I had a tuck of these that showed up as a bonus in some order .... did one shave and threw away the whole tuck .... they are indeed terrible blades of poor quality
Blade Sharpness Research Project
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- #802
This is the Nikky Proshave Artist Club type blade from the Seki City Japan Nippon Rikki Kogyo. It is very mild, but properly made of good steel, durable, and consistent. It is 8.00mm tall.
You can really see that polymerized preservative oil.
The primary grind is done with coarse and uneven abrasives, but the quality of those abrasives isn't doing anything at the apex, due to the geometry of the secondary and tertiary grinds. The failure mode is very fine shipping. If the mild sharpness is enough to get through your beard, then it should last you a long time.
It shows the normal J-shaped curve of a platinum coating, and is the mildest AC blade tested so far. After the coating impact is over, it is very durable and consistent, which is typical of AC blades.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
You can really see that polymerized preservative oil.
The primary grind is done with coarse and uneven abrasives, but the quality of those abrasives isn't doing anything at the apex, due to the geometry of the secondary and tertiary grinds. The failure mode is very fine shipping. If the mild sharpness is enough to get through your beard, then it should last you a long time.
It shows the normal J-shaped curve of a platinum coating, and is the mildest AC blade tested so far. After the coating impact is over, it is very durable and consistent, which is typical of AC blades.
| Date | 24-Oct-2024 | Blade Thickness, mm | 0.256 | ||
| Blade | Nippon Riki Kogyo | Nikky | Proshave | Japan | 1-Jan-2024 |
| Wear on Edge | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| Edges Measured | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom |
| 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 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Adj. Std. Dev. | 9 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 5 |
| Median F (g) | 67 | 61 | 55 | 59 | 59 |
| Mean F (g) | 67 | 58 | 56 | 59 | 58 |
| BESS Adj. Factor | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 |
| Median Adj. F (g) | 82 | 74 | 67 | 72 | 72 |
| Mean Adj. F (g) | 82 | 70 | 69 | 72 | 71 |
Blade Sharpness Test Index
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"please do not overdo it and contact our company"
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- #804
They aren't consistent in the spelling of "Nikky" either. It is "Niky" on the bottom of the dispenser. I figured "Nikky" is the preferred spelling, and they couldn't justify the cost of a new mold to make them match."please do not overdo it and contact our company"
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- #805
This is the short 10.33mm Cloud A77 blade from Shanghai Cloud. It was much more mild than the tall Cloud A77 blade. It also has a variance from one edge to the other.
The duller bottom edge of the new blade has a very heavy coating.
There is still quite a bit of coating on the blade after the test, and we see the typical failure mode of small chipping along the edge.
This is the top edge after the test. The coating on this edge looks much more normal, thinner, compared to the bottom edge.
It falls between the old blue B2004 Cloud DE blade and the red Cloud SS DE blade on sharpness. Performance of the steel and overall performance of the coating were good in terms of average durability and consistency.
You can see the significant variance, and how the bottom edge took a long time to reach peak sharpness. I suspect that the coating on the bottom edge was not applied properly.
Oh well, we had to hit a more marginal A77 blade if we were going to keep looking. I don't think we can expect Proctor and Gamble or Edgewell Personal Care levels of consistency from Shanghai Cloud Blade Manufacturing Company, though we have tested some impressive blades from their production.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
The duller bottom edge of the new blade has a very heavy coating.
There is still quite a bit of coating on the blade after the test, and we see the typical failure mode of small chipping along the edge.
This is the top edge after the test. The coating on this edge looks much more normal, thinner, compared to the bottom edge.
It falls between the old blue B2004 Cloud DE blade and the red Cloud SS DE blade on sharpness. Performance of the steel and overall performance of the coating were good in terms of average durability and consistency.
