RayClem's Blade Evaluations

I do not post a link to the spreadsheet every time I evaluate a new blade, but I post the link about once a week. BTW: Those who use Microsoft Excel should be able to sort the spreadsheet by column.

When I get through, I need to come up with a system of linking each blade in the spreadsheet to pertinent posts in the thread so interested readers can go back and look at details.

Every shaver will have his own preferences in blades. With my tough beard and sensitive skin, I like blades that are 4.5-5 in sharpness and smoothness. So blades like BIC Chrome Platinum and Nacets are my kind of blades. Astra Super Platinum is one of the most popular razor blades. I rated it as 3 sharpness and 3.5 smoothness, so it is not a blade I enjoy, but there are a lot of folks who love it. It is just like in the straight razor community where some people love the feel of a Norton 8K edge or the edge from a Coticule natural stone. Such edges do not come close to being sharp enough for my beard. That is why I tried to evaluate blades from a wide range of brands with a wide range of sharpness and smoothness levels. Somewhere there is a blade for every preference whether you are a new shaver just picking up a razor for the first time or an old timer with a grizzly beard.

Dear RayClem,
Waiting for your test results?( for new blades)

Meantime i tested gillette minora on henson mild and also razorock GC 0.84, its not bad and i can say its shar but not so smooth and it stand behind the gillette platinum (all versions).

My biggest problem and surprise is the sharpness of Feather blades. I know that they are very sharp but not comfortable and they dont forgive mistakes but for me they are not sharp also. I tested blades from 2 different tucks and do test on more than 6 razor and results were same : they are not sharp.!

adeliry

I am testing all blades in a Karve SB C-plate razor which I consider to be moderately aggressive. It has a blade gap of 0.85mm and a blade exposure of 0.09mm. I do not have a Game Changer, so I do not know how the two compare.

I am allowing for two day's of beard growth between shaves to challenge the sharpness of the blade. Thus, it will be a few weeks before I get to some of the new ones.

While I find Feather blades to be super sharp on the 1st shave, their glory fades quickly. They are not as sharp on the second shave and by the 3rd shave, they become too harsh for me to use. Your experience might differ, but nearly everyone in the shaving community agrees that Feather are the sharpest blades "out of the wrapper". There are few things that most shavers agree on, but that is one of them. The problem is that once Feather blades are removed from the wrapper, they start to deteriorate. The rate of deterioration will depend upon things like beard toughness, type of razor, blade angle (I shave with a shallow angle off the cap) and blade pressure ( I try to keep blade pressure low). Since the Feather edge is so thin, someone who is a steep angle shaver might destroy the edge in one shave. Also, smoothness of a blade depends a lot of the quality of your lather. I use only top quality artisan shaving soaps. I was able to get a decent shave with some blades like Shark Super Chrome that I found to be horrible a few years ago with lesser quality soaps.

The only Gillette Platinum blades I have tested are ones from a few years ago with black printing. I did purchase some of the new Gillette Platinum blades with the arrow etching that I hope are sharper. The Gillette Platinum blades I have used have never been better than mid-sharp and mid-smooth for me. I have only shaved with a single Minora blade, but I was so pleased with it that I immediately purchase a bulk pack. I will find out how Nacet Platinum and Nacet Stainless compare to Minora.

These feather blades must work in their own feather razors….’quotes aren’t working’ when I received my brass Karve the first blade I loaded was a Kai..well I hear major crunching..so I tried taking off the blade…well let me tell you,took a pair of pliers and nail clippers to get that blade off..the other blades were kinda ok..there’s no quality control with these blades,,30 years ago these companies would get sued for making crap..don’t remember anyone getting sued because they didn’t make crap! 2 shaves out of a razor blade is just wrong.Just shaved with a Gillette winner blade..don’t be a winner! a BBS shave as close as any,but the razor buuuuuurn is atrocious.gonna save all these blades and make a knife.if’n you keep them feathers in the wrapper the’ll stay sharp forever,problem solved.

Face-off shave between Nacet Platinum and Nacet Stainless

Today’s shave is one I have been anticipating. I finally have two Karve C-plate SB razors to use for a face-off shave.

The Nacet Platinum blades were discontinued a few years ago. I still have a few tucks in my inventory. They are one of my favorite blades. Nacet Stainless blades lack the Platinum coating, but they are still great blades. I have never tested the two side by side. Thus, the face-off shave will be between two top contenders. The stainless blade will be used on the right side of my face and the platinum blade will be used on the left side.

