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Chad Uses BAD blades!
- Thread starter Cvargo
- Start date
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
OK, I'll start the guessing as this could be fun. Timor ?
Well you are no fun. LOL
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Figured, been curious about them ?
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Lol! That’s great! ?
\n\nNot for me.... I enjoy Chad’s pain!
Volume 25 Timor Use 1
Okay so up on deck today is the Timor Blade. This seems to be a pretty controversial blade based off reviews. Here's what I know:
They are made by the company Geisen and Fortshoff which is Germany. The blades are made in Solingen, Germany. This company is pretty much in direct competition with Merkur. Merkur seems to have the market on DE Razors, and G&F focuses more on straights and barber straights. They all sell DE razors. As to these blades in Germany it is pretty much Timor or Merkur. Think Gillette vs. Schick like here.
These are Stainless Steel, and are Ice-Tempered and Teflon coated. They claim they are longer lasting, and that is what a lot of people tout they get 6-8 out shaves instead of 2-4 like other blades. I will say I push most blades to 6 uses.
As to cost this blade is NOT sold at Maggard or WCS.
Italian Barber: $29.99
Amazon: $45.00
If on Amazon you buy 200 it drops it to roughly 37 cents per blade. These blades are PRICEY.
So the shave. Well the blade is definitely sharp, and while shaving you can feel the edge of the blade but not a bad thing. This blade seems actually thicker than most blades, but I don't have any calipers to check that out. But the blade definitely feels more rigid than say compared to a Feather blade. I liked the blade and got a very nice shave. Here check it out:
Okay so up on deck today is the Timor Blade. This seems to be a pretty controversial blade based off reviews. Here's what I know:
They are made by the company Geisen and Fortshoff which is Germany. The blades are made in Solingen, Germany. This company is pretty much in direct competition with Merkur. Merkur seems to have the market on DE Razors, and G&F focuses more on straights and barber straights. They all sell DE razors. As to these blades in Germany it is pretty much Timor or Merkur. Think Gillette vs. Schick like here.
These are Stainless Steel, and are Ice-Tempered and Teflon coated. They claim they are longer lasting, and that is what a lot of people tout they get 6-8 out shaves instead of 2-4 like other blades. I will say I push most blades to 6 uses.
As to cost this blade is NOT sold at Maggard or WCS.
Italian Barber: $29.99
Amazon: $45.00
If on Amazon you buy 200 it drops it to roughly 37 cents per blade. These blades are PRICEY.
So the shave. Well the blade is definitely sharp, and while shaving you can feel the edge of the blade but not a bad thing. This blade seems actually thicker than most blades, but I don't have any calipers to check that out. But the blade definitely feels more rigid than say compared to a Feather blade. I liked the blade and got a very nice shave. Here check it out:
I think the "Ice Tempering" may be a little misleading. Most all martinsitic stainless steels require a cryogenic quench from the austentizing temperature to freeze the grain structure in the hardening process. (I'm going to assume these are stainless steel)
The tempering process is still done at temperatures above freezing. (Tempering is still part of the hardening/heat treating process.) Generally tempered at 950(ish depending on the specific alloy) degrees then rapid cooled to below 750 degrees. (again, alloy dependent)
There are certain alloys called precipitation hardening that may require a cryogenic step in tempering, but those are more widely used in aerospace applications than razor blades.
I'm betting the thickness is what lends to the longevity. Think like a straight razor. A wedge grind with more mass behind the edge will hold a bit longer than a full hollow or extra hollow grind.
Sorry.... Nerd rant over....
The tempering process is still done at temperatures above freezing. (Tempering is still part of the hardening/heat treating process.) Generally tempered at 950(ish depending on the specific alloy) degrees then rapid cooled to below 750 degrees. (again, alloy dependent)
There are certain alloys called precipitation hardening that may require a cryogenic step in tempering, but those are more widely used in aerospace applications than razor blades.
I'm betting the thickness is what lends to the longevity. Think like a straight razor. A wedge grind with more mass behind the edge will hold a bit longer than a full hollow or extra hollow grind.
Sorry.... Nerd rant over....
Great info Shawn.
Volume 26 Timor Use 2
Alright well today is the second use of the Timor blade and I was excited to get this used again. The first shave proved to be very nice and I am hoping today was no different. I lathered up some CBL Watson and had a great lather ready to use for my shave. I will say the above info on Ice Tempering basically confirms what I kind of suspected gimmicky. But I do think this blade is thicker, it seems thicker at least to feel and shave. The blade while shaving also feels harder if that makes sense, not quite to the hardness of a GEM blade but there is definitely less give to this blade, again all this based on feel and perception to me while shaving. The best way I can describe it is if you use Feather blades they seem thinner and have much more bend to them. Really makes me wonder if hardness and thickness of the blade plays a bigger role than expected when in the razor. With this blade it in my Timeless I felt the blade more but it didn't feel like I was going to cut myself.
