FEATHER Stainless VS. Carbon DE Blade. Which one is sharper?

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by Classic_4Ever, Apr 29, 2019.

  1. Classic_4Ever

    Classic_4Ever Member

    Hi,

    I'm currently shaving with this FEATHER DE blade which I load it into my shavette and shave every morning:

    [​IMG]

    As I was looking on their website I found that they have carbon DE blades as well:

    [​IMG]

    Can someone please tell me the difference between the two? Which one is sharper and will give me a closer shave?

    They also have stainless steel and carbon single edge blades like this:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Can I load these into a normal barber shavette? Which blade will be the sharpest among all?
     
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  2. Classic_4Ever

    Classic_4Ever Member

    I previously tried these with their ArtistClub DX razor but I didn't like it:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  3. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    The bottom blades are made for Feather's version of the Valet razor (now long discontinued). They also work in some models of the Valet Razor and also the modern One Blade razor. The stainless blade is considered the better one.

    I didn't realize they still made the carbon DE blades. I've only seen them for sale at sites that sell blades for cutting samples for microscope slides.

    Edit: I would say that the sharpest blade would be the stainless DE between those four. The valet blades are rather thick, and will hold their edge longer than the DE blades, but will not be as sharp right off the bat.
     
  4. Classic_4Ever

    Classic_4Ever Member


    Thanks for your very helpful and informative reply, so FEATHER carbon DE vs stainless steel DE, which one will be sharper and will give me a closer shave? is FEATHER stainless steel DE the sharpest out there? some say KAI is sharper.
     
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  5. Engblom

    Engblom Well-Known Member

    When it comes to stainless DE blades, Feather is definitely sharper than KAI but KAI will make the razor feel more aggressive. This is because KAI is slightly wider than Feather and thus giving more blade exposure.
     
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  6. Classic_4Ever

    Classic_4Ever Member

    what about FEATHER carbon DE blade? sharper or less sharp than stainless steel?
     
  7. Engblom

    Engblom Well-Known Member

    I do not know, I have only used stainless steel. DE blades are cheap enough that you could buy a tuck of each and test. If you want to do a test, tie a ring of any wool yarn (basically hair) and put both blades inside of the ring and pull the blades away from each other until one of the blades cut through the yarn. Repeat this several times as yarn is not 100% uniform. You should notice if one blade is sharper than the other.

    This is just the sharpness of the blade itself, but then there are other factors affecting the real shave, like at what angle is the bevel compared with the angle you are placing the blade against your skin and for how long time does the edge last. Will it stay sharper than the other through the first shave or will one blade pass the other half way through it.
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2019
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  8. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Interesting...I didn't know that. I knew feathers were wider than most other blades, and that they had a triple bevel grind compared to everyone else's double bevel.

    If the stainless and carbon blades are identical in thickness, sharpening, etc., the stainless should stay sharper longer than the carbon.
     
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  9. AGHisBBS

    AGHisBBS Well-Known Member

    I've used Treet carbon DE blades and they are not what I'd call sharp compared to Feather stainless.
     
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  10. matthewoli98

    matthewoli98 Well-Known Member

    A quick search on feathers website reveals that the feather seikans are NOT industrial blades.

    Under both the shaving section and industrial section on their website they list carbon steel de style blades, but their thickness differs..the ones for shaving are 0.1mm while the industrial ones are 0.13.

    Below are photo's for proof.

    First photo is the seikans and the second the industrial blades.[​IMG][​IMG]

    Sent from my Redmi S2 using Tapatalk
     
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  11. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    I haven't looked into the industrial DE blades, so I don't know what 'industrial use' constitutes.

    If the blades are designed for tissue slicing, they are sharp enough for shaving.

    We run into the same issue with single edge blades, many of which are designed for industrial use. A single edge blade made for use in carpet cutting, for example, is not suitable for shaving. People have tried. Once.
     
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  12. matthewoli98

    matthewoli98 Well-Known Member

    The blades for "tissue slicing are the thicker blades. They arent made for de razors, the thicker blade means they don't flex as well.

    They arent the same blades though, look above where i debunked the theory that feather only makes carbon steel industrial blades.

    The feather seikans used in the original post here are most definitely blades manufactured for shaving.

    Sent from my Redmi S2 using Tapatalk
     
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  13. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    The Gillette double ring, single ring, and old type razors were designed around a blade at least 0.2 thick, so the flex theory doesn't mean a whole lot. Except that these blades might be a good choice for those razors.

    The grind on it does, but if it's been ground for tissue slicing, it will work perfectly fine for shaving.

    I'm really curious to try them in a shake sharp. Are there any American sites that have those? Ted Pella?

    Edit: found them on ted pella. Interestingly, they measured them at .127 thickness.
     
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  14. matthewoli98

    matthewoli98 Well-Known Member

    The feather industrials or the seikans?

    Sent from my Redmi S2 using Tapatalk
     
  15. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    [​IMG]
    This is the only image they show for it. They just call it a carbon feather blade.
     
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  16. matthewoli98

    matthewoli98 Well-Known Member

    Strange. The seikans are definitely 0.1mm blades. I have a pack of those on the way but I'll let you know how they are once i have them.

    Sent from my Redmi S2 using Tapatalk
     
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  17. Edison Carter

    Edison Carter Well-Known Member

    I have shaved with AccuTec (the Personna folks) industrial DE blades.

    No wash of machining lube.
    No coatings applied.
    Grinding appears to be the same ondet magnification.
    Personna Blue is more comfortable.
    I don't prefer either.
     
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