Blade Biter's Tasting Notes

[lasta]

Inspired by other journal keepers I've had the pleasure of interacting with, I think I'll start my own!

No big plans, but my latest obsession is mostly blade oriented, so why not start there? I've tried about 60 different blades so far, while the favorites haven't been dethroned, curiosity always finds a way to keep my BAD ongoing. I've acquired about 500 blades last month, including 6 different Chinese Gillettes inspired by @AnimalCatcher . I look forward to trying and documenting them here.

Please note, I'm not the most systematic blade reviewer. I don't have sensitive skin, and I won't be sticking to a single razor. But I will try to keep notes on perceived sharpness and smoothness while adjusting them relative to the blade I used in the previous shave. At best, someone might find something worth tracking down. At worst, this will just be another member's SOTD thread.

If anyone is interested, here is my starting line:

And here is the current roster:

The Flying Eagle Platinum (Gillette Shanghai) will be up tomorrow. Having tried the Rhino recently, I'm actually expecting good things. Looking under a loup, the bevel is ground very uniformly, similar/same geometry as Russian Gillettes, and has a slightly yellower hue vs the Flying Eagle Stainless, suggesting it really does have a different coating. I've looked hard to buy these from a reputable source, so I'm pretty confident these aren't fakes...The bevel is also very shiny. Shiny is always a plus in my books!

Apart from blades, I also have a handle fetish! Have 3 more in the works. Also received notice that a certain @Rosseforp Blade Biter Special handle will be knocking on my door next week!


Cheers!

 

[thombrogan]

Thank you for starting a journal, @lasta ! Looking forward to reading your adventures when they’re reported.

 

[APBinNCA]

Ah ha, I found it! Excellent(rubs hands together, nothing in between them).

 

[lasta]

So, Blade Biter's first step in the journey!

I was very skeptical to start, everyone knows Flying Eagle has a bad rep, and there's always a 50/50 chance of getting fake blades in China! But first impression is not too bad. The packaging is done well, shiny logos gets a +1. I know it makes no difference in the shave, but shiny razors always get a +1 in my books, shiny blade bevels also get a +1, even the tuck is shiny!

I used my service issue Flat Bottom Tech today. This is the one with "tortured nipples" that has been neglected to cupboard duty ever since getting another post war FBT. But I've always gotten great shaves with it, mild overall, but solid medium in the Tech range.

I was extra careful with my pre-shave to give the underdog blade a fair chance. Thorough face wash, Proraso Yellow foam slathered on the face while I bowl lathered some of @Guido75 's Kox. First of all, I love this soap, very hard puck, shiny low structure lather, and an airy citrus scent with a hint of musk. I still can't get over the name, but this is seriously good stuff! Plus, the nipple like lid is well appreciated by my nipple-less Tech!

After washing off the Proraso foam and rubbing on the Kox, I did my usual 2 pass + touch up shave. First few strokes WTG reminded me of Personna Lab Blues, very smooth, but on the lower end of sharp. But perceived sharpness quickly shot up after the first few strokes. Second pass ATG was uneventful, not quite as light-sabery as I would like, but no unacceptable tugging either. Efficiency is fairly high, I did do some touch ups around the usual trouble spots, but I didn't need to re-lather, so efficiency gets a plus!

One weeper, no irritation, DFS/BBS-. I used some MG5 alcohol based aftershave before the Nivea balm, very little sting.

I used this eagle after 4 shaves with a 1982 Super Silver, so the bar is fairly high. For the Super Silver, I gave 4/5 for perceived sharpness, and 4/5 for smoothness. These eagles are getting a 3/5 for sharpness and 3.5/5 for smoothness relatively. This puts them in the same spot as the Super Max Diamond Edge. I do feel the eagle is sharper, might have to downgrade the poor Super Max next time I use it.

Overall a solid medium blade that I'd happily use. Don't be fooled by the bashing Flying Eagle Carbons get, these Platinum coated SS blades are not bad!

 

[APBinNCA]

Maybe you should change to x/10 so you have more gradation? Then you could leave the SuperMaxs at 6 and put these at 7, or 6.5.

