House of Lords

Had a quick browse of the thread... does a lower number on the very first table suggest a less sharp blade (in scientific terms)? Some with high and low scores seem to be sharp for me, and also true of less sharp for me.
Does this score have a maximum of 100?
Apologies if this is in the posts or related threads somewhere.

I haven only used Silver Stars a handful of times but I found it to be quite a sharp blade. It was smoothness that let it down a little for me.
 
NotTheStig said:
Had a quick browse of the thread... does a lower number on the very first table suggest a less sharp blade (in scientific terms)? Some with high and low scores seem to be sharp for me, and also true of less sharp for me.
Does this score have a maximum of 100?
Apologies if this is in the posts or related threads somewhere.

I haven only used Silver Stars a handful of times but I found it to be quite a sharp blade. It was smoothness that let it down a little for me.
Click to expand...

You can read the methodology in the mega-thread. It's grams of force/pressure (if that's such a thing) required for the blade to cut a thread. The lower the number, logically, the sharper the blade. He's doing many tests across the face of the blade, many times and aggregating the data. I think he's also testing multiple blades, which is where the variance comes in.

My preference is to read the "out of the box" sharpness since that's pretty much when we do most of our personal and subjective assessment of any given blade. I also like to look for consistency across all the tests, which shows me whether I will get the same sort of feeling with my first, second and third blades. That's in there as well, so if you look at the coloured lines in the chart on the mega-thread you'll see the score for each use of the blade. The better the lines keep together, the more consistent the blade.

It is quite in depth ... and yes, it's easy to pick holes. But, it is a consistent and repeatable approach to testing and does consider variance.
 
Gairdner said:
Very smooth for me. Smoothest of all.
Click to expand...

I quite agree. I also agree with your earlier post that while it's not a Nacet or Feather-sharp blade, it is "plenty sharp enough". I actually used one of those Flying Eagle carbon blades for real within the last few weeks and it was horrific! It was dull! Seeing the Silver Star as a very close neighbour really has me puzzled.

To me, the sharpness should be at least the same as the Lord Classic. Notice the Lord Cool (which I believe is the same grind as the Classic, if indeed there is any difference to the other Stainless blades) it really high on the chart!
 
... but yes, sharpness is most certainly not the whole story and when it comes to razor blades, I'd guess that a sharpness of between 50 and 100 (in this methodology) is "sharp enough" to do the job and it's the coatings that have the greatest effect upon face-feel. Platinum sputtering is just there for edge hardness which helps with consistency across the working life.
 
Everyone says the Feather is the sharpest but I find it the fasted to blunt, I have put it down to the edge being so thin.
The AC versions are the same as they give up pretty much overnight.
For me personally sharpest does not at all equals best,I prefer smoothness and longevity and if it means doing 1 extra stroke of the blade then I am fine with that.
Silver stars give me 3 excellent shaves and that's all I ask.
The test's make for an interesting read but proves what's on paper does no always translate to the user in reality.
 
Johnny Bravo said:
The test's make for an interesting read but proves what's on paper does no always translate to the user in reality.
Click to expand...
Yes I found most of the commentary for each blade to be the opposite of what I've found. Which is why my completely unscientific blade review spreadsheet is more help to me (me alone) than that ostensibly scientific study.
This is not a case of confirmation bias as I believe I have an open mind to these things. I like to see these kinds of studies. It's just that I already have my own experience which is hard to deny to myself in the face of mostly opposing evidence.
Theory is the same as practice... in theory.
 
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