Blade Sharpness Research Project

[NorthernSoul]

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.

I was hoping you would retest the Lord Silver Star at some point, @helicopter. It sticks out like a sore thumb on your charts.

It seems in most cases, people's subjective rating is in rough agreement with your numbers, but the Silver Star is a glaring exception. Many people over several years have reported the Silver Star gives a nicer shave than blades such as Racer SS or ASCO. How can these blades make such a poor showing in these tests? Perhaps a bad batch or something.

 

[Goblin]

I love how your tests of the 7OC SharpEdge completely vindicate my narrative about them.

When I started wet shaving they were the first blade that I really liked, and are what I cut my teeth on before switching to Feathers. I find the current iteration unusable and am actually a little surprised it tested as well as it did, but I may just be unduly negative about it because I was so keen on the pre-2017 version.

 

[pjgh]

I was hoping you would retest the Lord Silver Star at some point, @helicopter. It sticks out like a sore thumb on your charts.

It seems in most cases, people's subjective rating is in rough agreement with your numbers, but the Silver Star is a glaring exception. Many people over several years have reported the Silver Star gives a nicer shave than blades such as Racer SS or ASCO. How can these blades make such a poor showing in these tests? Perhaps a bad batch or something.

It absolutely is, isn't it?

The Silver Star is the standout blade from the Lord stable as sharp and smooth, and neither of those characteristics are demonstrated in the figures. It has me VERY puzzled. Across a number of years and presumably different batches, my experience of the Silver Star being a sharp, smooth and consistent blade has not been challenged - given it's standout character, I might expect average 0-6 figures in the mid-high 70s (as per the OK ... and Treet, Derby, etc) because to my face, when a blade is characteristicly smooth I often imagine greater sharpness than is shown to be empirically present. Otherwise, in the mid-high 60s as per Shark, RACER & Rainbow stainless.

On that, the ASCO stainless result also/therefore feels out of kilter with the rest of the pack. The ASCO to my face is more standout sharp than smooth and very much akin to the RACER brand. I think we'd make an assumption that the Platinums are much the same, as are the Chrome and then as are the Stainless. But, as we saw with Treet, there was in actual fact a sharp, medium and a dull grind across the brands.

... the figures are unfolding themselves, but the Silver Star (and ASCO) feels very off.

 

[helicopter]

It absolutely is, isn't it?

The Silver Star is the standout blade from the Lord stable as sharp and smooth, and neither of those characteristics are demonstrated in the figures. It has me VERY puzzled. Across a number of years and presumably different batches, my experience of the Silver Star being a sharp, smooth and consistent blade has not been challenged - given it's standout character, I might expect average 0-6 figures in the mid-high 70s (as per the OK ... and Treet, Derby, etc) because to my face, when a blade is characteristicly smooth I often imagine greater sharpness than is shown to be empirically present. Otherwise, in the mid-high 60s as per Shark, RACER & Rainbow stainless.

On that, the ASCO stainless result also/therefore feels out of kilter with the rest of the pack. The ASCO to my face is more standout sharp than smooth and very much akin to the RACER brand. I think we'd make an assumption that the Platinums are much the same, as are the Chrome and then as are the Stainless. But, as we saw with Treet, there was in actual fact a sharp, medium and a dull grind across the brands.

... the figures are unfolding themselves, but the Silver Star (and ASCO) feels very off.

There are a lot of duds and probably bad examples with Sotraco, so it is more difficult to sort out than with Samah, which has some odd designs (like the traditional/dull grind spec), but pretty robust production processes.

 

[Frito Ray]

Personally, I’m patiently waiting for the Russian King C. Gillette test to see if it confirms or denies the claims made by many that it is the same as the Russian Gillette Platinum.


We are an annoying bunch here, aren’t we Helicopter

 

[helicopter]

This is Procter and Gamble's old Russian King C. Gillette blade. It has a 3/9/2022 date laser printed on the blade, and a 3/10/2022 date stamped on the tuck. It is a mild-moderate blade made from thin 90-micron stock with performance suggesting a platinum coating. Durability and consistency are typical of a thin blade, that is, not terrible, but below average.

The grind looks even, a bit thick, and well-executed, with no scratches near the apex. The grind does look similar to the Gillette Platinum.

We see a combination of small chipping and denting after the test, indicating this edge is more resilient and less brittle than many PPI blades.

