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SOME MEASURED BLADE WIDTHS

Raymondmillbrae

Totally bogus
O-Tay, peeps...just wanted to post a few pictures, and (lightly) explain a few reasons why I’m doing this.

1) Here are the widths (with pictures) of the few razor blades I have experimented with.

2) I will try to post the pictures in the same chronological order that I will list them below, from narrowest to widest.

3) I am doing this because I am experimenting to find which razor blade works best with which razor I own.

4) I’ve come to understand that “blade gap” is not the ONLY factor in determining the shave aggressiveness...or smoothness. There is also “blade exposure” which is a huge factor. Which is why I am posting this thread.

5) My conclusion in my “Tao of Perfect Blade Width/Sharpness“?

Well, I have not written the final chapter yet. But it is helping me to explain a lot of my unanswered questions. And also guiding me in the right direction to understanding WHY one blade will work better than another in specific razors.

Anyhoo...here is what I have found. In order from narrowest to widest.

And as a side note: I will round “up” in number. As an example, if the width is .8626, I will round it “up” to .863.


Personna MedPrep: .863”
Gillette Silver Blue: .864”
Astra: .865
Dorco: .865
Feather: .866
Merkur: .867
Kai: .872

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I'll never understand why you guys are sticking to Imperial, but in this case a simple conversion will get me there.
In this particular case maybe because the calipers he has are in inches.
For precise measurements I would recommend digital calipers (preferably Japanese, as Mitutoyo) with both systems, but use it in metric and 4 digits after the decimal point.
 

Raymondmillbrae

Totally bogus
I’m a competitor multigunner.

Rifle, shotgun, pistol.

And as such, I reload my own custom-made ammo.

These calipers work fine for what I do. (Reload ammo). And in this case, more than enough to measure razor blade widths to help me choose one for my razor.

No need to purchase the fancy-schmanciest, digital one, for what I do.

Just sharing. ❤️
 
In this particular case maybe because the calipers he has are in inches.
For precise measurements I would recommend digital calipers (preferably Japanese, as Mitutoyo) with both systems, but use it in metric and 4 digits after the decimal point.

The other way around, surely? First you're in the Imperial universe and then you buy calipers in inches. I think here in Europe they'd be next to impossible to get.

Irrespective of this, I remember others measuring Kai as the broadest blade. What I'm curious about is how this will influence shaves. I, for one, dial down my model T half a setting when using a Kai.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
Thanks for measuring the blade widths. The Kia blade is a wider blade and fellows like them in milder razors. So your gain approx .004 thousands of inch per side in blade exposure and that is a lot.
 
Nice. Can't wait to see where this leads you.
On a side note: I'll never understand why you guys are sticking to Imperial, but in this case a simple conversion will get me there.

Gillette Blades are still made in Imperial measurements, that said, I know of a couple of facilities that have directly converted to mm, as this is preferred by the locals
 
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