RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Posting this here for fun:

In the Science.org whitepaper "How Hair Deforms Steel" there is a comment regarding BeNi alloy razors. Apparently some were made in the 70s and they were neigh indestructible. It would be cool if some DE BeNI blades were made! How to make this happen? It is a literal tragedy in terms of millions of tons of plastic and steel waste in the past 50 years since this breakthrough.

By: Sterling N. Augustine- Former Engineering Designer- Cabot Berylco


In the early 1970's I worked for Cabot Berylco in Reading Pennsylvania. Their main product was CuBe alloys for the electronics industry but a secondary product was BeNi for the wood pulp industry because the crushing plates would wear out slower than any other metal. One of the major razor/shaving companies had us make razor blades out of BeNi which were nearly impossible to sharpen but when the blades were finished the tests were incredible. The blades never lost an edge and you could shave for years with changing them out. The project was shut down when the razor company realized they would go out of business if everyone stopped buying replacement blades.

Source:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba9490

Posting this here for fun:

In the Science.org whitepaper "How Hair Deforms Steel" there is a comment regarding BeNi alloy razors. Apparently some were made in the 70s and they were neigh indestructible. It would be cool if some DE BeNI blades were made! How to make this happen?  It is a literal tragedy in terms of millions of tons of plastic and steel waste in the past 50 years since this breakthrough.

By: Sterling N. Augustine- Former Engineering Designer- Cabot Berylco


In the early 1970's I worked for Cabot Berylco in Reading Pennsylvania. Their main product was CuBe alloys for the electronics industry but a secondary product was BeNi for the wood pulp industry because the crushing plates would wear out slower than any other metal. One of the major razor/shaving companies had us make razor blades out of BeNi which were nearly impossible to sharpen but when the blades were finished the tests were incredible. The blades never lost an edge and you could shave for years with changing them out. The project was shut down when the razor company realized they would go out of business if everyone stopped buying replacement blades.

Source:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba9490

I was not aware of the use of BeNi in the paper industry. When you say wood pulp, I presume you are talking about the pulp called groundwood used for inexpensive newsprint.

I worked my entire career in the paper industry in research, engineering, production, and field service. I worked 8 years in the unbleached paper and liner-board business and then the rest was in bleached printing, imaging, forms and envelope grades. I was never aware of BeNi being used for wood chipper blades or pulp refiner blades or for the slitters and cut-off knives used on roll winders and sheetres. In the forms industry, tools for punching and perforating forms were critical. Do you remember the "hanging chad" issue back when punch cards were used for voting?  Also in the envelope plants, tools for slitting, cutting and die cutting were critical. On a couple of occasions, I worked with Best Cutting Die who made many of the cutting dies for envelope plants. I presume BeNi never became a factor due to the cost and difficulty in sharpening.
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The BeNi information is not from me, it is from Sterling N. Augustine- Former Engineering Designer- Cabot Berylco. I'd love for such a blade to be made today!

Serendipitous that his field and yours crossed.

I just loaded a Super Thin into my Lord L6. Just touched my sideburn area with a little Barbasol just to get a feel. I have a feeling I'll be giving my Astra SPs away. I've never seen such clear printing on a blade.

I just loaded a Super Thin into my Lord L6. Just touched my sideburn area with a little Barbasol just to get a feel. I have a feeling I'll be giving my Astra SPs away. I've never seen such clear printing on a blade.

Which Super Thin are you using?

I got terrible results with the ones sold in Thailand, but absolutely loved the one sold in Vietnam. It is hard to fathom that Gillette could make two such different blades.

I just loaded a Super Thin into my Lord L6. Just touched my sideburn area with a little Barbasol just to get a feel. I have a feeling I'll be giving my Astra SPs away. I've never seen such clear printing on a blade.

Which Super Thin are you using?

I got terrible results with the ones sold in Thailand, but absolutely loved the one sold in Vietnam. It is hard to fathom that Gillette could make two such different blades.

The one made in Vietnam and to be honest it wasn't that good. The 7 O'clock black from India was far better. Looked good though.

The Gillette Super Platinum black (India) are some of the sharpest, smoothest blades available. Thus, I cannot disagree with your ranking them better than the Gillette Super Thins sold in Vietnam. However, the India blacks are twice the price. The Super Thins might be a better value. Just don't ddmake the mistake of trying the Super Thins from Thailand.

The Gillette Super Platinum black (India) are some of the sharpest, smoothest blades available. Thus, I cannot disagree with your ranking them better than the Gillette Super Thins sold in Vietnam. However, the India blacks are twice the price. The Super Thins might be a better value. Just don't ddmake the mistake of trying the Super Thins from Thailand.

My Ebay sell tells me he has some Filosos on the way. I'll let you know how I like those.

The Gillette Super Platinum black (India) are some of the sharpest, smoothest blades available. Thus, I cannot disagree with your ranking them better than the Gillette Super Thins sold in Vietnam. However, the India blacks are twice the price. The Super Thins might be a better value. Just don't ddmake the mistake of trying the Super Thins from Thailand.

My Ebay sell tells me he has some Filosos on the way. I'll let you know how I like those.

I was surprised at the quality of the Filoso blades. I hope you like them. It seems they are becoming more readily available. 

BTW: Filoso is the Spanish word for "sharp", so the name is appropriate.

Hahaha..and ‘Swedish Steel is the scammers words for CCS..cheap chinese steel..I gots me a microscope now and 95% of these razor blades are CCS..I can tell by how they all microscopically rust at the same rates.
Yeah 2 shaves and tossed.