You can see the significant variance, and how the bottom edge took a long time to reach peak sharpness. I suspect that the coating on the bottom edge was not applied properly.
| Date | 24-Oct-2024 | Blade Thickness, mm | 0.101 | ||
| Blade | Shanghai Cloud | Cloud | A77 1.0 Red | 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. | 14 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 10 |
| Median F (g) | 64.5 | 59 | 59 | 60 | 63 |
| Mean F (g) Top | 54 | 51 | 55 | 58 | 58 |
| Mean F (g) Bottom | 75 | 63 | 61 | 60 | 65 |
| Mean F (g) | 65 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 62 |
| BESS Adj. Factor | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 |
| Avg. Adj. F (g) Top | 66 | 62 | 67 | 70 | 71 |
| Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom | 92 | 77 | 75 | 73 | 79 |
| Median Adj. F (g) | 79 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 77 |
| Mean Adj. F (g) | 79 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 75 |
Oh well, we had to hit a more marginal A77 blade if we were going to keep looking. I don't think we can expect Proctor and Gamble or Edgewell Personal Care levels of consistency from Shanghai Cloud Blade Manufacturing Company, though we have tested some impressive blades from their production.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
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- #806
This is the Supply Black Label chrome coated single edge injector blade. It is a private label blade manufactured by Kai in Seki City, Japan. There is some dispute about who makes this blade, but there are only three Japanese companies capable of making a blade like this, and the fingerprint oil, the grind design, the failure mode of the steel, and the sharpness wear curve all clearly point to Kai. This blade is made from the same steel on the same machines with the same setup as the Kai AC blades.
The grind is identical to Kai AC. Feather uses abrasives with more consistent particle size, and a much shorter secondary bevel for all of their thick shaving blades.
After the test, it is the spitting image of the Kai AC blades, the coating looks identical, and it has the same uncommon failure mode of denting as the Kai blades. Feather's shaving blades all have the more typical failure mode of small chipping.
Schick blades, Nikki blades, and all of the Feather blades are more consistent and durable than this blade and all of the Kai blades. They advertise a chrome coating for this blade. Performance, the J-shaped sharpness wear curve, points to a platinum coating. The coating probably contains both platinum and chrome; that is fairly typical. I would describe it as a platinum coating since it seems like platinum is driving the performance we see.
Like Kai AC blades, it is not as durable and consistent as other thick shaving blades, but, due to its thickness, is still reasonably durable and it might feel smoother than a harder and more brittle blade that exhibits the typical failure mode of chipping.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
The grind is identical to Kai AC. Feather uses abrasives with more consistent particle size, and a much shorter secondary bevel for all of their thick shaving blades.
After the test, it is the spitting image of the Kai AC blades, the coating looks identical, and it has the same uncommon failure mode of denting as the Kai blades. Feather's shaving blades all have the more typical failure mode of small chipping.
Schick blades, Nikki blades, and all of the Feather blades are more consistent and durable than this blade and all of the Kai blades. They advertise a chrome coating for this blade. Performance, the J-shaped sharpness wear curve, points to a platinum coating. The coating probably contains both platinum and chrome; that is fairly typical. I would describe it as a platinum coating since it seems like platinum is driving the performance we see.
| Date | 25-Oct-2024 | Blade Thickness, mm | 0.252 | ||
| Blade | Kai | Supply Injector SE | Black Label Chrome | Japan | 1-Jan-2024 |
| Wear on Edge | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| Edges Measured | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom |
| 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 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Adj. Std. Dev. | 5 | 14 | 29 | 44 | 47 |
| Median F (g) | 51 | 45 | 50 | 49 | 51 |
| Mean F (g) | 53 | 48 | 61 | 68 | 73 |
| BESS Adj. Factor | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 |
| Median Adj. F (g) | 62 | 55 | 61 | 60 | 62 |
| Mean Adj. F (g) | 65 | 59 | 75 | 83 | 89 |
Like Kai AC blades, it is not as durable and consistent as other thick shaving blades, but, due to its thickness, is still reasonably durable and it might feel smoother than a harder and more brittle blade that exhibits the typical failure mode of chipping.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
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- #807
This is the Parker injector blade. It is made in the US, and like all current American injector blades, it comes from the AccuTec plant in Virginia. It is fairly mild, even for a thick single edge blade, and it has the typical excellent durability and consistency we expect of a thick AccuTec shaving blade. I am not sure why they didn't put the same edge as the GEM shaving blade on it; perhaps it is an existing design for another application. I know some of these thick blades are also used in industrial machines, laboratory machines, and other things like that.
