Excalibur Club - Blade Longevity DE, SE and Injector

[albsat]

Today as I flipped the blade I found out that I had made a mistake on the blade. It is Super-Max Super Platinum blade.

Nevertheless, the 9th shave was fantastic in a two pass shave.

Proraso green soap and As
Zenith boar brush
Karve Overlander

 

[cranewarrior]

Today as I flipped the blade I found out that I had made a mistake on the blade. It is Super-Max Super Platinum blade.

Nevertheless, the 9th shave was fantastic in a two pass shave.

Proraso green soap and As
Zenith boar brush
Karve Overlander

View attachment 1776192

Alas. I have a 100 pack of the Super-Max Super Stainless so I was excited you were getting so many shaves.

 

[albsat]

Alas. I have a 100 pack of the Super-Max Super Stainless so I was excited you were getting so many shaves.

Thanks. Truth is that I haven't tried a Super-Max Stainless Steel yet. I have tried this platinum version and the Diamond coated one.

How do you find the Stainless Steel version and how many shaves do you get from them?

 

[cranewarrior]

Thanks. Truth is that I haven't tried a Super-Max Stainless Steel yet. I have tried this platinum version and the Diamond coated one.

How do you find the Stainless Steel version and how many shaves do you get from them?

I haven't tried it yet. I bought a pack to participate in this thread: The 2024: 1-Blade, 1-Week, *Daily Shaving Adventure - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/the-2024-1-blade-1-week-daily-shaving-adventure.647586/

I'm basically making a mad dash across mild to medium sharpness blades with three shaves a week, changing to a new blade every week. With that said, I am an admirer of the Excalibur Club and have a re-purposed yogurt jar I will save my blades in for later use.

If someone revives the One Blade In February challenge for this year, I'll put the mad dash on hold for the month and try to get a single blade to last through February. I have come before with 14-16 shaves on a Treet Platinum. I finally binned it because I was having to re-touch a few spots, but I regret not being more patient at the time, and trying to go 1 month on a single blade is sounds fun.

Anyway, Happy New Year @albsat , and I look forward to reading more from you.

 

[Mike M]

If someone revives the One Blade In February challenge for this year, I'll put the mad dash on hold for the month and try to get a single blade to last through February

I will be putting up the thread for the One blade in February Challenge around the middle of the month

 

[Guido75]

RK Stainless (11)

 

[cranewarrior]

Anyone in the Excalibur Club gotten >20 shaves out of a carbon steel razor blade?

 

[thombrogan]

Not me, but

Shave 25 today on the much-dreaded Treet Black Beauty.

 

[Mike M]

Anyone in the Excalibur Club gotten >20 shaves out of a carbon steel razor blade?

Only tried a Treet Carbon and got just 7 shaves from it, but I have never got more than 10 shaves from any Treet blade

 

[cranewarrior]

Only tried a Treet Carbon and got just 7 shaves from it, but I have never got more than 10 shaves from any Treet blade

I'm considering going with a Treet Falcon or Dura Sharp for the One Blade In February challenge. Carbon steel! Yeah, it's masochistic.

I really only have to make it through 14 shaves though since I am a every other day guy.

 

[mcee_sharp]

Some EXCEPTIONAL blade uses in this thread. My mind is a little blown.

 

[Guido75]

Anyone in the Excalibur Club gotten >20 shaves out of a carbon steel razor blade?

Shaved with one yesterday - that’s a one and done once and never again for me.

 

[psfred]

Carbon steel will, in general, take a finer edge than most stainless (smaller carbides), but will never hold it as long. Plus, it will degrade by rusting. Lack of the usual coatings won't improve the feel any, although you should get a close shave with a carbon steel blade. After all, there a millions of carbon steel straight razors out there, and they give good shaves.

Just a note though, a lot of the carbon steel blades on the market these days are intended for razor cutting hair, not shaving. You would need to do a finish strop on them to get a good shave -- Tiger is the most common one. Treet blades are sold for shaving, should have a good edge, at least for the first few shaves.

To answer albstat, I'm in the upper 70's for a SuperMax Stainless. Not a bad blade at all, very comfortable. Just dulls a little faster than a typical PPI or Personna.

 

[albsat]

Today shave was : Super-Max Super Platinum (11th shave). The shave was really great.

However the blade is loosing its smoothness. So I used a light touch using my Karve Overlander. I know I can get 3 or 4 more shaves but I am getting thoughts that it might be challenging to me getting 30 shaves (my goal).

@psfred you inspired me. I am using a Supermax platinum blade though.

 

[cranewarrior]

Just a note though, a lot of the carbon steel blades on the market these days are intended for razor cutting hair, not shaving. You would need to do a finish strop on them to get a good shave -- Tiger is the most common one. Treet blades are sold for shaving, should have a good edge, at least for the first few shaves.

What is a "finish strop"? I'm familiar with stropping knives on a leather strap after sharpening them.

 

[cranewarrior]

Shaved with one yesterday - that’s a one and done once and never again for me.

Care to share the details? I admit to having a fondness for softer steels with my kitchen knives. It just means i have to hone them or sharpen them more often than a harder steel, but the positive side is it's easier to do. I have no idea how that applies to razor blades; in general I would expect them to dull quicker than stainless steel razors but that doesn't mean the factory can't put a good edge on them to begin with.

 

[Guido75]

Care to share the details? I admit to having a fondness for softer steels with my kitchen knives. It just means i have to hone them or sharpen them more often than a harder steel, but the positive side is it's easier to do. I have no idea how that applies to razor blades; in general I would expect them to dull quicker than stainless steel razors but that doesn't mean the factory can't put a good edge on them to begin with.

That might actually be a good idea - to hone this blade before usage. What happens for me at least is that the blade dulls even during the first shave after the first pass and provokes a harsh sensation to my skin. Same happened with Treet 7 days. It’s not “stop shaving and change blades”, but it’s not ecstasy either.

Guido

 

[psfred]

Finish strop will be leather or some other similar very low and fine abrasive material to polish the edge bevels. Works better on carbon steel than stainless, again because base metal is softer, or at least less abrasion resistant. Lack of platinum and chrome sputtering will make them drag more too, so they feel less sharp.

Hardness matters too, I have no idea what the RC hardness of carbon steel blades for shaving is.

I have some carbon steel blades, just haven't gotten around to using them yet.

 

[albsat]

@psfred

I have a question if I can please. You are used to over 80 shaves per blade. Based on your usage do you find any pattern of blade smoothness?

For example :
1 to 10 shaves the blade is smooth
10 - 30 less smoothness
Over 30 butter edge ?

Numbers above are just an example...

Thanks

 

[psfred]

I use one side at a time. Usually the first few are rough because I'm ham-fisted and am not used to that particular blade, but then they smooth out. Eventually they get very smooth, but leave stubble when the edge actually wears out.

First few shaves (less than ten usually) I have to concentrate to use light pressure to avoid shaving off skin bumps -- one of the joys of aging, eh? -- but from then til they quit shaving well I don't feel much of a change.

Definitely need to find the correct angle after the first shaves as the PTFE wears off -- when the razor cuts with negligible pulling the angle is right, and some blades pull more than others the whole time.