Ever have a rough feeling blade give great shave results?

[JaggerDragger]

I have been trying a bunch of blades lately and a few days ago I tried a Racer blade made by Lord (I am using a Slant 39C). The blade does not feel vary sharp to me and tends to scrape over my skin and make more noise than usual. The dull feeling is a bit scary because it seems that I am irritating my skin like crazy during the shave.

However after the shave is complete I have no irritation and dont even get a burning sensation with my clubman aftershave. The best part is that my face feels BBS!

So has anybody else experienced this with a blade yet? It shaves dull but gives great results, seems contrary but YMMV I guess?

 

[VerbaVolant]

Smooth blade/feeling is part of a great shave. If the shave is rough you cannot call it great. Unless... you like it rough.

I tried several blades that felt rough on my face and did not have the patience to let them finish the shave. They were replaced midway. All those gave same rough shave multiple times (tried 2-3 blades of same make before rejecting them).
I currently use Feather, Astra SP, Gillette SharpEdge, Bolzano and Shark SuperChrome. Shark is the "roughest" and still acceptable to me. Feather and Gillette SharpEdge are very smooth for me.

Oh, forgot to mention, Racer was one of the rejected ones.

 

[Krona Kruiser]

I know what you mean. Dorcos feel rough but when I'm done I've got a nice shave. Don't like to subject myself to this though.

 

[freeze205]

I know what you mean. Dorcos feel rough but when I'm done I've got a nice shave. Don't like to subject myself to this though.

+1
I get the same feeling with Dorco blades. Rough feeling, but the result is as close as any blade and irritation free.
These were my go to newbie-learning blades because they are very forgiving. I still use them from time to time.

 

[JaggerDragger]

I said that they are rough but not uncomfortably rough like tugging... Just a little bit unnerving as to feel that you are scraping your face up...

I have tried a super dull CVS personna that did not last more than three strokes on my 9 day growth, switched to astra to finish without any problem mowing it down.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Yep, the carbon steel GEM blades pictured below that I tested some for one of the vendors. Very strange blade, felt rough during use like a blade that has a few too many shaves on it but the results were actually very good.

 

[VerbaVolant]

I said that they are rough but not uncomfortably rough like tugging...

It is all about pain threshold, I gather.

I find Shark similar to what you experience with Racer as in dull feeling (never felt scraping or noisier). Shark has a nicely polished edge and while not very sharp for me it provides very good shaves, irritation free in two passes for DFS.
If I remember correctly Racer, Derby, Lord SS, Merkur were all in the same category of very rough blades, providing uncomfortable shaves.

To answer your question (So has anybody else experienced this with a blade yet?), before reaching the pain threshold, I have experienced same less smooth shaves with great results. I still use Sharks and I agree with you, it is surprising to feel such results after being so close to pain.

 

[Toothpick]

i used Lord recently in my Merkur 34C and felt that it was a bit rough as well especially going ATG which left me with a few weepers. however the finished shave was pretty smooth. i just tried a Polsilver Super Iridium in the same razor with surprisingly the same results minus one key difference.....no weepers. i did the same shave routine, WTG, ATG, and the blade felt just like the Lord on the first pass and second pass, 1st one being rough and tuggy. but finished the shave with no weepers and smoooooth face. as i was going ATG i could hear the stubble coming off just like with any blade but where the Lord left a few weepers the Polsilver left none. for this reason the Lord is out the Polsilver is in.

 

[Scott0079]

I have but I need smoothness for the whole thing to be enjoyable. I'm a firm believer that good prep can overcome a crappy blade, but life's too short and blades are too cheap.

 

[banditman]

I have been trying a bunch of blades lately and a few days ago I tried a Racer blade made by Lord (I am using a Slant 39C). The blade does not feel vary sharp to me and tends to scrape over my skin and make more noise than usual. The dull feeling is a bit scary because it seems that I am irritating my skin like crazy during the shave.

However after the shave is complete I have no irritation and dont even get a burning sensation with my clubman aftershave. The best part is that my face feels BBS!

So has anybody else experienced this with a blade yet? It shaves dull but gives great results, seems contrary but YMMV I guess?

Yea, I've had a similar experience with the Derby. It can feel as if it's pulling on the first pass and especially if there's a couple of days growth to deal with. After the first pass, it sails along and the resulting shave is very good. An enigma if ever there was one.

 

[JaggerDragger]

Thanks for the replies guys! I guess that I am not alone in this.

 

[tfinch]

I feel exactly this way about red pack personna blades. They feel absolutely horrible, but the shave is surprisingly benign.

 

[Mandina]

Regarding sharper blades, I've had rough but close shaves from two blades I've only used in samplers: Merkur and Bic Chromium. I get equally close or closer results from smooth blades, however. Why settle for a close uncomfortable shave when you can get a close comfortable shave?

 

[Harry Snider]

I had this experience when I used a new slim(to me) that I had out on loan. It was then I totally
got the whole 'matching blades to razors' thing. I scoffed at this before, but now totally support
it after removing the offending blade and putting it in a known great shaver.

 

[talibeard]

Some carbon steel DE blades, like the Flying Eagle, do this. They feel like you are ruining your skin but actually they are very skin-friendly; the AS only gives that nice warm glowing sensation. But at first you wonder if using this blade was a good idea at all!

 

[NCJack]

Gillette 7 O'Clock Blues in my 1953 SuperSpeed: feels like it's really dragging against the grain, but no nicks, weepers, burn and a nice close shave

 

[gmgaj]

I have been trying a bunch of blades lately and a few days ago I tried a Racer blade made by Lord (I am using a Slant 39C). The blade does not feel vary sharp to me and tends to scrape over my skin and make more noise than usual. The dull feeling is a bit scary because it seems that I am irritating my skin like crazy during the shave.

However after the shave is complete I have no irritation and dont even get a burning sensation with my clubman aftershave. The best part is that my face feels BBS!

So has anybody else experienced this with a blade yet? It shaves dull but gives great results, seems contrary but YMMV I guess?

That is exactly how I experienced them. I had all of the same symptoms, but the final result was fantastic. It doesn't feel sharp, but it certainly was. Nothing wrong, I just need to get used to the change in characteristics when shaving with them. I actually am considering getting some more. I like them better than my Astras. I'd put them #2 behind my 7OC blacks. Weird feel and sound, no irritation, and great shave.

 

[gmgaj]

If bestshave gets them back in stock, I'm buying 100 of them. For under 6 bucks, you can't go wrong.

 

[Daiku]

Isn't this fairly common with Derbys? Even those who like Derbys admit that the good results come after a tuggy, somewhat rough feeling shave.

 

[Alphonse]

rough shave came from the israeli blue blades.. crystals.. and the result was good. I still pawned off all those blades anyway because i can't stand a rough shave. I love the reds tho.