We can see that it does have a three stage grind, a metallic coating, and a polymer coating, which is what we expect for modern stainless shaving blade specifications.
After the test, the edge is in excellent condition. It is a very durable steel and grind. I suspect it is a fairly thick angle at the apex, but I don't have a good way to measure that.
Proximity to FHS-10 on the chart also makes me suspect the design, while suitable for shaving, may have originally been optimized for another purpose, such as cutting fiber or textiles.
This is not the one to buy unless you like milder blades. It should be the most durable and consistent option if it is sharp enough for you. I understand this same blade is sold under several private labels, including Supply White Label, and is the only American injector blade in production. There are also the Chinese Schick blade and the Japanese Kai blade. I am not sure if there are others. Supply also markets a premium Japanese blade designated "Platinum Label," and there is a Japanese blade marketed by Schick available is some markets. American forum members were getting the Japanese Schick injector from Connaught's in the UK.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
We can see that it does have a three stage grind, a metallic coating, and a polymer coating, which is what we expect for modern stainless shaving blade specifications.
After the test, the edge is in excellent condition. It is a very durable steel and grind. I suspect it is a fairly thick angle at the apex, but I don't have a good way to measure that.
Proximity to FHS-10 on the chart also makes me suspect the design, while suitable for shaving, may have originally been optimized for another purpose, such as cutting fiber or textiles.
| Date | 25-Oct-2024 | Blade Thickness, mm | 0.258 | ||
| Blade | AccuTec | Parker | Stainless Injector | United States | 1-Jan-2024 |
| Wear on Edge | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| Edges Measured | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom |
| 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 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Adj. Std. Dev. | 6 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 8 |
| Median F (g) | 61 | 57 | 55 | 57 | 55 |
| Mean F (g) | 63 | 57 | 55 | 57 | 57 |
| BESS Adj. Factor | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 |
| Median Adj. F (g) | 74 | 70 | 67 | 70 | 67 |
| Mean Adj. F (g) | 76 | 70 | 67 | 70 | 70 |
This is not the one to buy unless you like milder blades. It should be the most durable and consistent option if it is sharp enough for you. I understand this same blade is sold under several private labels, including Supply White Label, and is the only American injector blade in production. There are also the Chinese Schick blade and the Japanese Kai blade. I am not sure if there are others. Supply also markets a premium Japanese blade designated "Platinum Label," and there is a Japanese blade marketed by Schick available is some markets. American forum members were getting the Japanese Schick injector from Connaught's in the UK.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
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- #808
This is the Jiefcnel Cut Special Platinum Coated Edge hair shaper blade. Like several Chinese hair shaper blade brands, the packaging is designed to mimic Feather. It is made in Shanghai, China. Some others are from Xiangshi, which is 1300 kilometers away from Shanghai. I suspect there are at least one blade from each city, but they may all be the same.
It has a spine, and the steel has some mild corrugation. The thickness across the wave peaks is 0.121mm. With calipers, I measured parallel to the waves at 0.11mm. I suspect the stock is standard 100 micron razor blade steel before the corrugation is rolled onto it.
These blades are thin, and don't have much clamping in barber razors modeled after the Weck shavettes, so I suspect the corrugation is there primarily to give it a bit more stability, rather than to change the shape of the apex with a serrated effect.
It looks like a two stage grind, and the primary bevel is crudely ground with a wide variation in scratch size.
After the test, there is lots of chipping at the apex. Note the grid in the background, this picture is zoomed to 50% to show how the waves are on the primary grind. I don't think the corrugation is changing things much at the apex, but it probably does constrain the design of the grind a bit, since the effective thickness of the stock for the grind is only 80 microns from valley to valley. In any case, I think they still could have made it sharper if they had wanted to.
The deep U-shaped cutting force wear curve is unusual. The coating is having a big impact, and while the edge preformed reasonably well, isn't very durable.
It isn't sharp, durable, or consistent, but it is very inexpensive, and performs well enough to get the job done if you want to try something different. It is the only blade of this type tested so far, so I can't really say how performance compares to others.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
It has a spine, and the steel has some mild corrugation. The thickness across the wave peaks is 0.121mm. With calipers, I measured parallel to the waves at 0.11mm. I suspect the stock is standard 100 micron razor blade steel before the corrugation is rolled onto it.
