Blade Sharpness Research Project

[helicopter]

This is the Pro Edge Platinum Ultra Smooth Shave blade, which is another blade that is made in India for the UAE market. It is a thin stock blade of moderate sharpness with good durability and consistency.

According to The Razor Company, it is an RK blade, which means it is made by Tigaksha, along with Vidyut and Supermax. The Mumbai location of the old Vidyut Metallics factory is no longer the location of a factory, or even a current registered razor related business. There was some discussion on this forum about whether Supermax blades are made in the Tigaksha factory, Google maps confirms this to my satisfaction.

This one does have a date code, which I like to see. "Galactic Conquistadors" could have been named by a teenager. It shows how seriously these business people take the Indian company registration requirements.

A lot of these Indian blades look similar. The primary grind of this one is typical, and it has the short tertiary bevel and dark metallic coating I am starting to expect.

This one has a failure mode of small chipping. It is good steel considering it is thin 90 micron stock.

Date	9-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.090
Blade	RK	Pro Edge	Platinum	India	1-May-2023
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / 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	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	6	3	5	3	6
Median F (g)	54	55	58	61	62
Mean F (g) Top	51	54	57	61	63
Mean F (g) Bottom	60	55	58	59	61
Mean F (g)	56	54	57	60	62
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	63	65	70	75	77
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	74	67	70	72	75
Median Adj. F (g)	66	67	71	74	76
Mean Adj. F (g)	68	66	70	74	76

It has the J-curve typical of platinum coatings, and performance is quite good.

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[AceyMan]

Wow,

Best nerd/data thread since the 2014 SEM scans.

Muchos kudos to helicopter and everyone who sent him blades.

Now, for my actual question – How can we get ..

Gillette 7 O'clock SharpEdge ('Yellows')

.. into the dataset?

it's a popular favorite, but I haven't seen anyone make mention of them. And, as a RU sourced blade, the time is now to do some hoarding (if you're into that kind of thing ).

Best,
/Acey

 

[Barberbite]

This is the Pro Edge Platinum Ultra Smooth Shave blade, which is another blade that is made in India for the UAE market. It is a thin stock blade of moderate sharpness with good durability and consistency.


According to The Razor Company, it is an RK blade, which means it is made by Tigaksha, along with Vidyut and Supermax. The Mumbai location of the old Vidyut Metallics factory is no longer the location of a factory, or even a current registered razor related business. There was some discussion on this forum about whether Supermax blades are made in the Tigaksha factory, Google maps confirms this to my satisfaction

I guess I am not following constantly or I am missing something.
Without raising controversy though, let's try to get on the same page and let me understand.

A few days ago you had asked me how I could be sure that Kyone blades are made in Bangladesh and you seemed a little skeptical when I answered because it was written on the TRC website.
Now TRC writes or says that Pro Edge blades are made by RK is okay without further proof?

I'd just like to try to understand better if you have other elements on the ratings to know for sure where they really are manufactured.
Is there only one blade factory left in India the Tigaksha?

 

[Sweeney_]

There was some discussion on this forum about whether Supermax blades are made in the Tigaksha factory, Google maps confirms this to my satisfaction.

I was under the impression that Super-Max (now defunct) were manufactured at the Thane plant in Mumbai which was shut down at the end of 2022.

2,000 'Supermax blade' employees sacked

Are we all still in agreement that SuperMax blades are no longer produced? This was big news back in '23.

 

[Barberbite]

There was some discussion on this forum about whether Supermax blades are made in the torTigaksha factory, Google maps confirms this to my satisfaction.

I missed this discussion.
For the past two years I have been reading about the closure of Supermax and that Supermax brand blades were no longer being produced.
Are Supermax blades still produced in Tigaksha's factories in India?

 

[pjgh]

Yeah, SuperMax went bust! See: https://www.zaubacorp.com/company/SUPERMAX-PERSONAL-CARE-PRIVATE-LIMITED/U27310MH2010PTC207411 < Status CIRP

Parent company Vidyut Metallics is still a going concern. See: https://www.zaubacorp.com/company/VIDYUT-METALLICS-PRIVATE-LIMITED/U28931MH1953PTC018405 but whether they make blades still is to be seen.

Those blades labelled Vidyut/SuperMax likely go back to a time when SuperMax were not a massive concern, but their company profile grew and they ended up buying almost half of their parent company. From the scant reading I have done about the company and its spin-offs (like RK) it's real brother vs brother stuff and worthy of a TV series like 'Succession'.

