AbstractThe effect was examined of reducing the thickness of the blades in the shear compression cell of the Texture Test System in order to increase the clearance between the moving and the stationary cell components. The results indicated that blade thickness reductions up to 0.14mm did not affect the characteristic shape of the force‐deformation curves for the 9 foods tested. Friction between the cell components was eliminated and the force to operate the cell tended to decrease, but force variations within foods were unaffected. It was concluded that it would be useful to reduce the thickness of the blades to decrease friction and to promote standardization by making the blades more precisely of steel. The variation of blade thickness may account for some of the differences between the presently manufactured aluminum cell