I don't see anything from PPI that screams out as being made to the same specification. While the Chinese KCG is quite sharp, this Russian one is mild-moderate. I don't think it is made to the same specification as the Chinese KCG or the Russian Gillette Platinum unless there is something about this individual blade that makes it veer away from nominal performance. The tuck is in poor condition, but the heavy wrappers and large wax dots seemed to be in good condition, protecting the edge from interacting with the paper. I would expect a variance in sharpness between the edges, or dead spots with a damaged blade, and we don't see that either. My best guess is that this individual is a fairly good example of the specification. It is still significantly sharper than the post-2017 Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellows I just tested.

As discussed previously, the Chinese KCG seems to be made to the specification of the Southeast Asian market Gillette Super Thin Platinums. It is interesting they decided to go with that when they also have the Shanghai Gillette Super Nacet. They may have decided a sharp blade was a better replacement for a mild-moderate blade than a more firmly mild blade. I would agree with that determination.

Date	11-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.091
Blade	Procter & Gamble	Gillette	King C. Gillette	St. Petersgurg	9-Mar-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.	10	9	13	16	19
Median F (g)	59	53	59.5	66	66
Mean F (g) Top	62	54	64	75	76
Mean F (g) Bottom	59	54	60	65	67
Mean F (g)	60	54	62	70	71
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	75	66	78	91	92
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	72	66	73	79	81
Median Adj. F (g)	72	64	73	81	81
Mean Adj. F (g)	74	66	75	85	87

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[Frito Ray]

This is Procter and Gamble's old Russian King C. Gillette blade

Ask and you shall recieve…thanks!


That is very surprising, but explains why I liked them so much.

I never tried the Chinese KCGs nor any of the Platinums but it looks like I should not expect the same feeling as one of my old favorites…luckily I still have 30 of them.

Funny that it lands close to the Derby Premium which I also like, but isn’t quite as durable.

 

[AndyPanda]

I've really been eager to see this blade get tested ... but this is one of those results that really surprises me. The Russian KCG feels sharper, smoother and more durable to me than the Chinese KCG. The Russian KCG still feels sharp after 12+ shaves and the Chinese KCG is getting dull by shave 5-6.

I wonder if this is due to the specific batch my Russian KCG came from or if it's down to wear from cutting paper vs wear from shaving soapy whiskers.

 

[helicopter]

This is the Lord Crown Platinum Class Super Stainless blade, which is made by Sotraco in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a moderately sharp 95 micron thick blade with a platinum coating and excellent durability and consistency.

This one does have a date code. It is from 2014.

The honed and coated edge is quite reflective.

The failure mode is small chipping. This blade held up well to testing.

It might be the same as the Big Ben Plum. The other blades of similar performance, Rainbow, Big Ben Blue, and Bolzano, are not 95 microns thick. It is more durable and consistent than any Egyptian blade tested so far, except for Bolzano.

Date	11-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.095
Blade	Sotraco	Lord	Crown Platinum	Alexandria	16-Apr-2014
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	5	9	12	20
Median F (g)	55.5	52	51	53	55
Mean F (g) Top	51	53	55	55	56
Mean F (g) Bottom	60	50	53	56	63
Mean F (g)	56	51	54	56	60
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	62	64	67	67	69
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	73	61	64	68	77
Median Adj. F (g)	68	63	62	65	67
Mean Adj. F (g)	68	62	66	68	73

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[helicopter]

This is the Lord Crown Super Stainless blade, which is made by Sotraco in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a mild 95 micron thick blade with poor durability and consistency. Performance suggests is may have a platinum coating.

The first two of these I started measuring had dead spots fresh from the tuck, but the third one did not. Analysis is on the performance of the third one. Starting a test with a blade that has dead spots, replacing the dud blade, and re-starting the test, is a recurring theme with Sotraco blades.

This one does have a date code from October, 2020.

The scratch pattern has some big gouges in it from uneven abrasive particles. I looks like they are not completely honed off at the apex. I suspect this is what caused the dead spots. Perhaps the belts were contaminated with some coarse abrasives; perhaps the belts are just poorly made.

The failure mode of the steel is large chipping.

A lot of these Sotraco blades have poor durability and consistency. Perhaps more testing will reveal some interesting trends.

Date	11-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.095
Blade	Sotraco	Lord	Crown Super	Egypt	1-Oct-2020
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.	9	7	13	26	30
Median F (g)	61.5	53	61.5	72.5	71.5
Mean F (g) Top	55	55	63	88	83
Mean F (g) Bottom	65	54	64	70	79
Mean F (g)	60	54	64	79	81
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	67	67	77	107	101
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	79	66	78	85	96
Median Adj. F (g)	75	64	75	88	87
Mean Adj. F (g)	73	66	78	96	99

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[pjgh]

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.

