RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Tuesday Shave- Rockwell Swedish Steel

Rockwell has a great reputation based on their razors, such as the Game Changer. However, that reputation does not extend to their razor blades. The blades ae nicely packaged and printed. They clearly indicate Swedish Steel, but I don't know if that means they are using steel produced in Sweden or a Chinese equivalent.

I started today's shave with two day's beard growth. Initially, the Filoso blade was still in the razor. I made a couple of swipes with that blade. It was still sharp enough on its 3rd use that I could have easily gotten another good shave. I replaced the Filoso blade with the Rockwell blade and soon regretted that action. About the best thing I can say about the Rockwell blade was that the shave could have been worse. I was able to make it through all four shave passes, including buffing strokes on the clean-up pass. However, there continued to be blade resistance even during the ATG pass. That is highly unusual as many blades become sharper during the shave. The Rockwell blade did not improve significantly. The blade was not sharp enough for my beard. Even after four passes, the best I was able to achieve was a socially acceptable shave. The closeness was similar to what I would have achieved with an electric shaver. When I applied witch hazel after the shave, I got significant feedback. Thus, the shave with the Rockwell blade was neither close nor comfortable.

Base on the results of the shave, I am rating the Rockwell blade similar to the Van der Hagen Ice Tempered. The sharpness rates as 2 and the smoothness rates a 3. Thus, I can only recommend these blades to new shavers who have very fine beards. They can be purchased for $17 per 100 blades, but they still do not represent a good value.

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated.

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

Since I got a poor quality shave today, I will likely move up the Thursday shave to Wednesday evening as I will have 2 day's growth by then. I plan to use the Vertice Euromax Platinum blade made by Eurostar in India.

Wasnt looking for free blades Ray. Just wondered if folks grabbed them up or if you were still sitting on them. Ouch. Lol.

Keep up the good work here. I have a couple slots left in my blade holders so i will wait for a couple more reviews from you and order a few more options.

I divided the blades among three shavers. The interesting thing is that no two requested the same blades and between the three, all blades were claimed. What are the chances of that happening?  

They just received the PIF blades this weekend. I am hoping we will see some feedback in the coming weeks. These blades were those that are not my favorites, but I know they will work better for many shavers than they do for me. For example, many shavers rave about Gillette Silver Blue blades, but I never found them to be more than OK for me. 


Later this morning I will attempt to shave with a Rockwell blade. Wish me luck.

100%. The chances are 100%. Apparently. 

Wednesday Evening Shave- Euromax Platinum

Initially, I was just planning to start this shave with the Euromax blade, but since Thursday's shave with the Rockwell blade was lacking I wanted to insure that the Rockwell blade was not an aberation. Thus, I did two things: I tried a couple of strokes with the used Rockwell blade still in the Karve Razor. It was not significantly sharper than on the 1st shave. I also put a new Rockwell blade in my Timeless TI 0.95 with the hope that it might be more suitable in a somewhat more aggressive razor. However, both attempts were a failure. Thus, the ratings from Tuesday's shave stand.

I have normally waited about 48 hours between shaves to develop sufficient beard growth to challenge the blade being evaluated. However, in this case, I had the equivalent of two-day's beard growth in far less than two days as the Rockwell blade could not achieve any better than a socially acceptable shave.

Euromax blades are said to be a product of Eurostar Group, which is different from the EuroStar rail system. The Eurostar Group is headquartered in Dubai. The blades are marketed under the Euromax Personal Care brand. The Euromax Platinum blades are produced in India. Euromax sells a few different brands. The ones I purchased are in the black boxes with gold lettering.

As soon as I installed the Euromax blade in the Karve C-plate razor and took a couple of swipes at my beard, I knew that they were a significant improvement over the Rockwell blades. There was still significant blade resistance on my WTG pass, but the blades did seem to become somewhat sharper during the shave and I had no difficulty achieving a near-BBS shave. When applying witch hazel after then shave, I got moderate feedback.