I have a fondness for those older blades like the Platinum (just tested) but moreso the old burgundy/yellow packed Economy Stainless. Those, and the other Super Platinum (counterpoint to the green/yellow Stainless) ... these:

Lovely blades, these and I'm lucky to have secured a modest stash.

SuperMax were huge!

To that end, their blades will still be for sale for some time to come ...

 

[pjgh]

This is the Vidyut Super-Max Platinum, which is a popular blade from the Indian company Vidyut Metallics. It is 95 micron stainless steel, quite mild in sharpness, and not very durable or consistent. The grind is fairly crude.

Politely put!

... but nowhere near as awful as these counterfeits that upon opening never went anywhere near my face:

Not for sale in India? Shouldn't be for sale anywhere!

 

[pjgh]

A lot of these Indian companies have bizarre registrations that point to residential addresses, even a shed, but this one looks looks like there is a real factory there. I am going to assume they make anything marked "Vertice" or "Starmaxx" and look for private label blades that match them.

Hazy memories now, but I think it was SilverMax originally ... which became EuroMax, originally with VERY SuperMax styling. StarMaxx likewise carry the same catalogue numbers as EuroMax and to my face were the self-same blades.

Vertice is a reasonable concern in India and even sub for Gillette (you know this) - the Winner Stainless is a Vertice blade. Now that PPG is moving its popular/global brand names to China and India, we're seeing the likes of Vertice filling in the gaps in the catalogue and I'd be very interested in your opinion as to whether, say, the Indian Astras are merely the 7 O'Clocks or whether they relate more to Vertice ... or even (shock) perhaps the whole lot, including the former 7 O'Clock lines are now made by Vertice.

 

[BigAlVista]

Just wondering if it is (or one day will be) possible to search the main chart using specific inputs.

For example:

-highlight carbon blades
-highlight blades from certain countries
-show only first shave values

I've posted a pivot table in this thread that facilitates the second two queries. I'll be posting an update later today

 

[helicopter]

I didn't know about Supermax closure and was not trying to reject established consensus. I just wasnt aware.

I am just trying to focus on testing these without stuffing a bunch of bad data into the database. If someone knows where all of the Indian blades are made, I am happy to go with anything that seems reasonably good.

There are tons of shell companies, like 10-20 per brand, and most of them don't have legitimate physical addresses. I have just been rolling with anything that brings up a factory on Google maps, a long skinny building being the most obvious. There are a lot of cheap apartments, with sheds, food carts, and tire repair businesses and such stuffed in.

TRC website, I mentioned in the Pro Edge test because it is fairly low in my hierarchy of source quality. If it is my only source, I will go with it, but certainly it is not gospel.

I think there must be 2 or more Indian factories.

If there are any real secrets to reveal here, I will work on them after at least a dozen more tests.

 

[BigAlVista]

I've posted a pivot table in this thread that facilitates the second two queries. I'll be posting an update later today

OK. As promissed...

 

[helicopter]

This is the Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge Yellow, from Procter and Gamble's Russian plant, Petersburg Products International. I had skipped this when going through Gillette blades previously, because it didn't seem to have a new non-Russian equivalent, and I expected it to have limited availability. This most recent example of it in my inventory, is from October 2, 2022. It was generously provided for testing by @WVShaver It is another mild blade packaged for the UAE market. It is a thin 90 micron blade, quite mild in sharpness, with good initial consistency, but somewhat poor durability typical of thin blades. It definitely has a following, but I think there are some good substitutes in current production.

The July 24, 2021 tuck shown here is not the one the blades came out of, but it is probably pretty similar, so I include it for reference in the photo. These blades are laser printed with a production date, which is something I love to see, and would be willing to pay a slight premium for.

The primary scratch pattern is excellent with medium-grained even-sized scratches.

The failure mode of the steel is medium chipping, which is typical of thin blades made from good steel.

Performance is similar to the Russian Astra SS, the new Indian Astra SS, the new Indian Gillette Wilkinson Sword Saloon Pack blade, and the new Chinese Gillette Wilkinson Sword blade. If this is a favorite, I would try those three Indian ones before stocking a big hoard of this one. The steel and grind look a little bit better on this one, but they are all pretty similar. I see this one around $14/100, the Indian GWS, $7/100, and the Indian Astra SS, $10/100.

