RayClem's Blade Evaluations

I look forward to what you boys find. All our personal variables will be/are different, but a trend will shine through.

My findings with mild razors is 3 shaves for sure. 4 maybe. 5 no way.

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Hmmm, do you think there would actually be a difference in how long a blade lasts in razors of varying efficiency/aggressiveness? Because the razor is milder, does that necessarily mean that the blade has to work harder than it would in a more aggressive razor? Perhaps I'm over complicating things. Perhaps I'm a genius. Eh, it's most likely I'm just nuts.....

I look forward to what you boys find. All our personal variables will be/are different, but a trend will shine through.

My findings with mild razors is 3 shaves for sure. 4 maybe. 5 no way.

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

Hmmm, do you think there would actually be a difference in how long a blade lasts in razors of varying efficiency/aggressiveness? Because the razor is milder, does that necessarily mean that the blade has to work harder than it would in a more aggressive razor? Perhaps I'm over complicating things. Perhaps I'm a genius. Eh, it's most likely I'm just nuts.....

I can't be certain, but I suspect that the razor itself does not make a lot of difference in blade longevity. The shave angle, however, might. A steep shave angle might cause the edge of blade to fold over, reducing its life. 

The primary factor is how much beard hair the blade contacts and how tough that hair might be. Someone who shaves around the edges of a full beard is likely to get a lot more uses from a blade than someone of similar beard toughness who is clean-shaven. Likewise, someone who shaves daily might get more shaves than someone who shaves every 2-3 days. 

If you count the number of passes, someone who does a one and done shave is likely to get fewer passes than someone like me who does a four-pass shave. Much of the damage to the blade occurs on the 1st pass. With my four-pass shaves, I suspect I get far more passes than most, but a similar number of shaves.

One experiment I have done, is based on my "normal" shave procedure, although I have not followed that procedure since I began the blade evaluation. I typically do a four-pass shave using four different razor/blade combinations. If I average 3.5 shaves per blade when using the same blade for each pass, with 4 passes per shave, I get an average of 14 passes per blade. However, when using four razor/blade combinations, the  blade used for the 1st pass might only get 5-6 good passes before needing replacement while the blade used for my clean-up pass might last 20 passes or more. OIn average, I should still get an average of 14 passes. I have never tried keeping an official account of the blade life as I just change blades when they are no longer comfortable. However, my casual observation indicates that the blade used for the 1st pass suffers far greater damage due to beard contact than the blades used for later passes when much of the beard has been reduced.

Masakage white steel knives clad in SS..if I don’t strop on leather before each use this knife will not cut!
Takeda blue steel knives,leather stropping less critical,every other use is ok to strop.
Yuusui Itou knives…Santokus,chefs 10’12’ R2 powder steel…4 years later and never needs stropping,same sharpness as day first put in use…not ‘stainless’..but stain’proof’ a radish cut in half,then sliced at 6 slices per second melts into the cutting board in a lump of liquid..white steel also just as sharp but if not stropped then ther’d be knuckle skins and blood not liquid radish juice.
My 40 year old fridour,ice whatever they called never need stropping,sharpened on stones every 5-8 years?,honed on a steel honing rod every 20 uses to bend that soft curly metal back.
10x Loupe,,white steel,specks of rust highly noticeable,dark cutting edge next day after use,strop 4x each side,specks gone,edge looks shiny,edge is now dangerous,careful.
Sushi chefs every morning they get out the stones,,you need leather!!!
Same with razor blades,even more critical,Japanese blades are sharper but don’t last..get a loupe and see for yourself,it’ not the hair dulling these blades,well eventually,if you could get that many shaves,but the content of the carbon in the so called Stain ‘less’ steel.

Had to retype this quickly twice now.is there a time limit?

Ohhh will you look at that..I went on YouTube and shavers are stropping razor blades,,cork stropping,palm stropping..maybe they onto something?

I look forward to what you boys find. All our personal variables will be/are different, but a trend will shine through.

My findings with mild razors is 3 shaves for sure. 4 maybe. 5 no way.

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

Hmmm, do you think there would actually be a difference in how long a blade lasts in razors of varying efficiency/aggressiveness? Because the razor is milder, does that necessarily mean that the blade has to work harder than it would in a more aggressive razor? Perhaps I'm over complicating things. Perhaps I'm a genius. Eh, it's most likely I'm just nuts.....

I can't be certain, but I suspect that the razor itself does not make a lot of difference in blade longevity. The shave angle, however, might. A steep shave angle might cause the edge of blade to fold over, reducing its life. 

The primary factor is how much beard hair the blade contacts and how tough that hair might be. Someone who shaves around the edges of a full beard is likely to get a lot more uses from a blade than someone of similar beard toughness who is clean-shaven. Likewise, someone who shaves daily might get more shaves than someone who shaves every 2-3 days. 

If you count the number of passes, someone who does a one and done shave is likely to get fewer passes than someone like me who does a four-pass shave. Much of the damage to the blade occurs on the 1st pass. With my four-pass shaves, I suspect I get far more passes than most, but a similar number of shaves.

One experiment I have done, is based on my "normal" shave procedure, although I have not followed that procedure since I began the blade evaluation. I typically do a four-pass shave using four different razor/blade combinations. If I average 3.5 shaves per blade when using the same blade for each pass, with 4 passes per shave, I get an average of 14 passes per blade. However, when using four razor/blade combinations, the  blade used for the 1st pass might only get 5-6 good passes before needing replacement while the blade used for my clean-up pass might last 20 passes or more. OIn average, I should still get an average of 14 passes. I have never tried keeping an official account of the blade life as I just change blades when they are no longer comfortable. However, my casual observation indicates that the blade used for the 1st pass suffers far greater damage due to beard contact than the blades used for later passes when much of the beard has been reduced.

