Razor testing w/ representative sharp/med/smooth blades

[spacemonkey42]

I'm considering an experiment, going through several of my razors using a sharp, medium, then smooth blade to help me learn more about what combos I like for each. For a first round I plan to use representative blades which are supposed to be fairly consistent shave to shave -- Nacet, Voskhod, Astra SP. After this, I can hone in further.

Has anyone else done an experiment like that and have advice to share?

 

[silverlifter]

I suspect I'm in the (possibly tiny) minority here, but my experience has been good blades (sharp and smooth) are good in all functioning razors. Where "functioning" is defined as: aligns the blade correctly, and clamps it sufficiently to prevent too much chatter.

In other words, a good blade is good independent of the razor it is sitting in; and the corollary: a good razor can't make a poor blade shave well.

Let the stoning begin!

 

[APBinNCA]

Yes and I haven't updated my thread now that you mention it. Although I will reserve my stones, glass house here, I have found the second major factor in achieving a usable result is blade exposure. Meaning a razor with at least some because you can get very granular information about an edge when you can feel it. Then you can go down to a neutral razor and see if your impressions hold up. Spoiler: some blades that are smooth, but barely sharp enough in a positive razor breakdown in a neutral one. I would go with the least sharp first for several reasons. Ask me anything, I will have a wacky answer for you.

 

[spacemonkey42]

@APBinNCA, you've provided a great deal of help for me, thank you! Do you have a link to your thread on this? I've love to read it.

 

[Ckmaui]

Just got done going through almost 40 blades for my wolfman
other razors I liked are/were the GC and lupo both gaps the timeless in 68 a yates and rex ambasador

for sure one blade works in one and not in the other so was not as much finding the blades that work as the blades that work in that razor

I kinda found the opposite think best to narrow down
as finding the ones that did not work and set those aside rather than finding the ones I liked as it was easier to pick out the small things I did not like about them and think yeah cant live with that as I found many were great just different

I did look at some sharpness but quickly gave it up as it just did not seem to matter for me

and just shaved with them and made notes and shaved again for 2nd and 3rd pass and also did some shave off using one blade on one side then switch the next day and narrowed down what I liked

for me comfort is two things during the shave how clean it cuts and also how it feels post did it irritate
the sharpness sometimes felt sharp the whole time though and was like grating to the face and some were so smooth but did not cut clean so had a real pulling tugging feel and at first I would use a chart and think HUH this is sharper but more tuggy how can that be and then the not as sharp was less tug so yeah that is why I gave that up quickly did not seem to matter what a chart said

my GC 68 and 84 I loved the platihum blades same as my timeless the fav blades in the wolfman are the stainless ? And those were horrid in the GC and Timeless
the platinum in the woflman are also very nice and do find that I can use much more variety or its not as picky as others like the rex I could only get the G Platinum blade to feel Ok the rest were face rippers unless I kept it under 2

when I started I planned on one or two blades that I loved I now have about 7 or 8 I like and have 100 of each and just going to let time choose over the next ????? Year who knows but do plan on only wanting say 2-3 favs in the end and for sure found it took way longer and am OK with that now and also the charts did not seem to make sense and just had to use them in the razor and each razor has its own best

 

[APBinNCA]

@APBinNCA, you've provided a great deal of help for me, thank you! Do you have a link to your thread on this? I've love to read it.

Ehh, I would rather not. I got a lot of "feedback" so speak. It would be easier typing back and forth. You need to account for your skin's condition changing, sometimes for the worse with different blades if you go with positive exposure. It can be a long process getting through blades when you have to take a whole week off...

 

[desrgrl]

I suspect I'm in the (possibly tiny) minority here, but my experience has been good blades (sharp and smooth) are good in all functioning razors. Where "functioning" is defined as: aligns the blade correctly, and clamps it sufficiently to prevent too much chatter.

In other words, a good blade is good independent of the razor it is sitting in; and the corollary: a good razor can't make a poor blade shave well.

Let the stoning begin!

I'm a novice amongst novices, but... wouldn't it stand to reason, that good blades are not going to work well with all good razors, when it comes to matters of sharpness of the blade, and aggressiveness of the razor? I like Astras well enough, I use them in both my razors. I like Feathers, I use them in my Super Speed Flare which is mild. If I put them in my Parker 26C open comb, which is quite aggressive, I'm basically creating a weapon. That said, I also have an irrational hatred of Dorcos, and general disdain for Lords, from my early shaving days and much of the error of my trials was with those two.

 

[silverlifter]

wouldn't it stand to reason, that good blades are not going to work well with all good razors, when it comes to matters of sharpness of the blade, and aggressiveness of the razor?

I don't find that to be the case. A good blade in an aggressive razor will just be more efficient (which is what we all want, right?). I'm much more likely to cut myself with a dull blade than I am with a sharp one, whether it is in a mild razor (34C) or a so called-aggressive one (Wunderbar).

 

[GBerry]

I have been testing various combos for awhile now.

Tips:
1. Stay with a combo for 2-3 weeks so you can get comfortable with the combo.

2. Write down your goals so you can observe how close the combo matches your goals. For example: no nicks, no irritation, during the shave feel, post shave feel and was the shave close enough?

3. Journaling your shaves helps keep you on track and may suggest what you want to do next.

4. Link to my journal:
Quest for a better shave

Good luck on your journey.

 

[Jack Goossen]

When I started DE shaving, I asked some questions here.
After a while, some members suggested I use the same blade, razor and soap for a month.
I did. My technique improved. A lot.
My advice would be to use a specific blade (or blades) and razor for a while.
Only after frequent use, you'll be able to truly judge a blade.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I'm at the same place but I only have 5 other blade choices to try because I use an AC (Artist Club) type razor. I'm getting great shaves from my Feather AC Proguards... slightly less with the more mild Feather AC ProSoft Guards. The new blades are all in house and I have one shave left on my current blade. Then the fun begins.... and I will be doing exactly what some here suggested... The AC blades tend to last for around 6 shaves for me: not a bad baseline. I already know the razor and my face and the soaps I'm using, so the only variable will be the AC blades.

I'm grateful for the people here who have suggested the others, even though I had a list from the razor manufacturer. I read here somewhere that there are ~109 different DE blades. So, I'd try to narrow things down as SpaceM has... only three blades to start. Get advice from the people who had done this before like GBerry. If you don't have to reinvent the wheel, things tend to go more smoothly.