Blade Sharpness Research Project

[helicopter]

Nice to see your sarcasm submodule is in fine fettle, today , 'Copter.

And that's some "damage" there: it looks as if it were intended for a can of Pringles chips ("crisps") rather than a tuck of razor blades.

And they should have printed on the tuck: "Special - four blades for the price of five!"*

/Acey

*- For me, anytime the factory line cannot even get the packaging executed properly, it casts my doubts on everything upstream.

The shrink was also all catty whompass, something I have seen with several of these Indian blades. At first I can't tell which face of the tuck is supposed to have the folds, and for a moment thought, 'Is this a cousin to Zaza Gold?" And then I remembered they did a good job folding and sealing the cellophane on the long sides of that tuck. These ones look like they ran them through an oven rather than a heat press.

 

[helicopter]

This the Xiemei Shanghai Mei Li Xueshanlang Snow Mountain Wolf Super Stainless short A77 blade. It is mild, durable, and after the coating wears, very consistent. It is 95 microns thick, and balance is good enough that it shouldn't be a problem. Despite positioning as "Super Stainless," it has a heavy and impactful metallic coating.

I received 200 of the Snow Mountain Wolf 1cm short blades when I ordered 100 of each of the Antelope tall 1.7cm blades from VICMOVE Store on Ali Express. I decided to test one and return the other. I am used to getting different packaging, but I was surprised the same store would offer two different priced and modeled blades of one size, and ship two cartons of a different size blade of the same model.

It is a simple two stage grind with a heavy and broad metallic coating, and a polymer coating. After the test, second picture, the edge remains in excellent condition with only a few very small chips. It is not the fanciest design, but it is good steel. The package says it is imported. In a shavette, these blades will probably last a very long time.

I think I would prefer a blade with less initial coating impact than this. It probably tugs a lot for the first couple shaves before the coating has worn enough to expose the sharper steel beneath.

Date	24-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.095
Blade	Xiemei	Snow Mountain Wolf	Super A77 1.0	China	1-Jan-2024
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	New	Paper	Paper	Paper	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	12	6	6	6	6
Median F (g)	77.5	65	65.5	67.5	66
Mean F (g) Top	72	62	62	65	64
Mean F (g) Bottom	87	68	68	70	67
Mean F (g)	80	65	65	67	65
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	88	76	76	79	78
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	106	83	83	85	82
Median Adj. F (g)	95	79	80	82	81
Mean Adj. F (g)	97	79	79	82	80

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[helicopter]

This is the Starmaxx Superior Platinum SMP100 patriot blade, which is made in India for the 2023 London company. Unlike the previously tested Starmaxx Superior Stainless HQ SMS 200 blade, this SMP100 has a Starmaxx hologram on the tuck and it is shown as a current product on the website.

The tuck of five blades doesn't have an open flap. It is a thin 90 micron blade, mild-moderate in sharpness, with excellent durability and consistency. Performance is consistent with the advertised platinum based metallic coating.

The primary grind is done with coarse and uneven abrasives, but the secondary and tertiary grinds are done with even abrasives. After the test, second photo, we can see the failure mode of the steel is some small chipping, typical of good razor blade steel.

The performance is similar to the Starmaxx SS, but that one was thicker 95 micron steel. The grind is similar enough they could be the same specification, but I wouldn't say they match. The metallic coating is almost certainly the same. This one is thinner, and has a slightly thicker and milder edge; perhaps that is an intentional difference in design to keep it from being too fragile. In any case, they are not identical specifications, but they are pretty similar.

Date	24-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.091
Blade	Starmaxx UK	Starmax	Platinum SMP100	India	1-Jan-2024
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	New	Paper	Paper	Paper	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	6	7	3	5	6
Median F (g)	70	65	64	65	64.5
Mean F (g) Top	74	66	65	64	68
Mean F (g) Bottom	67	64	63	65	63
Mean F (g)	71	65	64	65	65
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	90	80	80	78	83
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	82	78	76	80	76
Median Adj. F (g)	85	79	78	79	79
Mean Adj. F (g)	86	79	78	79	79

This blade is fine, and this time without a misleading product name; but again, I don't think it is worth the street price of $11/100.

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[AceyMan]

These ones look like they ran them through an oven rather than a heat press.

Industrial engineer, seeing the resulting product:

"No, you're supposed to *heat-treat* the steel, and *shrink-wrap* the boxes, not the other way around."

 

[helicopter]

This is the Starmaxx Superior Platinum SMP300 gold blade, which is made in India for the 2023 London company. Like the Starmaxx Superior Platinum patriot SMP100, it has a Starmaxx hologram on the tuck and it is shown as a current product on the website.

