DE Blade Thicknesses

[Esox]

Thanks for that Mike.

I was in my office reading this, and had to pull the jack on the crappy Sony headset I use for conference calls after the first riff. Sacrilege otherwise. I popped downstairs and got my Bose Quitecomforts 35's and my Friday sounded better immediately. For my money, LZ is one of the best bands of all time.

Your comment about folks using newspaper to prep a Voshkod is also intriguing. I hand sharpen my carbon steel Japanese kitchen knives up to 10k, strop out to 30,000 grit, but my final polishing step is to deburr on a wine cork. Sounds similar!

Jimmy Page is King!

I can barely listen to mp3 so I get it yeah lol.

I only sharpen my knives to 6000 and thats good enough for me, but corking a blade is corking a blade. The blade itself matters not.

Paper, as strange as it may seem, is one of the quickest things to dull an edge. All those fibers can make short work of a fine edge.

 

[nikolaimih]

Sorry to revive this, but if Wizamet is the same blade as Polsilver then why is Polsilver significantly thicker?

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Sorry to revive this, but if Wizamet is the same blade as Polsilver then why is Polsilver significantly thicker?

Simple fluke! The standard international tolerances for the 0.004" sheet the blades are made from, is 0.0035"/0.0045". Different steel batch runs will all have variations within that minimum and maximum, subject to variations in setting,wear on the finishing rollers, wear on bearings and back up rolls, etc.

 

[Esox]

I'd agree with Al above. We looked into this before.

As far as manufacturing tolerances go, as Al has said the steel stock is held to ISO 9445 standards. How accurate that is I have no idea but assume it accurate enough given their tolerance levels.

Article: Tolerances to ISO 9445 for cold rolled narrow and wide strip, plate/sheet and cut lengths

That link is dead but this one isnt.

Tolerances to ISO 9445 for cold rolled narrow and wide strip, plate/sheet and cut lengths – British Stainless Steel Association - https://bssa.org.uk/bssa_articles/6-tolerances-to-iso-9445-for-cold-rolled-narrow-and-wide-strip-plate-sheet-and-cut-lengths/

 

[BigJ]

Thanks, and thanks for the bump. I guess I should maybe post the amended information here too haha.

Nacet, Polsilver and Perma-Sharp Super I think I could tell apart. Nacet has that 'bare blade' feel to it for me. Polsilver feels very sharp at first use and Perma-Sharp feels a bit like Gillette Black to me, but without any harshness.

There are a few surprises. I would have sworn Feather blades were on the thinner side.

Thanks @Cal for compiling and setting the order.

in thick mm thick BLADE
0.00450” 0.114mm Gillette Nacet Stainless
0.00450” 0.114mm Shaverboy Super Stainless

0.00425” 0.108mm Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (0.089mm*)
0.00425” 0.108mm Lord Platinum

0.00410” 0.104mm Feather

0.00400” 0.102mm Astra Superior Stainless
0.00400” 0.102mm BIC Chrome Platinum
0.00400” 0.102mm Croma Diamant Stainless
0.00400” 0.102mm Derby Extra (pre 2016, current blade 0.089mm*)
0.00400” 0.102mm Gillette Sword
0.00400” 0.102mm Kai*
0.00400” 0.102mm Personna Med Prep
0.00400” 0.102mm Personna Platinum Chrome (Personna Red)
0.00400” 0.102mm Polsilver SI
0.00400” 0.102mm Rapira Platinum Lux
0.00400” 0.102mm Sharp Star
0.00400” 0.102mm Super Max Blue Diamond
0.00400” 0.102mm Super Max Platinum
0.00400” 0.102mm Voskhod

0.00390” 0.099mm Bolzano Superinox
0.00390” 0.099mm Shark Super Chrome
0.00390” 0.099mm Treet Platinum Super Stainless

0.00375” 0.095mm Gillette New Improved Stainless
0.00375” 0.095mm Gillette Platinum
0.00375” 0.095mm Gillette Rubie Platinum Plus
0.00375” 0.095mm Trig Silver Edge
0.00375” 0.095mm Vidyut Super-Max
0.00375” 0.095mm Wizamet Super Iridium Extra Stainless
0.00375” 0.095mm Zorrik Super Platinum

0.00350” 0.089mm Astra Superior Platinum
0.00350” 0.089mm Gillette 7 O’Clock Sharp Edge
0.00350” 0.089mm Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum
0.00350” 0.089mm Gillette Silver Blue
0.00350” 0.089mm Perma Sharp Stainless
0.00350” 0.089mm Sputnik
0.00350” 0.089mm Treet Platinum
0.00350” 0.089mm Wizamet Super Iridium

* Information from “DE Razor Blade Dimensions Table” in the ShaveWiki.

