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Theory: razor + blade pairing matters

Eben Stone

Staff member
You and your friends shave each other? Cool.
Haha :jump:

What’s your point anyway?
I understand you can achieve a great shave with any non-defective gear. Is there any razor and blade combination you've tried that works better than the rest? I feel like after 10 years you might have come across something that is noticeably better, or noticeably worse, for you than everything else.
 
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Great thread (especially as I agree with the premise that it is the combination that really counts)!

For me, Nacets are great is most any of the ‘mild/moderate’ razors that I prefer!! :thumbup1::thumbup1:

Other blades, especially Feathers, are much more variable.
I like the Nacet blade. I was surprised how it worked I my Tatara razor. With the mildest configuration (Masamune) it worked grate. When I tried the most efficient setup (Nodachi) the blade did not hold up a single shave. Not a good experience.
Large gap, positive blade exposure and a rigid head design did no work for me.
 

Rosseforp

I think this fits, Gents
I am in business of trading in high carbon steel
Out of curiosity, which country produces your favorite steels? In the old days Brazil made some of the finest 17-4ph I ever machined, Italy the worst. These days it seems that Gloria Steel in Taiwan is on top of it.

~doug~
 
Out of curiosity, which country produces your favorite steels? In the old days Brazil made some of the finest 17-4ph I ever machined, Italy the worst. These days it seems that Gloria Steel in Taiwan is on top of it.

~doug~
I mostly deal with Indian made steels , Quality is quite good
Best steel I have come across is from JFE steel Japan and SANDVIK of Sweden
 
Haha :jump:


I understand you can achieve a great shave with any non-defective gear. Is there any razor and blade combination you've tried that works better than the rest? I feel like after 10 years you might have come across something that is noticeably better, or noticeably worse, for you than everything else.
From the get-go I’ve purchased good quality equipment and I’ve been very happy. I suppose I gravitate to a Fatboy, but I’ve always thought the ability to discern all manner of subtle differences is more a matter of “gear acquisition syndrome”/internet disease than anything meaningful in real life.
 

Rosseforp

I think this fits, Gents
From the get-go I’ve purchased good quality equipment and I’ve been very happy. I suppose I gravitate to a Fatboy, but I’ve always thought the ability to discern all manner of subtle differences is more a matter of “gear acquisition syndrome”/internet disease than anything meaningful in real life.
I get it, you are more of a gas-and-go kind of guy. Me, I like to stop and smell the flowers. And when I smell cow poo I know I'm getting close to home.

~doug~
 
You are right. After more than a decade in traditional shaving I tried most blades available at online stores (surely a few dozens of different blades) paired with other few dozens of DE razors, a BAD blade (a blade that doesn't cut the hair properly or that do a painful job) is a very rare thing. Probably is a fake one or from a small manufacturer hidden in some country with old machinery.

A few bad ones I remember are chinese faked bought from DX.COM and Serbian MEM blades. Old Supermax Stainless (non Super) are on the border, a few razors can give me a decent shave with these blades.

On most cases of "bad blade" probably just the combination isn't working.

A third variable is probably thickness of you facial hair.

Of course there are some that are better (smooth, sharper, consistent, lasting and different combination of these attributes) than others.
I hadn't heard of DX.com. I went there just now to look. It no longer sells razors or razor blades, just electric shavers.
 
I hadn't heard of DX.com. I went there just now to look. It no longer sells razors or razor blades, just electric shavers.
That was almost a decade ago when it used to be the main online source of cheap Chinese stuff for us in the third world.

Now a dying web site widely supplanted by Aliexpress.
 
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