The tuck of five blades doesn't have an open flap. It is a 95 micron blade, mild-moderate in sharpness, with excellent durability and consistency. Performance is consistent with the advertised platinum based metallic coating, and is nearly identical to the 90 micron Superior Platinum patriot SMP100.

Since the tuck was all smashed up from RBC, I picked the blade with the least damaged wrapper for the test, and avoided measuring the corner that corresponded to the tuck damage. Microscopic inspection didn't indicate any damage to the bottom edge of that blade there. The top edge was sharper, and that edge alone was more comparable in overall sharpness to the Superior Stainless SMS 200 red blade.

The three stage grind is done with uneven abrasives, but the mild geometry prevents this from weakening the apex. After the test, second photo, we see the failure mode of the steel is small chipping, which is typical of goo razor blade steel.

The performance closely resembles that of the 90 micron Starmaxx SP SMP100 patriot blade, and performance of the top edge alone is reasonably similar to the 95 micron Starmaxx SS SMS200. The grind matches the SMP100 patriot. The metallic coating is almost certainly the same on all three.

All of these Starmaxx blades are so similar that it doesn't really matter which one you get, though I wouldn't recommend any of them at the street price of $11/100.

Date	24-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.095
Blade	Starmaxx UK	Starmax	Platinum SMP300	India	1-Jan-2024
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	New	Paper	Paper	Paper	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	11	6	6	10	6
Median F (g)	70	65	65	65	67
Mean F (g) Top	63	62	65	68	70
Mean F (g) Bottom	78	67	66	68	68
Mean F (g)	71	64	66	68	69
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	77	75	80	82	85
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	95	82	81	83	83
Median Adj. F (g)	85	79	79	79	82
Mean Adj. F (g)	86	79	80	83	84

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[helicopter]

This is the Super-Max Diamond Edge Super Platinum blade from the Thane Mumbai, India plant that closed at the end of 2020. It is mild, and for a thin 90-micron blade, has very good durability and consistency.

The scratches are uneven, but also fairly fine. There are some scratches from the secondary grind near the apex. You can see the dark platinum based metallic coating, and the second photo shows the failure mode of the steel is some fine chipping along the edge, typical of high-quality razor blade steels.

There isn't another blade that jumps out at me as being made to the same specification, but this one is priced the same as most of these Thane and Super-Max blades, so if you like it, you can get it for $11/100 at RBC. I would personally look for something with more consistent abrasives in the secondary grind if I were shopping for mild blades in that price range.

Date	25-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.090
Blade	Super-Max	Diamond Edge	Super Platinum	India	1-Jan-2022
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	New	Paper	Paper	Paper	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	8	10	7	11	15
Median F (g)	70	68	68	67	68
Mean F (g) Top	65	62	67	64	67
Mean F (g) Bottom	75	72	71	74	75
Mean F (g)	70	67	69	69	71
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	79	76	82	78	81
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	92	88	86	91	92
Median Adj. F (g)	85	82	83	82	83
Mean Adj. F (g)	86	82	84	84	87

It is also very similar to the Baili Platinum green, Dorco STP301, and Cloud SS red blades, which are all readily available and significantly less expensive.

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[helicopter]

This is the July 11, 2024 Personna Comfort Coated blade, which came with plain printing and plain wrappers and a 100 pack, like the other recently produced AccuTec Personnas I have tested. I will skip over the redundant parts of the test, since we have tested these before. The only interesting thing about this one is that it is milder and a bit less balanced than what we normally see. There is more coating impact, especially on the bottom edge. It is actually the mildest American Personna tested, including some blades from before the current Comfort Coating introduction.

It is an interesting sample because these blades tend to be quite sharp. I bought 1800 blades from this batch. I guess I should give one of them a spin.

Date	25-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.101
Blade	AccuTec	Personna	Comfort Coated	United States	11-Jul-2024
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	New	Paper	Paper	Paper	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	9	5	6	5	3
Median F (g)	63.5	56	54.5	56	57
Mean F (g) Top	57	53	51	54	56
Mean F (g) Bottom	70	59	58	60	58
Mean F (g)	64	56	55	57	57
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	70	64	62	66	69
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	85	72	71	73	71
Median Adj. F (g)	77	68	67	68	70
Mean Adj. F (g)	77	68	67	70	70

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[LRod]

This is the July 11, 2024 Personna Comfort Coated blade, which came with plain printing and plain wrappers and a 100 pack, like the other recently produced AccuTec Personnas I have tested. I will skip over the redundant parts of the test, since we have tested these before. The only interesting thing about this one is that it is milder and a bit less balanced than what we normally see. There is more coating impact, especially on the bottom edge. It is actually the mildest American Personna tested, including some blades from before the current Comfort Coating introduction.

