SE blade of choice

[willyb]

Having only tried TREET blades from RiteAid in my Gem MM and 1912, I dont have much to compare to. I still need to pickup some Gem blades from Walgreens.

Thoughts on the Ted Pella blades? Or the 100 pack blades of various types from EMS ?

Mr. HoosierTrooper should be showing up in this thread any minute now

 

[Mike'sWorld]

Yep, Mr. HoosierTrooper and me!!!
I'd be happy to PIF you some EMS SE blades, same package ID as Ted Pellas.
These are PTFE coated stainless steel Gems. Everyone I've sent these to agree, they're not for shaving, they're more like boxcutter grade blades.
PM me your physical address, only 14 more PIFs of 6 each, to go before they're all gone!!!!!

 

[Kentos]

Sorry to thread-hi-jack, but...


Hey Mike, if I understand you correctly the industrial blades made by gem that everyone seems to rave about are only so-so? If so which blades are the ones you buy? And can those be purchased in bulk? I have a few 1912's but don't want to spend 50 cents a blade buying from the local CVS here in Honolulu when I can get feathers for 30 cents(call me cheap lol).

 

[willyb]

a 1912 uses a single edge blade, available at drugstores in packs of 10 for about 5bux, yes about 50cents each.

Feather DE blades are about 30 cents as you mentioned.

unless Feather makes a SE blade which I have never heard of, you are saying that you prefer double edge shaving with a feather, to single edge shaving with a 1912 and 50cent blade.......... unless im totally missing something.

Have you shaved with your 1912 before? SE and DE shaving really arent in the same category, to me at least.
Help me understand your logic please.

 

[Mike'sWorld]

Sorry to thread-hi-jack, but...


Hey Mike, if I understand you correctly the industrial blades made by gem that everyone seems to rave about are only so-so? If so which blades are the ones you buy? And can those be purchased in bulk? I have a few 1912's but don't want to spend 50 cents a blade buying from the local CVS here in Honolulu when I can get feathers for 30 cents(call me cheap lol).

Sure were for me. Just awful for shaving. I'm gunshy now about buying in bulk from an industrial supplier. Walgreens work well for me, as do just about any other drugstore SE Personna blade. I've decided I don't really need 100 of these. I'll just buy 10 of the drugstore packs if I ever decide I need 100 SE blades.

 

[Kentos]

a 1912 uses a single edge blade, available at drugstores in packs of 10 for about 5bux, yes about 50cents each.

Feather DE blades are about 30 cents as you mentioned.

unless Feather makes a SE blade which I have never heard of, you are saying that you prefer double edge shaving with a feather, to single edge shaving with a 1912 and 50cent blade.......... unless im totally missing something.

Have you shaved with your 1912 before? SE and DE shaving really arent in the same category, to me at least.
Help me understand your logic please.

No I haven't been able to find decent blades yet for the 1912 locally so my question stems from the fear that SE shaves will be so good that I will never go back to DE's. Hearing that the only blades available in bulk are in some people's opinion " box cutter blades" makes me think I may have to purchase online at 5.00 a pack plus shipping to Hawaii, which make the SE shaving endeavor a little more expensive than DE's. (Btw the CVS here sells blue stars, which I will soon bite the bullet and try out)

 

[cpool222]

I've seen boxes of 100 blades on eBay that definitely look like industrial box-cutter blades, but I just saw these Personnas:

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/browseimages.php?c=3&userid=22198

on the bay and wondered if these are the ones you folks are discussing as being no good. Are these the ones you guys have tried? Thanks

 

[MrGuy]

For most razors, I go to a SS GEM blade, I break out the TREETS on occasion, I also keep a good supply of PAL blades to de-spine and put into an Auto-Strop. I'm still on the hunt for a good SE stropper where I can keep the spine on. I think PAL might move up to tie with GEM if I could. Today, I broke out the old USR SE (Pat 1910) and PAL blade, just bacause the chrome and black/blue contrast looks cool. That shave could have been made better with a solid stropping.


Just a side note to the "same as Ted Pella" blades, in the not so distant past several sellers on several store fronts have popped up as carrying "THE EXACT TED PELLA BLADES!!!" Of the ones I have traded with, none are even close. Some others, and I, even seemed to run into a batch that, despite being stamped as "stainless" on the spine, rusted after just one shave. (Talk about a tedious counterfeit stamp job?) I don't know where Brian made the latest group purchase, but the blades I've tested from that buy were indeed as good of quality as the ones Uncle Ted sells.
That being said, I ran across a few blades purchased direct from Ted Pella that really tore me up, until I began hand stropping before each shave. Have yet to get a bum blade again. As far as scraper blades... Yes, I have tried a few brands, strictly in the name of science of course. I don't know what those who say they were turned into hamburger after one stroke were doing, but I have yet to see a hardware blade cut a single hair, not to mention draw any blood

 

[jgjoneslaw]

I agree on palm stropping the Tedd Pellas. As far as value I think buying from Ted Pellas is as good as it gets. If you can get them shipped to a business address it's under 40 bucks for 200 blades and I get 2 weeks of shaves out of each blade (I shave 5 times a week). So my 200 pack will last me for years and they are great from the first shave if I palm strop.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Cue up the broken record. Treets are my favorites. However, I do also really like the Gems from Walgreens and the Ted Pella blades. The stainless blades make more sense economically, but I think the carbon steel blades are a bit sharper and smoother plus it's kind of a karma like connection to a time when these old Gem, Star and Ever-Ready razors were made.

I just bought a 10 pack of Gem Blue Stars at a small drugstore for $3.89, which is cheaper than the Treets at most places. I'm going to give one a spin this weekend to see how they compare to the Treets.

 

[Dave Deluxe]

". . . . the only blades available in bulk are in some people's opinion " box cutter blades" makes me think I may have to purchase online at 5.00 a pack plus shipping to Hawaii, which make the SE shaving endeavor a little more expensive than DE's."

The operative words here are, “in some people’s opinion”. Many of us feel the Ted Pellas & EMS supplied blades shave just fine. By the way I also recommend “hand stropping” before the first use of SE blades.

DD

 

[Wil Dorenbos]

I just bought a 10 pack of Gem Blue Stars at a small drugstore for $3.89, which is cheaper than the Treets at most places. I'm going to give one a spin this weekend to see how they compare to the Treets.

Tom, how are these Blue Stars?

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Tom, how are these Blue Stars?

I believe I now like them almost as much as the Treets. Used one yesterday in an Ever-Ready 1912 and again this morning in a Clog pruf. Excellent shaves both days. I will be starting the one blade in February challenge tomorrow so I will be using injectors exclusively for the next 28 days with a Personna 74 so I dried the Blue Star thoroughly and put it in an air tight container with a couple of cotton balls and one of those air absorbing thingies that come in vitamin bottles. I plan on trying it out on the first of March, just to see how the edge holds up.