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Comprehensive DE Safety Razor Data Table in B&B ShaveWiki. Thoughts?

Currently, the B&B ShaveWiki has a database of separate pages for individual safety razors:

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Safety_Razor_Database

The pages generally follow the suggested template with general manufacturing information, weight, height, a description, notes of interest, and photos. These pages are important for cataloging razors, but a lot of important information is missing from them, and there is no way to conveniently compare what data is provided in order to compare razors to each other even if the pages all contained detailed information.

Two tables currently exist in the B&B ShaveWiki for DE razor comparisons. The first table is for overall aggressiveness ratings and the second table is for blade gaps:

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Modern_Double-Edged_Safety_Razors_Ranked_by_Aggressiveness
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Double-Edged_Safety_Razors_Ranked_by_Blade_Gap

Aggressiveness ratings are useful because they reflect how razors feel to the average user. Blade gap, on the other hand, is not nearly as relevant to how a razor feels or performs as is commonly believed because blade gap is not directly involved in the "up and over" of the skin from the blade edge to the safety guard. The "up and over" is measured by blade exposure and guard span, and combined with blade angle, these parameters are primary for explaining how aggressive a razor feels and how efficiently a razor cuts hair.

I would like to take a stab at starting a comprehensive DE safety razor data table in the B&B ShaveWiki, and I would like feedback on what you guys think.

The comprehensive razor data table could start by first combining the aggressiveness and blade gap data tables, which is an effort in itself. This first step would involve quite a bit of cleanup and reorganization, but the result would be a table with sortable columns, such that anyone viewing the table could click on any column heading to sort by one column or another and switch between ascending and descending order. This functionality would be very helpful for comparing and correlating razor data and looking for what you want, especially with more and more columns of data. There actually is already some mass data in a column with the blade gap table and data for head materials/construction, price, assembly, and country of origin with the aggressiveness table, so we're off to a better start.

The most comprehensive table for DE razors that I've seen is at the ShavingScience reddit. (By forum rules, I'm not posting the URL.) That table includes rough aggressiveness, comfort, and efficiency ratings, columns for manufacturing details, and columns for the measurements of blade exposure, blade angle, and blade gap, but there is very little measurement data even for those limited choices and measurements are basically missing. There aren't even columns for razor mass and length data. Also, the data is not referenced. Having a comprehensive DE safety razor table in the B&B ShaveWiki could, and should, reference the sources for the data back to B&B ShaveWiki razor pages and B&B forum threads. Each razor in the razor name column should be a URL to its B&B ShaveWiki page, which is more or less already happening in the aggressiveness and blade gap tables, but data in the tables is not necessarily located and/or referenced at the razor pages.

Getting others involved in collecting razor data is something that I've encouraged since I started taking measurements and posting here, and I can better facilitate that effort by adding to the ShaveWiki a permanent home for all of our data. At this point in time, I would appreciate your thoughts on a comprehensive razor data table, such as how you might like to use such a table and what data you'd like to see.

The table should have as many columns of important data as possible. Here is a tentative list of column headings that I'm submitting to you for feedback:

  1. Name(s) --- This should include brand/manufacturer name followed by model name, if applicable, of razor or razor head. Some razors are rebranded, so there could be multiple names for the same razor.
  2. Guard --- If the head is a combo, then each side should be a separate entry due to different measurements, aggressiveness, efficiency, etc.
  3. Aggressiveness --- This would start from the aggressiveness table that already exists
  4. Efficiency --- This should be dependent on hair type, I believe, so maybe there should be three choices for user input: Efficiency for Soft Hair, Efficiency for Average Hair, and Efficiency for Tough Hair
  5. Blade Angle (deg)
  6. Handle Angle (deg)
  7. Blade Exposure (mm)
  8. Guard Span (mm)
  9. Cap Span (mm)
  10. Blade Gap (mm)
  11. Blade Reveal (mm)
  12. Mass with Blade (g) --- Any DE blade should do
  13. Mass without Blade (g) --- Blade mass can be 1 % or more of razor mass, but maybe the blade should be neglected anyway and the two mass columns combined into one
  14. Length (cm) --- With or without blade, the change in length is negligible
  15. Handle Length (cm) --- N/A if head only
  16. Center of Mass from Top of Cap (cm) --- This does change a bit with the blade, but I don't think measurements would be accurate enough to capture such changes
  17. Head Construction --- CNC, cast, etc.
  18. Head Material
  19. Head Surface Treatment
  20. Handle Material --- N/A if head only
  21. Handle Surface Treatment --- N/A if head only
  22. Price (USD)
  23. Assembly --- TTO, 2-piece, 3-piece, etc.
  24. Country of Origin
  25. Notes --- in case there is something extra that doesn't fit in one of the columns but should be mentioned

Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks for all of your helpful feedback. This proposed comprehensive DE safety razor data table would be a work in progress. There is no rush for it. It's just something that I think would benefit us all and future wet shavers, too, and it would need to be started somehow and built upon in time, one razor at a time. I think that it would be really slick! Actually, in the future, it would be best to have a searchable table of some sort, a search function of some kind, so that you could search for the parameters that you'd like with the limits that you'd like and a sortable table of feasible razors would result. Now that would be something!
 