These blades are thin, and don't have much clamping in barber razors modeled after the Weck shavettes, so I suspect the corrugation is there primarily to give it a bit more stability, rather than to change the shape of the apex with a serrated effect.
It looks like a two stage grind, and the primary bevel is crudely ground with a wide variation in scratch size.
After the test, there is lots of chipping at the apex. Note the grid in the background, this picture is zoomed to 50% to show how the waves are on the primary grind. I don't think the corrugation is changing things much at the apex, but it probably does constrain the design of the grind a bit, since the effective thickness of the stock for the grind is only 80 microns from valley to valley. In any case, I think they still could have made it sharper if they had wanted to.
The deep U-shaped cutting force wear curve is unusual. The coating is having a big impact, and while the edge preformed reasonably well, isn't very durable.
| Date | 28-Oct-2024 | Blade Thickness, mm | 0.121 | ||
| Blade | Shanghai Cloud | Special Cut | Hair Shaper | China | 1-Jan-2024 |
| Wear on Edge | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| Edges Measured | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom |
| 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 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Adj. Std. Dev. | 19 | 9 | 18 | 25 | 32 |
| Median F (g) | 96 | 86 | 75 | 80 | 115 |
| Mean F (g) | 98 | 86 | 79 | 91 | 100 |
| BESS Adj. Factor | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 |
| Median Adj. F (g) | 117 | 105 | 92 | 98 | 140 |
| Mean Adj. F (g) | 119 | 105 | 97 | 111 | 123 |
It isn't sharp, durable, or consistent, but it is very inexpensive, and performs well enough to get the job done if you want to try something different. It is the only blade of this type tested so far, so I can't really say how performance compares to others.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
I'm surprised that nobody mentioned that these are the blades that are included with any of the new Oliworks razors. Maybe nobody wants to admit it after reading your test!
They include one tuck with each razor. I haven't touched them since I usually use my trusty favorites.
And now I'm definitely going to completely ignore their existence after reading this!!
I really don't understand why premium razor manufacturers would go to such lengths to produce great razors, only to damage their hard-earned reputation by shipping their wares with lousy blades. Henson, Leaf and Tatara all come to mind.I'm surprised that nobody mentioned that these are the blades that are included with any of the new Oliworks razors. Maybe nobody wants to admit it after reading your test!
They include one tuck with each razor. I haven't touched them since I usually use my trusty favorites.
And now I'm definitely going to completely ignore their existence after reading this!!
I really like my Thorn, but almost returned it having given its maiden voyage to a Leaf-branded half-blade.
Even though Henson braggs about them, their RK blades are meh. I have somehow amassed a small pile of them. They are the tribbles of my wet shaving den.
Why would someone sink $400 for a Muramasa, but be content with Tatara's mediocre blades?
If I wanted a lousy shave, I'd buy a bargain basement razor and choose my blades based on the wrapper artwork...oooh, a Tiger? They're cool. I'll take 100. A hippo? Give me another 100.
Imagine if Proctor and Gamble gave away a free toothbrush with every tube of toothpaste, but the lousy brush didn't remove any plaque. Would you buy another tube of the paste?
I'm guessing that the guys at Oliworks really aren't DE razor users. i.e., they've got an instructional video out that shows them removing a blade from a razor while grabbing the blade on the cutting sides!
That kind of leads me to that conclusion!
They're young entrepreneur's that found a good niche as an expansion of their families machine shop. And they handled initial production of Rex razors in the past, so they probably learned and got the idea from there.
I'm pretty sure they don't know much about the blades though. They're in Phoenix and Filoso is in Vegas, so it's pretty close for them to have a business relationship. They probably bought a pallet of those for peanuts!
More of an ornament for the box I guess!
Oliworks, Tatara, Henson etc..,
I think they're all: entrepreneur's/machinist/engineers!
Good at designing & building the tool but bad at picking the blade because I guess they overlook the importance of that essential accessory.
