Ενδιαφέρον !

[NYC1920]

Αρκετά ενδιαφέρον άρθρο

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1 – China
In 2015, China produced 803.83 million metric tons of Crude Steel accounting for 50.3% of the world’s total production. Large scale production makes China’s steel cheaper and extremely competitive in the global market. (source: World Atlas.)

As far as making razor blades from Chinese steel is concerned, Chinese steel is actually very good! It is easy to sharpen because Chinese steel is softer than most. The iron ore that China uses to make its steel comes from Australia, which is no surprise because Australia has vast deposits, and supplies most of the rest of the world with the stuff.

So what are the characteristics of Chinese stainless steel with respect to making razor blades?

If made on good equipment, a blade made of Chinese steel should theoretically be sharper than blades made with many other country’s stainless.

But the draw back to Chinese steel as that Chinese steel can rust more easily than some other countries. This effects durability as microscopic rust particles will quickly degrade the blade sharpness. Also the steel is inherently soft. That will also affect the amount of shaves the blade will be used for. Many blades made of Chinese steel will give you 4 to 5 shaves (depending on other factors.)

Major Companies Using Chinese Steel are:

Lord (all of their blades except the ones that are subcontracted such as Voskhod.)

Treet all of their stainless blades.

Gillette (Gillette Wilkinson Sword from China, and an obscure version of Gillette Ruby…)

Many, though not all Chinese blades.

Many smaller manufacturers with brand names such as Tiger, 7 am, etc.

Timor – may be German, but their steel comes from China.

Merkur (yes, true… but they do use chromium as a direct alloy in the steel to harden it…)


2 – India

Indian steel is almost ideal for making razor blades.
It is affordable and but slightly more expensive than Chinese steel. It is also somewhat harder than its Chinese counterpart. It handles rust very well because it has minimal porosity. This is because of its higher than average magnesium content. It sharpens easily because although it is harder than Chinese steel it is perhaps the perfect hardness to both sharpen, and hold its sharpness. Moreover, its quality is very consistent.

Major Companies Using India’s Steel Are:

Gillette – Gillette Green, Gillette Yellow, Gillette Wilkinson Sword, Gillette Super Platinum (black), and Silver Blue made in India are made using Indian steel. Theoretically, since Indian steel is slightly inferior to Russian, these blades, get a bad rap. But blades Gillette manufactures in India will typically be better, because the plant is actually owned by Gillette themselves, and on the latest equipment. Gillette blades made in Russia do use a bit better steel, but the equipment that makes them is old, and the factory’s majority ownership is the Russian Government.

Malhotra – Which manufactures Supermax, Centwin, Topaz, Laser and Zorrik brands as well as others, is actually the largest manufacturer of blades in the world.

GreatWhite Global Pvt. Ltd. – makers of V12 brand blades.

Topaz – Makes any blade with the Topaz name.

3 – Japan

I firmly believe that any blade made with Japanese or USA steel has to be good. Both countries charge over the average world price.
Japanese steel may not be the best choice in blade making because it is quite expensive. But Japonese steel is really hard, making it difficult to sharpen, but if the best equipment is used to sharpen it, the results can be fantastic.
Major Companies Using Japanese Steel are:

KAI – that makes sense.

Feather – that also makes sense. including the Kai and Feather brands.

German Personna – Persona White. (Surprise!)

Bolzano – a case in point of a company using great steel with poor equipment.

BIC – Yes BIC. Good quality blades.

4 – Russia

Russian steel is ideal. It is just a touch harder than Indian steel but still easily sharpened. Russian steel also has a higher percentage of magnesium in it so it is more rust resistant. It is more expensive than Chinese or Indian steel. It also has good porosity which allows it to be plated very easily.
Companies That Use Russian Steel

Gillette – (well the Gillette name anyway…) Gillette is a minority shareholder in the company that produces its Russian blades. The other shareholder? The Russian Government! except for Gillette Wilkinson Sword, all Gillette branded blades are made in Russia, some as stated above, are made in India, or China.
Here is a complete list of Gillette’s blades that are made in St. Petersburg Russia.
-Gillette Silver Blue
-Polsilver SI
-PermaSharp Super
-Nacet
-Astra Stainless
-Astra SP
-Gillette Platinum
-Gillette Rubie Platinum Plus
-Gillette Super Silver (out of production)
-Gillette 7 OC Green
-Gillette 7 OC Yellow
-Gillette Minora
-Sputnik
–Gillette Bleue Extra
-Gillette Stainless (Red Box)

Prago Union – A Czechoslovakian company which manufactures double edge blades and twin blade systems sold under Tiger brand names. (Used to make ASTRA. Now owned by Gillette.)

