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My experience testing blades with a 95Ti

I recently acquired a Timeless with the 95Ti baseplate in scalloped. I have always had better luck shaving with thick single edge blades. My trouble spots seem to deflect the less rigid double edged blade in all but the most rigid clamping razors. Now that I have such a razor, and one that has some blade exposure as well, I began testing blades all over again. After I got my technique figured out. This is going to be a series of musings about how various blades perform in the same razor and assumes similar strategy/technique. I am at a point where I feel confident enough that any trouble I encounter is not my technique, I could be wrong. But if I am wrong, I don't care because I don't plan to do weird tricks to get an underperforming blade to work. The spoiler upfront, as I theorised beforehand, is that for my beard everything comes down to sharpness and how much of it my skin can handle.
 
For my testing, I was planning on starting from the least sharp that might work, nominally, to most sharp. This didn't completely go according to plan as will be seen shortly.

As a background, I have a working theory of how blades cut that I am basing my testing off of. It may be wrong, but I believe the effect is real. It is my understanding that less sharp blades do not slice hairs off as effortlessly, that should be obvious. What appears to happen when it encounters a cluster of hairs is that it slips slightly, or completely, over the hair before cutting it. This should be solved by gradually reducing the beard, but my observation is that I have troublesome spots where the blade will not pick-up the hair no matter how many times and directions I go over them. With less rigid razors, this has led to facial irritation due to blade vibration. Now that I have the rigid razor, I can definitively state that there is a minimum sharpness blade that I can use and still mostly eliminate hairs from trouble spots. This doesn't mean that minimum is enjoyable to use.
 
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The first shave was with an Astra SP that I have had stashed away for two years because they never worked for me. I believe this is one of the notorious bad batches that would look like a rusty can lid if magnified. I also decided that it didn't matter. These things are simply not sharp enough to cut my beard. I could make it work on some parts of my face, but on others it was literally pulling skin up! If I was using long gliding strokes, this sudden halt would have resulted in a pretty nasty cut. Instead, I backed up and changed direction and took another swipe at it and moved on. The trouble spots were extra troublesome because I was still determined to get a decent shave, which was a mistake. I will say that had the edge not been unevenly ground, I probably would have gotten off without facial irritation and bumps. I will also say that I can see why some people perceive these as being smooth. They don't really have a bite to them the way that a couple upcoming blades do. When they tug, it is visible but not uncomfortable. The problem is they tug on half my face!
 
The next one I want to touch on, and last for right now, is the Treet Platinum. I did manage two identical shaves and probably could have gone more if it was sharper. At the cost of these, 2 and done seems reasonable. I do that with Treet Classic carbon blades. First of all, this blade is so close in feel and sharpness to the Astras that I don't know why anybody would use them over these. Maybe the newer batches of Astras are more similar and last longer? The shave was going great and really did feel like a Treet comparatively. This is what I expect of a blade that is meant to place smoothness over sharpness. Unfortunately once I got the beard reduced and came to the trouble spots, I discovered that these are nearly identical sharpness and they tug as well. Because my face was already unhappy, I didn't try to push my luck and go over areas repeatedly. There wasn't anything troublesome feel wise during the shave and no serious alum burn either. But a couple hours later, the irritation was clearly evident. Some of the above is from the first shave and some from the second, but I can't remember exactly what. This is a blade I wanted to make work to use when I had over shaved the previous day, but it is not the one. I have concern now about using up my Classics and Falcons which are supposedly run through the same process as these, but made with carbon steel. They have always felt comfortable no matter how many passes I make, but I think in this razor that may not hold up. Next up the jump to hyper shave, the Bic Astor.
 
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The next blade I selected, poorly, was the Bic Astor. The reason I chose it was because it is labeled as Stainless Steel and I thought I had an idea what level of sharpness that would mean. There is some debate whether the Bic Astor is exactly the same as the Platinum. My position is, until I re-try the Platinum, that the Astor is probably the same blade before the coating process.

Theses things are sharp, easily Nacet+ sharp! The nice thing is they are slightly narrower than standard and I have heard that Nacets are slightly wider, but can not find that on any chart I have seen. This is where we get into testing my skins sensitivity. With this razor, Nacets are not comfortable at all. I have pushed my self through three shaves and only the third one was acceptable. I know my skin can't really handle this much sharpness because I get weepers and raw, flakey skin. This is where the Astor was a nice surprise at first, the narrower width felt significantly smoother. As soon as I started the first pass I knew this was going to be like shaving with a laser. The first shave was amazingly fast and I WAS being careful. This is the first time I have had a double edge razor cut as efficiently as a single edge. I simply did my normal three passes without much touch up needed or performed. Everything seemed great, but I should have taken a break from that much sharpness and used my kamisori in between.

