First shave with a Nacet....

[Bogeyman]

Same specs?..

I meant same eqpmt. to the same standards. Obviously, their DE blades have different hone angles and different finishing processes.

I wouldn't quite put it as the "benchmark" for western whiskers as a blanket statement for all people in the west.

The fact is its not just me who has issues with Astras many here have voiced qc issues over them...

Realize that not everyone who posts is what I would call a "seasoned" DE/SE wet shaver and surely some have poor technique/prep and have a tendency to fault their "tackle" rather than their abilities. It's the same with golf, fishing, shooting, etc. in that it's usually the "Indian" and not the "arrow" at fault. Gillette has a superb QC dept. and I just cannot see all these so called "dud" blades being made.

Finally, on all wet shaving forums there are many who in their earlier period despised a certain blade only to realize down the road they were at fault and not the blade. It's quite common.

 

[StratMan]

i have tried using nacets twice, found them very sharp but rough as guts (compared to polsilvers).

I was told here once that they are better after the first shave so havnt thrown out the second nacet i used once. Got two more shaves with my newly loaded polsilver so thursday i am going to chuck in the nacet and try one more time.

 

[mawashi]

I meant same eqpmt. to the same standards. Obviously, their DE blades have different hone angles and different finishing processes.



Realize that not everyone who posts is what I would call a "seasoned" DE/SE wet shaver and surely some have poor technique/prep and have a tendency to fault their "tackle" rather than their abilities. It's the same with golf, fishing, shooting, etc. in that it's usually the "Indian" and not the "arrow" at fault. Gillette has a superb QC dept. and I just cannot see all these so called "dud" blades being made.

Finally, on all wet shaving forums there are many who in their earlier period despised a certain blade only to realize down the road they were at fault and not the blade. It's quite common.

I absolutely agree, experience plays a huge part.

The issue with the measure of standards as far as user experience is concerned it is very subjective. You could have the worse blades in the world working great for a certain bunch and the best blades being the worse for them lol.

That's why YMMV plays a huge part. To me I love sharp blades and can tolerate some less smooth razors but I'm not the only one amongst my small group of friends who don't find Astras sharp or smooth.

I have zero $ to gain by liking one brand over another as I have 250 Astras and hundreds of Nacets and BICs. I'm merely providing my experience with these blades.

i have tried using nacets twice, found them very sharp but rough as guts (compared to polsilvers).

I was told here once that they are better after the first shave so havnt thrown out the second nacet i used once. Got two more shaves with my newly loaded polsilver so thursday i am going to chuck in the nacet and try one more time.

I agree Nacets aren't the smoothest blades but they don't give me razor burn like with an astra. I can't explain it plus I have gotten a feather to last 30 shaves, Nacet 20 shaves my BIC is 30 and counting. I don't think Nacets get smoother but they do get sharper for the first few shaves.

Happy shaves,

Mawashi

 

[dotKomo]

lovely blade...my tuck has the worst glue spots....they actually spill over on the the blades cutting edge.
trying to scrape it off with a toothpick or cotton bud makes it worse. I have a 100 pack that I haven't opened...heres hoping that isn't the case with them.

Try soaking the blade in some alcohol. That seems to remove quite a bit of it.

 

[dotKomo]

I had received a tuck of Nacets in a sampler a ways back and thought nothing of them. I became intrigued by the comments here of their sharpness so I tried one this morning.
Well I found the comments to be true, they are damn sharp!
Now for me I find them to be like a PolSilver, GSB or Astra but sharper and not as smooth.
I only had two small weepers that I chalk up to inexperience with the blade.
The blade went through the stubble like a knife through butter and interested to see how many shaves I get out of a blade. Generally on Saturday I put the current blade in the bank and load a fresh blade so I get a full 7 days out of a blade. Some blades I find can go a couple days more.
Got a super close shave with no irritation just the two small weepers.
Face felt great after the shave, hard for me to describe it though.
Kind of like ridden hard and put away wet if you know what I mean.
Will use up the tuck then see how I consider them.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

My experience is similar. My Polsilvers seem to be smoother. Nacets are closer to Feathers for me.

