The next-generation blades may be improved by metallurgy :
Another thing that contributed to cracking and chipping is differences within the blade — if there are zones within the metal that are slightly harder or slightly softer. That might be easier to try to control, Tasan says, by coming up with steel that is as hard as today's razors but has a more uniform internal structure. The group has already filed a provisional patent on a process that could do that.
To be honest - while that article is in Science - I would be dumbfounded if P&G /Gillette didn't do this way back in the day and have optimized the alloy to account for this. Its the first experiment that any one would come up with when thinking about blades. I think its possible the better quality blades / steels use a more uniform allow w/ the right degree of softness to prevent the brittle behavior.
Considering Gillette's profit model is based upon the selling of the blades, if anything they researched how to make a blade deteriorate quickly so they won't last as long.
Considering Gillette's profit model is based upon the selling of the blades, if anything they researched how to make a blade deteriorate quickly so they won't last as long.
I recall Gillette's own recommendations for the cartridges are an absurdly long turnover time. I just looked this up - they are claiming a month here. That is 30 days on the same cartridge - which I think naively is equivalent to 6 days worth of pressure per blade (clearly that is not really true) .. I would think to get that, someone must have done this type of metallurgy. Regardless to your point - if your goal is to deteriorate the blade you'd have to do the same analysis backwards
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Perhaps as an aside I would say these arguments about profit models (in cheap deteriorating blades) is not really the right way to think about this (and I am sure (hope?) they don't). The reason for that is if your profit model is based on selling something sub quality for the purpose of profit - you can be sure there will be hungry competitor / startup that will eat your lunch [the Harry's/ Dollar Shave Club's of the world would have been that wakeup call, if someone wasn't already cognizant of such things ]. This applies just as well to well designed non-deteriorating steel blades - which has great applications beyond disposables as well.
Considering Gillette's profit model is based upon the selling of the blades, if anything they researched how to make a blade deteriorate quickly so they won't last as long.
Patents aren't the only thing in play, though. A huge part of metallurgy involves processes, and processes are amenable to protection by being held as trade secrets. Trade secrets are forever, they don't expire, you just have to be careful to keep them secret.Once patents expire and competitors can start competing against their format, they change their format and patent it.
I suspect they already have. I can only get three shaves from a Gillette Fusion. When the Fusion was new I could easily get over two weeks. That didn't last long.
Patents aren't the only thing in play, though. A huge part of metallurgy involves processes, and processes are amenable to protection by being held as trade secrets. Trade secrets are forever, they don't expire, you just have to be careful to keep them secret.
Heck, you can greatly improve hardenability in steel by adding as little as 0.001% boron, and if you never tell anyone a competitor might not notice it's there.
interesting theory.
what do you shave with routinely?