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Could be, but if you think about it, the point of a razor is to cut. I'm a bit flumixed that something so seemingly obvious could be overlooked. Cutting is the point, the rest is all show.
I might buy a custom knife because of the design, scales, frame materials, blade steel and workmanship, but if the knife came from the knife maker with a blunt edge, I'd send it back.
I shelled out $$$ for Henson Tis in spite of their blades, not because of them.
Totally agree but I think it's more common than not. As you mentioned, Oliworks, Henson, etc.. all include
garbage blades. I guess it's obvious to us but not obvious to them (we're enthusiasts!)
And whoever is a basic end user, will buy those blades and think that they're fine. It's all they know!
I've actually read some reviews on people that actually like those junk blades you've mentioned.
And they're not from the typical shaving nuts like us!
As a contrast:
The companies that make razors and are owned by people like us usually include good blades,
i.e., Blackland includes Lab Blue DE's & Comfort coated GEM's.
What do you say about Merkur that have been around forever and include the horrible Merkur blades?
I guess after all these years, nobody's gotten the memo!
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- Thread starter
- #814
I am with @LRod on this. 100% they don't know better.
If one is selling 2-3-$400 razors, I believe that there is an expectation of competence on the part of the buyer, so why bother including a tuck of blades? These buyers should already know if they prefer sharp, medium or mild blades.
With sub $100 razors more aimed at tempting or converting the cartridge razor crowd, if makers feel they must include some blades then they should include a sampling of both mild to sharp blades to give the newbie a better introduction to the difference in blade choice. And of course include an explanatory note on which is which.
With sub $100 razors more aimed at tempting or converting the cartridge razor crowd, if makers feel they must include some blades then they should include a sampling of both mild to sharp blades to give the newbie a better introduction to the difference in blade choice. And of course include an explanatory note on which is which.
- Thread starter
- #816
A big part of the problem is that there is a commonly perpetuated myth that blades are so subjective and personal that there isn't such thing as a good blade or a bad blade. Of course there are bad blades! Both edges should be ground in a similar way, coarse scratches from the primary grind should not be at the bevel, the apex should not roll over when it hits stubble for the first time, a batch of blades from March should reasonably resemble the ones from July, the coating should be sprayed on evenly, the blade should have an edge that starts out reasonably smooth and sharp, and stays that way for at least one shave, but five is better and ten is even better. Yet we see many firms churning out blades without the will and capability to meet these criteria.
I often hear the advice just to get a sample pack and blindly try some blades. People follow this advice and get one that contains like a dozen of the cheapest Samah and Sotraco blades, maybe Bic CP and Astra SP, and they spend six months working through them to find that the Bic, Astra, or one of the chrome Sotracos is the favorite, and think they have enough experience and knowledge to say the blade they picked suits them exceptionally well.
The reality is that they tried a bunch of blades that 95% or people won't like, and three blades that 65% will like, and they still haven't tried a single great blade like Feather, Schick / Wilkinson Sword Classic, KCG, Ladas, Muehle, or AccuTec Personna. Trying the entire Samah catalog will certainly make you appreciate a good blade, but you will do it without learning much at all about great blades; you would be better off just trying one well made blade.
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PSA to any manufacturers that come here looking to solve this problem, here are some good options:
If you want a really cheap blade that isn't trash, get a Jiangxi Xirui blade. They will customize the printing if you want.
If you want a better blade that would be distinguished from other blades and might attract a loyal following, you could try getting your own brand on some of these replica Polsilvers:
If you want something that is exceptionally good, get AccuTec blades:
Contact Us
Contact Support
1-800-336-4061
customerservice@atblades.com
I am sure they will be happy to put something together with your label on it as they have done for Supply, Battle Brothers, Edgewell, and others. Or, you can just buy them through Edgewell's Fromm as Personna Comfort Coated and sell them as they are like Blackland is doing. (Really, if you want to be a good razor manufacturer, just benchmark Blackland. Seriously.)
If you do a private label blade, I suggest you price it mostly according to the market for the underlying blade, and make your margin on volume discounts and such. The Chinese blades are $9-20/100 blades, and the AccuTec blades are $16-30/100 blades, depending on how well you do with the graphic design and such.
