Is there a correlation between blade material types?

[ElonsMusk]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I couldn't find the answer by searching. Is it generally the case that blades of one particular material or coating, like Platinum for instance, all feel or cut similarly (relatively speaking)? And how about the Stainless (or Super Stainless to be specific) as well? Or is this just a fool's errand trying to find any similarities, since the blade name or material has no real bearing on whether I might like it or not

I used an Astra Platinum and did not like it. But then I used a Astra Stainless twice now and loved it. Can I safely infer anything here that might be useful to know other than liking one specific blade and not the other ?

 

[Ted Danson]

I found just the opposite of you on the Astra blades.

Interested in reading other replies.

 

[RigelDust]

Some people report an adverse reaction to platinum. Not so much from other coatings. I find stainless and chrome to be the easiest to work with. To each their own.

 

[BigJ]

I found just the opposite of you on the Astra blades.

Interested in reading other replies.

+1! I also prefer the Astra SP to Astra SS: another case of YMMV!

 

[Froloff]

I found just the opposite of you on the Astra blades.

Same situation about Astra

 

[TheBigL]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I couldn't find the answer by searching. Is it generally the case that blades of one particular material or coating, like Platinum for instance, all feel or cut similarly (relatively speaking)? And how about the Stainless (or Super Stainless to be specific) as well? Or is this just a fool's errand trying to find any similarities, since the blade name or material has no real bearing on whether I might like it or not

I used an Astra Platinum and did not like it. But then I used a Astra Stainless twice now and loved it. Can I safely infer anything here that might be useful to know other than liking one specific blade and not the other ?

I do not believe one can make any connection from a blades coating - or description. Do not forget that there is the marketing department involved here as well. Derby blades are advertised as having "Chromium-Ceramic-Platinum-Tungsten and Polymer " sounds fancy - but lots of people don't like them.

The razor blade industry is very convoluted, with all the descriptions that don't really mean anything "real" to the end user. For example, what makes a "super stainless" blade? No one really knows except the blade engineers and the marketing department.

I do believe you will find similarities in blades from the same company, with possibly a similar description - i.e. Lord, which has a bunch of brands and all the brands have their own platinum/chrome/stainless markings.

I have heard complaints about a particular coating causing irritation of some sort. I am not sure how valid this is, since the contact time of the blade is relatively short and not internal. It is not like a reaction to a bee sting, peanut allergy, or latex.

I personally like the Astra platinum fine, but it has been years since I have tried an Astra stainless, so I would have to re-visit them.

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

I have no hard numbers to prove this objectively, but generally speaking, I find platinum coated blades to be less sharper (although generally smoother) than regular stainless blades, with or without a teflon coating. But it should be noted that one of the sharpest blades out there is platinum coated blade: the Feather.

I wouldn't worry too much about the coatings on blades though. I would just research the heck out of the blades you might need for your razor and skin and start experimenting. Unless you're concerned about a reaction from a certain alloy, which certainly causes some people woes, then tread very carefully erring on the side of caution. Keep a spreadsheet or shave journal, document your findings, and narrow it down until you find "your" blade.

 

[razorhead63]

I like stainless blades better.
The sharpness factor involved that is.

 

[ShaverAZ]

You really can't group any particular type of coating into a groups based on performance; each blade needs to be judged on its' own merit. I have particular Chrome/Platinum blades I really like & others that don't work for me at all. Same with Teflon/Stainless and other combinations of blades.

 

[RigelDust]

I definitely group blades by coatings. Some are better than others for sure but they behave in a similar manner.

 

[RayClem]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I couldn't find the answer by searching. Is it generally the case that blades of one particular material or coating, like Platinum for instance, all feel or cut similarly (relatively speaking)? And how about the Stainless (or Super Stainless to be specific) as well? Or is this just a fool's errand trying to find any similarities, since the blade name or material has no real bearing on whether I might like it or not

I used an Astra Platinum and did not like it. But then I used a Astra Stainless twice now and loved it. Can I safely infer anything here that might be useful to know other than liking one specific blade and not the other ?

I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Astra SP and Astra SS blades. The Astra SP blades are not sharp enough for my heavy beard. I have never gotten a great shave with them. However, folks who do not have a tough beard often love those blades. Like you, I love Astra SS blades.

Unfortunately, I have not found a good correlation between blade performance and coating type. BIC Chrome Platinum and 7 O' Clock Super Platinum blacks are extremely sharp, at least after the first shave. I also love Personna Platinum (Israeli Reds). Dorco Prime Platinum STP301 blades are also quite good. I do not like Shark Super Chrome or Super Stainless blades, but do like the Shark Platinum. I recently purchased some Lord Platinum (Diamond Edge) blades to see how they compare to the Shark Platinum blades made in the same plant.

Although I have not tried them, I understand that Treet Platinum blades are not very sharp. Thus, you cannot draw a conclusion for all platinum coated blades. It all depends on what is underneath that coating.