Wonderful post!! This should be included in the WiKi IMHO!!

 

[Esox]

Wonderful post!! This should be included in the WiKi IMHO!!

I think it is, or was or... was suppose to be lol.

What I learned from the entire exercise is, I cant tell blades apart based on thickness but I can coatings.

 

[BigJ]

I think it is, or was or... was suppose to be lol.

What I learned from the entire exercise is, I cant tell blades apart based on thickness but I can coatings.

I agree! Blade coatings can make a big difference for me also.

 

[Bobovata]

Great thread. Thanks to all.

You might notice a difference of 0.017 mm. Blade thickness relates to blade rigidity. All steel blades have roughly the same material stiffness, so blade stiffness differences basically come down to geometric differences, primarily thickness differences. A blade that is 0.117 mm thick is about 60 % stiffer than a blade that is 0.1 mm thick. My guess is that you'd notice the difference.

The fact that thickness and rigidity do not have a linear relationship is relevant, if thickness varies by more than a significant amount.

No doubt other factors also matter, mainly alloy recipe and clamping system. But any significant variation in blade thickness matters too.

Question is how much is significant in this context? How much thickness variation is required to start producing detectable practical differences in the shaving experience, and is that variation inside or outside the existing range of blade thickness (approx. 0.09-0.115mm for DE)?

If outside (or approx equal), then it makes no practical difference. A non-problem, carry on as usual.

If inside then there might be a case for tightening up tolerances on blades, depending on the size of the effect.

 

[Mr_Omega]

Thanks, and thanks for the bump. I guess I should maybe post the amended information here too haha.

Nacet, Polsilver and Perma-Sharp Super I think I could tell apart. Nacet has that 'bare blade' feel to it for me. Polsilver feels very sharp at first use and Perma-Sharp feels a bit like Gillette Black to me, but without any harshness.

There are a few surprises. I would have sworn Feather blades were on the thinner side.

Thanks @Cal for compiling and setting the order.

in thick mm thick BLADE
0.00450” 0.114mm Gillette Nacet Stainless
0.00450” 0.114mm Shaverboy Super Stainless

0.00425” 0.108mm Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (0.089mm*)
0.00425” 0.108mm Lord Platinum

0.00410” 0.104mm Feather

0.00400” 0.102mm Astra Superior Stainless
0.00400” 0.102mm BIC Chrome Platinum
0.00400” 0.102mm Croma Diamant Stainless
0.00400” 0.102mm Derby Extra (pre 2016, current blade 0.089mm*)
0.00400” 0.102mm Gillette Sword
0.00400” 0.102mm Kai*
0.00400” 0.102mm Personna Med Prep
0.00400” 0.102mm Personna Platinum Chrome (Personna Red)
0.00400” 0.102mm Polsilver SI
0.00400” 0.102mm Rapira Platinum Lux
0.00400” 0.102mm Sharp Star
0.00400” 0.102mm Super Max Blue Diamond
0.00400” 0.102mm Super Max Platinum
0.00400” 0.102mm Voskhod

0.00390” 0.099mm Bolzano Superinox
0.00390” 0.099mm Shark Super Chrome
0.00390” 0.099mm Treet Platinum Super Stainless

0.00375” 0.095mm Gillette New Improved Stainless
0.00375” 0.095mm Gillette Platinum
0.00375” 0.095mm Gillette Rubie Platinum Plus
0.00375” 0.095mm Trig Silver Edge
0.00375” 0.095mm Vidyut Super-Max
0.00375” 0.095mm Wizamet Super Iridium Extra Stainless
0.00375” 0.095mm Zorrik Super Platinum

0.00350” 0.089mm Astra Superior Platinum
0.00350” 0.089mm Gillette 7 O’Clock Sharp Edge
0.00350” 0.089mm Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum
0.00350” 0.089mm Gillette Silver Blue
0.00350” 0.089mm Perma Sharp Stainless
0.00350” 0.089mm Sputnik
0.00350” 0.089mm Treet Platinum
0.00350” 0.089mm Wizamet Super Iridium

* Information from “DE Razor Blade Dimensions Table” in the ShaveWiki.

So does this make Nacets and Shaverboys the thickest ones?

 

[Theodore]

Jimmy Page is King!

I can barely listen to mp3 so I get it yeah lol.

I only sharpen my knives to 6000 and thats good enough for me, but corking a blade is corking a blade. The blade itself matters not.

Paper, as strange as it may seem, is one of the quickest things to dull an edge. All those fibers can make short work of a fine edge.

I know I'm necroposting, but @Esox - there's a big reason why paper is so viciously dulling on sharp edges.

It's the titanium dioxide that is used for whitening.