RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Quotes aren’t working and still I have to type fast or these pages reload!and I start all over.
Had an idea using my Karve OC-D plate along with the Rex envoy razor..
Using a Rockwell blade in both…shaving half my face with the karve and the other with rex,thought these blades were made in the US,then I find out they’re Canadian,now Chinese made…anyways,just finished my 6th shave,the Rex I did my routine of rinsing,loosening,blowing hard 3x and placing on paper towel,the karve just rinsing,well today the karve is much rougher and didn’t get a BBS shave,the Rex was BBS and no aftershave burn…the “Rex is officially a Karve OC-E plate from the first shave”this reminds me of my white steel knives,same thing,most that own white steel or blue steel are always on stones sharpening,all you need is leather strop,..I have a takeda  blue steel knife that if not stropped will prevent me from slicing a garlic clove into. 1000 pieces that melts into my cutting board,seriously,a radish I can make disappear melted away into a puddle of liquid,if I don’t leather strop then there’s no way this could be done.I’ll keep going and see what happens with these 2 blades..then I’ll try 2 different blades.

I quoted your post, so the quotes are working for me. Sometimes I hit a wrong key or navigate to another page and lose what I typed, but I have never had that happen due to taking too long to post. Some of my posts are rather lengthy and take a while to type.

Rockwell blades are made in China although Rockwell is a Canadian company. The only blades made in the USA are made by Accutec Blades.  I have ordered some for evaluation.

Takeda Homano is a maker of knives in Japan. The knives are Aogami Super Blue steel.

Aogami Super Blue steel is a type of carbon steel produced by Hitachi. It is a modified carbon steel with 1.4-1.5% carbon. which is rather high. The steel has very low Chromium content; so the steel will have very low corrosion resistance. While such knives can take a super sharp edge, the edge can be brittle and can rust if not properly cleaned and dried after use.

The Rockwell razor blades are marketed as "Swedish Stainless Steel". However, the specific grade of steel is not listed, such as Sandvik 14c28n or Alleima 13c26. I have seen posts that indicate that the steel used in many Chinese razor blades is actually the Chinese made equivalent of Swedish steel with a higher level of impurities. True Swedish steel is special due to the low level of impurities in the iron ore. We commonly call facial tissues "Kleenex" even if they are not made by Kimberly-Clark and we call adhesive tapes "Scotch tape", even though if it is not made by 3M. Remember, also, that steel is shipped in coils. Thus, it has not yet been hardened by heat treatment. The hardening process is critical to the performance of a steel blade. If the edge is too hard, it will be brittle. If it is too soft, it will not hold an edge.

I agree with you that Bic CPs are amazing.  That being said, there are fakes floating around.  You can tell by various things, one is the paper.  Plus they shave terribly.  So there is that.  You can do side by side comparisons and tell the difference in paper and printing and edge quality, but the shave tells you everything.  Buyer beware, only buy Bic CPs from trusted sources.

Also, the Gillette Platinum "Swedes" on card are also really fantastic.  Up there with the best Russian blades in sharpness, but with an extra luxurious smoothness from the platinum (and maybe extra processing).  Its not a buttery smooth like the Bic, but it snow smooth where you have muted feedback from the blade.  For me, the other top end Russian blades gave me too much feedback (not sure about Wizamet).  I recently saw the "Swedes" on sale in Paris supermarkets, the only DE blade- first world quality. 

The Made in China Gillette Super Thin Platinum made with Japanese steel for the Vietnam market are also highly recommended.  Those blades really get after it.  I would also like to try the 7 O'clock Blacks, but they are too spendy these days.

Edit- If any PIF blades are still available I would be interested.  Nvm.  If they aren't sharp enough for you, they won't be for me! I find your review spot on.

Also interested in a review of the Gillette Super Nacet Platinum.  I wonder if they are a rebranded Super Thin Platinum for the Japanese Market

Also, looking forward to a Gillette New SC shave with a Wizamet!

I agree with you that Bic CPs are amazing.  That being said, there are fakes floating around.  You can tell by various things, one is the paper.  Plus they shave terribly.  So there is that.  You can do side by side comparisons and tell the difference in paper and printing and edge quality, but the shave tells you everything.  Buyer beware, only buy Bic CPs from trusted sources.

