Thread: Numbers on Gillette razor blade?

So, I got my first DE shave in today and I feel pretty good. But as I loaded the Gillette 7 O'Clock razor into my Gillette Super Speed I noticed it had numbers on both sides of the razor blade. I took a guess and surmised that maybe it means to shave twice on each side. Four uses maybe.

Does anyone know what the significance of the numbers means? Please shed some light on this for me. Perplexed.

I copied this from a google search:

The majority opinion is in favour of them being some sort of manufacturing mark - if you imagine the blades being made there would be 4 edges to be honed/ground/sharpened - if they print on which edge is which they can ensure (in theory) that when one of the hones/grindstones/sharpeners starts to wear out that they can replace the right one first time...

Gentemen:

To my knowledge, those are production markings and bear no other significance that I know of.

Regards,

Obie

Thanks. We'll see if anyone sheds further light on this then I'll call it a dead issue.

It's one of those mysteries of life. You see, one day a production supervisor at Gillette says lets rive em nuts. We'll put numbers on the blade and they'll go crazy trying to figure out what they mean.

Only a newbie would be asking these questions. Go figure? Don't worry, I can assure there will be many more.

How did you enjoy your first shave? I see you got yourself a superspeed too, good pick!

Hi Jeremy,

Enjoyed it very much. From start to finish. The whole experience was great. I took my time and I surprised myself at how confident I felt with such a sharp razor on my face and not knowing the proper angle. I kinda just felt my way sort of.

I couldn't resist buying the Gillette's (yes, I got two of them). They are in pristine condition. I am one of those addictive personality types. And as you must surely know this is something that can easily become addictive, but in a very fun kinda' way.

I saw a couple of Gillette Super Speed for a really good price and I wanted the same razor my dad used to use. I tried to wait until I got all the accoutrements but the urge was too great. So I gave it a whirl and it was fun and not the best shave I have to admit but not bad for the first time.

I am going to use the Merkur 38C when I have all the right stuff at hand. I ordered some stuff from BullGoose and I can't wait to receive the package. I'll post a pick of them here.

Best regards to you Jeremy.

I think the consensus on the blade numbers is that they are simply there for manufacturing quality control purposes, so they can tell what edge may be having issues when they test the blades. Then they know what equipment needs to be tweaked or repaired. Good to hear of your successful 1st DE shave. I've been using DE razors almost exclusively, with the occassional SE shave for the past 14 months, and have been having a great deal of fun feeding various acquisition disorders for different products and hardware. Weird how something as mundane as shaving can actually become a hobby, isn't it?

Originally Posted by americanarmsdealer

Weird how something as mundane as shaving can actually become a hobby, isn't it?

Are you calling me "weird"? LOL