the address on the PAL box is Connecticut.....Pal , Gem , Personna are all still made at the old Personna plant in the USA , although AccuTec owns the plant now...Edgewell is licensed to use any of those names, plus Schick and Wilkinson... News - Personna Blades Are Here to Stay - Sharpologist
GEM Carbon Steel Blades
- Thread starter NCGent
- Start date
009 refers to the blade thickness, .009".
The 4th shave with the PAL carbon steel blade was the last one. The black coating allowed some rust to get to the body of the blade, but the blade edge seemed fine. It gave 3 smooth, but ineffectual passes. I finished the shave with a Voskhod in my Rockwell 6C, #3 plate.
Tomorrow I will load up a Gem carbon steel blade to give it a try. What is so odd, is the spine and the plastic 10-count dispenser, as well as the marking on the spine of the razor, are the same with the GEM carbon steel and the CVS carbon steel blades. PLEASE let the GEM blades be a good, quality blade for me!!! The CVS carbon steel blades suck.
Tomorrow I will load up a Gem carbon steel blade to give it a try. What is so odd, is the spine and the plastic 10-count dispenser, as well as the marking on the spine of the razor, are the same with the GEM carbon steel and the CVS carbon steel blades. PLEASE let the GEM blades be a good, quality blade for me!!! The CVS carbon steel blades suck.
My PAL blade's box has American Safety Razor, Verona, VA, as the address of manufacture.
All of the GEM ASR blades we use, including the PALs and TREETs, are cranked out at the Verona plant, along with the US-made DE blades. I've found GEM Blue Star carbon blades at mom-and-pop pharmacies in the past, but never at a major chain store. The CVS blades sold around here are uncoated stainless if memory serves.
Doesn't TREET Pakistan still crank out Blue Stars ???...They give smooth shaves in my old Bullet Tip...
TREET SE blades are, and I think have always been, made in the plant at One Razor Blade Lane in Verona, VA. Same for GEM Blue Stars. Treet Pakistan makes a bunch of different DE blades but list no SE blades on their corporate website.
I used a GEM Blue Star carbon steel blade today. It felt smooth, but not as smooth as the Treet to PAL SE carbon steel blades. It did feel sharper than the PAL blade.
It did leave me with some irritation. On a Friday it can be hard to tell if it is accumulated irritation from 5 days of shaving, or if there is a coating on the blade that does not agree with me.
I'll try the blade again when I shave the back of my neck this weekend, and when I shave my face again on Monday.
It did leave me with some irritation. On a Friday it can be hard to tell if it is accumulated irritation from 5 days of shaving, or if there is a coating on the blade that does not agree with me.
I'll try the blade again when I shave the back of my neck this weekend, and when I shave my face again on Monday.
My boy shaved off his beard. He used my GEM loaded with a GEM Blue Star carbon steel blade on shave 2. He had a massive he-man beard.
Razor was caked with beard hair caked on the blade. The blade had rusted from all of the caked on, wet whiskers.
So my GEM Blue Star experiment starts again...
I am placing a mix of extra-virgin olive oil and extra-virgin coconut oil on the blade to see if it can help prevent (or slow down) corrosion.
Razor was caked with beard hair caked on the blade. The blade had rusted from all of the caked on, wet whiskers.
So my GEM Blue Star experiment starts again...
I am placing a mix of extra-virgin olive oil and extra-virgin coconut oil on the blade to see if it can help prevent (or slow down) corrosion.
Well, the GEM Blue Star blades are sharp and smooth, but the blade edge has a coating on it that causes me irritation, just not as badly as the SS blades coated with platinum.
I'll try to use this blade at least 2 more times to see if it improves when the coating wears off.
The Treet and PAL carbon steel blades were very nice. The Treet blade was sheer perfection for 2 shaves, and still good for a 3rd shave.
I'll try to use this blade at least 2 more times to see if it improves when the coating wears off.
The Treet and PAL carbon steel blades were very nice. The Treet blade was sheer perfection for 2 shaves, and still good for a 3rd shave.