So Anyways the shave. The shave went well and I got another really good result. There is just something that I don't like about this blade. It has too much feel for my liking, and honestly feels rough while shaving but does leave a really good result with no irritation. This is a really weird blade for me to explain. I couple that with the price which is honestly not the main determination for these ratings, but I do consider it. When I compare it to the other blades that got 100 PACK ratings I can't put this in that category. Nope it doesn't belong. It will get a rating of GOOD. Here are the definitions:
****RATING SYSTEM****
TRASH: Can't get a good shave. This blade is horrible. Never use again.
BAD: A bad blade but technically still got a serviceable shave, but have no desire to use the blade again.
GOOD: It was good enough that if I have another blade I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
100PACK: This blade was good enough to warrant stocking up!
I think it is the perfect rating based off of that definition. I will use the remaining 9 blades I own, but due to feel, price, and comparing overall experience to other 100 PACK ratings I just don't see myself replacing these. But wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
Here's the updated lists:
**** Blades Used ****
1. Muhle = Bad
2.Van Der Hagen = Good
3. Graham Field = Trash
4. Super Homex = Bad
5. Shark Super Chrome = Bad
6. Shark Stainless Steel = 100 PACK
7. Sputnik = 100 PACK
8. Rockwell = Bad
9. Parker = 100 PACK
10. Bic Platinum = Trash
11. Timor = Good
*** 100 Pack Ranking***
1. Parker Premium
2. Sputnik
3. Shark Stainless Steel
*** On Deck***
(in No Particular Order)
Lord Super Stainless
Trig Stainless
Derby Extra
Blue Bird Stainless
QShave Titanium
Dorco ST300
Dorco Prime
Dorco ST301
7 A.M. Platinum
Rapira Stainless
Rapira Chrome
Rapira Lux
Sharp Chromium
Zorrik
Ladas Stainless
Baili Blue Blades
Assured
Merkur Super
Croma Diamant Stainless
Treet Classic
Treet Silver
Shaver Boy
Alright well today is the second use of the Timor blade and I was excited to get this used again. The first shave proved to be very nice and I am hoping today was no different. I lathered up some CBL Watson and had a great lather ready to use for my shave. I will say the above info on Ice Tempering basically confirms what I kind of suspected gimmicky. But I do think this blade is thicker, it seems thicker at least to feel and shave. The blade while shaving also feels harder if that makes sense, not quite to the hardness of a GEM blade but there is definitely less give to this blade, again all this based on feel and perception to me while shaving. The best way I can describe it is if you use Feather blades they seem thinner and have much more bend to them. Really makes me wonder if hardness and thickness of the blade plays a bigger role than expected when in the razor. With this blade it in my Timeless I felt the blade more but it didn't feel like I was going to cut myself.
So Anyways the shave. The shave went well and I got another really good result. There is just something that I don't like about this blade. It has too much feel for my liking, and honestly feels rough while shaving but does leave a really good result with no irritation. This is a really weird blade for me to explain. I couple that with the price which is honestly not the main determination for these ratings, but I do consider it. When I compare it to the other blades that got 100 PACK ratings I can't put this in that category. Nope it doesn't belong. It will get a rating of GOOD. Here are the definitions:
****RATING SYSTEM****
TRASH: Can't get a good shave. This blade is horrible. Never use again.
BAD: A bad blade but technically still got a serviceable shave, but have no desire to use the blade again.
GOOD: It was good enough that if I have another blade I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
100PACK: This blade was good enough to warrant stocking up!
I think it is the perfect rating based off of that definition. I will use the remaining 9 blades I own, but due to feel, price, and comparing overall experience to other 100 PACK ratings I just don't see myself replacing these. But wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
Here's the updated lists:
**** Blades Used ****
1. Muhle = Bad
2.Van Der Hagen = Good
3. Graham Field = Trash
4. Super Homex = Bad
5. Shark Super Chrome = Bad
6. Shark Stainless Steel = 100 PACK
7. Sputnik = 100 PACK
8. Rockwell = Bad
9. Parker = 100 PACK
10. Bic Platinum = Trash
11. Timor = Good
*** 100 Pack Ranking***
1. Parker Premium
2. Sputnik
3. Shark Stainless Steel
*** On Deck***
(in No Particular Order)
Lord Super Stainless
Trig Stainless
Derby Extra
Blue Bird Stainless
QShave Titanium
Dorco ST300
Dorco Prime
Dorco ST301
7 A.M. Platinum
Rapira Stainless
Rapira Chrome
Rapira Lux
Sharp Chromium
Zorrik
Ladas Stainless
Baili Blue Blades
Assured
Merkur Super
Croma Diamant Stainless
Treet Classic
Treet Silver
Shaver Boy
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
I found the info from Shawn interesting. At the other neighborhood (where I'm no longer welcome) there was a discussion about this because apparently someone offers a service where you can send them your blades and they'll " ice temper " them for you. Some swore by it but I can't remember much of what I read. I didn't read anything that caused me to try it is all I know. Nice review Chad