View attachment 1941630View attachment 1941631

This blade measured 95 microns while the blue measured 90.

Notice on the back of this packaging, it states "Medium Thickness" while on the blue, that is not stated.

 

[helicopter]

This is the Treet New Steel blade. It is one of the four current blades listed on Treet's website, and this example was produced just five months ago. It is a mild blade, Treet's classic medium grind, made from 95 micron white carbon steel. I suspect it has a platinum blades metallic coating, but that is a guess. The steel performed well in the test, especially for medium-thin carbon steel, resulting in good durability and consistency, and good edge condition after testing.

They used crude cheap abrasives for the grind, but the thickness of the edge and honing at the third stage make sure it does not ruin the durability. I think there is a metallic coating. Performance suggests a platinum coating and I think I can make out the proximal edge of the coating on the tertiary bevel in a few places.

The failure mode of the steel is typical small chipping, which shows this is better than many steels used for carbon steel blades, especially considering the 95 micron thickness.

It would be shaped more like Treet Platinum if some dull spots had been measured the same number of times at each stage. It is a J-shaped curve even if you through out the outliers, but it's severity is a statistical phenomenon, rather than a physical one. "New" must be a description of the steel on this one, and not the edge or entire blade, because this is their classic mild grind, which sits between their new moderate grind and their traditional dull grind.

Date	12-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.095
Blade	Treet	Treet New Steel	Carbon Steel	Pakistan	14-Jun-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.	10	10	16	11	18
Median F (g)	63.5	59	64	65	72.5
Mean F (g) Top	65	58	65	64	71
Mean F (g) Bottom	65	65	69	71	79
Mean F (g)	65	61	67	67	75
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	79	70	79	78	87
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	79	79	85	86	96
Median Adj. F (g)	77	72	78	79	88
Mean Adj. F (g)	79	75	82	82	91

If you want to try a carbon steel blade, or a mild Treet blade, this is a good one to pick up. It out-preforms most of the discontinued Treet blades, and due to ongoing production, is available at lower prices. It survives because it is a better blade, and it is cheaper because of its survival. I see them priced on sale at $12/200 at Italian Barber right now. That is a fair price considering the cheap abrasives and resulting crude grinds.

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[helicopter]

This blade measured 95 microns while the blue measured 90.

Notice on the back of this packaging, it states "Medium Thickness" while on the blue, that is not stated.

I like to see that transparency. It is an accurate description, and I have no reason to distrust it. I trust Mitutoyo (my micrometer) more. While they are calling 90, 95, 100, "thin," "medium..." I prefer to think of 90 as thin, 95 as medium-thin, 100 and 0.004" as standard, and anything thicker as thick. Just semantics.

 

[AceyMan]

I trust Mitutoyo (my micrometer) more.

Words of truth .

/Acey

I've got a Mitutoyo in my Grainger wish list & will probably order soon. tbh, I'd love a Starrett, but they are double the price (!).

 

[helicopter]

This is the Lord Asco Super Stainless Red blade, which is produced by Soliman Trading, Sotraco, in Alexandia Egypt. It comes in a red tuck of ten blades, which are 95 microns thick. Like their Big Ben blade, it also comes in another color, tuck capacity, and thickness, an orange tuck of five 90 micron blades in this case, which I tested previously. It is a fairly mild blade. It has a short life, but it is consistent throught he first paper cut before failing quickly.

The first one of these I measured had some dead spots on its new bottom edge, so I swapped it out and tested the second one. The second one had some ded spots on its new top edge, so I put the first one in and tested its top edge, so you get the information about the bottom of the second one and the top of the first one. I prefer not to test duds if I can determine that there are better blades in the same tuck, because I am looking to determine nominal performance.

This one has a date code.

Hiding partially under the thick polymer coating is an uneven scratch pattern, but not a coarse one.

The failure mode of the steel is a combination of small chipping and large denting.

It is a little more durable and consistent than the thinner orange one, which can be attributed to the difference in thickness. The coating, material, and grind are probably all of the same specification. Performance is closest to the Crown SS, which has the same coating designation and material thickness and is very likely made to the exact same specification.