 

[lasta]

Maybe you should change to x/10 so you have more gradation? Then you could leave the SuperMaxs at 6 and put these at 7, or 6.5.

Sure, why not? Max is safe, for now!

 

[APBinNCA]

If you will entertain me one more minute... by my thinking, 4-6 would imply medium. 6-8 medium plus and 8 and up, the blade bites back! Putting something at 6 implies, to me, that it is right on the borderline of medium and medium plus which seems appropriate for said blade. I may not agree 100% with all of your rankings, but they are close enough and it's your thread and your beard which will be different. The whole Gillette study thing where shavers perceive smoother blades as being sharper than they really are. I am actually moving away from making definitive statements about exact sharpness and prefer comparisons to other blades like this. Our beards aren't calibrated machines and blades aren't perfect across the whole edge.

 

[thombrogan]

Will base-10 really provide the granularity needed?

Base-30 Conversion Tool

base-30 conversion calculators, convert from base-30 to other Base Number units.

extraconversion.com

 

[lasta]

If you will entertain me one more minute... by my thinking, 4-6 would imply medium. 6-8 medium plus and 8 and up, the blade bites back! Putting something at 6 implies, to me, that it is right on the borderline of medium and medium plus which seems appropriate for said blade. I may not agree 100% with all of your rankings, but they are close enough and it's your thread and your beard which will be different. The whole Gillette study thing where shavers perceive smoother blades as being sharper than they really are. I am actually moving away from making definitive statements about exact sharpness and prefer comparisons to other blades like this. Our beards aren't calibrated machines and blades aren't perfect across the whole edge.

You are right! Blades are YMMV and it's really hard to be quantitative! I don't think the numbers are important, so much as having some sort of reference so that one can place a blade in the same ballpark relative to another. I'm sure if I spend an extra 2 minutes in the hair wetting phase, this blade can get another point in the perceived smoothness!

PS, ranking is the same, but psychologically, there feels to be a bigger difference between 6-8 than 3-4!!!

 

[Guido75]

Lasta!! A journal page!! Whoa! That is awesome! And it is already packed with rich information.

I'm not the most systematic blade reviewer

Right and that’s why we have a filled in spreadsheet with three dimensions or criteria to score on…in the first post mind you…

Also received notice that a certain @Rosseforp Blade Biter Special handle will be knocking on my door next week!

No way! Amazing, I cannot wait to see that one - will it be the bulbous one you had sketched out earlier this year? Or are you going light handle too?

I bowl lathered some of @Guido75 's Kox

As much as I love you man, we have got to stop meeting like this! And Aaron is already thinking about things rubbing…

I usually refer the soap by its brand name Dutchy Bergamot - saves me a lot of awkward sentences…

Anyway, super excited to read more!! This is definitely going on the watch list.



Cheers,

Guido

 

[lasta]

As much as I love you man, we have got to stop meeting like this! And Aaron is already thinking about things rubbing…

I usually refer the soap by its brand name Dutchy Bergamot - saves me a lot of awkward sentences…

I get you, and I am sorry.

But what did you expect? You sent me a box with Kox and TWO Vergulde Hands in it! What did you think I would do with them?

 

[Guido75]

I get you, and I am sorry

Don’t be! I just like the play on words and the wittiness of our conversations. Always a good thing to start the day laughing! And I already was after my spectacular shave I just had!

Guido

 

[lasta]

Sunday shave! Nice and slow.

New SC, Hungarian Supernova, Mondial Badger, Piccadilly Lime, MG5.

First use of the Supernova blade today, these are available from a Hungarian ebay seller for not much money. Mine came in nice Bakelite boxes, so +1 for presentation!

No hurry, so extensive pre-prep, ~5 minutes of hydration before shaving began. First few swipes and I get the impressions that these are not very sharp. They do sharpen up on subsequent strokes, but never quite enough to overcome the sensation of slight tugginess. On pass 2 ATG, they get better, but the hint of resistance never subsides. Not enough to be painful, but I do feel I need to push through more than usual.