I started today’s shave with a Gillette Silver Blue blade in the Karve stainless razor. The GSB was noticeably sharper than it was on the 1st pass of the 1st shave. After a few strokes, I replaced it with the Nacet Stainless. I loaded the Nacet Platinum blade into my Karve brass razor which is now equipped with a C-plate SB baseplate. At the beginning of this 1st pass, both of the Nacet blades were similar in sharpness to the Silver Blue on its 2nd use. As the shave progressed, both Nacet blades became sharper such that I was easily able to get a near-BBS shave with no difficulty. I used buffing strokes on my clean-up pass. When I applied witch hazel after the shave, the right side of my face (Nacet Stainless) provided a barely perceptible feedback while the left side of my face had none whatsoever.

Based on the results of this face-off shave, I am rating the Nacet Platinum as 4.75 sharpness and 5 smoothness. The Nacet Stainless rated 4.75 sharpness and 4.75 smoothness. Thus, in a photofinish, the Nacet Platinum wins by a nose. While I lament the passing of the Nacet Platinum, the Nacet Stainless is a worthy successor. The spreadsheet has been updated.

For comparison purposes, the Minora blades tested previously rated 4.5 sharpness and 5 smoothness, so they are a reasonable alternative to Nacet Stainless. The Minora blades are a few cents cheaper.

The evaluation spreadsheet can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/71ttt15wy...qo8eb&dl=0

On Sunday, I will shave with the Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (green) blades previously made in Russia. While these are good blades, they are not quite as sharp as the Nacets. I expect the performance to be similar to the Gillette Platinum and Gillette Silver Blue. We will see if that expectation is fulfilled.

These feather blades must work in their own feather razors….’quotes aren’t working’ when I received my brass Karve the first blade I loaded was a Kai..well I hear major crunching..so I tried taking off the blade…well let me tell you,took a pair of pliers and nail clippers to get that blade off..the other blades were kinda ok..there’s no quality control with these blades,,30 years ago these companies would get sued for making crap..don’t remember anyone getting sued because they didn’t make crap! 2 shaves out of a razor blade is just wrong.Just shaved with a Gillette winner blade..don’t be a winner! a BBS shave as close as any,but the razor buuuuuurn is atrocious.gonna save all these blades and make a knife.if’n you keep them feathers in the wrapper the’ll stay sharp forever,problem solved.

You make an excellent point about Feather blades being best suited for the very mild Feather AS-2 razors. In a mild razor, a sharper blade is needed and the minimal blade exposure will minimize damage to the blade edge. With other razors, the Feather blades are best left in the wrappers, just as you recommended.

While Feather and Kai are both Japanese in origin, they are made by two different companies. The Kai blades are made by the same company that makes the highly-respected Shun Cutlery. I guess if the Kai blades are intended for use in a bread lame to score bread dough before baking they might be ideal for that purpose. If Kai were the only shaving blades I had available, I would be compelled to grow a beard. Even Astra Superior Platinum blades, which sell for 1/4 the price of Kai blades, will provide a better shave.

These blades appear to be the "new" Gillette Platinums in the blue packaging and having the arrows etched.
It is interesting that the information on the package says they are made by PPI and have a copyright date of 2017.

https://www.amazon.com/Gillette-Double-P...B081CWWYF9

The ones I tested have black ink.

At one time there was some speculation that King C Gillette blades were the same as Gillette Platinum blades. While the KCG blades are definitely NOT the same as the Gillette Platinum blades of the past, it might be possible that the "new" Gillette Platinum blades might be the same. When I tested the King C Gillette blades, they had a sharpness rating of 4.5 and a smoothness rating of 5. That is both sharper and smoother than the old Gillette Platinums. If the new Platinums are similar to the King C Gillette blades, then they are worth trying. According to another web site, a Gillette Customer Service Representative stated that the King C Gillette blades were not the same design as Gillette Platinum, but that statement might be comparing them to the older Gillette Platinum blades rather than the newer ones.

I said that I would not purchase the King C Gillette blades in 10 blade tucks for $7, but if they became available in bulk at a more reasonable price I would purchase them. Assuming that the quality of the new Gillette Platinums is similar to the King C Gillette blades, I placed an order for 50 blades. I hope my gamble pays off.