Based on the results of this shave, I am rating these blades a 4 sharpness and 4 smoothness. This places them in the same category as SuperMax Blue Diamond and many other blades. However, with the exception of the Blue Diamond Blades, these are significantly less expensive than most of the other blades in that class. At only $9/100 blades, these are a bargain for anyone who does not need sharper blades.

The spreadsheet has been updated.

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

Next up will be the Treet 7 Days Platinum blade. It is interesting that Gillette sells blades under the 7 O'Clock brand; Durablade sells 7 AM blades; Treet sells 7 Days blades. It can get confusing.

"Your post is an excellent example of how some blades work best in particular razors."

     RayClem this is something I had always known but never really paid much mind to until recently. I had posted a thread in my old forum about pairing a mild razor and a sharp blade tigether being seemingly a good idea. It worked nicely for me, it "woke" the razor up and gave it the bite I needed. But even blades you rated equally may not be equal in the same razor. The KGC and Wizamet blades are both 4.5 sharpness/5 smoothness. I had a great experience using the Wizamet in my aggressive Lupo 127 whereas the KGC bit me both times I tried in the 127. At least for me it shows that seemingly equal blades can still perform differently in the same razor. I really liked the Wizamet in the Lupo. I will have to try the KGC blades elsewhere. I have the My Shave Den app so I really need to drop some notes for the blades as to my experience with various razor/blade combos. The experiment continues!!!

I'm still watching for the next couple names to fill up my holders for my stash. Keep it up Ray and thanks for doing this.
Glad you were able to send out the blades to only 3 peoples and have them gone. That's a bonus too! Your a fine man to share.

"Your post is an excellent example of how some blades work best in particular razors."

     RayClem this is something I had always known but never really paid much mind to until recently. I had posted a thread in my old forum about pairing a mild razor and a sharp blade tigether being seemingly a good idea. It worked nicely for me, it "woke" the razor up and gave it the bite I needed. But even blades you rated equally may not be equal in the same razor. The KGC and Wizamet blades are both 4.5 sharpness/5 smoothness. I had a great experience using the Wizamet in my aggressive Lupo 127 whereas the KGC bit me both times I tried in the 127. At least for me it shows that seemingly equal blades can still perform differently in the same razor. I really liked the Wizamet in the Lupo. I will have to try the KGC blades elsewhere. I have the My Shave Den app so I really need to drop some notes for the blades as to my experience with various razor/blade combos. The experiment continues!!!

Amazing - not conventional wisdom, but a shaving axiom. I hated Astra SPs. Agree with Ray on his evaluation completely. I had about 200 in the den and they were on my shelf for 5 years. Broke them out and dropped them in my ATT M1. Get beautiful shaves with them. I used to get rashes and tuggy shaves in other razors. So, experiment boys.

Nice to find a blade that rolls with multiple razors. For me that is Gillette Blacks, Permasharp, and Personna Reds. The other blades have quickly become razor specific.

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

"Your post is an excellent example of how some blades work best in particular razors."

     RayClem this is something I had always known but never really paid much mind to until recently. I had posted a thread in my old forum about pairing a mild razor and a sharp blade tigether being seemingly a good idea. It worked nicely for me, it "woke" the razor up and gave it the bite I needed. But even blades you rated equally may not be equal in the same razor. The KGC and Wizamet blades are both 4.5 sharpness/5 smoothness. I had a great experience using the Wizamet in my aggressive Lupo 127 whereas the KGC bit me both times I tried in the 127. At least for me it shows that seemingly equal blades can still perform differently in the same razor. I really liked the Wizamet in the Lupo. I will have to try the KGC blades elsewhere. I have the My Shave Den app so I really need to drop some notes for the blades as to my experience with various razor/blade combos. The experiment continues!!!

Amazing - not conventional wisdom, but a shaving axiom. I hated Astra SPs. Agree with Ray on his evaluation completely. I had about 200 in the den and they were on my shelf for 5 years. Broke them out and dropped them in my ATT M1. Get beautiful shaves with them. I used to get rashes and tuggy shaves in other razors. So, experiment boys.

