The Answer Man

Bogeyman

Bogeyman

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There is a new poster on Blademonkey's favorite forum that is definitely a Gillette employee (he designed their laser etching eqpmt.) and has answered more questions in a factual scientific manner than you can shake a stick at! Absolutely priceless his answers and this dude knows that of which he speaks!! ;)

You don't have to be a member to do a search over there using his screen moniker and "harvest" what is surely golden...............make that platinum info!! He goes by Mopar Mark. Enjoy this quickly as the last Gillette employee in the know that posted over there quit posting in disgust as there are many azzholes that thought they, in their infinite "wisdom", knew better. :rolleyes:

www.badgerandblade.com

Gillette Platinum impressions

I have the Saudi made ones and it sucks. Lots of skipping and tugging. They manufacture Gillette blades in Saudi Arabia? You must be kidding.
www.badgerandblade.com www.badgerandblade.com
 
Bogeyman said:
There is a new poster on Blademonkey's favorite forum that is definitely a Gillette employee (he designed their laser etching eqpmt.) and has answered more questions in a factual scientific manner than you can shake a stick at! Absolutely priceless his answers and this dude knows that of which he speaks!! ;)

You don't have to be a member to do a search over there using his screen moniker and "harvest" what is surely golden...............make that platinum info!! He goes by Mopar Mark. Enjoy this quickly as the last Gillette employee in the know that posted over there quit posting in disgust as there are many azzholes that thought they, in their infinite "wisdom", knew better. :rolleyes:

www.badgerandblade.com

Gillette Platinum impressions

I have the Saudi made ones and it sucks. Lots of skipping and tugging. They manufacture Gillette blades in Saudi Arabia? You must be kidding.
www.badgerandblade.com www.badgerandblade.com
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Some great info in there, thanks for posting it.

FWIW, I compared a few printed Astra SP's to a few laser etched ones and I found the newer ones to perform a touch better. It might be a little unfashionable to say but I think we're in the golden era for blades, but saying that I've not used many 'Golden era' blades but I haven't really felt the need to do so when there are so many great blades made with great consistency that can be bought for not very much, for example most current Gillette blades can be bought by the 100 for less than £15 shipped to your door. I think Gillette in particular are really making a great effort for the quality of their blades and from my experience it's evident in the shave.
 
donnie_arko said:
....I think Gillette in particular are really making a great effort for the quality of their blades and from my experience it's evident in the shave.
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If anything, I think they are constantly upping their game as the "wolf" is surely at the door, e.g., Harry's & Dollar Shave Club. My personal opinion is that surely some of that big R&D investment trickles down to DE blade manuf. To what extent, I knoweth not. :unsure:
 
Bogeyman said:
If anything, I think they are constantly upping their game as the "wolf" is surely at the door, e.g., Harry's & Dollar Shave Club. My personal opinion is that surely some of that big R&D investment trickles down to DE blade manuf. To what extent, I knoweth not. :unsure:
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I think you might be right about the R&D trickling down.

Something else to continue is the market for DE blades is huge! Not that much in the developed world, but in India where I managed to make a trip to last year, I'd wager the majority of the nation's males way of having a shave will be in their local barbershop where the barber will use half a DE blade in a shavette, and that's probably the way of shaving for many nations across the region (DE blades are also used for most haircuts as well for sides/edges as electric trimmers are thin on the ground)

I think I read somewhere one of Gillette's main competitors Supermax has 3 factories making blades and if Gillette's quality drops then there'll be no shortage of replacements to take their position in the marketplace. Even if though the markups might not be as much for carts I still imagine with one of Gillette's competitors having 3 factories it's still a huge market and from the evidence I've seen in my few years of DE shaving I'd definitely say Gillette take this market very seriously indeed as I believe the quality of all the factories be it Russia, India or China that make DE blades have exceptional quality at competitive prices.
 
Bogeyman said:
There is a new poster on Blademonkey's favorite forum that is definitely a Gillette employee (he designed their laser etching eqpmt.) and has answered more questions in a factual scientific manner than you can shake a stick at! Absolutely priceless his answers and this dude knows that of which he speaks!! ;)
Click to expand...
Thank you, yes, I know blades

I spent over 40 years in Blade Manf, inc packaging & new facility start up, also worked in over 40 countries/facilities

As said previously I can't give Technical or Proprietary, but will answer when I can
 
Mopar Mark said:
Thank you, yes, I know blades

I spent over 40 years in Blade Manf, inc packaging & new facility start up, also worked in over 40 countries/facilities

As said previously I can't give Technical or Proprietary, but will answer when I can
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Are you able to say what DE blades you admire in terms of the manufacturing process, coatings used and the QC?' what is Gillette's most technically advanced blade?. On another forum there is a thread which shows various blade edges under magnification and I was surprised that Feather and KAI blades had smooth edges with consistent application of the coatings; in comparison, the many other blades which were photographed under magnification had blade edges that looked like a moon scape and the coatings looked like they had been splashed on.
 
