I see 3 bevels. Clear as day. Quite a bit different looking than Nacet which, at least to my eyes, only has one *visible* bevel.
1st try Suneko Amorphous Diamond blades
- Thread starter AshleyC
- Start date
Very interesting. I plan to get back to these blades this week. They have a noticeable difference.
I did a couple of microscope shots in this post about another blade compared to the Suneko. Notice the "blobs" on the edge. I suspect the first shave smooths out the coating (which I suspect the blobs are). The Chinese "Matgicol" Super Platinum - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/the-chinese-matgicol-super-platinum.647276/post-12524893
You can also notice 3 distinct bevels in one of the shots.
Very interesting, thank you for that research!
My 500 arrived today. I opened the most beat-up package and it was labeled Suneko. Yay.
Second blade eight shades
Sharpness 8/10
Smoothness 7/10
Durability 8/10
Razor: lupo .95 closed comb
Soap: Nivea stick
Dickenson witch hazel
Balm: gold bond men’s lotion
Been shaving for the last eight days with the second diamond blade. This was a much better blade in the first blade I tried.
I did not nick myself until the eighth shave. I really should’ve stopped with seven shaves, but the blade was doing so well I stretched it to an eighth.
I get my best shaves onnthe second, third and fourth shaves. There were some sharpness loss after the fifth and sixth shave.
This blade was particularly more smoother than the first. So smooth, I had to resist the temptation to use longer strokes with more pressure. I could not really tell that much difference from my favorite blade, the silver blues with these shaves.
I think my spot with these blades are six or seven shades.
There seems to be some deviation in quality as the second blade was much sharper and smoother than the first.
My biggest criticism with this blade would be that it loses sharpness very quickly. I tend to use the same blade for a week and change the razors and blades on the weekends. It’s just a little bit of a stretch to do that with these blades.
Thanks again for sending these I was pleasantly surprised. I was not expecting them to be so comparable to some of my favorite blades. As I was not real familiar with this blade.
I think if you limited yourself to four or five shaves and used a fairly mild razor should have no issues. I think a more aggressive gap like I tend to use might be a little more prone to cuts. I think they would work better with a more moderate razor. Should probably try them with a game changer 84 I have.
Sharpness 8/10
Smoothness 7/10
Durability 8/10
Razor: lupo .95 closed comb
Soap: Nivea stick
Dickenson witch hazel
Balm: gold bond men’s lotion
Been shaving for the last eight days with the second diamond blade. This was a much better blade in the first blade I tried.
I did not nick myself until the eighth shave. I really should’ve stopped with seven shaves, but the blade was doing so well I stretched it to an eighth.
I get my best shaves onnthe second, third and fourth shaves. There were some sharpness loss after the fifth and sixth shave.
This blade was particularly more smoother than the first. So smooth, I had to resist the temptation to use longer strokes with more pressure. I could not really tell that much difference from my favorite blade, the silver blues with these shaves.
I think my spot with these blades are six or seven shades.
There seems to be some deviation in quality as the second blade was much sharper and smoother than the first.
My biggest criticism with this blade would be that it loses sharpness very quickly. I tend to use the same blade for a week and change the razors and blades on the weekends. It’s just a little bit of a stretch to do that with these blades.
Thanks again for sending these I was pleasantly surprised. I was not expecting them to be so comparable to some of my favorite blades. As I was not real familiar with this blade.
I think if you limited yourself to four or five shaves and used a fairly mild razor should have no issues. I think a more aggressive gap like I tend to use might be a little more prone to cuts. I think they would work better with a more moderate razor. Should probably try them with a game changer 84 I have.
You may have used older made in Korea Dorco blades. Since they moved production to Vietnam the blades are very well regarded now and deliver excellent performance. Currently my best blades.
Not sure which Dorco blade you purchased but it's hard to compete with them at $6 (ST300 Stainless)-$10 (STP300 Prime) per 100.
Thank you for starting this thread, it's been a great read. It looks like you introduced a lot of B&Bers to what appears to be a reasonably priced good quality blade.