Instead, I had what I thought was a near identical second shave. I will say that these are cheap blades, like the Lord family of blades, and they are probably not as well made as something like Personna Platinums. I can't be certain if it was the two shaves in a row or a blade quality issues, but shortly after I started getting bumps and some slight redness. Now mind you, I am not using ANY pressure with a blade this sharp. The real tell was I could see micro cuts. That might be a bad edge or it might be an edge that is too sharp, I think I know which. More testing will be needed, but for now these are one and done blades for when I am in a hurry and don't already have another blade loaded. Meaning I will use them, eventually.

Up next I get into the two blades that I consider bitey, but not really sharp enough. Usable, but not enjoyable.
 
Before I loose memory of my shaves, I want to get the next two blades knocked out. The first one being the Lord Platinum in the black box of 50. Inside is a standard looking New Lord Platinum. So much for these being anything premium. Luckily I paid next to nothing for these, about half the cost of the cheapest you can get a Nacet. The more I try Lord family blades, the more I am convinced that there is really very little difference between them. Better QC, maybe, at most. I have used the half blades successfully in my shavette so this wasn't a completely blind buy. These are also called Platinum Class Stainless and there is no mention of them actually being Platinum coated. Just like some other blades being named titanium does not indicate that they contain a titanium coating. These are all cheap blades made for lower income countries.

The shave was fine at first with these and I can see how they may prefer a shallower angle than I am used to using now. I am able to shave in all directions without tugging, but there is a catch. These are just sharp enough to be bitey, as mentioned above, when they do tug on trouble spots. What I believe is going on here is the blade is just sharp enough to cut these tough whiskers, but not without some force. Not downward force, more trying to push through. I can feel the edge touching my skin and it feels like needles. I believe what is happening is it is pulling the skin up to it just before cutting. I can force my way through this, but it is not enjoyable. This is the minimum sharpness blade for my face. Also, the amount of stubble the next morning is acceptable. Strangely, in order to use this blade, I would actually need a razor with less blade exposure to take the bite out and wind up with a less close shave as well. My Henson medium is the only razor that I have that I am likely to use these in. If I put these in a Tech, the tugging could flex the blade resulting in blood. Maybe my adjustable that I rarely use will be the best candidate.
 
While trying out the Lord, the sharpness reminded me of the Gillette Sharpedge or Yellow. So I put one in the next day and confirmed that the sharpness is near identical. The shave did feel a tiny bit smoother which I would attribute to them being better made. Unfortunately, that made the same bitey characteristic all the more noticeable as I was feeling better about the shave up to that point. This whole exercise had me really doubting my decision to buy a razor with noticeable blade exposure. Previously I believed the best shave was a mild razor with a very sharp blade, but I started noticing problems with that logic. The biggest one being that neutral exposure razors don't allow the blade to lift the hair in my trouble spots no matter what I do. Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion along the way that there really is a minimum sharpness blade. If I simply put an insufficient blade in a milder razor, I am just doubling down on inefficiency. So I have to use a sharp blade in a above average efficiency razor. The only way that is going to work going forward is to change how I shave, my cheeks can't handle a blade sharper than this going against the grain. As I will get to next.
 
This brings us to the most recent shave, the Gillette Silver Blue. What a relief to finally get back to something that works predictably, almost. The Silver Blue should be just a bit sharper than the Yellow, at least in the first two shaves. These are like Wilkinson Sword German blades, they sharpen up a lot!

Starting out the shave, there isn't much to report as I make reasonably efficient work of the first pass. It is not like shaving with a laser(Bic) nor even a Personna. After the first pass, things sharpened up a notch and not so much as to become unpredictable. It felt amazing going with the grain across my trouble spots. Unfortunately, the against the grain on the cheeks was too much. I don't know what was going on, it was like it wasn't as sharp as the Bic, but was still exfoliating my skin thoroughly. I just stopped and did some more across the grain to compensate. The against the grain on my trouble spots was finally clean and pain free. No real resistance. After the shave, the irritation to my cheeks was both felt and seen. I haven't had alum sting this much in a long time. Even though I felt some on my neck, it wasn't irritated later. Probably a leftover from the past several tug sessions.