Yeah, I generally shave every two days, sometimes three. It definitely seems how often you shave, how course your beard is, and how many passes you do, would definitely have the most impact on blade life. And also, I'm sure there are some variables on the blades that could affect it as well, as far as the coatings and some other scientific stuff I'm sure I don't know.

Short form..corrosion,water moisture left on a razor blade or knife with a ‘high carbon’content which are very sharp and the main reason they’re ‘coated’ for shipping,eat away at the edge and cause micro rust and then when you shave,microchipping,’you think the blade is getting sharper’..next day it cuts you up and gets tossed,hardened,ice forged SS or SS properly made will resist water impurities and rust and microchipping and you get more shaves till the blade dulls…most razor blades you can’t get to where they dull,no way after 3-4 shaves a blade dulls on hair that’s 200x softer than the metal,the metal destroys itself prematurely…razor blade -knife manufacturers and metallurgists figured this shit out 50 years ago,seems like they keeping it to themselves,more profit,,watching them sushi guys daily sharpening 2k knives on stones grates on me.
14 edits! Working hard here..lol

Yes, and why I cork my blades after use. Not for burrs but it's very effectively removed all moisture and soap scum from the edge.

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Yes, and why I cork my blades after use. Not for burrs but it's very effectively removed all moisture and soap scum from the edge.

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Hmm, I definitely have hard water. I wonder if this is the true reason I get so few great shaves from a blade?

I know my hair is like copper wire (it's even colored as such, lol). Still, maybe I'll try corking my blade to see if it helps. Do you do this right after the shave, so nothing sets in and begins to degrade it? (As opposed to before use, once everything has dried)

Thanks for the inspiration Tommy.

Yes, and why I cork my blades after use. Not for burrs but it's very effectively removed all moisture and soap scum from the edge.

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

Hmm, I definitely have hard water. I wonder if this is the true reason I get so few great shaves from a blade?

I know my hair is like copper wire (it's even colored as such, lol). Still, maybe I'll try corking my blade to see if it helps. Do you do this right after the shave, so nothing sets in and begins to degrade it? (As opposed to before use, once everything has dried)

Thanks for the inspiration Tommy.

I too have copper colored wire I shave off my face! I do it right after rinsing out the brush sir! I have convinced myself it helps.

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Wednesday Shave- FlyDear Platinum blades from China

I have not seen much information concerning FlyDear blades. A few reports from another forum indicated that these blades might be the same as Matgicol blades in a different wrapper. I have not tried the Matgicol blades.

I started today's shave with a Jaguar 8094 blade on what would have been its 5th use, but I did not believe it was sharp enough, nor smooth enough to continue the shave. Thus, after a few strokes, I replaced it with a FlyDear Platinum blade. The initial strokes with the FlyDear were no better than the Jaguar blade starting its 5th use. That was disappointing. However, by the 2nd pass, the FlyDear blade started to become somewhat sharper, presumably as the coating started to wear off. I competed the XTG and ATG passes. During the 4th clean-up pass with buffing, I got a minor nick on my chin. However, I blame that on operator error, not on the blade. Thus, I did not consider that faux pa in evaluating the blade. 
I was able to achieve a near-BBS shave, although it was not quite as close as some. When applying witch hazel after the shave, I received moderate feedback. 

Based on the results of this shave, I am rating the FlyDear Platinum blades 4 for sharpness and 4 for smoothness. This makes them similar in performance to the recent Van Der Hagen Basics blades and the Suneko Amorphous Diamond blades also made in China. For reference, this is also the rating I assigned to older Gillette Platinum, Gillette Silver Blue, Rapira Platinum Lux and Voskhod blade from Russia. While I prefer slightly sharper and smoother blades, they should work well for many shavers. At a price of only $8.88 / 100 blades, they represent excellent value. 

As the FlyDear blades seemed to become somewhat sharper during the initial shave, they should be suitable for at least 1-2 more shaves. I am still awaiting the Gillette Super Thin blades from Vietnam. Thus, barring their arrival, I will continue to use the FlyDear blades until they no longer provide a decent shave.

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated with the results from this shave.


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

I paired the Tiger Super Stainless RayClem kindly sent me with my ATT SSRH .80mm OC. It was my third use with the blade and I chose to toss it after this shave. It definitely didn't get me as close as I had gotten with this razor and the Wizamet blade. It wasn't by any stretch a bad shave, this might only make sense to folks in this group, I just didn't seem to enjoy using the blade. And this is both times that I had used it. No irritation, no nicks or anything, and just light feedback from the alcohol based aftershave as seems typical with pretty much most of my shaves. Not necessarily really any complaints, just didn't love shaving with it, and after three passes, I feel it should have got me where I wanted to be in closeness and it did not. In all fairness, this was with three days growth, and I typically shave with two, but I'm not sure that really should change anything. While rated by RayClem at a 4 for both sharpness and smoothness, these can certainly be a good blade for someone with a lighter beard. And with the ability to purchase them for around $.13 in bulk as he listed, they can be a good deal. Unfortunately, it's just not a blade that I'm gonna reach for. I do appreciate the blades and the opportunity to try them. And it's likely I'll try them again down the road when I get curious again and kind of forget how they shaved the first time.