Razor Blade Dimensions - A Plausible Explanation

[ShavenMaven]

I am using a newly acquired Edwin Jagger fixed DE razor. I went with the fixed head because I wanted any blade to be held in place with minimal variation.

During the past few days, I've shaved with Derby, Shark and Crystal/Super+ (IP) blades. The Derby gave me an OK shave. The Shark felt like a machete against my face. The Super+ felt great!

Both the Derby and the Shark looked to my naked eye to be protruding ever so slightly above the bar and head of the razor. The Super+ appeared to be exactly flush with the bar and head of the razor.

While I was out food shopping this morning, I speculated that there was something significant here.

When I got home, I pulled out my trusty digital micrometer. Sure enough, these blades have different dimensions. Measuring several times from blade edge to blade edge, I discovered that the Shark is the largest blade, measuring 21.95mm from cutting edge to cutting edge. Next was the Derby, measuring in at 21.89mm. And then finally came the Super+ which weighed in at just 21.82mm, cutting edge to cutting edge.

These measurements correlate totally with how these blades felt against my face and how smoothly they felt as I pulled the razor ever so lightly against my stubble.

 

[WhosYerBob]

I'll have to check that over the weekend with my micrometer! Good catch!

 

[ShavenMaven]

I'm using a fixed head DE razor. There's no foregiveness if a blade (such as the Shark) protrudes too much and creates discomfort and lack of smoothness in this razor.

However, having said that, it's entirely probable that the Shark blade will work perfectly fine and smooth in an adjustable DE razor such as the Merkur Progress or Futur. But, who wants to be fiddling with an adjustable razor's settings each time a new different brand of blade is put into the razor? I'd rather find the right blade for my fixed head razor and then simply stick with it.

My blade of choice for my EJ razor is currently the Crystal/Super+/Israeli Personna. I should be receiving a 10-pack of Feathers in today's mail. The sender is also including a sample of Bluebirds. (Seems appropriate to have both Feathers and Bluebirds in the same package.) I'll be very interested to measure both blades before using them. I wonder if my hypothesis will hold.

 

[red71veloce]

I'm using a fixed head DE razor. There's no foregiveness if a blade (such as the Shark) protrudes too much and creates discomfort and lack of smoothness in this razor.

However, having said that, it's entirely probable that the Shark blade will work perfectly fine and smooth in an adjustable DE razor such as the Merkur Progress or Futur. But, who wants to be fiddling with an adjustable razor's settings each time a new different brand of blade is put into the razor? I'd rather find the right blade for my fixed head razor and then simply stick with it.

My blade of choice for my EJ razor is currently the Crystal/Super+/Israeli Personna. I should be receiving a 10-pack of Feathers in today's mail. The sender is also including a sample of Bluebirds. (Seems appropriate to have both Feathers and Bluebirds in the same package.) I'll be very interested to measure both blades before using them. I wonder if my hypothesis will hold.

Please post the results of the Feathers/Bluebirds. I am new to this DE shaving, but have wondered if there were more issues than just "sharpness" with the different blades. I also have thought that while one blade may be the end all in your razor, it may be a monster in mine. This information should be useful in determining a logical database for which blades work best in which razors and why. I have also thought that QC could be a large factor in this as well.

Thanks and well done!

 

[michiganlover]

However, having said that, it's entirely probable that the Shark blade will work perfectly fine and smooth in an adjustable DE razor such as the Merkur Progress or Futur.

While the Shark blade may work fine in an adjustable razor, this has nothing to do with the razor being Adjustable.

An Adjustable razor modifies the distance between the top cap, and safety bar of the razor, by moving the blade bed, up, and down. This increases, and decreases the aggressiveness of the razor, by modifying the blade gap.

An Adjustable razor won't do anything to accommodate for one blade being slightly wider than another.

This theory has also been recently discussed in relation to the new Open Comb Ikon razor, in which some users found some blades to be hugely aggressive with the razor, due to he width of the blade, while others were mild in comparison.

~John~

 

[jrhudgins]

Now you have me wondering about all the various blades and how their dimensions affect the aggressiveness or harshness when compared in the same razor. I had simply assumed that the dimensions were standardized more closely than that.
Hope my calipers can measure accurately enough, but maybe someone with really good ones could do further comparisons among the usual blade discussed here: Feather, Shark, Iridium, Red Personna, Gillette Yellow and the like.

