Dorco SE blade

This blade is definitely an interesting case.

There don't seem to be a lot of forum posts about the Dorco SE blade, but the few solid comments all seem to be negative. One B&B user who sells them on the Internet says he sells a lot, but doesn't know how they are used. I know nothing about the current use of Gem-type razors outside of what I read on the forums, though, so, for all I know, there is a pocket of users in the South Pacific who shave with these by the carload using WWII-surplus Gem Juniors.

They are marketed as a shaving blade though Dorco does apparently make "industrial" blades (they just don't market them in the US). Just to make things really confusing, the Korean Dorco Living website (www.docoliving.co.kr) lists the SE blades under "cutters" and has no listings of the DE blades.

The obvious possibility, of course, is that they are a cruel marketing trick. The idea here being that they are classed as a shaving blade only to get them on store shelves while management "knows" that everyone uses them for things other than shaving. (If that is the case, please let us in on the joke.)

 

Good post. Makes a bunch of sense.

 

Well, the blades arrived today. I thought I'd share a couple of pics of the packaging.



The interesting part is the back and the list of possible uses. Thank goodness, it lists "Shaving" as one of them.

 

I doubt they would even work good as box cutters. I have no ideal why they claim they are shaving blades.

 

Maybe they shave wood?

 

Could be.

 

I would guess that it comes down to two possibilities:

1. A complete ignorance of SE razor users and what makes a good blade for them
2. A lie, perpetuated to get these on store shelves under the assumption that people don't really buy SE blades to shave with (see point #1).

 

I have always thought that maybe they do not shave with SE in South Korea. It is either something like that or they are just lieing to make a sale.

 

I'm inclined to agree on both points. At this point, I'm kind of curious as to SE usage outside of North America and Britain. I now definitely think this is a case of retailers asking for an SE blade but not necessarily realizing that people *shave* with them (as opposed to scrape windows and open boxes) and Pace/Dorco happily providing them one.

As for my own experience...

I had planned to save the Dorco SE blades for MAYhem, but my curiosity got the better of me and I loaded one into the 1912 for a test run. First impression- out of the dispenser, they seem thinner than a Gem blade (i.e., more like a DE blade with a spine). As for the shave... From the first stroke, it was obvious this was not going to go well. (Not that I hadn't been warned!) Definitely lots of pulling. Towards the end of the pass, though, it started to feel a bit dangerous. I'm not sure if this was a function of the angles or if the blade had started to deteriorate by this point.

It was definitely one of the three worst passes I've had. The other two were with the Chinese Tian Fu "Disobedient" blade and with the infamous Czech Tiger. Of course, I call this bad ("Chinese Bad", actually) though @NCoxSTL would probably just call it "Wednesday". I'm inclined to go with the idea that this is really a box cutter blade that is being misrepresented as a shaving blade. I have a question into both DorcoUSA and Pace Shaving to see what they say.

 

They definitely do not shave with SE razors in South Korea

 

Well, I heard back from Dorco. First, my note to them:

And their "helpful" response:

I'm not even sure what to make of this. It's almost like they are saying "We'd like to recommend you use the blades in our razor, but we can't since we don't make one they would fit."
And it's good to know that a razor company recommends wet shaving.

 

YES YES YES.,. the ole if we made the razor they would work just fine, but we are not really going to address you real question...line. Thanks for taking one for the team!!

 

What would have been used when the SE was around? Straights of some kind?

 

Japanese-style silk-wrapped handle, asymmetric grind kamisori?

 

I'd do it.

I like where this is going. May is coming...

 

Yup. That was kinda my thought..

I did it over at tost a few weeks ago. I threw them away. I am going to use a wally world box cutter blade maybe.

 

I think the kamisori of old was in common use until the 1930s in most of East Asia. Japan is historically known for fabulous bladesmiths, as well as the quality of their carbon steel.



This Masamune sword is in the Truman library, and was laid down by the Commander of the Imperial Japanese forces to Gen Walter Krueger, commander of the 10th Army/Okinawa. It's like 750 years old, and literally priceless.

 

Actually, most of the iron in Japan, historically, was crap. That's why the swords and such took so much work - they had to work it and work it to get the impurities out. So, by dint of necessity, they ended up with some fantastic (and expensive) swords. Wootz steel (Damascus) on the other hand started with good steel, and got better. Japan didn't start making really good steel on a regular basis until they started importing iron from other sources after 1853. It's not their fault, it's simply geology, combined with their 220 year isolationism.

Tatara was what they called their initial refining process, but it started with bad iron, and took a LOT of labor.

http://www.hitachi-metals.co.jp/e/tatara/nnp0205.htm

 

Well, I think I've found a way to double down following the results with the Dorco SE blade...

Stopping by the local beauty supply store over lunch, I came across these blades. They are from the Annie Beauty Supply company and carry the ominous notice "Made In China".

I bought a pack and will attempt to use them during MAYhem.

 

If someone had a microscope and knew what he was looking for (not me in either case), it'd be simple (so I'm told) to tell a shaving blade from a box cutter as they are faceted differently.