RayClem's Blade Evaluations

If the KAI blades are sharpened by cold working rather than grinding/honing, that might explain why they do not work well for me. I do not find them to be either sharp enough for my beard, nor smooth enough for my face. 

I also have a collection of straight razors. I like to hone them on a series of stones finishing with a Suehiro Gokumyo 20K grit (0.5 micron) synthetic stone. Then I polish the edge using 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1 micron cubic boron nitride pasted strops. Many people can shave off of an 8K Norton synthetic or a Belgian Coticule, but I find such edges to be dull and rough. 

When I first started using the pasted strops, I did not have the G20K hone and only had the 0.5 micron strop. When I added the 0.25 micron strop, I could easily tell the edge was improved. When I added the 0.1 micron strop, I did not think it would make a difference. While the difference is not great, my skin is sensitive enough to feel the difference. However, it is impossible to see a difference, even under magnification. Anything under 0.5 micron is mirror polished as that is the approximate wavelength of visible light. I would take a scanning electron microscope to differentiate the difference in edges.

Next up it the duo Shark Super Chrome and Shark Super Stainless. These blades are both made by Lord and are so close in performance that I decided to compare them side by side. I must admit that I was not looking forward to this shave as I have not used either of these blades in several years. The last time I tried them, the results were not good. However, since I last used them, my razors, brushes, shave soaps, lathering and shaving techniques have improved significantly. Thus, the shave went better than expected. I did get some tugging on the 1st pass, but it was sharp enough for subsequent passes. Likewise I used the Shark Super Chrome on the left side of my face. I swapped the blades at the end of each pass.

I started today's shave with the Tatra blade in the razor on its 3rd use. The first few strokes were nice and smooth. Then I replaced the Tatra blade with the Shark Super Stainless and shaved the right side of my face WTG. I did get some tugging during the 1st pass, The result was much the same when I used the Shark Super Chrome blade on the left side of my face. When evaluating the Astra SP blades I got significant resistance, but no tugging. Thus, the sharpness on both blade gets rated as a 2.5, slightly lower than Astra SP. Fortunately, both of the Shark blades were fine on subsequent passes as they encountered fewer hairs. However, the blades were not sharp enough to achieve a near-BBS shave. Even with my clean-up pass using buffing strokes, I was only able to achieve a DFS.

When applying witch hazel after the shave, I got minor feedback on the Super Chrome side and slightly more feedback on the Super Stainless side. Thus, I rate the smoothness as 4.5 for the Super Chrome and 4.0 for the Super Stainless. The spreadsheet has been updated.

While these Shark blades are not sharp enough for my beard, for those whose beard is relatively fine or thin, these blades represent a great value as they sell for $8 / 100 blades. If your skin is sensitive, I suggest you choose the Super Chrome blades rather than Super Stainless, although the difference is not that great. I see these two blades selected for distribution with razors recommended for beginning DE shavers. The Derby Extra is another blade similar in performance. I did not evaluate the Derby Extra blades as I gave mine away to another shaver a few years ago, but from my prior experience, they are similar to these Shark blades. A beginning shaver is likely to need a blade that is smooth, but less sharp to avoid nicks and weepers. Thus, blades that rank lower on the sharpness scale still serve their purpose.

Not all Shark blades are less sharp. I did evaluate the Shark Platinum blades. The received a rating of 4.25 sharpness and 4.5 smoothness, so they are blade that is plenty sharp for my beard. Since the Platinum blades also sell for $8 per 100 blades, they are a superb value for those who need sharper blade. If you prefer teflon coated stainless blades, the Silver Star blades manufactured by Lord as also a superb value.

I do not intend to use either of these blades for a 2nd shave. This concludes my evaluation of blades currently in production. However, I will continue to evaluate blades for the next several weeks.

While I have evaluated 34 blades so far, I still have quite a few more in my collection which I will evaluate for thoroughness. Most of the blades were manufactured in Russia and are no longer being produced for export to NATO countries. However, supplies still exist of most of these blades, although prices might be rising due to scarcity.

Many of these blades were manufactured by Gillette at the Russian PPI plant until earlier this year. While no longer manufactured in Russia, many are still available through distribution channels and some of these brands will be produced elsewhere. These include Nacet, Permasharp Super, Astra Super Stainless (blue), 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (green) if I still have any, Gillette Platinum, Gillette Silver Blue, 7 O'Clock Sharpedge Yellow, and Rubie Plus.

I also plan to evaluate a couple of blades produced by Mostochlegmash in Moscow. While no longer being exported to NATO countries, they are still available. The two I have are Rapira Platinum Lux and Voskhod. The company also makes Ladas, Rapira Super Stainless and Rapira Swedish Super Steel. I have only tried the first two blades.

I also have two older blades in my collection that are no longer in production, but are still available from a few select vendors. One is the Polsilver Super Iridium blades produced by Gillette at the PPI plant but which have been superseded by Wizamet Super Iridium. Polsilvers are scarce and will be expensive. The Wizamet blades are a better value.