Some other name brand blades that are good options are the German made Wilkinson Sword Classic, and the new Indian made Astra Superior Platinum. Any of the 7 O'Clock Gillettes, Gillette Platinums, or Gillette SIlver Blues would be good choices, too. Feather is a great blade, too, but it is too sharp for some people, and it is expensive, so I wouldn't bundle it with a razor.
Whatever you do, avoid Czech Blades. If we are calling out American manufacturers, we can't forget about Tatara, Fatip, Boker, Rex, Merkur, and Razolution for their badly made private label Czech blades.
I often hear the advice just to get a sample pack and blindly try some blades. People follow this advice and get one that contains like a dozen of the cheapest Samah and Sotraco blades, maybe Bic CP and Astra SP, and they spend six months working through them to find that the Bic, Astra, or one of the chrome Sotracos is the favorite, and think they have enough experience and knowledge to say the blade they picked suits them exceptionally well.
The reality is that they tried a bunch of blades that 95% or people won't like, and three blades that 65% will like, and they still haven't tried a single great blade like Feather, Schick / Wilkinson Sword Classic, KCG, Ladas, Muehle, or AccuTec Personna. Trying the entire Samah catalog will certainly make you appreciate a good blade, but you will do it without learning much at all about great blades; you would be better off just trying one well made blade.
--------------------------------------------------
PSA to any manufacturers that come here looking to solve this problem, here are some good options:
If you want a really cheap blade that isn't trash, get a Jiangxi Xirui blade. They will customize the printing if you want.
If you want a better blade that would be distinguished from other blades and might attract a loyal following, you could try getting your own brand on some of these replica Polsilvers:
If you want something that is exceptionally good, get AccuTec blades:
Contact Us
Contact Support
1-800-336-4061
customerservice@atblades.com
I am sure they will be happy to put something together with your label on it as they have done for Supply, Battle Brothers, Edgewell, and others. Or, you can just buy them through Edgewell's Fromm as Personna Comfort Coated and sell them as they are like Blackland is doing. (Really, if you want to be a good razor manufacturer, just benchmark Blackland. Seriously.)
If you do a private label blade, I suggest you price it mostly according to the market for the underlying blade, and make your margin on volume discounts and such. The Chinese blades are $9-20/100 blades, and the AccuTec blades are $16-30/100 blades, depending on how well you do with the graphic design and such.
Some other name brand blades that are good options are the German made Wilkinson Sword Classic, and the new Indian made Astra Superior Platinum. Any of the 7 O'Clock Gillettes, Gillette Platinums, or Gillette SIlver Blues would be good choices, too. Feather is a great blade, too, but it is too sharp for some people, and it is expensive, so I wouldn't bundle it with a razor.
Whatever you do, avoid Czech Blades. If we are calling out American manufacturers, we can't forget about Tatara, Fatip, Boker, Rex, Merkur, and Razolution for their badly made private label Czech blades.
Attachments
That reminds me, based on the testing, I have to get my hands on some of those. Been avoiding them because of the name.
There is a responsibility on the part of the buyer to deal with reputable vendors that assemble decent sample packs and not just for the biggest bang for the buck. The buyer has to do some homework.
100% agree, more Tiger Platinums for me!
Similarly, I avoided Derbys for over a decade because of all the bad press here and other sites…finally tried them and liked them.
Perhaps some folks’ skin is more sensitive to sharpness and others are more sensitive to tugging.
- Thread starter
- #818
Derbys tend to be mild like a lot of Asian market blades. Derby is technically from the Asian side of town. It is definitely a good one to include in a sample pack. Mild blades are a little trickier to find a good one, because they could be that way intentionally, or accidentally. No one is going to make an exceptionally sharp blade that way by accident, so there is a certain threshold of competence with a very sharp blade that isn't there for mild blades.
I think of the blades that come with the razor as an emergency supply. The manufacturers know that we’re a picky lot and will have strong opinions on blades, especially people buying razors in the high price range, so they just throw something in. Blackland is here and is savvier than the rest, but I could understand a company thinking the blade throw-in doesn’t matter much for selling a razor.