I am currently on shave #7 with a Nacet. I hope to get 10 - 11.

 

[Tostig]

It would, on the other hand, make perfect sense to me if Gillette simply uses different wrappers for the same thing, to reduce production costs.

I doubt this. Not because I am so sure of my subjective discernment of the esoteric differences between a GSB and a Polsilver, but because of how long the shave lasts with different Gillette blades.

Nacet: solid 10-12 hrs before my BBS shave is gone, and 36-48 hrs before I need to shave again
PermaSharp Super: even longer. 12-15 hrs until the shave is toast, and solid 2 days before needing to shave again
Polsilver, GSB, Astra, etc. - BBS shave is gone in 8-10 hrs and I have to shave within 36 hrs but 24 is better

So based on shave longevity, to me it seems clear enough that these are not all the same blades.

 

[Bert0324]

Right... So if they only share ISO specs (didn't get get that at first, thought that meant the blades were made to the same specs, period), they may still differ in honing (angle plus how fine), coating and steel used. And that explains the differences. This has gotten me very curious about DE production lines, I'd love a virtual tour explaining how these variables are taken care off. Any links?

 

[Tostig]

 

[Bert0324]

Great, thanks. Still curious about a few things, but I don't want to hijack this thread. So thanks again for the answers sofar!

 

[Capisco Capisce]

I doubt this. Not because I am so sure of my subjective discernment of the esoteric differences between a GSB and a Polsilver, but because of how long the shave lasts with different Gillette blades.

Nacet: solid 10-12 hrs before my BBS shave is gone, and 36-48 hrs before I need to shave again
PermaSharp Super: even longer. 12-15 hrs until the shave is toast, and solid 2 days before needing to shave again
Polsilver, GSB, Astra, etc. - BBS shave is gone in 8-10 hrs and I have to shave within 36 hrs but 24 is better

So based on shave longevity, to me it seems clear enough that these are not all the same blades.

Plus the various PPI blades subjectively feel quite different, though consistent within themselves. That alone proves the point for me.

 

[Chevyguy]

They're made in the same factory to the same ISO specs. Just because a blade is not for you does not mean it's not made well. I would venture that far more shavers love the Astra SP than not and it is pretty much used as a "benchmark" blade for Western whiskers.

I tried to like Astra's but for me they are too rough and cause skin irritation. Polsilvers, and Gillette Stainless (Red Pack), work for me with 7oclock Yellows following closely in 3rd place.

Clayton

Sent from my LM-V350 using Tapatalk

 

[ghostlife]

I wouldn't say for certain that all the PPI blades are different, but they certainly aren't all the same.

Other manufacturers definitely have several identical blades with different names/packaging, marketed for different parts of the world

 

[Tostig]

Not having researched this extensively, here's my understanding. Gillette co-invested in a factory, PPI, in 2000 and bought up a number of razor blade manufacturers located in Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, etc., consolidating those operations into that one facility. They also moved some of their own razor manufacturing plants (e.g. in England) to that site. Here's some background info on all that:

Petersburg Products International, where great razor blades are made – Bruce On Shaving

Since some of the blades are obviously identical (or nearly identical) to the pre-consolidation blades and are substantially different than other Gillette blades (Polsilvers / Polish Iridium Supers come to mind), it seems clear enough that Gillette either moved the original manufacturing equipment for some of these blades to PPI or at least copied the original specs very closely in building new fab equipment.

Not all the blades are quite as definitive as a Polsilver, and it's possible there's some placebo effect in play as we debate the fine points of a Silver Blue vs a Black vs a whatever.

