Gillette Nacet

I've done a chart and the Nacet is actually coming out on top for durability and is one of the highest rated blades I've tried upto now. On my 6th shave it actually improved too, beating my highest rated blade the Dorco Prime (which was a surprise considering I didn't like any of the other Dorco blades I tried) tomorrow it will be on the 8th use. The durability actually puts this blade ahead of even the cheapest blade as the Nacet blade is currently at a cost per use of only 1.29p/shave (assuming you buy 100 for £9). I'm tempted to just scrap the blade as I've still got blades from my sample pack I want to try and I've got a feeling the Nacet still has more to give, maybe I'll just put it away and write 7 on the wax paper? Seems a shame to throw away such a good blade!
 
On some other forums there are guys getting up in the 20 use range without decrease in sharpness and comfort. It seems that if you are using a milder razor the life of the blade is increased significantly.
 
On some other forums there are guys getting up in the 20 use range without decrease in sharpness and comfort. It seems that if you are using a milder razor the life of the blade is increased significantly.

Not really. Erosion of the blade coating that leads to erosion of the hardened edge is what is perceived as dullness. Remember as well that not every poster on Internet forums is honest. Some people thrive on "oneupmanship", e..g, "I got 100 shaves...!!". ;)
 
Not really. Erosion of the blade coating that leads to erosion of the hardened edge is what is perceived as dullness. Remember as well that not every poster on Internet forums is honest. Some people thrive on "oneupmanship", e..g, "I got 100 shaves...!!". ;)

You are right that perhaps not everyone is honest. I don't personally know these chaps.
However, the blade coating actually starts wearing and you don't perhaps get to the actual steel edge before 3-4 shaves. That is the reason that many blades feel somewhat sharper after one, two three uses. I use straight razors regularly and haven't touched up on honing any of the razors in months. Granted I do strop them, so the metal can last. I know it is not the same thing, but one also has to take into consideration that the HRC hardness on the DE razors is higher than most straight razors. Anywho, I find the Nacets better in the longevity department compared to Feathers, GSB and Astra SP. I am no expert by any measure and this is my own experience and observation. Yours might be different. There are lots of variables...

Regards,

Sam
 
...However, the blade coating actually starts wearing and you don't perhaps get to the actual steel edge before 3-4 shaves. That is the reason that many blades feel somewhat sharper after one, two three uses...

Yes, they call that "push back" in the industry, whereas the blade coating slowly erodes. However, know that the PTFE (usually) coating is measured in angstroms (one ten-billionth of a meter) and that also the DE hardened edge can be sensed, as well as cut obviously, through that vapor thin coating. How long the coating takes to erode is highly variable related to beard toughness and number of shaving passes naturally. There is no finite number just as there is no "average" man. As well, there are some shavers who "ride the cap" and are actually not so much cutting neatly, but rather almost "pulling" the hair apart. They are the same sort that go 25,000 mi. before changing their oil. ;)

It's fascinating the high tech science that goes into DE blade manufacture and companies (especially Gillette) guard their secrets like the vaunted Coca-Cola formula.
 
Yes, they call that "push back" in the industry, whereas the blade coating slowly erodes. However, know that the PTFE (usually) coating is measured in angstroms (one ten-billionth of a meter) and that also the DE hardened edge can be sensed, as well as cut obviously, through that vapor thin coating. How long the coating takes to erode is highly variable related to beard toughness and number of shaving passes naturally. There is no finite number just as there is no "average" man. As well, there are some shavers who "ride the cap" and are actually not so much cutting neatly, but rather almost "pulling" the hair apart. They are the same sort that go 25,000 mi. before changing their oil. ;)

It's fascinating the high tech science that goes into DE blade manufacture and companies (especially Gillette) guard their secrets like the vaunted Coca-Cola formula.

I agree about the PTFE coating, but one has to wonder how well that coating sticks to the blade after it was designed to reduce drag. Now the Nacet I don't believe is coated with anything, since it is marked Stainless only. On the other hand it gets sharper on the second use which would be odd for an uncoated blade. This info comes from a site that is doing blade sharpness test. You probably have come across it.
Anyways, as mentioned before I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination. All this discussion is generating way more questions than answers for me. Thank you for all the info.
Regards,

Sam
 
I agree about the PTFE coating, but one has to wonder how well that coating sticks to the blade after it was designed to reduce drag. Now the Nacet I don't believe is coated with anything, since it is marked Stainless only. On the other hand it gets sharper on the second use which would be odd for an uncoated blade. This info comes from a site that is doing blade sharpness test. You probably have come across it.
Anyways, as mentioned before I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination. All this discussion is generating way more questions than answers for me. Thank you for all the info.
Regards,

Sam

ALL modern stainless blades are coated. Try an old bare carbon blade to understand better what tugging is. ;)

Again I repeat: what we sense as sharpness is actually smoothness and vice versa. They are not independent of each other in DE/SE blades. The coatings are baked on at incredibly high heat. They don't have orphaned waifs in a workhouse dipping blades by hand.