JR

 

[MichaelG]

I don't know if anyone has ever explored this before on this forum. This could explain a lot in terms of how different blades feel different to different users and how they seem to feel different from razor to razor.

A good question is whether the variation is not only from brand to brand but also how much variation, if any, there is within the same brand, i.e. quality control within a brand.

When I got home, I pulled out my trusty digital micrometer. Sure enough, these blades have different dimensions. Measuring several times from blade edge to blade edge, I discovered that the Shark is the largest blade, measuring 21.95mm from cutting edge to cutting edge. Next was the Derby, measuring in at 21.89mm. And then finally came the Super+ which weighed in at just 21.82mm, cutting edge to cutting edge.

 

[ShavenMaven]

Still no sign of the Feathers (and Bluebirds) in my mail. They were mailed first class on the 20th from upper NYS to me here in northern VT, a total distance of less than 60 miles.

If anyone has Feathers and a digital micrometer, I'd be very interested to know the cutting edge to cutting edge measurement of the Feathers. It might very well determine how suitable they are for my particular fixed head razor.

At the moment, my blade of choice is the Crystal/Super+ (aka Israeli Personna?). I'm particularly interested in blades from countries known to have reputations for precision work. Obviously, Japan comes to mind. Perhaps all of my Feathers have now migrated south.

 

[ShavenMaven]

I didn't bother shaving this morning because the Priority Mail package from West Coast Shaving was indicated to be waiting for me at my local post office. That package included Feather blades. (Incidentally, my NYS supplier of Feather blades from whom I ordered those blades two weeks ago, never delivered. The post office did a trace and reported back to me that they had never received the package bearing the tracking number provided by the NYS vendor. He issued a refund to me. End of story.)

Now, back to this blade dimension issue. It's a non-issue. The Feather blade measured 22.00mm from cutting edge to cutting edge, larger than any other blade I've measured, including Crystal, Iridium Super, Gillette Yellow, Derby, Shark, Lord and Red Pack Personna. It all has to do with shaving technique. The Feather gave me the smoothest shave with the fewest passes of any of the blades tested.

I've shaved only once with the Feather blade - about an hour ago. I have just one thing to say about it - Now THAT's a shave!! I don't care how many more shaves it gets for me. It's clearly superior.

 

[ShavenMaven]

Way back on the 18th, I ordered 10 Feather blades from an EBay seller located in upstate New York, about 60 miles from my location here in Vermont. They never arrived!

I placed an order for Feather blades on Tuesday, October 27th from John at West Coast Shaving. The blades arrived on Friday, October 30th (from California).

With two Feather shaves under my belt, I ordered a larger quantity of Feather blades today from West Coast Shaving with the expectation that they'd be shipped to me on Monday via First Class mail.

West Coast Shaving put my order together today (Saturday, October 31st) and sent it on its way to me via USPS Priority Mail.

Oh, one more thing. West Coast Shaving beat the best price I could find for my Feather blades by 5%.

West Coast Shaving is now my PRIME shaving needs supplier.

 

[KennD]

So I get that the Feather's gave a great shave even though they were the widest of the bunch - but I wonder if you might still be onto something with the width of the blade also influencing the feel of the blade (smoothness/sharpness). I've noticed that the Dorco ST-301 blades in my Merkur HD require me to hold my razor at a different angle in order to get the blade edge to actually cut hairs, so I wonder if that's due to the width of the blade. Somehow, it doesn't make sense to me... the sharpness of the blade shouldn't have anything to do with what angle I need to hold my razor at and on a microscopic level the shape of the razor's edge shouldn't affect my razor angle, either, right? *shrug*

Anyone have measurements of different razor blades for comparison? Just the common ones in addition to the ones already listed in this post?

 

[JECIII]

This calls for a chart or graph or something.

 

[Sobriquet]

This calls for a chart or graph or something.

+1. I, too, am very curious. Hearing that the Feathers are the widest tested so far makes their reputation for sharpness/aggressiveness very interesting.

Being a fan of fine culinary knives, I've always been of the opinion that a dull knife is a bad, dangerous knife. It never quite made sense to me that Feathers would be harder on faces than other brands if they were simply "sharper." I would think being sharp and smooth would make it easier to cut and thus reduce irritation from drag and pressure.

It's curious to me that I (and many others) find the Feather to be harsh. I think there's more to this story.