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Zirconia Ceramic razor blades

Aren't ceramic blades quite brittle? I wouldn't think they would work at all in a razor that is designed to bend the blade.
 
With an R75 rating I am thinking that these blades were not designed to gently curve as our DE blades should. It is a shame, I bet they would last a very long time.
 
I dunno. If these are super super sharp, like a sapphire blade, I'd be afraid to shave with it. There is such a thing as too sharp.

-- John Gehman
 
What you say about brittleness is true, and that takes them out of the de department, but a single edge, injector or even a straight razor, that has intriguing possibilities.........
 
Ceramic blades aren't always super sharp... but they are really good at holding an edge. How good? 100 times better than steel. easy. So... a DE blade good for 300 shaves...

A ceramic blade chips when you do stuff like try to cut through bones in the kitchen. It would never ever chip while you are shaving. If you dropped it maybe.

Its a genius idea. Genius. Just gotta match the angle of the edge with that of a razor, and its a winning idea... cept apparantly Kyocera altready thought of it... supposedly.

http://www.mingspantry.com/kyoccerkniff.html#q12
 
Ceramic blades aren't always super sharp... but they are really good at holding an edge. How good? 100 times better than steel. easy. So... a DE blade good for 300 shaves...

A ceramic blade chips when you do stuff like try to cut through bones in the kitchen. It would never ever chip while you are shaving. If you dropped it maybe.

Its a genius idea. Genius. Just gotta match the angle of the edge with that of a razor, and its a winning idea... cept apparantly Kyocera altready thought of it... supposedly.

http://www.mingspantry.com/kyoccerkniff.html#q12

From the link

"The peeler is great! How come you don't make a shaver?
Too dangerous! A metal razor blade has a relatively "rounded" edge (under the microscope) which prevents the blade from cutting into the skin. A ceramic razor blade, however, does not have a rounded edge and slices into the skin. Thus, a ceramic shaver would be too dangerous to use. Several engineers in Sendai who tested prototypes can confirm this painful fact!"


Holy crap, an engineer actually tried this on himself? Ummm, try it on an orange or something first.

"What happened to your nose, Bob?"
"Tried the new razor, used Williams and ended up slicing off half my left nostril"
"Bummer"
"That's okay, chicks dig scars, he, he, he!"
 
Anyone ever mess around with these? You can order by the single piece if you call them up.
http://www.acebladestore.com/category.sc?categoryId=8

No--they are sharper and harder than ordinary blades and they are too dangerous to use for shaving.

Wilkinson Sword Classics contain a layer of ceramic compound. The English variety tend to feel very smooth, and yet they do not feel extremely sharp. I get the feeling that Wilkinson did that on purpose. Public safety?--I think so.
 
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US5056227, a Gillette patent from 1991, describes a ceramic razor blade. The ultimate edge is 300-Å or 30-nm, which is within the typical range for DE blades. The ceramic was coated with PTFE, just like a stainless steel DE blade. According to the filing these blades "exhibit excellent shaving properties." It says nothing about flexibility, possibly because the author envisioned mounting these edges in a cartridge. The patent has expired.

Drifting off topic, the question of "too sharp" is an interesting one. Different ways of grinding the edge will produce a larger or smaller tip radius, and different profiles. No doubt these affect performance and comfort. In the 2013 Gillette patent US20130014396, the authors discuss the trade-off and propose a novel approach.

Prior blades improved shaving comfort by reductions in tip radii and overall profile cross-section, reducing the tug-and-pull associated with cutting through hair. These sharper edges however required special implementation to avoid discomfort associated with the blade-skin interactions. Also, as a consequence of thinning the blade bevel profile, strength and durability can be compromised. [...] The present invention provides a blade tip having a wider forward profile near the blade tip with a small tip radius while maintaining a narrow profile away from the blade tip. The large forward profile near the tip in conjunction with a narrow blade profile further away from the tip provides a low cutting force blade edge that has less propensity to engage the skin allowing the skin to glide over the edge without nicking, cutting or scraping. Such a blade reduces irritation and increases comfort.

The result has an unusual profile. Intuitively I would expect it to feel dull, but perhaps my intuition is wrong. Maybe it would shave more like an injector or SE blade?



Another 2013 Gillette patent, US20130014395, expresses a similar idea. The inventors propose increasing the tip radius to 50-150 nm, among other changes. "The large tip radius in conjunction with a narrow blade profile provides a low cutting force blade edge that has less propensity to engage the skin allowing the skin to glide over the edge without nicking, cutting or scraping. Such a blade reduces irritation and increases comfort."

Of course these are just patent filings. I do not know if Gillette is using any of these ideas in its cartridge blades.
 
The patent on ceramic razor blades has expired? Very cool, now I can make my own at home!:wink2:
Thanks for this information. I'm not much of an engineer, but it is still fascinating stuff.
 
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