View attachment 1949535 View attachment 1949536

It is an interesting sample because these blades tend to be quite sharp. I bought 1800 blades from this batch. I guess I should give one of them a spin.

View attachment 1949537

Date	25-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.101
Blade	AccuTec	Personna	Comfort Coated	United States	11-Jul-2024
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	New	Paper	Paper	Paper	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	9	5	6	5	3
Median F (g)	63.5	56	54.5	56	57
Mean F (g) Top	57	53	51	54	56
Mean F (g) Bottom	70	59	58	60	58
Mean F (g)	64	56	55	57	57
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	70	64	62	66	69
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	85	72	71	73	71
Median Adj. F (g)	77	68	67	68	70
Mean Adj. F (g)	77	68	67	70	70

View attachment 1949540

Blade Sharpness Test Index

I used one out of the packs I bought (because of you) and they seem to be the same as all my other older Lab Blues. Maybe under the scope it looks different, but to me it shaves exactly the same. Weird!

 

[helicopter]

I used one out of the packs I bought (because of you) and they seem to be the same as all my other older Lab Blues. Maybe under the scope it looks different, but to me it shaves exactly the same. Weird!

It is a pretty consistent set of samples, so this one being the max still isn't that far off. It's not like the bad batches of Sotraco and Czech blades we have tested. I'm not worried about it, more just curious. I marked one and pulled it out to try myself.

It looks totally normal to me, too. The one that looked different hasn't been tested yet. I am waiting on another sample.

 

[Flanders]

The only interesting thing about this one is that it is milder and a bit less balanced than what we normally see.

I think you know who to contact if these aren't your jam!

 

[LRod]

I think you know who to contact if these aren't your jam!

I think the fact that he bought 1800, will make them his jam no matter what!

 

[BBSSBOSS]

I think the fact that he bought 1800, will make them his jam no matter what!

That's a lot of jam

 

[helicopter]

This is the Super-Max Blue Diamond Platinum Coated patriot blade, which was made in India for export by the Middlesex, UK Super-Max Limited. It is mildly sharp, with a crude grind, and typical durability and consistency for a thin 90 micron blade with a platinum based metallic coating.

There is a Vidyut hologram on the tuck. It is also stamped with a code "12 B 50" which I can't decipher.

It is ground with coarse and uneven abrasives. After the test, second photo, you can see that the failure mode of the steel is some medium chipping at the apex.

Performance is fairly good among Indian blades. It doesn't match another one of these blades closely enough for me to speculate about related specifications.

Date	25-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.090
Blade	Super-Max UK	Super-Max	Blue Diamond Pt	India	1-Jan-2022
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top	Bottom / Top
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	New	Paper	Paper	Paper	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	9	8	12	13	16
Median F (g)	61	60	57	60.5	65
Mean F (g) Top	58	57	57	60	60
Mean F (g) Bottom	67	63	65	69	74
Mean F (g)	63	60	61	64	67
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	71	70	70	73	73
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	82	77	80	84	90
Median Adj. F (g)	74	73	70	74	79
Mean Adj. F (g)	76	74	75	79	82

I see some of these for $10/100, which isn't bad, but it isn't really competitive either. The steel and coating perform well, but the grind is crude, and there are a lot of great mild blades at lower prices. It was probably a bargain five years ago.

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[BigAlVista]

I bought 1800 blades from this batch.

That should last you for a few months...

 

[BigAlVista]

I think the fact that he bought 1800, will make them his jam no matter what!

The Jam, the bread and the butter!

 

[helicopter]

I tried a 7/11/24 Personna Comfort Coated in my Rex Sentry, terrible for blade feel and cuts, and the blade was fine, even on troublesome spots against the grain. I also couldn't distinguish between the edges.

 

[Alex Jr]

terrible for blade feel and cuts,

I read that too fast totally ignoring the “for”.

Calm down Alex, personna is still fine.

 

[helicopter]

I read that too fast totally ignoring the “for”.

Calm down Alex, personna is still fine.

I picked the razor because I will know if the blade is going to be a problem in any razor once I try it in the Sentry.

 

[NorthernSoul]

This is the July 11, 2024 Personna Comfort Coated blade, which came with plain printing and plain wrappers and a 100 pack, like the other recently produced AccuTec Personnas I have tested.

That looks quite different from the 2023 Comfort Coated blades which are one of the sharpest you've tested. Do you think this is a deliberate change that AccuTec has made? Or just normal variation?

 

[NorthernSoul]

This is the Super-Max Blue Diamond Platinum Coated patriot blade, which was made in India for export by the Middlesex, UK Super-Max Limited.

So, there is no similarity with the Diamond Edge blades, despite the similarity in names, I guess? I seem to remember liking the Diamond Edge quite a bit more.