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Mopar Mark said:
...I won't ever divulge technical or proprietary info, but will give explanations or comments if I can.

cheers
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HZ5ICvt.jpg



Where do I begin??!! :geek:

I have personally believed for years that the smoothness imparted by a DE blade is due to the Teflon coating moreso than edge sharpness. I also believe (hypothesize) that the difference amongst Gillette blades is the slightly different hone angles and to what finality the edge is hardened and with what said edge was hardened with, e.g., Chromium, Platinum, etc. I believe that what many believe is "sharpness" is actually the senses perhaps playing tricks on the brain and is in reality the smoothness of the blade edge. I have sometimes noticed that the first few shaves on a top tier Gillete blade shave a little.........for lack of a better word......hard. I don't mean to infer by "hard" that that is bad. I would venture a guess that it is a clue that the blade's edge has a better edge hardening process for more longevity and is not entirely due to Teflon "pull back". Feel free to tear my theories apart in the name of objectivity and thanks for posting on best wet shaving forum extant!!

P.S. Is the newest gigantic P&G plant in Vietnam producing DE blades now?
 
Bogeyman said:
Where do I begin??!! :geek:

I have personally believed for years that the smoothness imparted by a DE blade is due to the Teflon coating moreso than edge sharpness. I also believe (hypothesize) that the difference amongst Gillette blades is the slightly different hone angles and to what finality the edge is hardened and with what said edge was hardened with, e.g., Chromium, Platinum, etc. I believe that what many believe is "sharpness" is actually the senses perhaps playing tricks on the brain and is in reality the smoothness of the blade edge. I have sometimes noticed that the first few shaves on a top tier Gillete blade shave a little.........for lack of a better word......hard. I don't mean to infer by "hard" that that is bad. I would venture a guess that it is a clue that the blade's edge has a better edge hardening process for more longevity and is not entirely due to Teflon "pull back". Feel free to tear my theories apart in the name of objectivity and thanks for posting on best wet shaving forum extant!!

P.S. Is the newest gigantic P&G plant in Vietnam producing DE blades now?
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Lotts of questions
your pretty much in the right track, edge hardness is determined during the Hardening process. The Chromiums, Platinums, etc added to the blade substrate does not add further hardness, but does give the edge more strength. It is also possible, but not a process, you can alter the tip profile during the cleaning process before adding the coatings, amount of coating can also have a positive or adverse effect.

Without question it is the Teflon getting pushed back during the 1st couple of shaves & not the edge hardness, assuming all are within specified parameters.

I would not deem Vietnam as gigantic in Blade manf terms
 
Missoni said:
Are you able to say what DE blades you admire in terms of the manufacturing process, coatings used and the QC?' what is Gillette's most technically advanced blade?. On another forum there is a thread which shows various blade edges under magnification and I was surprised that Feather and KAI blades had smooth edges with consistent application of the coatings; in comparison, the many other blades which were photographed under magnification had blade edges that looked like a moon scape and the coatings looked like they had been splashed on.
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I'll skip the 1st part

High magnification photos from an electron microscope, can give a tilted view if all the facts are unknown. What I mean is that rough looking edge isn't always bad, plus there are many dependants when viewing such pictures such as blade steel, hardness, grind/ hone, sputter process, Teflon adhesion, thickness.....
 
Mopar Mark said:
...The Chromiums, Platinums, etc added to the blade substrate does not add further hardness, but does give the edge more strength...
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And that strength is what fooled my senses as "hardness"!! That makes perfect sense (no pun intended).

I will run the gauntlet and ask you the two questions that I think most DE shavers would like answered if you are able to, kind sir:

1. does the modern disposable cartridge blade Big $$ R&D "trickle down" into the current production DE manufacturing?

2. if you can indeed state, what is Gillette's "flagship" DE blade, i.e., their best?
 
Bogeyman said:
And that strength is what fooled my senses as "hardness"!! That makes perfect sense (no pun intended).

I will run the gauntlet and ask you the two questions that I think most DE shavers would like answered if you are able to, kind sir:

1. does the modern disposable cartridge blade Big $$ R&D "trickle down" into the current production DE manufacturing?

2. if you can indeed state, what is Gillette's "flagship" DE blade, i.e., their best?
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1. Yes, of course there is R&D money for DE, although smaller in percentage than S/E. Saying that if the idea is proven to be good, with return on investment within the timeline, then money for R&D is always available. In an ideal world it would be great if the R&D ideas could be shared or applied to both products, but unlikely to happen. During my time in charge of DE, we were always actively developing ideas in the group

2. I'll let Gillette tell you that or I'll allow the customer to decide
 
Mopar Mark said:
1. Yes, of course there is R&D money for DE, although smaller in percentage than S/E. Saying that if the idea is proven to be good, with return on investment within the timeline, then money for R&D is always available. In an ideal world it would be great if the R&D ideas could be shared or applied to both products, but unlikely to happen. During my time in charge of DE, we were always actively developing ideas in the group

2. I'll let Gillette tell you that or I'll allow the customer to decide
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Thanks, you wily ol' rascal!! :D;)
 
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