This is where I solidified my plan to switch my shave routine by eliminating the against the grain pass on my cheeks and replace it with another across the grain pass. This is how I have to shave with a single edge, but those don't miss any hairs the way a double edge can. Luckily this was just an experiment and most of my blade supply is about the same sharpness as a Personna Platinum. So they are sharp enough to use with the modified plan, but not so much as to cause random weepers. I will use the sharper blades occasionally when I am feeling foolhardy, but luckily I don't have too many of them. They mostly get used in one of my mild razors when I want to be frustrated why I am still having patches left. I had really hoped to be able shave against the grain with my new razor, but this is just not smart. If I used it only for my cheeks, I could use a much less sharp blade like the Lords and then switch to a different razor/blade for my chin and throat. That doesn't make any sense to me when I have plenty of single edge options that just get the job done. I am not sure if I will be adding to this in the future, the objective was to find the sweet spot of blade sharpness for my face and start using up my supply!
 
I recently acquired a Timeless with the 95Ti baseplate in scalloped. I have always had better luck shaving with thick single edge blades. My trouble spots seem to deflect the less rigid double edged blade in all but the most rigid clamping razors. Now that I have such a razor, and one that has some blade exposure as well, I began testing blades all over again. After I got my technique figured out. This is going to be a series of musings about how various blades perform in the same razor and assumes similar strategy/technique. I am at a point where I feel confident enough that any trouble I encounter is not my technique, I could be wrong. But if I am wrong, I don't care because I don't plan to do weird tricks to get an underperforming blade to work. The spoiler upfront, as I theorised beforehand, is that for my beard everything comes down to sharpness and how much of it my skin can handle.

Good approach!

The key is that you are optimizing things for yourself, not working to get underperforming kit to perform.
 
I hadn't planned to add to this thread, certainly not so soon. Feeling in a fine mood and not yet medicated, I decided to give the Lord Platinum Class another go with my Henson medium.

In spite of the light weight and modified technique, I had a lovely shave. I was able to perform a four pass shave doing a with the grain, an across the grain, an against the grain and finely a touch more of across the grain. This shave reminded me most of shaving with Treet Falcon carbon blades. There is a visceral sensation of hacking through, but at the same time little worry about irritation or injury. It does not glide in any direction, but with good technique hair was visible in the lather being removed with each subsequent pass. Despite the spec sheet indicating that the blade exposure is the same with the Henson as the Timeless, I know the Henson is less. There is no pokey, bitey sensation. Just light tugging, like a typical carbon steel blade. This continues to confound me because I would like to continue using blades like this that don't exfoliate my cheeks, but I would like a slightly heavier razor than the Henson. I don't know what the answer is right now, but I do know what the options are. The shave wasn't perfect either, there are patches in my trouble spots and the shave wasn't really close enough for evening shaving. The alum stung my neck, but I am left with no sign of irritation. This is a typical shave with the Henson medium. The sharper blades are faster, but require a lighter touch and don't produce much different of a result.
 
I think I have the same 'problem' as you, a very tough copper wire whiskers and a fairly sensitive skin. I use the R41 because using a mild razor means I have to go over the same spot 5 times to get everything off.
The first thing I can say is to use a good shaving cream. When I switched from generic 2 dollar creams to Proraso, I stopped getting any weepers. Also, I switched from a boar brush to a synthetic, my skin is now way less irritated.

When it comes to blades, I actually use Lord blades exclusively. I agree with you, they're all pretty much the same. After trying out a dozen other brands, I settled on Lords. Platinum/Silver Star/ASCO/Rainbow/Crown/Racer/Big Ben, all work great for me. I have a slight impression that Rainbow is the sharpest of the bunch, and the only one that comes double wrapped, for whatever reason. The only ones that don't work for me are Shark/Lord Cool because they're not sharp enough and just pull my whiskers and damage my skin.

Oh, and Voskhod deserves an honorable mention, I think you should try it just in case.
 
I think I have the same 'problem' as you, a very tough copper wire whiskers and a fairly sensitive skin. I use the R41 because using a mild razor means I have to go over the same spot 5 times to get everything off.
The first thing I can say is to use a good shaving cream. When I switched from generic 2 dollar creams to Proraso, I stopped getting any weepers. Also, I switched from a boar brush to a synthetic, my skin is now way less irritated.