Neither edge has the J-Shaped cutting force wear curve typical of blades with a platinum coating. I suspect it only has a polymer coating, and not a metallic one. The wear from the test procedure didn't change the appearance of the coating at the edge much, which is also consistent with the hypothesis that the coating is only polymer.

Date	10-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.090
Blade	Procter & Gamble	Gillette 7 O'Clock	SharpEdge Yellow	St. Petersgurg	2-Oct-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	9	9	18	16
Median F (g)	60.5	62	71.5	81	87
Mean F (g) Top	60	63	74	90	97
Mean F (g) Bottom	61	64	72	79	82
Mean F (g)	60	64	73	84	90
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	73	77	90	109	118
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	74	79	88	96	101
Median Adj. F (g)	74	75	87	99	106
Mean Adj. F (g)	73	78	89	103	109

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[helicopter]

This is my oldest example of the Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge Yellow, from Procter and Gamble's Russian plant, Petersburg Products International. It was made on January 3, 2011. I measured my newest example of it, an October 3, 2022 blade, in my previous test. It was generously provided for testing by @WVShaver in the hope that we could determine if rumors that pre-2017 blades are of better quality. The performance of this example is consistent with that hypothesis. While the new one I tested was quite mild in sharpness, with good initial consistency, but somewhat poor durability typical of thin blades, this one is moderate in sharpness with excellent initial consistency and good overall durability.

PPI blades from this era have the date code hidden under the glue at the end of the tuck, which is slightly annoying, but netter than no date code. I can't complain. I asked for a code. I got a code.

The grind is similar to the other one. This one might actually be a little more crude, with distal scratches approaching the edge.

The failure mode of the steel is different. Rather than medium chipping, we have some small chipping, along with large denting. Measured performance was the opposite of what I might have guessed from the photos. Sometimes dented steel remains somewhat sharp compared to similarly damaged chipped steel. Steels that dent can also feel smoother.

Typically, I am skeptical of claims that a new version of a blade is inferior to the older one that is more difficult to find. I think a lot of things we have today are the best ever produced. I estimate the AccuTec blades from 2023-2024 are as good or better than any other blades ever produced in the old Verona American Safety Razor Company plant.

However, in the case of this PPI 7 O'Clock yellow, I think this older one was probably made from a superior steel. This is only a sample of two, but my best guess is that it is not batch variation, but rather a design change consistent with the rumors. Perhaps a source of superior steel disappeared. Perhaps they wanted to consolidate some designs to reduce inventory and various other costs. Cynically, perhaps they didn't want their blades to perform well for so many shaves before requiring replacement. So it goes.

Date	10-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.090
Blade	Procter & Gamble	Gillette 7 O'Clock	SharpEdge Yellow	St. Petersgurg	3-Jan-2011
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	Paper	Paper	Paper	New	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	8	12	12	10	12
Median F (g)	55.5	53	54	61.5	61
Mean F (g) Top	56	63	63	69	70
Mean F (g) Bottom	55	50	52	56	58
Mean F (g)	56	56	57	62	64
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	69	76	76	84	86
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	68	61	64	68	70
Median Adj. F (g)	68	65	66	75	74
Mean Adj. F (g)	68	69	70	76	78

With the testing completed as of this time, my recommendation if you want to hoard these like a dragon hoards gold, is to look for the pre-2017 one.

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[pjgh]

I just bought a hanger of 2019 7 O'Clock Sharp Edge. I'm very happy to have done since I have a 2013 tuck and a 2019 tuck, preferring the 2019 subjectively ... maybe by 2021 things had changed?

 

[helicopter]

I just bought a hanger of 2019 7 O'Clock Sharp Edge. I'm very happy to have done since I have a 2013 tuck and a 2019 tuck, preferring the 2019 subjectively ... maybe by 2021 things had changed?

Certainly possible. I only tested 2011 and 2022. The new tuck has a 2017 copyright and graphic design. That doesn't mean the blade spec coincides with the tuck.

 

[helicopter]

@WVShaver also sent me this Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge Yellow, from Procter and Gamble's Russian plant, Petersburg Products International with a blade date of 3/13/19 and a tuck date of 3/17/19. I measured two more date codes of this blade in the previous two tests.

Failure resembles the October, 2022 blade.

Performance closely matches the October, 2022 blade.