Date	12-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.095
Blade	Sotraco	Lord	Asco Red	Egypt	19-Apr-2015
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.	5	15	37	39	36
Median F (g)	54.5	52	59.5	63	85.5
Mean F (g) Top	53	57	71	80	85
Mean F (g) Bottom	59	54	76	85	95
Mean F (g)	56	55	74	83	90
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Avg. Adj. F (g) Top	64	69	87	98	103
Avg. Adj. F (g) Bottom	71	65	93	104	116
Median Adj. F (g)	67	63	73	77	104
Mean Adj. F (g)	68	67	90	101	110

The abundance of bad blades in these Sotraco tucks from various vendors and production batches is concerning. Unless you don't mind putting bad blades to your face pretty regularly due to inconsistent quality, or you get one for entertainment or collectibility, I can't really recommend any of them as this pattern continues to emerge. It is unfortunate that so many of these blades end up in sample packs sold to new shavers due to the low prices. It would be much more beneficial for them to pick a few consistently produced blades to try, discuss, and stock up on.

Blade Sharpness Test Index

 

[Pinto90]

This is the Lord Asco Super Stainless Red blade, which is produced by Soliman Trading, Sotraco, in Alexandia Egypt. It comes in a red tuck of five blades, which are 95 microns thick.

Ten blades in Asco's red package,it is also written on the package you see in your picture.

Five Asco blades instead in the orange color package.

 

[htownmmm]

I absolutely love this thread! I watch for favorable reviews of blades I know nothing about and then order 2-300 of them immediately. I appreciate the effort helicopter has put into this. Thank you sir!

marty

 

[pjgh]

ASCO result makes more sense ... my face always thought it was akin to the RACER branding (if there is any intentional difference) but see it sitting with the Crown and OK. That's "okay" ... it's a broad range given manufacturing inconsistencies which are quite apparent.

Super to see the Treet New Steel result as well! Treet website says chromium coating ... and "comfort" as intention:

 

[Pinto90]

ASCO result makes more sense ... my face always thought it was akin to the RACER branding (if there is any intentional difference) but see it sitting with the Crown and OK. That's "okay" ... it's a broad range given manufacturing inconsistencies which are quite apparent.

Super to see the Treet New Steel result as well! Treet website says chromium coating ... and "comfort" as intention:

View attachment 1942867

I'm surprised to see that on their site they have eliminated the listing of many other blades and continue to list these Treet New Steel blades that do not seem to me to have many admirers among wet shaving enthusiasts.

 

[helicopter]

This is the Feather Super Cut Special Platinum Coated Edge Wavy Hair Shaper blade, which is made in Japan by Feather, and often imitated by Chinese manufacturers. I purchased the tuck of ten for $8 from Tachi Tools on eBay.

It looks similar to the blades it inspired. It has the word "Feature" stamped on it as a security 'feature.' I suspect there may have been some miscommunication about that among people who don't speak English at home. Fluent English speakers probably would have gone with the word "Feather."

It is a traditional dull blade, and it clearly has the performance of a platinum coating. Performance does not change, and no wear is detectable after the first paper cut exposes the bare metal under the coating. With its long edge, and the subjective feel of sharpness in a shavette, I suspect this blade could last a very long time in regular use shaving faces at home.

It is a coarse and blunt traditional primary grind, which is necessary with a corrugated blade stock, because you must remove the corrugation before the secondary grind so the apex isn't wavy. Of course it is honed to a polish in the final stage; it is a Feather. You can see the platinum coating on the distal part of the final stage.

With the polymer coating gone after the test, second image below, you can see they even use high quality abrasives for a coarse grind. Cheaper abrasives probably wouldn't have effected performance much with this geometry, but apparently Feather doesn't source cheap abrasives for anything; they wouldn't want someone with a microscope to find anything embarrassing. The apex actually looks slightly smoother after the test. That sputtered metallic coating must have been rougher than the exceptionally durable steel underneath.

I feel like consensus of the management team at Feather must have been something like, "We know Mr. Helicopter doesn't expect to be impressed with a dull traditional hair shaper blade... let's see how we can surprise him."

It's actually a bit milder than its Jiefcnel Chinese doppelganger, but durability and consistency are in a different league. For a mild, traditional, corrugated, spine-backed hair sharper blade, I don't see how they could have done better.

Date	12-Nov-2024			Blade Thickness, mm	0.159
Blade	Feather	Super Cut Special	Hair Shaper Wavy	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.	12	6	8	8	7
Median F (g)	105	88	91	89	88
Mean F (g)	107	88	90	90	88
BESS Adj. Factor	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22	1.22
Median Adj. F (g)	128	107	111	109	107
Mean Adj. F (g)	130	107	110	110	107

I am not sure how many people are using mild hair shaper blades, but it is interesting for me to see, and I am sure it will be helpful for someone to know how well this one is made. Don't buy it immediately because I have a couple more to test.

Blade Sharpness Test Index