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alex2363, Graybeard57, and tonich,

There is no comprehensive data table. It doesn't exist. I thought that I made that clear. As I said, two tables currently exist in the B&B ShaveWiki for DE razor comparisons: the aggressiveness rating and blade gap tables. I wrote a paragraph about combining these two tables into one as a first step. I also wrote about how there is no rush for this, how this would be a long-term project, and that it would develop over time. Are you all against the idea of a comprehensive razor data table, even though it would build on, not take away from, the ShaveWiki, you could use it or not use it as you want, and you wouldn't even have to lift a finger for its development if you don't want to help or can't help? If so, why would you be against something that others might like?

Is there anyone here that would like a comprehensive razor data table to compare razors to each other? I thought that many here would at least like the idea as I do. I don't like the idea of the work involved, but the idea of the work being spread out over time to build this is not so bad. Once the table is going, adding to it is relatively easy when you have the data. Some data is easier to get than others, so for data that is unavailable, you leave it out and come back to it later or someone else fills it in.
 
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I'd like that. It would've been nice with a table like that when I was trying to figure out which razor I'd buy for my first one.

Yes! Exactly! Comparing razors might not matter so much for the experienced wet shavers who have a bunch of razors, but for those of us newbies and for those that might want to get into wet shaving, comparing razors is a part of the process, and a table would really help. Even just having all stainless steel razors in a table would be nice, particularly when you can compare them at a glance and click on their names to go to their ShaveWiki pages for photos and more information.
 
I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request.BUT,if you feel it absolutely necessary,please by all means,proceed

Of course. What don't you like about a comprehensive table for razor data? I'm curious. My OP may be coming across as a request that everyone get involved and work on this, and I didn't mean it like that. The ShaveWiki is for the community. Just as others contribute as they can or want to other ShaveWiki pages, it would be this way with the table of razor data. The vast majority of users wouldn't bother contributing to it, but they might enjoy using it. I really like the aggressiveness ratings table, and I see the blade gap table as having value, too, which is why it exists, even if blade gap is very overrated. To me, a comprehensive table with many columns of data would be incredibly more valuable than separate tables for only two parameters.
 
I just saw this thread near the top of the forum. It is a post asking for input about the mildest DE razors for someone giving wet shaving a second try:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...s-for-Someone-Giving-Wet-Shaving-a-Second-Try

Imagine if a comprehensive table existed. This person could easily be directed to the database table for comparing razors. The table wouldn't take away from the OP or user feedback on his question, all of which is valuable. The table could just help answer his question and help him make a purchase.
 
please by all means,proceed.if it helps just one shaver and doesn't violate the TOU, then it worth the effort,please by all means,proceed,and forgive my try at humor,im still learning
 
I don't think it's a bad idea at all to accumulate such data in the manner described, and would eventually become a great reference. The only downside I see is the length of time it will take to accomplish, only because while among everyone here there is a representative example of nearly every razor made, not everyone here has the capability of making such precise measurements (and for credibility's sake they should be highly accurate).
 
I don't think it's a bad idea at all to accumulate such data in the manner described, and would eventually become a great reference. The only downside I see is the length of time it will take to accomplish, only because while among everyone here there is a representative example of nearly every razor made, not everyone here has the capability of making such precise measurements (and for credibility's sake they should be highly accurate).

Thanks for the feedback. You are 100 % right. I know what you are saying, which is why I acknowledged the time involved in my OP. I didn't want to scare people off. My OP may have come across as some sort of request that everyone get involved to make this happen, which isn't what I was going for. I am hoping that, after I build a framework, others contribute just as others contribute as they can or want to other ShaveWiki pages. That's what I meant. The hardest part of filling in the table would be the photo analysis dimensions of blade angle, blade exposure, guard span, etc. This would get filled in by me and anyone else that can manage measurements. The measurements don't even need to be precise. They could be approximations that didn't take much time or effort to get. (For example, before I did my accurate analysis of the PAA DOC, I made quick and dirty estimates of the blade angle, blade exposure, guard span, and blade gap. My guard span estimate was pretty accurate. The other estimates were okay but not accurate.) Regardless of the precision, the razor data should be in the razor's ShaveWiki page with information about where the data comes from and how it was measured.
 
Good advice. I just wanted to feel out the community for feedback before proceeding. Maybe someone else would have a better idea or mention something great that I didn't consider.
 
If you build it they will come!

Why not, it could be quite helpful. Your efforts will be appreciated by many I'm sure.
 
I limit my razors to two. One mild and one aggressive, anyone with 15 razors and 30 different blades in rotation will have a hard time reaching accurate conclusions. Two is more than enough for now.
 
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