- Thread starter
- #820
This is the Kyone Premium Chrome & Teflon Japan Super Stainless double edged blade from the Netherlander scissor and clipper company. I am not sure who makes it. The primary grind is a little crude, but performance was decent. It is moderate in sharpness, moderate in durability, and less consistent than most blades due to the initial impact of the thick metallic coating.
Though I doubt it, it could be made by Kyone in the Neatherlands. The same company distributes hair dryers and pink thinning shears that I can find as white label products on AliBabba. They would be the only Netherlander razor producer. There is a half-blade version of it, which would also be unusual for a low-volume producer. A different grind or coating would make much more sense. I don't think Kyone is actually a manufacturer of anything, except possibly, some high-end hair scissors.
The Razor Company website has it listed as a Samah product, which would make it Bengali. There are people on several forums saying it is a Samah blade, which I suspect is because of the TRC listing. It does not look like a Samah blade to me. The tuck is different, the performance is different, the printing is different, the tucks are not wrapped in cellophane, and the tucks are shipped in a flat box like FlyDears. I emailed TRC to ask them about this.
My best guess is that it is a private label Chinese blade, though I couldn't find a matching blade in my collection.
It has the flag of Netherlands on it, but that and the brand are the only things I see indicating a relationship to the country.
The metallic coating is dark, and the primary grind is crude.
The edge appears to remain in good condition after the test.
It has a big jump in sharpness with the initial coating wear. I compared it to several blades of similar performance, but none matched it in terms of packaging, metal finish, and such.
It is near the middle.
It would be interesting if this were actually Netherlander, and it would make sense for Kyone to proclaim proudly if it were. I think it is just another overpriced private label Chinese blade, and you would be better off with cheaper Chinese OEM blades from reputable manufacturers like Cloud, Kaili, and Xirui.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
Though I doubt it, it could be made by Kyone in the Neatherlands. The same company distributes hair dryers and pink thinning shears that I can find as white label products on AliBabba. They would be the only Netherlander razor producer. There is a half-blade version of it, which would also be unusual for a low-volume producer. A different grind or coating would make much more sense. I don't think Kyone is actually a manufacturer of anything, except possibly, some high-end hair scissors.
The Razor Company website has it listed as a Samah product, which would make it Bengali. There are people on several forums saying it is a Samah blade, which I suspect is because of the TRC listing. It does not look like a Samah blade to me. The tuck is different, the performance is different, the printing is different, the tucks are not wrapped in cellophane, and the tucks are shipped in a flat box like FlyDears. I emailed TRC to ask them about this.
My best guess is that it is a private label Chinese blade, though I couldn't find a matching blade in my collection.
It has the flag of Netherlands on it, but that and the brand are the only things I see indicating a relationship to the country.
The metallic coating is dark, and the primary grind is crude.
The edge appears to remain in good condition after the test.
It has a big jump in sharpness with the initial coating wear. I compared it to several blades of similar performance, but none matched it in terms of packaging, metal finish, and such.
| Date | 28-Oct-2024 | Blade Thickness, mm | 0.100 | ||
| Blade | Kyone | Kyone | Chrome & Teflon | Neatherlands | 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. | 9 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 12 |
| Median F (g) | 63.5 | 50 | 48 | 48 | 52 |
| Mean F (g) Top | 63 | 54 | 50 | 54 | 59 |
| Mean F (g) Bottom | 63 | 48 | 47 | 42 | 47 |
| Mean F (g) | 63 | 51 | 48 | 48 | 53 |
| BESS Adj. Factor | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 | 1.22 |
| Avg. Adj. F (g) Top | 77 | 65 | 61 | 66 | 72 |
| Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom | 77 | 59 | 57 | 52 | 57 |
| Median Adj. F (g) | 77 | 60 | 59 | 59 | 63 |
| Mean Adj. F (g) | 77 | 62 | 59 | 59 | 64 |
It is near the middle.
It would be interesting if this were actually Netherlander, and it would make sense for Kyone to proclaim proudly if it were. I think it is just another overpriced private label Chinese blade, and you would be better off with cheaper Chinese OEM blades from reputable manufacturers like Cloud, Kaili, and Xirui.
Blade Sharpness Test Index
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