Date	10-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.090
Blade	Procter & Gamble	Gillette 7 O'Clock	SharpEdge Yellow	St. Petersgurg	13-Mar-2019
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	Paper	Paper	Paper	New	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	12	15	20	16	24
Median F (g)	55	61	72.5	78	97
Mean F (g) Top	59	64	75	81	87
Mean F (g) Bottom	55	63	81	82	98
Mean F (g)	57	64	78	81	93
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	72	78	92	98	106
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	67	77	98	100	120
Median Adj. F (g)	67	74	88	95	118
Mean Adj. F (g)	70	77	95	99	113

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[helicopter]

This is the Lord Racer Super Stainless blade, which is made in Alexandria, Egypt by Sotraco. It is a moderately sharp blade, that is consistent through the first paper cut test, before rapidly failing at the edge starting with the second paper cut test.

The graphic design on this one is fun.

There is a spot in the template for a date code, but they left it full of place holder zeros.

It looks the same as the Lord New Platinum blade. The primary grind is a bit coarse. The first blade I tested had dead spots before the first paper cut, so I tried another one. The second one had a similar variance, but performed better than the first. The Lord New Platinum I tested previously also started out with duds, two in that case, so the data used in the chart is the second Racer and third Platinum.

The testing procedure destroyed the edge of this blade, and afterward, we see lots of large chipping. This blade is really only durable enough to make it through P3, and shows significant deterioration at P6. You might like it for its relatively short life.

Performance matches the New Lord Platinum. The thickness and material descriptions also match.

Date	10-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.090
Blade	Sotraco	Lord	Racer SS	Alexandria	1-Jan-2024
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	Paper	Paper	Paper	New	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	6	5	11	28	31
Median F (g)	51.5	54	58	59.5	70
Mean F (g) Top	55	58	57	58	63
Mean F (g) Bottom	48	50	66	80	96
Mean F (g)	52	54	62	69	79
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	67	70	70	71	76
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	59	61	80	98	117
Median Adj. F (g)	63	66	71	73	85
Mean Adj. F (g)	63	66	75	85	97

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[AceyMan]

Feather is way sharper than anything. In it's own league.

I'd say it seems like the Hi Stainless performance is targeted at pro barbers (much like their scissors), who won't reuse a safety razor blade (for either regulatory or practical reasons).

But, being, pros, they (clearly) have the skills to handle a super sharp edge and to make the most of it for customer work (=shaves). Makes sense to me.

/AC

 

[helicopter]

This is the Lord Big Ben Super Stainless Plum blade, which is made by Sotraco in Alexandria, Egypt. It comes in a tuck of ten blades, while the blue version I measured previously comes in a tuck of five.

Same as Racer, there are place holder zeros in the date fields.

Compared to the other Big Ben, the coating is thicker, darker, and more even on this one, but considering the sloppiness of the other one, I think it is just variation in production processes, rather than a different coating specification. This one has a bigger J-hook in its cutting force wear curve, which I attribute to this variation.

The large chipping at the edge is more sever than on the blue one, but the failure mode is the same. The quality of the steel is below average, but not terrible.

Performance is similar to the other Big Ben and the Rainbow, but the Blue Big Ben is 90 micron stock, this plum Big Ben is 95 microns, and the Rainbow is 100 microns. I measured both Big Bens twice side-by-side because I found this difference to be surprising. My guess is that the only difference in specifications is the thickness of the steel. They probably all feel a little different as a result.

Date	10-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.095
Blade	Sotraco	Lord	Big Ben SS Plum	Alexandria	1-Jan-2024
Wear on Edge	0	3	6	9	12
Edges Measured	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom	Top / Bottom
Measurement Medium	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22	Stren 6 .22
Dulling Substrate	Paper	Paper	Paper	New	Paper
Measurements	20	20	20	20	20
Adj. Std. Dev.	7	4	9	12	23
Median F (g)	55	50	54	56	62
Mean F (g) Top	51	47	55	63	75
Mean F (g) Bottom	61	52	58	58	66
Mean F (g)	56	49	56	60	71
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	62	58	67	77	92
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	74	63	71	71	81
Median Adj. F (g)	67	60	66	68	76
Mean Adj. F (g)	68	60	69	74	86

It is a moderate blade. Durability and consistency are below average.

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[pjgh]

@WVShaver also sent me this Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge Yellow, from Procter and Gamble's Russian plant, Petersburg Products International with a blade date of 3/13/19 and a tuck date of 3/17/19. I measured two more date codes of this blade in the previous two tests.

Performance closely matches the October, 2022 blade.

It does indeed! Perfect! That answers that!