I'll give these 2.5 for cutting efficiency, and 2.5 for comfort, acceptable, but not particularly note worthy. Still hashing out the rating criteria, instead of calling sharpness/smoothness, I believe a combination of the 2 together contributes to cutting efficiency (to a certain point) whereas grind quality, grind angle, coatings etc goes toward perceived smoothness and overall comfort. Still a work in progress, suggestions welcome!

The star of the show today was the New SC. For all intents and purposes, it shaves like a Tech, same angle, very little blade feel. But the open comb adds much welcomed efficiency. Despite being a mediocre blade, I got a solid DFS! A hint of irritation on the upper lips.

 

[APBinNCA]

suggestions welcome!

Please stop communicating with me telepathically without prior warning. I might be thinking about what to do next with my verguld hands!
(This means that you have pre-empted my annoying posts by implementing a solution that I was still trying to formulate. Bookmarked for reference!)

Edit: I see that none of the blades below "top shelf" exceed 4 on comfort, I would hope more get there as I don't need more than 3.5 or 4 on your cutting efficiency.

 

[lasta]

Please stop communicating with me telepathically without prior warning. I might be thinking about what to do next with my verguld hands!
(This means that you have pre-empted my annoying posts by implementing a solution that I was still trying to formulate. Bookmarked for reference!)

Edit: I see that none of the blades below "top shelf" exceed 4 on comfort, I would hope more get there as I don't need more than 3.5 or 4 on your cutting efficiency.

Ah, so you got some Vergulde Hands too! Welcome to the club!

Personally, I love the Kox ceramic coated mug, very Old School. Hint hint*, you could dip your Vergulde Hands into the Kox mug, the puck fits!

As for ratings, again YMMV. I like my blades on the very high end of perceived sharpness. That clean, crisp, low resistance cutting actually makes a blade feel smoother for me to a certain point. I can fully understand other people liking milder but still smooth blades.

 

[APBinNCA]

Looking over your chart, after posting sorry, I remembered that you preferred the Spoilers over the later Platinums and I am the other way around. Though spoilers aren't that bitey. I guess that would put the Platinums Plus down and up to 3/4.5 which seems about right, the only unknown is the Schick Plus Platinums that I use regularly. I don't find them any less efficient than Spoilers and as smooth as the Gillette Platinum Plus. This would also agree with your rating of Personna Supers, half point less smooth than the mentioned vintage Platinums.

 

[Guido75]

Great write up again my friend and indeed that SC! I am betting it got a dip from your gold bath? Looks to be in great condition.

As for rating criteria, combinations are of course readily calculated as weighted average per blade. I use four criteria myself for the shave, which is different from a blade on its own. These might not be for you but for inspiration purposes you might want to check my journal on page 15-16 where I discuss my new scoring system.

Enjoy!

Guido

 

[Guido75]

It starts with this post:

A newbies journey into DE shaving

Here she is (dis)assembled in the stand I made and varnished today (the little hole is too accommodate the post from the cap): Cool stand! :thumbup1: ~doug~

www.badgerandblade.com

Guido

 

[lasta]

Looking over your chart, after posting sorry, I remembered that you preferred the Spoilers over the later Platinums and I am the other way around. Though spoilers aren't that bitey. I guess that would put the Platinums Plus down and up to 3/4.5 which seems about right, the only unknown is the Schick Plus Platinums that I use regularly. I don't find them any less efficient than Spoilers and as smooth as the Gillette Platinum Plus. This would also agree with your rating of Personna Supers, half point less smooth than the mentioned vintage Platinums.

Hey Ned,

Thanks for the great feedback, good to know general direction is right.

As for the Schick, I'm not sure mine are plus platinums. They come in a rather unadorned dispenser:

I find them quite sharp, but a bit rough.

 

[APBinNCA]

As for the Schick, I'm not sure mine are plus platinums. They come in a rather unadorned dispenser:

I believe those are 80s or 90s and can't be sure that they are the same or even made in the US. There were three different DE blades, they might be Chromiums. It would make some sense that they prioritised sharpness, but didn't have as sophisticated coating process. I imagine they are .5 or even 1.0 below the Spoilers in comfort, but about the same sharpness.