We're never going to get a definitive answer as to whether the differences between all these blades are in our imagination or there are really twenty different machines humming along producing twenty different razor blades. That said, maintaining separate machines to manufacture slightly different versions of the same product doesn't make the kind of financial sense you'd expect from a mature manufacturing company like Gillette. They may just apply different coatings to similar/same blades. Or they may have a "few" separate fabs pumping out blades, but probably not one for each branded blade.

So my guess is, there are a few truly unique offerings with their own dedicated machines, and then an assortment of blades that are basically branded separately and possibly coated separately but otherwise the same basic piece of metal coming off the same machine.

 

[raul58]

I love the Nacet, I can easily get 2 weeks of shavings with it

 

[ghostlife]

My guess would be they all start as the same initial piece of metal, then have different grinding and coating

I could be wrong given the price differences

 

[Macfrommichigan]

A blade that works in one razor may not in another.

Nacet, in my Schone OC does not work for me.

Hey, this is why there are plenty to choose from.

 

[Bogeyman]

...We're never going to get a definitive answer as to whether the differences between all these blades are in our imagination or there are really twenty different machines humming along producing twenty different razor blades. That said, maintaining separate machines to manufacture slightly different versions of the same product doesn't make the kind of financial sense you'd expect from a mature manufacturing company like Gillette. They may just apply different coatings to similar/same blades. Or they may have a "few" separate fabs pumping out blades, but probably not one for each branded blade.

So my guess is, there are a few truly unique offerings with their own dedicated machines, and then an assortment of blades that are basically branded separately and possibly coated separately but otherwise the same basic piece of metal coming off the same machine.

If you do a search under the name Mischka here on the forum you will see where he gave an excellent description once, albeit slightly veiled, about the differences as related to beard types in different parts of the World. I think hone angle is a big factor in the differences.

 

[sharktown]

After a week of shaving with a Nacet I'm liking these blades a lot!
Super close, comfortable shaves with a couple weepers here and there due to operater error.
This blade will be in the regular blade rotation with is getting larger!
Now I need to pick up more of these blades.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

[mawashi]

After a week of shaving with a Nacet I'm liking these blades a lot!
Super close, comfortable shaves with a couple weepers here and there due to operater error.
This blade will be in the regular blade rotation with is getting larger!
Now I need to pick up more of these blades.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

They are very very sharp and caution is advised against shaving too quickly.

I love them and together with BICs and Feathers are the permanent cast of my shaving gang.

Happy shaves,

Mawashi

 

[Bakker1964]

I absolutely agree, experience plays a huge part.

The issue with the measure of standards as far as user experience is concerned it is very subjective. You could have the worse blades in the world working great for a certain bunch and the best blades being the worse for them lol.

That's why YMMV plays a huge part. To me I love sharp blades and can tolerate some less smooth razors but I'm not the only one amongst my small group of friends who don't find Astras sharp or smooth.

I have zero $ to gain by liking one brand over another as I have 250 Astras and hundreds of Nacets and BICs. I'm merely providing my experience with these blades.



I agree Nacets aren't the smoothest blades but they don't give me razor burn like with an astra. I can't explain it plus I have gotten a feather to last 30 shaves, Nacet 20 shaves my BIC is 30 and counting. I don't think Nacets get smoother but they do get sharper for the first few shaves.

Happy shaves,

Mawashi

See bolded. 100% agree. I am in the camp of not liking Nacets, but getting great shaves from my SPs. My technique may not be perfect, but I have been doing this a good long while now, so it cannot be terrible (I would have bled to death otherwise . . . LOL).

For me, Astras are the baseline with which to compare other blades. I love Feathers in most of my razors, and am still trying to come to terms with Kais. The GSBs might actually replace the Astras as my "go-to" all-purpose blade one day. Still working through my first 100, so it's too soon to tell.

In the meantime, I have 7 O'clock greens to test, Polsilvers (finally) and Rapiras (x2). Still on the fence about Voshkods & Perma-Sharps.