When it comes to blades, I actually use Lord blades exclusively. I agree with you, they're all pretty much the same. After trying out a dozen other brands, I settled on Lords. Platinum/Silver Star/ASCO/Rainbow/Crown/Racer/Big Ben, all work great for me. I have a slight impression that Rainbow is the sharpest of the bunch, and the only one that comes double wrapped, for whatever reason. The only ones that don't work for me are Shark/Lord Cool because they're not sharp enough and just pull my whiskers and damage my skin.

Oh, and Voskhod deserves an honorable mention, I think you should try it just in case.
Thanks for reading my rambling nonsense! You may be on to something that I never would have thought of, the boar brush. I use very high end soaps, but have been participating in DecemBoar. It is possible that I am irritating myself, if not from the boar itself, but because I am still breaking them in! As to the Lord Rainbow, there is a female on here that prefers these and uses an AS-D2 which only works with the sharpest blades. Finally, the Voskhods. Those and the Chinese made Wilkinsons are goldilocks blades for me and I have hundreds. My intention was to find the sharpest blades that I can still shave against the grain with this razor and not irritate my cheeks and those are the ones! With the sharper blades, I will have to use the modified technique, but will occasionally try against the grain when my face feels up to it.
 
Great review of your experience with these different blades! I suspect that you are not a daily shaver as you mentioned tugging. I am a daily shaver and I never experienced tugging until I skipped a day recently. It was an AHA! moment for me to finally understand what people were talking about.
 
First of all, I want to thank everybody who has read the above wall of text. And apologise. And explain some background that I left off the first post for brevity. I also want to touch on this discovery that I may be messing up my testing with a worsening irritated face. Finally, I want to touch on how I landed on the 95Ti from the Henson medium and where I might go from there. This is as much about getting thoughts out before they are gone as it is a practice for writing. I usually write with a fountain pen and enjoy the experience, but I am finding that for some things banging on the keyboard works better. Fun fact, I don't use a standard qwerty layout so I can't type anything long on my phone. Any time you want to make that available Apple, it's only been 10 years or so of iPhones without my layout.

As I had mentioned in the first post, I primarily use single edge razor due to the thicker blade. Right now, that means Artist Club. In the near future, that will include a new injector razor. I enjoy the vintage one I have, but wanted adjustability and some weight. Those vintage things weigh as much as a modern aluminium razor. I would give up on double edge altogether, and I still might, but I have a lot of blades. It was a mistake purchasing too many blades before I had the razor figured out. What I have been doing is alternating between my AC razors and DE razors so neither gets used two days in a row. One day a week is a wild card, usually a vintage razor that I don't want to use daily. Strangely, or not, the AC razor provides a less close, but more uniform shave due to my pass strategy. I can use this every day. The DE razor provides a closer shave, but risks irritating my face or tearing up my neck. The AC razors are magic on my neck in comparison to ANY DE razor.

This new discovery that I might be inadvertently irritating my face with boar brushes takes me back to when I first removed my beard of nearly 20 years. I had initially classified my face as sensitive, but didn't really have an explanation what I meant by that. There is a lot going on when learning to shave. At some point, my technique got good enough that I settled into a routine and decided that was an erroneous diagnosis. What I believe was happening was the Henson was just the right amount for my face and I wasn't buying new things one after the other. Also, my neck has always been a bit of a mine field. I have it figured out now, but it will still blow up if I get too experimental. I would say now that my initial suspicion that I have somewhat sensitive skin was correct. Without getting too much in detail, I can see the next morning and plan the upcoming shave appropriately. What I can't get around is weepers, some blades take enough skin off to open up a crack. I don't skip days, it is very uncomfortable for me. I just have to dial back my expectations and take it easy which is why I put the Lord Platinum into the familiar Henson medium and proceeded to have a very nice, predictable, patchy shave. As it turns out, after 12 hours I am shaven enough to be acceptable and everything feels great. Even if there are patches, they aren't irritating me and aren't visible to anybody else.