I do not post a link to the spreadsheet every time I evaluate a new blade, but I post the link about once a week. BTW: Those who use Microsoft Excel should be able to sort the spreadsheet by column.

When I get through, I need to come up with a system of linking each blade in the spreadsheet to pertinent posts in the thread so interested readers can go back and look at details.

Every shaver will have his own preferences in blades. With my tough beard and sensitive skin, I like blades that are 4.5-5 in sharpness and smoothness. So blades like BIC Chrome Platinum and Nacets are my kind of blades. Astra Super Platinum is one of the most popular razor blades. I rated it as 3 sharpness and 3.5 smoothness, so it is not a blade I enjoy, but there are a lot of folks who love it. It is just like in the straight razor community where some people love the feel of a Norton 8K edge or the edge from a Coticule natural stone. Such edges do not come close to being sharp enough for my beard. That is why I tried to evaluate blades from a wide range of brands with a wide range of sharpness and smoothness levels. Somewhere there is a blade for every preference whether you are a new shaver just picking up a razor for the first time or an old timer with a grizzly beard.

Yes, in my other group before it shut down I saw a lot of Astra SP love. I have them, used them twice, and they simply just don't work for me. I have gotten nicked each time. I do want to try again, but that really may be it if it happens again. I also did ditch them after the 1st shave. Maybe I should give them more shaves and get the 1st out of the way.

metal_shavings

If you have not used Astra SP blades in a while, try another one. If you enjoy the shave, try another. But if it is not an enjoyable shave, it is not worth the effort of trying to make them work.

Yes, Astra SP blades are popular, but so are Gillette Proglide and Fusion cartridge razors. If you look at Amazon, West Coast Shaving, Maggard Razors, etc. Astra SP are often either the best selling blade, or close to it. They are inexpensive, which is assume is part of the draw. Many people might use them because they have never experimented with anything else. It is possible that they are concerned that sharper blades might cut them. While that is certainly a possibility, I wonder how many people are experiencing irritation because the blade they use is not sharp enough and they compensate by shaving with extra pressure to get a closer shave.

While I can shave with Astra SP blades, the shave I get is neither close nor comfortable. If I were happy with that quality of shave, I could use modern pivoting head, multi-blade cartridge razor like millions of men do each day. Thus, the popularity of a razor and blade is not a good indicator of its quality. I took up traditional wet shaving because I was not happy with the shaves I was getting from cartridge razors and electric shavers. I can get wonderful shaves with DE razors with the right blade, SE razors and straight razors. Once the evaluations are completed, the Astra SP blades in my collection will be available for PIF to someone who can get a better shave than I using the blades.

I did just happen to find one of the SP tucks that I have. At one point it seemed like everything I ordered whether new or on the BST markets they would send me a tuck of Astra blades with them. I do plan on giving them another shot, but it'll be a little bit. I have a new razor to me coming tomorrow and I have the Rex Sentry slant pass around coming next week so I want to use blades that I like and I'm familiar with those razors first. I was surprised when I looked them up and did see them available some places for less than a dollar for a tuck of five. While I do like to save money, nothing is a bargain or worth it to me if I don't like it or I'm not going to use it.

metal_shavings

If you have not used Astra SP blades in a while, try another one. If you enjoy the shave, try another. But if it is not an enjoyable shave, it is not worth the effort of trying to make them work.

Yes, Astra SP blades are popular, but so are Gillette Proglide and Fusion cartridge razors. If you look at Amazon, West Coast Shaving, Maggard Razors, etc. Astra SP are often either the best selling blade, or close to it. They are inexpensive, which is assume is part of the draw. Many people might use them because they have never experimented with anything else. It is possible that they are concerned that sharper blades might cut them. While that is certainly a possibility, I wonder how many people are experiencing irritation because the blade they use is not sharp enough and they compensate by shaving with extra pressure to get a closer shave.

While I can shave with Astra SP blades, the shave I get is neither close nor comfortable. If I were happy with that quality of shave, I could use modern pivoting head, multi-blade cartridge razor like millions of men do each day. Thus, the popularity of a razor and blade is not a good indicator of its quality. I took up traditional wet shaving because I was not happy with the shaves I was getting from cartridge razors and electric shavers. I can get wonderful shaves with DE razors with the right blade, SE razors and straight razors. Once the evaluations are completed, the Astra SP blades in my collection will be available for PIF to someone who can get a better shave than I using the blades.