Go here to understand the process:

 
That is a fascinating read. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to enjoy the read. However, I think you misunderstood me. What I was talking about is the bond strength between PTFE and stainless and the bond strength between platinum and stainless. The PTFE doesn't bond on molecular level with a metal regardless of if you bake it at the core of the sun or what and who dips the blades in the solution and that includes the orphaned waifs as you so eloquently put it. It is like the metal blade wearing a stretchy muscle shirt in all regards. They use niobium because that provides “finger-like” projections on top of the substrate which increases the surface area of the blade on microscopic level.
Platinum on the other hand bond on a molecular level. The strength of the bond is significantly better and there is a greater wear resistance. That can lead one to postulate that platinum coated blades last much longer that PTFE coated blades. Your article mentions the increased comfort with PTFE coated blades on the “first” shave.
here is an article on PTFE wear resistance and how it is improved by adding different compounds to it. The PTFE in razors is just that, PTFE without any additional metal in that coat. if you are curious have a read here.
ALL modern stainless blades are coated. Try an old bare carbon blade to understand better what tugging is. ;)

Again I repeat: what we sense as sharpness is actually smoothness and vice versa. They are not independent of each other in DE/SE blades. The coatings are baked on at incredibly high heat. They don't have orphaned waifs in a workhouse dipping blades by hand.

Go here to understand the process:

 
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I've done a chart and the Nacet is actually coming out on top for durability and is one of the highest rated blades I've tried upto now. On my 6th shave it actually improved too, beating my highest rated blade the Dorco Prime (which was a surprise considering I didn't like any of the other Dorco blades I tried) tomorrow it will be on the 8th use. The durability actually puts this blade ahead of even the cheapest blade as the Nacet blade is currently at a cost per use of only 1.29p/shave (assuming you buy 100 for £9). I'm tempted to just scrap the blade as I've still got blades from my sample pack I want to try and I've got a feeling the Nacet still has more to give, maybe I'll just put it away and write 7 on the wax paper? Seems a shame to throw away such a good blade!

Mike - be interested to see your chart if you care to share? YMMV and whatever....I still find it interesting to see how other people get on with blades and how it compares to my experience. I used Notthestig's sheet a lot when initially looking which blades to try.
 
...What I was talking about is the bond strength between PTFE and stainless and the bond strength between platinum and stainless. The PTFE doesn't bond on molecular level with a metal regardless of if you bake it at the core of the sun or what and who dips the blades in the solution and that includes the orphaned waifs as you so eloquently put it. It is like the metal blade wearing a stretchy muscle shirt in all regards. They use niobium because that provides “finger-like” projections on top of the substrate which increases the surface area of the blade on microscopic level.
Platinum on the other hand bond on a molecular level. The strength of the bond is significantly better and there is a greater wear resistance. That can lead one to postulate that platinum coated blades last much longer that PTFE coated blades. Your article mentions the increased comfort with PTFE coated blades on the “first” shave.
here is an article on PTFE wear resistance and how it is improved by adding different compounds to it. The PTFE in razors is just that, PTFE without any additional metal in that coat. if you are curious have a read here.


Why do I have the feeling I'm being "sandbagged"? :unsure:

Regardless, the future (at least for disposable/cartridge razors) would seem to be this if they choose to implement it:


For a better understanding of what BAM is:

 
Why do I have the feeling I'm being "sandbagged"? :unsure:

Regardless, the future (at least for disposable/cartridge razors) would seem to be this if they choose to implement it:


For a better understanding of what BAM is:


Not being sandbagged. Just a difference in opinion.
The diamond like carbon coating is very good too, but I don't think it will be implemented because the longevity of the blade will be very long and you won't use more than a tick per year probably. Which company would want to cut sales?!
 
Mike - be interested to see your chart if you care to share? YMMV and whatever....I still find it interesting to see how other people get on with blades and how it compares to my experience. I used Notthestig's sheet a lot when initially looking which blades to try.
I'm pretty new to DE shaving, I got my safety razor for Christmas. I started my chart about a month or two ago because I tried all the blades from my sample pack then realised I'd forgot which ones I liked and which ones I didn't like and how they performed.Screenshot_20200305_170158.jpgScreenshot_20200305_173927.jpg
You may notice that I didn't like either of the astra blades I tried, there seems to be allot of people who like them but they didn't work for me one bit. The SS was slightly better then the SP but it still seemed to tug and cut my face. They was both unpleasant to use. The last 4 are new blades I ordered as I really wanted to try them. I can imagine this chart is going to take me many months to complete though! I'm definitely going to order more Nacets though! :)
 
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I'm pretty new to DE shaving...

You may notice that I didn't like either of the astra blades I tried, there seems to be allot of people who like them but they didn't work for me one bit. The SS was slightly better then the SP but it still seemed to tug and cut my face. They was both unpleasant to use. The last 4 are new blades I ordered as I really wanted to try them. I can imagine this chart is going to take me many months to complete though! I'm definitely going to order more Nacets though! :)


Mike, in all seriousness instead of buying blades willy nilly you'd be money ahead to focus on prep & technique with say the Astra SP first. Many of us bought a boatload of blades initially only to discover down the road our selections changed once we had honed our technique & prep skills. The Astra SP is probably the most "neutral" blade extant and if you're not getting at least a good shave with it there's a good possibility that it's the Indian and not the arrow at fault.
;)
 
Mike, in all seriousness instead of buying blades willy nilly you'd be money ahead to focus on prep & technique with say the Astra SP first. Many of us bought a boatload of blades initially only to discover down the road our selections changed once we had honed our technique & prep skills. The Astra SP is probably the most "neutral" blade extant and if you're not getting at least a good shave with it there's a good possibility that it's the Indian and not the arrow at fault.
;)
To be fair I have managed to get a decent shave from the astra SS, It probably doesn't help that I haven't revisited the astra SP yet as it was one of the first blades I tried and the SS was one of the last before I actually started a chart for my shaves, I still can't imagine I will enjoy reusing the astra blades but maybe I'll be surprised? I definitely feel like I've got the hang of my safety razor now. Most of my shaves are extremely enjoyable. The worst I had recently was the Dorco st-300, it felt like a well used blunt blade. I still managed to finish my shave with ok results but it's a blade I probably will never use again.
 
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