Leninets – Leninets mostly manufactures double edge blades, and with some systems blades, in its Leningrad factory. These blades are a domestic product and are not exported.

Mostoglamesh – Another large manufacturer in the Soviet Union with an estimated capacity of about 700 million blades, mostly double edge for the domestic market. Their products include Rapira, Voskhod, Ladas, and Sharpstar.

Permatik – Permatik’s headquarters are in Turkey where it manufactures double edge blades, single and twin disposable razors, about half of which were sold in Turkey and the remainder exported. Its major export market is the Soviet Union. Its 1989 sales volume is estimated at $30 million. It markets the Permasharp brand.

Derby – All of its blades except Blue Bird which is made from Turkish steel.

5 – USA

Chock one up for the home team!
U.S. steel is absolutely the best steel for the purpose of making double edge razor blades. It features superior hardness, excellent rust resistance, and though hard, it is not so hard that it cannot be sharpened easily.
But U.S. steel is expensive, and while the commodity price for steel has dropped slightly worldwide, American steel hasn’t, thus making it more expensive. Case in point, Baili (a Chinese blade manufacturer,) makes blades out of Chinese steel, Indian steel, and U.S. steel. The Indian steel blades (now discontinued,) sold for 25% more than the Chinese steel blades. The U.S. steel blades were 100% more expensive. All three blades were made on the same equipment, with the same coatings.

Companies That Use U.S. Steel

Baili – Only the green labeled blades. Meh…..

Personna USA – One thing I can never understand is how Persona can make excellent DE blades at affordable prices, using U.S. steel, manufactured on world class equipment, and in the USA. Gillette are you listening??? Personna Lab Blues are one heck of a deal. Personna Med Preps are perhaps one of the sharpest and smothest blades you can get.

Personna Israel – All Israeli lades including Personna, Crystal, and Edison are all made with U.S. steel.

Wilkinson Sword – The garden variety of Wilkinson Sword blades (the ones in the black plastic dispensers,) are made with U.S. steel. They were also the world’s first commercially produced coated blades.


So What About Swedish Steel??
Sweden is not a large producer of steel at all (number 33 in world rankings…) Sweden does have the highest grade of iron ore in the world. This leeds to a rather unique steel. Its characteristics are superior hardness, and little porosity. Sounds great eh? Well…….
Swedish steel is hard to sharpen and hard to plate. There are really very few Swedish steel blades on the market…. (many Chinese companies say that they use it, but few actually do.)
One blade that is 100% made with Swedish steel is the Rapira Swedish Supersteel. Like all true Swedish steel blades, it is uncoated and not really very sharp at all. But you can get many consistent shaves out of these blades. But Swedish steel blades are not for everyone.

Honorable Mention – South Korea
Similar in quality and hardness to Japonese steel, Korean steel is a lot less expensive. All Dorco products are made with Korean steel.

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[macho]

@NYC1920 πολύ ενδιαφέρον άρθρο . Bravo!
Προτιμώ τις αμερικάνικες.
Νομίζω ότι είναι μακράν οι καλύτερες λεπίδες με δεύτερες τις Ισραηλινές που στην ουσία είναι αμερικάνικες.
A! Mη ξεχάσω και τις ιαπωνικές . κορυφή!

[Vavous]

Όχι αρκετά, εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον.
Ανατρέπονται πολλές θεωρίες και σενάρια που εύλογα κάνουμε εδώ και χρόνια για τις λεπίδες.

Το άρθρο είναι reference, θα πρότεινα να αλλάξεις τον τίτλο του -μέσω mod- για να ξεχωρίζει και να το βρίσκουμε εύκολα

[captain_hx]

Πραγματικά ενδιαφέρον και αν έχω καταλάβει καλά οι Άστορ φτιάχνονται από Γιαπωνέζικο ατσάλι

[Βασίλης Τ]

Made in Solingen με Wuhan Steel

[yiannischris]

Εκτός τις Personna που είναι αρκετά καλές και δέκα στο κουτάκι, μην ξεχνιόμαστε τις BIC που είναι Ελληνικές και αρκετά κοφτερες, οι περισσότερες που χρησιμοποιώ είναι Ρωσικές ??!!

[NYC1920]

@Vavous
Ανδρέα,θα ήθελές να γίνεις ο «νονός»
του παρόντος νήματος;
Αν έχεις κάποιο νέο τίτλο εύκαιρο,
θα επιθυμούσα κάποιον mod να αλλάξει
τον παρόντα τίτλο .