Have you tried dipping the blade in 91% isopropyl alcohol , then gently blotting it with toilette paper ??
I haven't tried that, but I figure that coating the dry blades in my olive/coconut oil combo is good as well.
I just got my first SE blades yesterday. 100 GEM carbon steel #62-0176 is the code number and 100 GEM coated stainless steel #62-0178 is the number on the plastic box of this one. I am going to try out the carbon steel one in my first SE shave later in my British Ever Ready 1912.
- Thread starter
- #34
That's great information. Thank You very much.
I also have the same razor you are about to try and I really like it. I hope you get a great shave with yours.
Over the past 10 years or so, I pretty much purchased the full line of GEM razors (MMOC, Clog Proof, Bullet Tip, Push Button, Featherweight etc), but finding that I preferred the maneuverability of DE shavers, I never gave the GEMS much of a try - certainly not enough to master them, and they have been sitting in a drawer, waiting. I had a 100 count box of SS PTFE coated blades from Ted Paella but I only used a handful of them (unlike DE blades, SS GEM blades last so darn long - you cannot kill them!!!). However, I recently pulled the trigger a PAA Starling V2 and I am very impressed with this razor. I like the maneuverability and found that I can easily get into otherwise hard to reach corners. So I am back on the GEM blade bandwagon and I am planning on re-visiting my old GEM razors this winter.
From reading about GEM blades, I was intrigued at the thought of trying a carbon steel GEM (probably what my grandfather, a longtime GEM user who passed in 1961, used). I have seen GEM Blue Stars blades for sale at the supermarket before. So I ordered up a couple of packages from eBay - I got a good deal - three packs of 10 each for less than $8, shipped. I have been using them this past week in the Starling V2. I understand that the PTFE coating on the Ted Paella SS blades should make for a smoother go, but I cannot really tell the difference between the carbon steel and the stainless blades when I am shaving - they feel pretty much the same to me. I have gotten a few really close shaves with no irritation from the Blue Stars.
I just placed and order for a few packages of Trees Super SE blades, which appear to be carbon steel blades coated with an anti-corrosive. I am looking forward to giving those a try as well.
I read all the admonitions about drying carbon blades after use or the blade will be unusable, and I have been dutifully doing so with no issues. I read somewhere that some people dip their carbon blade in alcohol after use to displace the water on the blade. I would like to try that. Does anyone know whether 70% rubbing alcohol from the pharmacy will suffice or do I need to find something with a higher alcohol content?
From reading about GEM blades, I was intrigued at the thought of trying a carbon steel GEM (probably what my grandfather, a longtime GEM user who passed in 1961, used). I have seen GEM Blue Stars blades for sale at the supermarket before. So I ordered up a couple of packages from eBay - I got a good deal - three packs of 10 each for less than $8, shipped. I have been using them this past week in the Starling V2. I understand that the PTFE coating on the Ted Paella SS blades should make for a smoother go, but I cannot really tell the difference between the carbon steel and the stainless blades when I am shaving - they feel pretty much the same to me. I have gotten a few really close shaves with no irritation from the Blue Stars.
I just placed and order for a few packages of Trees Super SE blades, which appear to be carbon steel blades coated with an anti-corrosive. I am looking forward to giving those a try as well.
I read all the admonitions about drying carbon blades after use or the blade will be unusable, and I have been dutifully doing so with no issues. I read somewhere that some people dip their carbon blade in alcohol after use to displace the water on the blade. I would like to try that. Does anyone know whether 70% rubbing alcohol from the pharmacy will suffice or do I need to find something with a higher alcohol content?
I tried the rubbing alcohol method and found that the 91% would do the job quicker. While it works I found it's quicker and just as effective to just take the blade from the razor and carefully give it a few pats between a folded towel. I put some mineral oil from the pharmacy in an old dental irrigation syringe and keep that in the bathroom drawer. After I dry off the blade I put a drop of the mineral oil on each side and (with all due caution) spread the oil around with a fingertip to coat the blade including the bevel right to the edge. Doing this will keep a Blue Star blade going for five shaves for me.
