What's new

Blade Thickness - possible effect on razor performance

I'd been reading about the mild nature of the classic Gillette shavers and a thought struck me - "Has the standard for razor blade thickness decreased of the the years?"

They certainly seem narrower than I remember. It seems natural that blade makers would reduce the thickness of blades for a couple of reasons. The first being that it would save on material costs, and given that the major producers are turning out better than a billion blades a year, the savings might be substantial. The second is that it may make for a narrower, and consequently sharper, blade.

The downside of course is that it it would in effect decrease the gap of a given razor, so a vintage razor using a modern blade would give a milder shave than originally designed for.
 
There have been variations over the years but mind you, I am no expert. AFAIK they started with 0.13mm or so and they became a lot thinner after that; I have seen blades from the 50's and 60's that went from 0.10 to 0.08 and even 0.06mm.

Today the standard is 0.10mm and I have not seen anything else really. There are differences in stiffness though; not all stainless is the same! The difference in the shave would be minimal I think compared to the original blades; 0.03mm (actually only half of that!) is probably hard to notice except maybe in the mildest of razors.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I picked up an Old Type from 1907 the other day, it has the old type blade in the box, the 3 hole blade. I thought from some of the discusions that there would be a big difference in them, that they would look more like a SE blade. I can't visibly tell any difference. A micrometer could I'm sure, but not the naked eye.
 
Another of my brilliant theories shot down...Cheers-

I do understand what you are saying though chongo....many users of old types, etc recommend adding a "shim" to the blade...normally a old razor that one has cut the edges off of....

maybe someone with a stockpile of vintage blades and the tools to measure could chime in...
 
Not Gillette but take for example the Valet blades. They are very thick blades and they have to be to be able to be stropped multiple times. This also may be, but certainly not the only blade, that one often hears about "back in the day" of soldiers using a blade 50 to 80 times. I can't imagine a thin blade withstanding such contstant stropping. As with the first responder, I'm no expert but in a second case of taking a guess, the Gillette Singapore thins that I have has six blades per carton instead of the usuall five. Does this mean they were able to reduce the overall blade thickness of five and make an extra one? I don't know but they seem thinner to the eye. I wish I had a digital caliper to test this.
 
As with the first responder, I'm no expert but in a second case of taking a guess, the Gillette Singapore thins that I have has six blades per carton instead of the usuall five. Does this mean they were able to reduce the overall blade thickness of five and make an extra one? I don't know but they seem thinner to the eye. I wish I had a digital caliper to test this.

I go nowhere without it....:)001_rolle) so I took a pack of Super Thins from Singapore and measured them right away for you. I even took two blades since the first one was even showing 0.11mm half of the time. The sheet material has some tolerances too I guess. But they are just like all the other modern blades I measured, the usual 0.10mm.

Sorry again.....
 
You know what, I have always found injector blades cut my beard much better but because the razor handles weigh nothing, I don't use injector razors anymore. So, I would say the thicker blades do improve performance.

I read something about people using a shim(?) to make the blade thicker. Anyone know about or use this method?
 
I go nowhere without it....:)001_rolle) so I took a pack of Super Thins from Singapore and measured them right away for you. I even took two blades since the first one was even showing 0.11mm half of the time. The sheet material has some tolerances too I guess. But they are just like all the other modern blades I measured, the usual 0.10mm.

Sorry again.....

Well pthhhhhh. :001_tongu A case of marketing trickery..or pointing out the obvious. They are thin. Lol.
 
Last edited:
the only razor ive got that the blade thickness seems to have an effect is a fat handle nickle tech which likes the thin blades lot better.with a normal blade it gets pretty harsh.none of my other techs do this.
 
You know what, I have always found injector blades cut my beard much better but because the razor handles weigh nothing, I don't use injector razors anymore. So, I would say the thicker blades do improve performance.

I read something about people using a shim(?) to make the blade thicker. Anyone know about or use this method?

Yes, a couple of people have mentioned shims. I intend to try it, at which point I'll post an update.

OK, so I don't know if it was the shim along with my favourite G7OC Black blade but I had an AWESOME shave. It was more comfortable, like the blade was slicing through the stubble even better than usual, just like what I experience with thicker SE and injector blades!

I'm going to have to give it a few more days but at this stage, using a shim has definitely made a difference as the blade just felt more "stiff". It was great!
 
We got to get the word out. People will start chopping blades to hot rod their Super Speeds

:lol::001_tt2:

Don't get too excited just yet...i'm gonna test this out for the life of the blade and see what happens. Today's shave was definitely different, in a good way. If it is the shim, then it looks like the thickness of the blade does infact make a difference to the shave...comfort and performance.
 
2nd shave with a shim:

Definitely a difference in the way the blade cuts through the stubble. Not a massive difference on the cheeks but when I get to the bottom of my neck, it makes a difference as it cuts cleaner, taking more off in less strokes. The biggest difference came at my chin and goatee area as this area is very tough! The razor glides through the stubble with much more ease, just like what I experienced with GEM razors, which have a much thicker blade than DE blades.

I think i'm going to stick with the shim from now on, it has definitely made a difference for me.
 
I just posted a new thread on this to the forum.

I agree, it had a huge effect. Then I checked the blade gap data table. the .10mm of the extra blade gives my Weishi a blade gap equal to that of a Superspeed Red Tip.
 
I feel it is a different mode of action. It feels like the blade itself is more stiff, like an injector or GEM blade. Having used over forty razors, I can say that the razor is no more aggressive like razors with bigger blade gaps.
 
Compare the thickness of KAI to that of Perma-Sharp Super. If there is no big difference - strike me blind and call me Charlie.
 
I dunno the SE GEM SS, blades seemed thicker and more able to slice through my thick growth. But I'm back to DE's anyway, so I got no dog in th fight/
 
Top Bottom