Nice to find a blade that rolls with multiple razors. For me that is Gillette Blacks, Permasharp, and Personna Reds. The other blades have quickly become razor specific.

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

Personna Reds worked well in just about, if not every razor I used them in. Mine are the German made. I have yet to like the Astra SP's . Used them I believe twice and got bit both times. Can't remember the razors I used them in. I still have some and plan on trying again but now I will note what razors I use to see if they work well in one for me. If not, then they gotta go!!!

The reason I selected the Karve C plate razor for the evaluations is that it is mid aggressive and clamps blades tightly. I figured it would work with a wide range of blades. A very mild razor might gave been great with super sharp blades, but would have been a poor choice with less sharp blades. An aggressive razor might have allowed less sharp blades to work better, but I would have gotten severe irritation from super sharp blades. That is why a variety of blades is needed. I recommend using the sharpest blade in a razor that will give a comfortable shave. While it might seem that using less sharp blades might be more comfortable, that is not necessarily the case, especially if you add pressure to compensate for the lack of sharpness.

"Your post is an excellent example of how some blades work best in particular razors."

     RayClem this is something I had always known but never really paid much mind to until recently. I had posted a thread in my old forum about pairing a mild razor and a sharp blade tigether being seemingly a good idea. It worked nicely for me, it "woke" the razor up and gave it the bite I needed. But even blades you rated equally may not be equal in the same razor. The KGC and Wizamet blades are both 4.5 sharpness/5 smoothness. I had a great experience using the Wizamet in my aggressive Lupo 127 whereas the KGC bit me both times I tried in the 127. At least for me it shows that seemingly equal blades can still perform differently in the same razor. I really liked the Wizamet in the Lupo. I will have to try the KGC blades elsewhere. I have the My Shave Den app so I really need to drop some notes for the blades as to my experience with various razor/blade combos. The experiment continues!!!

Amazing - not conventional wisdom, but a shaving axiom. I hated Astra SPs. Agree with Ray on his evaluation completely. I had about 200 in the den and they were on my shelf for 5 years. Broke them out and dropped them in my ATT M1. Get beautiful shaves with them. I used to get rashes and tuggy shaves in other razors. So, experiment boys.

Nice to find a blade that rolls with multiple razors. For me that is Gillette Blacks, Permasharp, and Personna Reds. The other blades have quickly become razor specific.

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

Personna Reds worked well in just about, if not every razor I used them in. Mine are the German made. I have yet to like the Astra SP's . Used them I believe twice and got bit both times. Can't remember the razors I used them in. I still have some and plan on trying again but now I will note what razors I use to see if they work well in one for me. If not, then they gotta go!!!

Absolutely. Some blades seem to work best in specific razors. For me, 7 O'Clock Sharpedge yellow blades work best in aggressive razors, but do not work well in milder razors as they are not sharp enough. Blades like BIC Chrome Platinum, 7 O'Clock Super Platinum Blacks, Permasharp and Nacets work best in mild to moderate razors. Personna Platinum are just a little less sharp than the super sharp blades and can work well in a wide range of razors. 

As for Astra SP, I have difficulty understanding how they have become so popular. I guess many shavers have never tried anything better and subscribe to the herd mentality (If others on Amazon rate them 5-stars blade, they must be great). Or the other option is that their beards might be fine and their skin tough enough that the blades do work well for them. Perhaps they have come off shaving with a multi-blade cartridge razor and nearly any DE represents an improvement.

I've recently added a Column to my DE Razor Spreadsheet so I can add what blade I used with that razor. In time I will find what works best with each razor. This will then narrow the amount of DE blades I will need on hand. But with the amount of DE razors I have this will take a couple years.
I've really enjoyed the Wisamet blade paired with the Karve B plate. I'm getting great shaves with that combo and next to no feedback with Alcohol type aftershaves afterwards.