Seeing these latest posts on "Suneco" blades and the variations in packaging is a good reminder of how much of a "Wild West" Chinese manufacturing and retailing can be. Do we know if Suneko has it's own plant or if they contract out the manufacturing to others? If the former then there is a better chance the brand can maintain consistent quality over time. If the latter we may not be able to rely on future orders being of the same quality of those ordered in the past. It's also possible that the brand contracted for a large one-off manufacturing run and will be onto other products when these are sold through. One thing we've learned about blades is that if you have a favorite it can make sense to stock up regardless of brand since we are talking about pennies per blade and even well established brands often change how and where their blades are manufactured.
Bottom line the current inventories of Suneko blades offered for sale appear to be a good value if priced reasonably against other favorite blades sourced through each of our local channels. It will be interesting to see if this brand continues long term or not.
What I have been able to discover is that they are made by Zhangjiagang Zhongbao Blade Manufacture Co., Ltd
Zhangjiagang Zhongbao Blade Manufacture Co., Ltd. is a company that manufactures blades in China. It is located in the city of Zhangjiagang, in the province of Jiangsu. The company was founded in 1992 and has over 200 employees. Zhongbao Blade manufactures a variety of blades, including:
- Circular saw blades
- Band saw blades
- Miter saw blades
- Jigsaw blades
- Reciprocating saw blades
- Utility blades
- Knife blades
- Woodworking
- Metalworking
- Construction
- Demolition
- Food processing
- Agriculture
Razor blades seem to be a new line for them (not bad for a first try). What I cannot discover if they hold the brand or if someone else does.
Great information, thank you! Clearly appears they have the needed skills. Not a big leap I suspect to add DE razor blades to their product range. DE blades are a very mature technology. From earlier research the various machines needed to set up a DE blade assembly line down to the sputtering equipment are readily available for sale from different manufacturers. Likely the combination of deep skills and available equipment has allowed them to make the high quality blades everyone has posted on here.
One reason Dorco is interesting is that they are the only major shaving blade/system manufacturer that has invested in improving their DE blade manufacturing (via their newer plant in Vietnam) in recent years. One reason we think they did this is that they are using their DE blades to help further penetrate other Asian, Middle East and African markets as a gateway product to their likely higher margin shaving systems that are their primary focus in more developed markets. They market their DE blades as being based on superior technology. The broad shaving razor product line helps them realize good retail placement, something that could be a challenge for a manufacturer of just a single shaving blade like Suneko/Suneco who may have to focus on on-line retailers like Alibaba or Temu.
My sense is that Dorco has likely been successful with this strategy based on all the smaller blade manufacturers, like Suneko/Suneco, who believe they are helping themselves by emulating the Dorco packaging look and feel.
Over time a company like Zhangjiagang Zhongbao Blade Manufacture Co. may have to expand into shaving systems (cartridges) like others or eventually abandon the shaving razor blade market. Based on the the product line you listed above this would require a very different set of design and manufacturing skill than those required for DE blades that are a natural fit. It can be done but will require a lot of investment. Another option is to focus on blades by emphasizing a better level of quality/sharpness and utility than others. To do that you need to own the brand, invest in marketing and have the manufacturing skills and equipment to deliver on the promise. Unclear if that can happen here though if the blades really are sputtered with a diamond based compound it may be the direction they are going to.
Feather in Japan is a good example of a much more mature company with a similar background. In their case they have generally stuck to their knitting by going upmarket with the highest quality possible blades including those for medical use and of course what are the sharpest DE blades available. Note that even in their case they do offer cartridge based shaving systems though I don't know how successful those products are in Japan. Don't really hear about them much in the U.S.
Bottom line is that it will be interesting to see if this brand has legs or if it's more of an opportunistic short term excursion for Zhangjiagang Zhongbao or for someone else who owns the brand and contracted with them for the Suneko/Suneco blades. Those who really like these blades should stock up on a few packs as they are not that expensive and it's unclear how long they will be available.
In my case I've plenty of Dorco, Astra and Derby blades that work really well for me and have a year old variety pack from Connaught that I've yet to touch so, while intrigued, I'll stick with my current blades.
Late reply, but the English on the packaging could just as well be for the internal market, typically it's a way to make your product look more high-end (precisely because it hints that it's "meant for export", even when it isn't).
Also, don't know if it's been mentioned already, but these can be had domestically here in China for around USD 3.5 per 100 blades.