As to the 95Ti, I was looking for a razor that bent the blade as much as the Henson razors. This was one of the primary reasons that I knew made the Henson capable, mostly, of dealing with my tough whiskers. The second criteria was some, but not too much, blade exposure. As mentioned above, the Henson is less than published with most of the blades I use. The Timeless is not. The best shaves with the 95Ti are with the narrower sharp blades: Med Preps and Bics. It feels like a turbo charged version of the Henson with a normal blade in it. The other option that I am hoping works when my face heels is the slightly less sharp blades that I have plenty of that are normal width. The one thing I hadn't given enough credit about the Henson is the design of the head encloses the blade on four sides. There aren't really any other razors that do this, some are close. The next best thing is looking for razors that have the absolute minimal blade reveal from the top cap. I discovered that the amount the Timeless protrudes is more than I thought before I purchased it. It just seems to be sticking out there in comparison to how the Henson is almost hidden. I believe now that the flat sided head is doing a better job displacing skin and distributing pressure than any razor on the market, it is like having a safety bar on four sides. I don't mean that like training wheels, I mean how a safety bar works to push skin ahead of the blade. Going forward, I will keep using the 95Ti and have no intention of losing money selling it. It is a beautiful thing with my custom handle on it. I will probably end up getting the new Overlander from Karve because it seems to have all the attributes I like about the Henson. And a poster here has informed me that it is indeed milder than has Timeless 95. I am not thrilled about the weight, but for the asking price it is worth a try. Or I may just completely switch to single edge when my new Supply razor shows up and sell off my DE blades and don't work well in the Timeless.
 
Great review of your experience with these different blades! I suspect that you are not a daily shaver as you mentioned tugging. I am a daily shaver and I never experienced tugging until I skipped a day recently. It was an AHA! moment for me to finally understand what people were talking about.
The tugging is because I have a line of hairs growing in an unfortunate direction. In order for me to get them, I am coming in at an angle that if I mess up the blade is going right into skin. I have to barely drag the razor across them to coax them up, it causes some blades to stop in their tracks. As I try to nudge it through, it stays stuck to the hairs without severing them and visibly pulls the skin out. If I had more confidence in the blade, as I do with some, I stop and take a running swipe at it. This is all me being timid, but you can understand since you took the photos of those ASPs! Even a dull blade is still sharp enough to penetrate skin.
 
The tugging is because I have a line of hairs growing in an unfortunate direction. In order for me to get them, I am coming in at an angle that if I mess up the blade is going right into skin. I have to barely drag the razor across them to coax them up, it causes some blades to stop in their tracks. As I try to nudge it through, it stays stuck to the hairs without severing them and visibly pulls the skin out. If I had more confidence in the blade, as I do with some, I stop and take a running swipe at it. This is all me being timid, but you can understand since you took the photos of those ASPs! Even a dull blade is still sharp enough to penetrate skin.
I am very sensitive to blade feel and yes, those Astra SP's guarantee me post shave irritation. Most of the hairs in my face grow in understandable directions with the exception of a swirl that grows on and to the right of my Adam's Apple. To get those hairs I must shave from every point on the compass. First pass in that area ensures that I will be going against the grain on some of those hairs. I really love my Winning razor. It holds the blade clamped near the edge so no flex and since it has a neutral blade exposure, when the razor digs in because of those hairs the blade doesn't slice the skin. I see people approaching the skin irritation problem from two directions. One is to use more efficient razors to reduce the number of passes/strokes to reduce irritation and or shave less often. My approach is to use the smoothest razor blades that I can find combined with a milder razor. To counter the shave irritation from more strokes I try use a shaving soap with really good residual slickness to provide more slickness and protection. It is such a balancing act. Fortunately, my beard doesn't require the sharpest of blades, which I often find uncomfortable. Like you, skipping a shave for a day means an uncomfortable shave when I shave next.
 
I am very sensitive to blade feel and yes, those Astra SP's guarantee me post shave irritation. Most of the hairs in my face grow in understandable directions with the exception of a swirl that grows on and to the right of my Adam's Apple. To get those hairs I must shave from every point on the compass. First pass in that area ensures that I will be going against the grain on some of those hairs. I really love my Winning razor. It holds the blade clamped near the edge so no flex and since it has a neutral blade exposure, when the razor digs in because of those hairs the blade doesn't slice the skin. I see people approaching the skin irritation problem from two directions. One is to use more efficient razors to reduce the number of passes/strokes to reduce irritation and or shave less often. My approach is to use the smoothest razor blades that I can find combined with a milder razor. To counter the shave irritation from more strokes I try use a shaving soap with really good residual slickness to provide more slickness and protection. It is such a balancing act. Fortunately, my beard doesn't require the sharpest of blades, which I often find uncomfortable. Like you, skipping a shave for a day means an uncomfortable shave when I shave next.
Thank you for such a thoughtful reply. The Henson medium is that perfect medium for me. I have considered the Yates, but the jump from the M to the H plate is like the Timeless. Huge. I forgot to mention that the Titanium Hensons weren't yet available, again, when I bought my Timeless. Ultimately, that's what I am trying to avoid spending more money on now.
 
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