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View Full Version : Anybody ever heard this definition of a gillette?


tchudson
03-07-2012, 09:25 AM
From a list I read this morning on bizarre units of measurement: "A gillette, on the other hand, is a measure of how many razor blades a laser can burn through. A 5-gillette laser can burn through 5 blades." From Wikipedia's article on lasers. "Even the first laser was recognized as being potentially dangerous. Theodore Maiman characterized the first laser as having a power of one "Gillette" as it could burn through one Gillette razor blade."
jsj_297
03-07-2012, 09:51 AM
Huh, never heard this before.
smalltank
03-07-2012, 10:20 AM
huh?
jbradley
03-07-2012, 11:54 AM
I wonder if that's one se blade, or a de blade? Is it stainless or carbon? Or ceramic? Lots of variables to deal with isn't it? Still pretty neat.
Johnnie
Go Forth
03-07-2012, 12:03 PM
This is common knowledge, but I've never heard any specifics as to blade type. Were there different steel types used in Gillette blades in 1960 - the year that Maiman operated the first laser and coined the term "Gillette" as a unit of laser power? It was probably a standard, common, DE blade.
jbradley
03-07-2012, 01:07 PM
I really was sincere with the question. I would like to know, eliminate the variables.
Johnnie
JDTTO
03-07-2012, 01:14 PM
Hmm... it does not sound smart to use something with YMMV all over it as a scientific reference.
tchudson
03-07-2012, 01:28 PM
The quote from the list I read and the quote from wikipedia are really all I know about the subject. Go Forth mentioned that it was common knowledge, so maybe he has more info....
Go Forth
03-07-2012, 06:54 PM
I really was sincere with the question. I would like to know, eliminate the variables.
Johnnie

If there was only one type of metal used in 1960 for a DE blade, and one standard thickness, then there may be no other blade variables. Maybe someone can find this out. My guess is that this was not intended as a very precise measure of laser power. Also, two major laser variables determining the ability to penetrate an object would be intensity and duration. The first laser was a pulsed unit, not a continuous beam.
sigthorson
03-07-2012, 10:48 PM
Reminds of the historical origins of the foot measurement.

That's my 2 gold pieces worth. :001_tt2:
TOB9595
03-07-2012, 10:57 PM
This is common knowledge, but I've never heard any specifics as to blade type. Were there different steel types used in Gillette blades in 1960 - the year that Maiman operated the first laser and coined the term "Gillette" as a unit of laser power? It was probably a standard, common, DE blade.

Common knowledge????
I'm uncommon...new to me...I'll bet not so common
Best Regards with smiles and good intentions
Tom