I don't need more DE-blades, but I picked up a pack of 10 since I'm here now, to join in on the fun...
Also - many internationally distributed products by smaller manufacturers use English as a "universal" language. Packaging can often be more expensive than the product in terms of design and production set up.
I often get caught up in the Tyranny of Choice as the economists say. My retirement goal was to bring some academic rigor to blade/razor/accouterment evaluation and cull my herd. Unfortunately, it has had the reverse effect as I decided I wanted to understand the Chinese supply chain and have added blades and razors to evaluate.
@Stikeyoda are the Zhangjiagang Zhongbao Blade Manufacture Co., Ltd. and ZHONG-BAO HAIRDRESSING TOOLS CO.,LTD. part of the same corporate entity or are they completely different companies?
When I looked up the former, that you mentioned in your post above, (see the link below) all we see is a tool manufacturing company founded in 1993 that only manufactures clamp hardware tools (pliers, etc.).
The second company with the similar sounding ZHONG-BAO HAIRDRESSING TOOLS CO.,LTD.name, founded in 1991, makes straight razors, scissors, accessories for professional hairdressers and, via the link below, the Suneko razor blades we have been speaking about in this thread. They also offer a cartridge razor in various configurations. If this is a fully separate corporate entity, and per the web sites it looks like it is, then you may have listed the wrong company as manufacturing Suneko blades. This is good news for those who like the blades as it means that the manufacturer owns the brand and has a broad enough hairdresser product assortment that it may be around for a while.
There is also a Zhang Jiagang Hua Gong Tools company that makes the saw blades you mentioned. No apparent connection with the other two companies.
It appears that the Zhangjiagang is just the name of the city where the clamping tools and saw blades company are located. The ZHONG-BAO HAIRDRESSING TOOLS CO.,LTD. is located in a different city (Guangzhou, in Guangdong Province).
Links:
ZHONG-BAO HAIRDRESSING TOOLS CO.,LTD. in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China link:
Products / Blade_ZHONG-BAO HAIRDRESSING TOOLS CO.,LTD. - http://www.zhongbaoscissors.com/Products/Blade/
Zhangjiagang Zhongbao Blade Manufacture Co., Ltd.link:
When I looked up the former, that you mentioned in your post above, (see the link below) all we see is a tool manufacturing company founded in 1993 that only manufactures clamp hardware tools (pliers, etc.).
The second company with the similar sounding ZHONG-BAO HAIRDRESSING TOOLS CO.,LTD.name, founded in 1991, makes straight razors, scissors, accessories for professional hairdressers and, via the link below, the Suneko razor blades we have been speaking about in this thread. They also offer a cartridge razor in various configurations. If this is a fully separate corporate entity, and per the web sites it looks like it is, then you may have listed the wrong company as manufacturing Suneko blades. This is good news for those who like the blades as it means that the manufacturer owns the brand and has a broad enough hairdresser product assortment that it may be around for a while.
There is also a Zhang Jiagang Hua Gong Tools company that makes the saw blades you mentioned. No apparent connection with the other two companies.
It appears that the Zhangjiagang is just the name of the city where the clamping tools and saw blades company are located. The ZHONG-BAO HAIRDRESSING TOOLS CO.,LTD. is located in a different city (Guangzhou, in Guangdong Province).
Links:
ZHONG-BAO HAIRDRESSING TOOLS CO.,LTD. in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China link:
Products / Blade_ZHONG-BAO HAIRDRESSING TOOLS CO.,LTD. - http://www.zhongbaoscissors.com/Products/Blade/
Zhangjiagang Zhongbao Blade Manufacture Co., Ltd.link:
ABOUT US-Zhangjiagang Zhongbao Hardware Tools Manufacturing Co., Ltd-
Tongchuang enterprise management consulting co., ltd. is headquartered in Shanghai, tongchuang people rich experience in industry management and leading awareness of service, for enterprises to provide intensive services, standardized services for its own responsibility, gradually formed its own cor
www.zobotool.com
Absolutely could be - trying to track down Chinese companies would be a challenge for Sherlock Holmes
Things get compounded by all the holding companies as well. Sigh
I will look some more. Also, the ideographs don't always get translated right by Google. Forums like this are better than Google sometimes!
Thanks for checking on me!!!!
