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Ceramic razor blades?

There are companies selling ceramic kitchen knives.

Has anyone tried a ceramic razor blade? (I see there is a ceramic blade razor prototype floating around on the web.)

Amazingly, I did find a source for ceramic injector razor blades:
http://www.specialtyblades.com/materials/zirconia_ceramic.html

They claim blade life as high as 100x that of steel. But they are pricey in small lots -- $14 each in lots of 10. (How many "last forever" blades do you need? 10? 50?? 100? 1000?)

P.S. I personally feel safer with a not too sharp blade. These ceramic jobs are super sharp. (They don't give a sharpness rating if such a thing exists. )

P.P.S. These are not your ceramic coated blades.
 
Rc 75 hardness should allow for a really wicked sharp blade. I wonder how facial hair compares to the medium these things are designed to cut (thing films and foil). If it is much tougher, microchipping of the cutting edge could be a real buzzkill.

It seems that in many ways the disposable razor and the ceramic blade would be a match made in heaven. The two big complaints i've heard regarding ceramic cutlery are brittleness (breakage, microchipping) and the high cost of sharpening. As we're not sharpening our DE blades anyway (I don't think...) that shouldn't be so much of an issue. We are all looking for a sharp, smooth, and consistent disposable blade. I'm guessing that is what you'd find if you were to spring for the zirconia ceramic.

That being said, I can't see myself shelling out $14 a pop to load up my injector with these things ($20.25 for 3-hole DE). :ohmy:
 

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
I'd certainly try one, but my experience with ceramic knives has been less than satisfactory. Ceramic is extremely brittle, and while a little chip may be tolerable when slicing a hunk 'o dead animal, I wouldn't want to see how that works on my mug. Think of a bad Feather on steroids.
 
Ceramics can be quite strong depending on material and grade of material. However, as mentioned, they are brittle. With the thickness dimension of a blade, and the fact that razors when tightened, cause the blade to bow; doesn't sound like a good ides for a DE.
 
King Camp Gillette worked for the man who invented the crown bottle cap.
He told Gillette, "Invent something that people will use, throw away, then buy more."
The whole Gillette business model is based on selling the shaving public razor blades. They only make the razors so you'll have something to put the blades into.
They make their money selling blades.
If ceramic razor blades were practical it would be in Gillette's interest to suppress this knowledge and insure that these long lasting blades never saw the light of day.
Bob.
 
Ceramics can be quite strong depending on material and grade of material. However, as mentioned, they are brittle. With the thickness dimension of a blade, and the fact that razors when tightened, cause the blade to bow; doesn't sound like a good ides for a DE.

+1 They would probably shatter as you're drawing the razor across your face.

==Tom
 
most DE shavers bend the blade when you tighten them, ceramic blades are NOT bendable, alot of manufactures apply a closed ceramic layer (its never the top one) becuase of that, basicly, on that scale it cant crack or chip, and adds hardness to the blade,
 
While a ceramic blade might not work in a DE, there's no reason why it wouldn't work, in an SE razor like an injector or GEM.
 
With the thickness dimension of a blade, and the fact that razors when tightened, cause the blade to bow; doesn't sound like a good ides for a DE.

The blades I was thinking of are available as injector blades -- no bowing effect. The drawings on the site look just like ordinary injector blades without the holes. Gotta measure my injector blades.

A bowed ceramic DE blade sounds like a real bad idea! SNAP! AAAYYY!
 
I wonder if they could fabricate something that would fit my Gem :biggrin:

Really, I think application here would be in an injector or a shavette type straight.

Do we have a member with lots of experience who's flush with cash and would be willing to do a comprehensive review of ceramic injector blades? It's not my on either account, especially not with the holidays coming up :001_unsur
 
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/26/1936250&from=rss

In that forum appropriately called slashdot, they quote Kyocera, the ceramic kitchen knife people. Kyocera says that ceramic blades are far sharper then any metal blade. Apparently, at the microscopic level, a metal edge is more rounded than a ceramic one.

They tested ceramic blades for shaving. Result? Far more cuts than with a regular blade.

Phooey.
 
Ceramics can be quite strong depending on material and grade of material. However, as mentioned, they are brittle. With the thickness dimension of a blade, and the fact that razors when tightened, cause the blade to bow; doesn't sound like a good ides for a DE.

It's one of those things that while great in theory would probably have problems once it met the real world. That said, if one ever comes on the market at a less than astronomical price, hell yeah I'd try it.
 
If anyone is getting tired of speculating, you can get a ceramic injector blade for ~$14. That's not even stratospheric. Mine comes wednesday.
 
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