Also, the Gillette Platinum "Swedes" on card are also really fantastic.  Up there with the best Russian blades in sharpness, but with an extra luxurious smoothness from the platinum (and maybe extra processing).  Its not a buttery smooth like the Bic, but it snow smooth where you have muted feedback from the blade.  For me, the other top end Russian blades gave me too much feedback (not sure about Wizamet).  I recently saw the "Swedes" on sale in Paris supermarkets, the only DE blade- first world quality. 

The Made in China Gillette Super Thin Platinum made with Japanese steel for the Vietnam market are also highly recommended.  Those blades really get after it.  I would also like to try the 7 O'clock Blacks, but they are too spendy these days.

Edit- If any PIF blades are still available I would be interested.  Nvm.  If they aren't sharp enough for you, they won't be for me! I find your review spot on.

Also interested in a review of the Gillette Super Nacet Platinum.  I wonder if they are a rebranded Super Thin Platinum for the Japanese Market

Also, looking forward to a Gillette New SC shave with a Wizamet!

I am glad you find my blade ratings helpful. I have gotten similar feedback from several forum members. 

It is unfortunate that there are fakes, but counterfeiting has become all too common.  I do not know how BIC makes the Chrome Platinum blades so sharp while retaining smoothness, but my face appreciates their efforts.

I have both Nacet Platinum and Nacet Stainless blades made in Russia. While both are nice blades, I find the the platinum blades to be slightly smoother. I am hoping that the Super Nacet Platinums from China will be equivalent to the ones from Russia. They are rather expensive when purchased by the tuck. The only bulk offerings I have seen was on eBay.

I did not order the Super Thin blades for comparison. There seems to be a lot of confusion as to whether they are made in China, Thailand or Vietnam.

******************Spreadsheet Update****************

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

For those who would like to review my comments on each of the blades reviewed, I have added a column to the blade evaluation spreadsheet which shows the specific post numbers in which that blade is reviewed. There are a few blades that were reviewed on more than one occasion, so you might want to sort the table by brand and then check out all the posts for that blade.

When I receive the new blades I ordered yesterday, I will resume the evaluations. I will review some additional blades that have been requested as well as some that I am interested in. I l have not yet found any King C Gillette blades made in China in local stores, but will review them whenever I find them. I will continue to update the post numbers as I add new evaluations.

Thanks Ray.
BTW, The Razorblade Club came though today. And it was post marked N.J.

Thanks Ray.
BTW, The Razorblade Club came though today. And it was post marked N.J.

Nice selection.

Just filling in some of the missing in Rays Line-up. I'm finding I enjoy a step back from the top of Rays choices. 4.25 sharpness and 4.5 comfort is nice for me. I could go 4/4. This opens up the line-up for me even more. Don't get me wrong as I like a 5/5. And a Feather will work for me too. The Wisamet blade I got a solid 5 shaves out of it. Not that I need more than that from a blade but I bet I could have gotten 6 or even 7. 3 or 4 is plenty for me. My moneys worth in my opinion.

I did get some King C Gillettes from Amazon. Too spendy but I had to have some. I have not tried therm yet.

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.

I looked around for some old stock Nacet Platinum from Russia.  All I found were Nacet Platinum from Malaysia though. Any knowledge  about these Malaysia ones RayClem?

Thanks Ray.
BTW, The Razorblade Club came though today. And it was post marked N.J.

I suspect the shipment came from Sweden using a carrier like DHL, which is based in Germany. Then once it arrived on this side of the pond, it was placed into the mail system in NJ for the rest of the journey. 

I will be most interested to see what you think of the blades by my reckoning they vary in sharpness from about 3.5 -  4.5 out of 5. You do not have any super sharp blades in the lot, but there are some excellent blades in the mix. Enjoy your shaves in the shadow of Pike's Peak.

This is the back of the Vietnam Gillette Super Thin Platinums (with a Japanese flag).  According to Google Translate it says made in China.  Interestingly, the materials are listed as stainless steel, CR and PTFE. No platinum.