Blade Metals

[CarlosAT]

I'm as newbie as they come, so I apologize if this is an obvious question. I see blades labeled Platinum, Chrome and Stainless Steel. I've sure there are others that I haven't come across yet.

Is there any difference between metals when it comes to DE blades? For a given brand, is one metal better then another?

Thanks!

 

[Ohio]

I'm as newbie as they come, so I apologize if this is an obvious question. I see blades labeled Platinum, Chrome and Stainless Steel. I've sure there are others that I haven't come across yet.

Is there any difference between metals when it comes to DE blades? For a given brand, is one metal better then another?

Thanks!

Stainless steel *is* chrome steel; chromium is what makes it stainless.
The companies may use the terms to differentiate between different alloys, though.
Platinums are stainless steel with a coating of platinum; they are not made of platinum. With prices above gold, that would be an expensive blade!

 

[talibeard]

Platinums are stainless steel with a coating of platinum

Platinum is not used on razorblades; it would be rather useless as a coating on an edge. Platinum coated is just a name for what is usually the premium blade of a certain brand.
The coating could be anything.

 

[Ohio]

Platinum is not used on razorblades; it would be rather useless as a coating on an edge. Platinum coated is just a name for what is usually the premium blade of a certain brand.
The coating could be anything.

That's what I get for listening to advertising.

Thanks for that.

ETA: Most of the advertising for platinum blades specifically says "platinum plated", "coated with platinum", or the like. Are they lying, or fooled by the moniker, or what? I can't find anything that says the coating isn't really platinum; how do these escape any "truth in advertising" laws?


ETA x2:
Sorry, I am going to have to go back to my original statement that the blades are actually plated with a platinum alloy or plain platinum. No way this gets sold in japan or America if the blades aren't really covered with something containing platinum.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31-FLe6COgL._SL500_AA200_.jpg

 

[talibeard]

That's what I get for listening to advertising.

Thanks for that.

ETA: Most of the advertising for platinum blades specifically says "platinum plated", "coated with platinum", or the like. Are they lying, or fooled by the moniker, or what? I can't find anything that says the coating isn't really platinum; how do these escape any "truth in advertising" laws?

I don't know but if they say specificly "coated with platinum" they step out of line for sure. Just calling them platinum will be no problem since eg. a Mach 3 is also not shaving with 3 times the speed of sound. They might use a coating that is called "platinum" instead of being made from it.
With "chrome" blades the same btw but since there is chrome as part of the stainless steel in any modern blade they are always right.

 

[SiBurning]

I don't see a problem with this. I did the math to test it out, and it seems quite practical to coat the edge with pure platinum.

The plating might be a fifty millionth part of an inch (0.000050") or 1/7874 cm (0.000127cm). At least, this is typical in electronics.
The spot platinum price is currently $1200/ounce or $43.32/gram.
Platinum has a density of 21.45 g/cm cubic, so 1 cubic centimeter cost about $930.
To cover 1 square centimeter at 50 millionths of an inch would cost $930 * 0.000127 or 11.8 cents.
1 mm square would cost 0.118 cents.
A typical DE razor blade is 4.7 cm wide.
Let's assume they coat both sides of the entire bevel with pure platinum, and that this bevel is 1mm wide.
This is a surface area of 94mm square.
The platinum cost to coat the blade this way is 11 cents.

Of course, there's no reason to coat the entire bevel. There's usually a second edge that's about 1/10 the size of the first bevel. (In fact, the cutting edge is much smaller than this.) This brings the cost down to about 1 cent per blade.

Platinum doesn't rust or corrode under normal circumstances, at least not in a DE blade's expected lifetime. There have been articles floating around that suggest that rust dulls the edge of a blade more than shaving. It seems a penny per blade is a cost effective way to reduce the worst cause of blade's going dull.

WONDER PHOTOS REVEAL UNSUSPECTED FACTS ABOUT Razor Blades and Shaving
Behind the Razor Blade

 

[Stubblefield]

Tungsten and Titanium . . .

(One of my favorite blades)

 

[talibeard]

I base my statement on the time when they started out with catalysers for petrol engines and the only stuff that worked in the early days was platinum. Prices for platinum went sky-high and some firms started to collect used razor blades to get the platinum from the blades. This stopped in no time because they came up with all sorts of elements but platinum was not among them...
I tried to find that story back on the internet but sofar I didn't find anything. Anyway it might also be possible that just the platinum blades in those days went without the Pt due to the astronomic prices but I assume it was never there to begin with.

 

[SiBurning]

I base my statement on the time when they started out with catalysers for petrol engines and the only stuff that worked in the early days was platinum. Prices for platinum went sky-high and some firms started to collect used razor blades to get the platinum from the blades. This stopped in no time because they came up with all sorts of elements but platinum was not among them...
I tried to find that story back on the internet but sofar I didn't find anything. Anyway it might also be possible that just the platinum blades in those days went without the Pt due to the astronomic prices but I assume it was never there to begin with.

After reading this, I went looking for some info on that period, but gave up. Did track down a few things. A long term price chart of platinum, which shows the price spike in late 1977. This spike is a little suspect because of how it follows the gold spike so closely. The first catalytic converter law probably went into effect in 1975, and would have taken a few years to get them into production. I seem to remember the law being delayed because of high prices and claims of shortages. I'll skip the rest of the speculation, except to say you're probably right, and I do remember seeing "platinum" instead of platinum-coated on some of the labels.

Getting back to the original question...

Carbon steel rusts easily, but is far easier to sharpen than stainless. Stainless is more resistant to rust, but costs more to manufacture, since it's harder to sharpen. Coatings are even more resistant, and add to the cost. Platinum is (I believe) completely rust proof, but one of the most expensive coatings. There was a time when most blades were carbon steel. Then stainless took over. The blades were not as sharp as stainless, but they didn't rust as seen by the naked eye. The edge, on the other hand, did still rust, but you can't see things that small. With either type of blade, the platinum edge prevented the edge from degrading due to rust. Eventually, carbon steel blades started disappearing because they'd literally get coated with rust after a few hours in a humid bathroom. If they hung on at all for a few years it's because they were much sharper. But this is no longer true.

IMHO, blades in general have improved since the 1980s due to cheap computers. Computers make it easier and cheaper to monitor product quality and calibrate machinery. They also enable the cost-effective use of other techniques such as lasers. It's really nothing to do with manufacturing techniques themselves, but everything to do with lowering the cost of contructing machinery by allowing cheaper tolerances while maintaining quality manufacturing through other means. I won't go further on this "progress" because that'll open a completely different can of worms.

 

[Stubblefield]

They might use a coating that is called "platinum" instead of being made from it.

Truth in advertising laws in the United States specifically prohibit this, you can't say you coat a blade with a certain metal and not actually do it. If Gillette, ASR and Eversharp claimed that they coated their blades with a certain metal in the US, you can bet they did it. Gillette especially, as they were loathe to have any trouble with the government.

 

[JerimiahC]

I'm going to throw a curve ball here. This is a question, not a statement. What if they're saying Platinum coated blades, where the Platinum is the highest grade, not the element? Just a thought....

 

[Ohio]

I'm going to throw a curve ball here. This is a question, not a statement. What if they're saying Platinum coated blades, where the Platinum is the highest grade, not the element? Just a thought....

Can't do it here without getting sued and fined.
With some terms you can get away with it. There is a legal difference between "gold" and "golden". But "platinum coated" means you have platinum coating it. Nothing else will work.

 

[SiBurning]

My memory is that the blades were called a platinum, the same way a gillette blade might be called a 7 o'clock. There were others that said platinum coated.