Stainless Slotted Blades for the Durham Duplex?

[82R100]

I recently bought a nice Durham Duplex outfit and am looking about for blades. I understand that they're most readily available as carpet blades in .015 and .017 inch thicknesses and I was able to get a pack of Stanley .015's at Home Depot today. They are of carbon steel, so I'll have to take care of them carefully.

I understand from previous threads that some of you have been able to get stainless versions of these blades. I've been searching, but can find no mention of them, even on ASR's website for the Personna brand. I believe even the Duplex Dog Dresser blades are carbon steel.

Can anyone suggest a source for stainless ones?

- Chris

 

[Robxcarlson]

Go to Lowe's and get the Kobalt brand blades, which will be in the tools section by the utility knives... $2.78 for 5 blades. I just got a Duplex and I've tried these blades, but I've only pulled a lot of hair so far. Your luck might be different, though.

 

[82R100]

I actually visited Lowes before I went to Home Depot today (they're less than a mile apart) and passed on the Kobalt blades because
1) They're carbon steel.
- and -
2) They're made in China.

I'm honestly looking for a blade that will shave my beard.

- Chris

 

[Robxcarlson]

I promise the Kobalt blades I purchased are Stainless and my lowe's only stocks one kind of Kobalt blade in this design... but they are made in China - that's all I've got to offer.

 

[82R100]

Sorry if my reply sounded a little flip.

This confirms what I saw at the store.

Others have described choosing amongst carbon and stainless steel, coated vs. uncoated and I wonder where they're seeing these.

- Chris

 

[SavantStrike]

Did you try the stanley .015's?

Did they work? There isn't anything inherently wrong with carbon steel if it is kept dry. You could even strop the blades before use to help further.

 

[Robxcarlson]

Sorry if my reply sounded a little flip.

This confirms what I saw at the store.

Others have described choosing amongst carbon and stainless steel, coated vs. uncoated and I wonder where they're seeing these.

- Chris

Huh, these are the blades I purchased (item #44777), but they are not carbon steel even though that's what the website says.... These are definitely stainless blades but the package only says "Carpet Blades" and doesn't say what type of steel. The carbon steel blades are black, like the Personna blades I purchased... which rusted terribly after one use. I haven't tried the Stanley blades yet, but so far the Kobalt and Personna brand blades were really bad for me. I'd love to be able to use the Duplex straight I purchased. Can blades be ordered directly from Durham Duplex?

 

[SepticTank]

Can blades be ordered directly from Durham Duplex?

No idea on that but I did see some in a pharmacy in Hawick, Scotland that looked like they'd been there since before WWII...

 

[Robxcarlson]

Maybe these Lowe's blades are carbon? Can carbon steel look identical to stainless? I've seen some other pictures of blades that looked like stainless but the description says "carbon." I guess I'm not sure after all. I would love to find a source of functional blades for these razors, however.

 

[Fnord5]

Can blades be ordered directly from Durham Duplex?

I don't know about ordering, but here are their duplex blades in stainless.

http://www.durham-duplex.co.uk/stainless-steel-razor-blades.htm
Apparently they have duplex blades in Tungsten Carbide, and Ceramic

 

[mmack66]

Maybe these Lowe's blades are carbon? Can carbon steel look identical to stainless? I've seen some other pictures of blades that looked like stainless but the description says "carbon." I guess I'm not sure after all. I would love to find a source of functional blades for these razors, however.

Yep.

 

[82R100]

I just sent DD an inquiry as to whether any North American retailers currently carry the blades in stainless.

I know that the Durham Duplex Dog Dresser and replacement blades from Durham Duplex are available currently here, and in England, you can get them here.
This second site describes them as carbon steel. Still, if intended for pet use, maybe they'd be smoother than those designated for carpet trimming. Conventional wisdom in these forums would seem to suggest that all American brand blades are bound to come from ASR (Personna).

 

[Robxcarlson]

Sorry if my reply sounded a little flip.

This confirms what I saw at the store.

Others have described choosing amongst carbon and stainless steel, coated vs. uncoated and I wonder where they're seeing these.

- Chris

I owe you an apology... apparently the Lowe's blades are carbon, despite their appearance. I just went to look at my razor and the blade from day before yesterday is completely rusted.
I'd like to know about the Dog Dresser blades, but the ones I've seen online are ungodly expensive ($12 shipped for 5 blades).

 

[82R100]

No worries.

It appears that the dog dresser blades are carbon steel too, so there's probably no point pursuing that lead, given the cost.

As SavantStrike volunteered, you can work with carbon steel blades if you're careful. If I remember correctly, stainless blades didn't enter the DE world until the 60's. All these neat Gillette Super Speeds and Techs that we've been using had rustable blades for years, so it shouldn't be a show stopper. There are some SE folks who keep a container of rubbing alcohol handy to dip into after the end of the shave to rid the blades of water quickly. In addition, I might be motivated to disassemble each time and pat the blade dry with a paper towel sprayed with Pam.

In post #14 of this thread the real monkeyboy describes some success with the Stanley 0.015 blades.

Now, if I can find an inexpensive strop, maybe I'll see what I can do to improve on them!

- Chris

 

[Robxcarlson]

I'm not really concerned so much about carbon vs stainless - I just want a blade that will shave... Let me know if you improve quality by stropping. I got the stropping attachment with my razor.

- If I realized the Kobalt blade was carbon, I wouldn't have left it in the razor to rust. It rusted so badly that I'll have to clean the razor to get it all off.

 

[82R100]

I'm not going to be to that stage of my shaving development soon, I'm afraid.

If you want to try an approximate stropping experience, newspaper stropping may be something to try.

- Chris

 

[82R100]

From Grainger (qty 100) but at a good price.

McMaster Carr has them too.

 

[82R100]

I wrote to Durham Duplex in the UK, asking for information about retail availability of stainless slotted blades in North America and they forwarded my request to Marina King at specialtyblades.com who, in turn, asked about my specific needs (Durham part no. & application information). I replied, and got this answer back:

Hi Chris. Thanks for the additional information. We do currently offer
a ceramic coated, stainless slotted blade with the rounded corners.
Below is the pricing information for your review and consideration. I
should mention though, that these blades are typically not sold for
shaving or personal hair cutting applications. The blades are designed
for industrial uses and are not manufactured with the same type of
lubrication and edge enhancements as a shaving blade. You may want to
contact American Safety Razor who manufactures the Personna brand.
Their part number for the stainless, rounded end, slotted blade is
88-0882. These blades may be better suited for your needs over ours or
the Durham parts.

OF-SLC15-RE-S (sold in boxes of 100)
Qty Brk:100 $2.50 per blade
Qty Brk:500 $2.15 per blade
Qty Brk:1000 $1.80 per blade
Qty Brk:2500 $1.60 per blade

Please let me know if you have any questions or if you need additional
information.

Best Regards,
Marina

A little pricey.

Using the Personna part no. that she gave, I found their catalog but no joy other than that.

If I decide to go whole hog into the Durham Duplex experience, I might buy the qty of 100 stainless from Grainger. For the meantime, I'll gather up my courage to try the Stanley .015's and see how they do for me.

- Chris

 

[Robxcarlson]

Sucks on the pricing from Durham Duplex... the Grainger blades you linked to are Stanley's... But I don't know about the others... I have yet to try the Stanley blades, but I'll pick some up this weekend. The only Personnas I could find locally are carbon, and no better than the Kobalts.

 

[napoleon]

I tried Stanleys for my GEM and they sucked