Although not everyone agrees, I find the Refined Shave web site to be helpful to me in selecting blades. I tend to like extremely sharp blades that test lower than 40 grams. For my Muhle R41, which has a lot of blade feel, I like mid-sharp blades in the 45 gram range like 7 O'Clock Yellow. Blades that test higher than 45 (like Astra SP) do not work well for my beard.

The author also evaluated each blade subjectively on shave quality and smoothness. By combining the sharpness scores and the subjective evaluations, I can pick blades that works for me. Unfortunately, the author has not added any new evaluations in quite a while, so some blades I would like to see have not been tested.

 

[ElonsMusk]

I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Astra SP and Astra SS blades. The Astra SP blades are not sharp enough for my heavy beard. I have never gotten a great shave with them. However, folks who do not have a tough beard often love those blades. Like you, I love Astra SS blades.

Unfortunately, I have not found a good correlation between blade performance and coating type. BIC Chrome Platinum and 7 O' Clock Super Platinum blacks are extremely sharp, at least after the first shave. I also love Personna Platinum (Israeli Reds). Dorco Prime Platinum STP301 blades are also quite good. I do not like Shark Super Chrome or Super Stainless blades, but do like the Shark Platinum. I recently purchased some Lord Platinum (Diamond Edge) blades to see how they compare to the Shark Platinum blades made in the same plant.

Although I have not tried them, I understand that Treet Platinum blades are not very sharp. Thus, you cannot draw a conclusion for all platinum coated blades. It all depends on what is underneath that coating.

Although not everyone agrees, I find the Refined Shave web site to be helpful to me in selecting blades. I tend to like extremely sharp blades that test lower than 40 grams. For my Muhle R41, which has a lot of blade feel, I like mid-sharp blades in the 45 gram range like 7 O'Clock Yellow. Blades that test higher than 45 (like Astra SP) do not work well for my beard.

The author also evaluated each blade subjectively on shave quality and smoothness. By combining the sharpness scores and the subjective evaluations, I can pick blades that works for me. Unfortunately, the author has not added any new evaluations in quite a while, so some blades I would like to see have not been tested.

The first few times i looked at these scores and charts it didn't make any intuitive sense to me. But after reading what it all signifies I now understand it much better. This is extremely useful data, and will help me out a lot. Now it makes sense why I have preferred some blades over others. And this data will greatly aid my future blade selection

 

[Esox]

A few of us dug into this subject a while ago.

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

When it comes to grind/hone angles and blade coating materials, along with the order those materials may be applied in and the thickness of those materials, we all agreed those processes are, most likely, tightly controlled trade secrets that few people actually know outside of the individual company engineers and chemists.

Blade coatings and the concept of the "Drag Theory" as coined by a Gillette Engineer in the patent application of the blade coating process for the Gillette Super Blue blade.

"After discovering in his test lab that shavers could not tell the difference in blade sharpness, he was responsible for break-thru research that determined that blade sharpness was not a critical factor in receiving a good shave; rather a reduction in drag by hair clinging to the blade causing pulling was needed. This Drag Theory lead to the development of coated razor blades and specifically the Organosiloxane Gel coated Super Blue Blade (1959)."

Patent linky
Super BlueUS2937976.pdf

Its my personal belief that a DE blade should slice through the hair cleanly without sticking or clinging to the blade. The result of an improperly matched blade coating to ones own personal hair composition would result in tugging because the hairs composition is clinging to the coating. Hence the Drag Theory.

This is why I've always said to try as many different blade types as you can. The more different types you try, the better your chances are of finding a blade type that matches your own hair composition. I've tried ~35 different DE blades and from those I feel lucky to have found a top 5.

 

[mikelz777]

I've found that the blades I like most and that work well for me are platinum blades and those I haven't liked are stainless steel. It's made enough of an impression on me that any blades I might buy in the future will be platinum blades.

 

[RayClem]

I've found that the blades I like most and that work well for me are platinum blades and those I haven't liked are stainless steel. It's made enough of an impression on me that any blades I might buy in the future will be platinum blades.

Just because you like platinum blades ( I do as well) does not mean you will like every platinum blade out there.

 

[mikelz777]

Just because you like platinum blades ( I do as well) does not mean you will like every platinum blade out there.

I have so far. I can't think of any platinum blades I wouldn't buy or use again but I could name several stainless steel blades that are just "meh" or I wouldn't want to use again.

 

[RigelDust]

I've found that the blades I like most and that work well for me are platinum blades and those I haven't liked are stainless steel. It's made enough of an impression on me that any blades I might buy in the future will be platinum blades.

I’m just the opposite. I like SS and Chrome blades and platinum blades seem to drag or pull no matter how I treat em. I used a Lux today for kicks and got that odd feeling that I wasn’t doing something right. Sure was. I was using a platinum blade. lol I’ll use it tomorrow too. The second shave is always better. Oh well accept for Kai and Feather.

 

[Lather and Razors]

Platinum coating is to give the blade long lasting edge.

 

[Billy T.]

No idea. I like different blades with different coatings.

 

[njpaddy]

In 10+ years I never thought about the coating. A blade either works in my DE or it doesn't.