The differing quality of blades

Having read Mantics blog on the feather blades, I understand a little more than before about how and why blade quality may vary, but I am still somewhat baffled.

My first shave was with a Derby (a sampler blade included with the razor) and it wasn't at all good. I chalked it up to being a beginner. Then I used the feathers I had ordered for a while. These cut like nobodys business, but man I had to be carefull. Not very forgiving. I then tried the Derby once more just recently, and still not a good shave. I believe I could actually feel the blade getting duller as I shaved.

Last month I was in Spain, and to my surprise some supermarkets carry DE blades. I got some cheap Personnas:

These gave an ok shave, very forgiving, but for me they were only good for one shave.

Also, one chain had their own brand (at least I believe it's their own brand, they sell all kinds of toilettries under that logo):

I'd rather sport a beard than ever using these again.

Now I'm waiting for some more blades in the mail to continue my search for "the blade".

How can there be so much variance in something that is, on the face of it, so simple?

Cutting hair is difficult. It has very high strength, so if the blade isn't sharp, it will have difficulty cutting the hair. DE blades are thin, so the tolerances required to cut bevels on both sides of the blade evenly are very tight. It's not space shuttle technology here, but it does take care in manufacturing and quality control. The other big factor is steel composition, and much more importantly, hardening and tempering cycles. The really bad stuff probably does not consistently and properly manage the steel hardness, which will make it very difficult to get a sharp edge, and the edge will dull quickly. Coatings and other edge treatments also play a part in how the blade feels, and those are reasonably complicated processes.

Here's a "How it's Made" episode showing the process by one manufacturer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9PnTPIKd3g

As you can see, there are a lot of places to do the wrong thing in the process. If the company doesn't put money into quality control, any number of these steps can get out of wack, leading to issues with the blades.

So it comes down to "doing it right". That certainly explains the differing prices of blades, quality control is expensive. Watching the video made me wonder about the blades back in the days of King Camp Gillette... Also, in the video blades were said to average at six shaves. Anybody got the average shaves on carts?

Personally, I think a lot of it has to do with the type razor used & the prep as well. I think too many people "overbuy" in that they think a super aggressive razor is the shortcut through the woods. I have found that a good blade in a milder razor does a far better job with proper technique & excellent prep.

Sometimes we all get in a hurry and don't prep as well as we need to. Just my 2 cents.

The farther along I get, the more I agree with Turtle...with proper technique, you can get a good shave from almost any blade (This is definitely a paraphrase, so don't blame Turtle).

I hear you guys on prep and technique, and I'm still working hard on that And to be fair, when I tried the OM blades, it was in a country with harder water than I'm used to and a different soap than usual for me. I was in Spain, and my C&E was hard to work with there, so I got a La Toja. I figured a local soap would be better. But I kinda feel that a blade that gives a decent shave in more circumstances is a better blade than one which does not. Or am I in the woods here?

While we might disagree on our favorite blade, most of us would agree on broad categories. For example, some like/some dislike Feathers, but pretty much all would agree that it is extremely sharp but not terribly forgiving. At the other end of the spectrum, Derby is not considered to be a particularly sharp blade, even by those who like it.

I would recommend building yourself a sample pack of blades that are recognized to be high quality blades with a combination of good sharpness and smoothness. By doing this, the blade should cease to be the issue. There are many blades that fit that category. This would be my list, but it is by no means totally inclusive. There are countless blades from around the world that I have never tried. The one blade that most people like - but I don't - is the Personna Med Prep. Try as I might, I cannot get a good shave out of it. I am definitely in the minority on that one.

Polsilver SI
PermaSharp Super
Astra
Voskhod
Gillette Silver Blue

As for sharpness, I seem to recall having heard that coarser beards need sharper blades. Is this correct? My growth isn't particularly dense, but I think the hairs themselves are rather course.

I got some med preps and silver blues coming in the mail soon, among others, so I am looking forward to testing them. Will definitely put Polsilver and Astra on my list of stuff to try this year. Also the Lord blades look interesting to me.

Chadao said:

The farther along I get, the more I agree with Turtle...with proper technique, you can get a good shave from almost any blade (This is definitely a paraphrase, so don't blame Turtle).

Click to expand...

+1

Chadao said:

The farther along I get, the more I agree with Turtle...with proper technique, you can get a good shave from almost any blade (This is definitely a paraphrase, so don't blame Turtle).

Click to expand...

Agreed. There a few outliers, but for the most part, any blade will get the job done, and comfortably, with sufficient prep to soften the beard. I can get 20+ excellent shaves with most blades, and I'm sure that's mostly because of good prep and technique. There are differences in sharpness between blades, but it's a pretty subtle difference. If you don't prep well though, the "line of sufficient sharpness" moves up the sharpness scale, making less sharp blades feel unacceptable.

Which again leaves the question of "what is a sufficient prep". I understand that to a certain extent this is individual. From my background (it-services of various types) there is a point of diminishing returns to most things, and might not this be case with shaving as well? I guess I'll be trying to find that sweet-spot of sufficient everyday prep and type of blade.

xserror said:

Which again leaves the question of "what is a sufficient prep". I understand that to a certain extent this is individual. From my background (it-services of various types) there is a point of diminishing returns to most things, and might not this be case with shaving as well? I guess I'll be trying to find that sweet-spot of sufficient everyday prep and type of blade.

