Exactly what is it that doesn't make sense?
Do we really need to stretch blade life?
- Thread starter msayani
- Start date
You’re saying that blade damage doesn’t effect performance. We got some razor Jedi up in here.
What I find interesting is all the time and effort many of you place into, what is for me, simply part of my daily grooming. There are charts, graphs, examination under electron microscopes, and arguments all over how many shaves one can get out of a blade. If you like shaving with a Merkur blade for one hundred shaves, fine. If you want to use a new Feather for each stroke, fine. If you want to knap a piece of obsidian or flint and really go traditional, fine. For me, I rotate razors and blades once a week, usually on Sundays. That is a system which works for me.
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We got some mind reader here that can read my experience.
Are you seriously trolling or what are you doing?
If my experience is that I don't care how the blade looks in 50000 times magnifying, read that once again, 50000 times, as long as it performs great, then why would I bother how it looks?
That's exactly what I do most of the time, except I sometimes forget and do it every other week. If I use more razors, then I definitely do it every other week. Now, some people like to rotate often... in that case one could do it at the beginning of each month, something like that.
My Grandfather used a straight razor until his palsy got bad, then he switched to a Gillette Superspeed and finally an electric. My Father used a TTO Tech and then a Schick J1 Injector which I now own. I started with an L1 Injector, which I own, went through the whole cartridge phase and now use either a DE or an injector or a Harry’s Razor for travel. I just do not get the obsession with blade life.
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One and done.
It's fun, and I'm too lazy to change blades that don't need changed. YMMV MMTO
Figure 1. Fresh out of the packet, the Wilkinson Sword double-sided blade in the (scanning) electron microscope.
The gunk on the edge of the blade is now more apparent. A mixture of grease and residue is the blobby stuff and the blade edge is now littered with all sorts of stuff. There is a big blob of grease on the right hand side of figure 6.
Figure 2. Post-Jon, the Wilkinson Sword after scraping my head (50 000 times).
At the highest magnification the damage done to the blade is evident. The metal has suffered a huge amount of deformation (ductility) and the metal appears to have cracked in places. I have no idea what the white blobs are, but the fuzzy appearance towards the top of figure 7 suggests that, whatever it was it charges (accumulates electrons during the image) and blurs the image. The trauma of the blade seems to match that of my head- I managed to cut myself a couple of times during the shave
source: Under the microscope: razor blades - https://thruanelectronlens.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/under-the-microscope-razor-blades/
That little white bar on the bottom is 100 nano-meters long or 1/10,000th if a millimeter. If there was a hair in the picture, it would be about four of those little bars. The description seems to be dramatic.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Curiosity.
I went through many different blades, noting both how they felt and performed and how long they lasted. As I get decent life from a blade (usually 10-14 shaves, and occasionally 30+), this exercise lasted well over a year. From this, I chose my favourites, and stocked up on them. I didn't do this out of any need, I did it because I chose to. It was interesting (to me) to compare them.
I no longer count each shave, but know I am still getting a healthy number of great shaves from each one. I do still get the odd duff blade though. I had one recently that only did about four or five shaves before my stubble killed it. This one seems to be lasting ages
Never fear with three a year.
I don't think there's anything to get, really. It's a hobby. Natural curiosity. A combination of many factors. A regular shaver would ask: "What's the obsession with brushes? Brush handles? Blades? Anything really?"
I mean, you just use a tool and you shave with it, there's no mystery about any of this stuff. The only reason people have forums and obsess about this stuff is that it's a hobby. I know people who shave daily with a cartridge and they use the same cartridge for a whole month, sometimes two.They don't see anything strange about it. When the shave becomes really unpleasant, they replace it.
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I have to admit that I got curious whilst trying a new razor, so I pushed a Shark SS blade up to 11 shaves, just to see how the razor would handle it. I mean, for the most part, up to 8 or 9 shaves or so, the blade felt great, and only started to feel harsh towards the end. Even so, I think that I could have managed 30 shaves or so if going just WTG and XTG.
But now I am going back to 7 shaves and binning it, 7 is a nice number, prime.
But now I am going back to 7 shaves and binning it, 7 is a nice number, prime.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
At times, there seems to be more obsession about people getting long blade life, by those who don't, than there is any obsession about the blade life itself...
This has been a hot button for ages. I remember reading an article in Popular Science in the 60's about a guy who got about 120 shaves/blade. People reacted with disbelief.
I didn't pay much attention to blade life until I slowly began using vintage blades more and more and finally exclusively. I made the move because they're better by every measure, for me, and I measure everything. Getting a weeper as often as an election year rolls around, lasting so much longer and costing so much more when they were new compared to today's offerings are pretty good signs or side effects of just that. When your absolute best blades lasted you less than 5 and suddenly you try what you learn are "vintage " blades and they go 12 to 30+...you notice.
That's pretty much what I do. That usually means 5 shaves (occasionally 4 or 6). I sometimes kinda sorta feel like maybe it's not shaving as well on that last day. If I clearly feel the blade has dulled then I will change it sooner but that's rare.
Once a week is nice & easy.
Even though they’re very inexpensive I try not to be wasteful. I generally can use the same blade for a week and change the blade and sometimes razors on the weekend.
Exactly, we ooh and aah over brush collections of hard to get, expensive knots, out of production models. And if I was still working I would have gone down that road even though it matters not on what your results are. I redirected it to collecting and using a less expensive more effective object, vintage blades and some people get up in arms about the claim they're better. It's a hobby, everyone go down the road of your choosing and celebrate each others choices. Control your own roll, and I'll do mine.
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