The final blade is the Crystal blade produced by Personna at the plant in Israel prior to closure in 2019. It is sometimes called Israeli Personna. It appears that supplies of the Israeli made Personna Platinum Chrome (Israeli Red) blades has been exhausted, with current supplies coming from Germany. Thus, the Crystal blades are the last remaining blades made in Israel. However, as might be expected, due to scarcity, they won't come cheap. Fortunately, I purchase mine several years ago when the price was reasonable.

That is a total of 12 blades to evaluate. If I evaluate 1 blade every two days, they will last me through the end of the year.
After completing the evaluation of those blade, there are two blades I want to go back and give a second change. One is the Personna Comfort Coated lab blue. I think I pushed to hard to get a near-BBS shave and as a result got severe irritation from the shave. The other blade is the Tatara blade. While I got a good shave, it was not as good as I hoped, so I want to see if I get similar results with another shave. Those two blade might carry me over into the new year.

RayClem, would also suggest trying the Personna Med Prep. Claims are it only a sterilized Lab Blue but I, and many, find it shaves dramatically better.

Second day shave with a Tatara  blade….first day was pretty smooth and sharp…today I’m sitting here bleeding from a chunk of skin and meat missing from my cheek!a chunk missing from my chin and a face full of stubble which is on fire,if not for the damage I swear I shaved with a razor without a blade.horrible.

RayClem  would also try the Personna Med Prep. Claims are it only a sterilized Lab Blue but and many find it shaves dramatically better.

Dan

I do not have any of the Personna Med Prep blades. I have never used them. If I were to test the blades, I would want to test the AccuThrive Med Prep blades as the older Personna Med Prep blades have been discontinued, although they might still be available from some vendors. 

So far, I have only been able to find the AccuThrive blades sold in bulk packages of 100 or 250 blades. Amazon has a price of $60 per 100 blades, which is the lowest price I have found. Since I already have enough blades to last well beyond my life expectancy, I am not willing to spend $60 on blades I do not need and might not enjoy using. Even if I knew that I would love the Med Prep blades, I would not spend that much for them knowing I can purchase BIC Chrome Platinum blades for 1/3 the price. 

If someone has a bulk pack of the new AccuThrive blades and would send me a couple for evaluation, I will be glad to evaluate them side by side with the Personna lab blue blades I have, but my spending $60 to purchase them would not be justified. Sorry!

Second day shave with a Tatara  blade….first day was pretty smooth and sharp…today I’m sitting here bleeding from a chunk of skin and meat missing from my cheek!a chunk missing from my chin and a face full of stubble which is on fire,if not for the damage I swear I shaved with a razor without a blade.horrible.

Yikes!

In which razor did you use the Tatara blade?

When I evaluated the Tatara blade, I noticed a slight deterioration of the blade during the 2nd shave, but nothing like what you experienced. What you saw is what I typically see when using a Feather blade on its 3rd use.

I was using the Rex envoy..had 6 excellent,smooth,sharp irritation free shaves with a persona blade,this must be a bad combo..when I heal up I’ll get out the Karve and try another tatara,but never again in the rex..I’m thinking the rex is a karve e or f maybe ZZZ plate with this blade.With a feather if I take it slow I could live with some weapers…maybe just a bad blade,cuz there’s no way this blade was usable on the second shave,but I persevered and then rolled up into a ball and cried myself to sleep.haha.

With a 10X loupe I notice chipping on the edges of this blade,also what looks like the tinniest faintest rust…just like my Japanese white steel knives..I checked another blade and looks like it’s honed at a diffent angle,oh and I also noticed the karve is much better finished than the rex…rex is more industrial,karve more like jewellry..toss up which is nicer.I loaded a new tatara on the Rex and when I find my balls I’ll have another go.

I was using the Rex envoy..had 6 excellent,smooth,sharp irritation free shaves with a persona blade,this must be a bad combo..when I heal up I’ll get out the Karve and try another tatara,but never again in the rex..I’m thinking the rex is a karve e or f maybe ZZZ plate with this blade.With a feather if I take it slow I could live with some weapers…maybe just a bad blade,cuz there’s no way this blade was usable on the second shave,but I persevered and then rolled up into a ball and cried myself to sleep.haha.

I do hope your face heals up soon. Bad shaves are a bummer.

I do not have a Rex Envoy, so I cannot comment on the aggressiveness. However, the head design clamps the blade well back from the edge. That is not something I like in a razor due to my sensitive skin. I much prefer razors like the Karve, Timeless, and Paradigm Salient that clamp the blade very close to the edge. If you can use a Feather blade in the Envoy, you should be able to use most any blade, as long as you exercise care with the shave angle and pressure.

I used the Tatara blade in a Karve C-plate razor. I have not tried one in my D-plate. I do not think I would enjoy using one in a Karve E, F or G plate. I do not think I would enjoy it in an open comb, either. I definitely won't be trying one in a Muhle R41.