Click to expand...

Well, I guess the easy answer is "enough that your blades work" But yeah, it's going to depend on your beard to a certain extent. I've got a moderately heavy beard, but I get great life from blades (20-30 shaves not uncommon with many blades), and I think its due mostly to the fact that I do a very hard workout (profuse sweating for over an hour) prior to my shower. And, I shave in the shower. On occasions where I skip the workout, I notice a significant difference in the required cutting force - enough to make the blade feel like i should pitch it. The next day when I go back to the normal routine, the same blade cuts through like butter. So it definitely helps. The question is, as you said, what is the point of diminishing returns. You might try some of the more extreme prep routines to calibrate how soft your beard can really be, then make a call on how far you want to take it on a regular basis. Or you can just use Feathers...they cut through no matter what .

Chadao said:

The farther along I get, the more I agree with Turtle...with proper technique, you can get a good shave from almost any blade (This is definitely a paraphrase, so don't blame Turtle).

Click to expand...

+1
Let's be realistic folks - the blade manufacturing is incredibly rationalized now. Per country, there are 1-2 factories making almost all of the blades we see written up here in the US, Russia, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and perhaps a couple in India.
So my working assumption is that the QC will be very good, given the volume these guys are pushing out every day and given that the techniques have been honed (forgive the pun) over at least 50 years since Wilkinson introduced the stainless blade that we still use, more or less as it was back then (save variances in coating here and there).
It's all about technique IMO.

Ok, technique matters, I'm down with that. But are the difference in quality deliberately introdused then? Because it do exist. And I do believe Merkur blades are produced in Germany and Feathers in Japan.

xserror said:

Ok, technique matters, I'm down with that. But are the difference in quality deliberately introdused then? Because it do exist. And I do believe Merkur blades are produced in Germany and Feathers in Japan.

Click to expand...

Sure, Germany and Japan - and Korea - also make blades. But you get my drift: the manufacturing is relatively concentrated.
Most stainless blades have a PTFE (Teflon) coating to fills in the microscopic gaps that result from honing, making the blade smoother shaving. Platinum may also be used to treat and harden the edge, making the blade last longer.
So the quality of the steel itself, the honing process and the coatings all play their part.
But - again - in my own experience (perhaps different from others) these have an almost negligible effect on the outcome if you have good technique. Put another way, if you use the worst blade in the world and work on your technique AROUND THAT BLADE, you will likely get a very satisfactory outcome.

xserror said:

Ok, technique matters, I'm down with that. But are the difference in quality deliberately introdused then? Because it do exist. And I do believe Merkur blades are produced in Germany and Feathers in Japan.

Click to expand...

No, probably just a result of subtle differences in the process. But as Lmeklin said, it is subtle. The differences between most blades I find to be very small. Another thing..don't discount psychology. Sometimes differences are just in our heads. Objective observation is hard. Shaving has a lot of variables, so are you sure the differences you've seen are *really* due to the blades vs random day to day variations is prep, condition of your skin, etc? It may be that you're an excellent observer, and have taken a scientific approach. If so, awesome. But if you haven't, give all of the blade brands some more trials before coming to any firm conclusions about a given brand's relative performance.

jamesspo said:

...Another thing..don't discount psychology. Sometimes differences are just in our heads. Objective observation is hard. Shaving has a lot of variables, so are you sure the differences you've seen are *really* due to the blades vs random day to day variations is prep, condition of your skin, etc?...

Click to expand...

Excellent points. One of the best blades for me I had to "visit" several times before I figured out what is was telling me and that was "hurried prep".

Limekiln said:

+1
Let's be realistic folks - the blade manufacturing is incredibly rationalized now. Per country, there are 1-2 factories making almost all of the blades we see written up here in the US, Russia, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and perhaps a couple in India.
So my working assumption is that the QC will be very good, given the volume these guys are pushing out every day and given that the techniques have been honed (forgive the pun) over at least 50 years since Wilkinson introduced the stainless blade that we still use, more or less as it was back then (save variances in coating here and there).
It's all about technique IMO.

Click to expand...

Prep and technique are the foundation and must be mastered first. Then the differences can best be appreciated.

After all these years I can detect differences in blade quality without even looking at the blade (this happens when I go to my cottage and forget what blade I left in the razor last). Perhaps there are some who don't care or never will develop a feel for the differences and that's OK. But I've tried a LOT of blades over the years and have finally settled on Feather as my go to blade because it works best for me and I get so many shaves from them that the higher cost isn't much of a factor.

A good musician can make good music with any instrument and can make great music with the best instruments. However, an unpolished novice won't be able to make great music with either and will barely be able to notice a difference.

So yes, the differences are tiny, but I notice.

OldSaw said:

...A good musician can make good music with any instrument and can make great music with the best instruments...

Click to expand...

I'm going to have to use that line on a woman in the future!!

IMO it's far too simplistic to say that with good technique & prep any blade will give anyone a great shave.
I think it depends on how sensitive your skin is & maybe some other factors.
My technique doesn't change & however much prep I do & careful I am, blades like Derby, Treet & Gillette Super Thins cause me big problems, whereas Feather, Gillette Blacks, Bics, Polsilver & about 7 or 8 other types can be used 5 days running with no irritation.