What is the expected lifespan of a new SR?

[rbscebu]

I know there are many variables that have an effect on the useful lifespan of a SR so just your guess will do.

Assume the SR starts off at 6/8, is of carbon steel, half hollow, bevel set only once and then refreshed about every 3 months. The SR is stropped on clean leather before each shave and used daily for a three-pass shave. The blade is well maintained such that oxidation never becomes a problem.

How say you, what would you consider to be the useful life of such a SR?

I am thinking probably about 300 to 500 years. Too high or two low?

 

[Tomo]

If a razor is only touched up every three months it would need a more in depth refresh. I would assume you’d have to drop back a couple of stones in the progress at that stage. If you were using one razor exclusively, I’d give it about 25 years. Give it take. Two or three could see you through a lifetime so long as you don’t damage or loose them. A seven day set would certainly do it if properly maintained.

As always the real answers is that it depends. It depends on how far you’re willing to stretch it until you call it done. Depends on how aggressive you are with the honing. How skilled you are at honing evenly. How hard the steel is. And so on.

Lots of old razors that we see these days are pretty well used up. The 100 year old razors that we see that are still in good condition have likely sat ideal for long periods of time.

 

[Mitzie]

As the edge wears down with honing over years the bevel angel will increase -as the the blade diminishes in height? Spine thickness and blade height are surely related in SR design weather a 3-8, 4-8, 5-8...8-8 ?

 

[JPO]

As the edge wears down with honing over years the bevel angel will increase -as the the blade diminishes in height?

The razor is designed to wear at the spine, and at the edge. The goal is for the bevel angle to remain withing a certain range.
Using tape will change that by giving a more obtuse angle as the blade gets smaller.
I guess a larger blade does have some more useful steel. However, if it is a hollow grind, the belly of the grind is not that much higher up on a taller blade. At some point you would need to thin out/regrind the razor. So this will also depend on the type of grind. A full belly hollow is not will probably have a different lifespan then something with a more gradual hollow grind. etc.

I the beginning of my razor honing adventure i followed the advise from a famous Youtube honer. I honed the razor to take out any geometry imperfections (tap an wobble "fix"). It probably took away 100 years of useful steel, so now i probably have at least 100 years of useful steel left on this 6/8 blade

 

[Kyle89]

300-500 years seems too high, at least for a daily driver. But who the heck knows haha. I've seen some real nubs of blades at antique shops/shows, but I guess those were barber used.

I measured my modern Grelot the other day actually and it's still a solid 6/8ths after a few years. Did unspeakable things to it as a novice honer, granted the steel is dang hard. It's had the hours put into it.

Here's another question- does touching up more often (for example, 8-10 passes on a 12k) biweekly remove less metal than going 3 months and having to go backwards a little bit into a progression?

 

[Doc226]

Assuming touch ups around 80-100 shaves, means 3-4 a year, I doubt you’d see a change in blade width of more than a 1/16 in your lifetime.

 

[Dobric]

3 shaves, and then you need to get a new one...

 

[rbscebu]

A 6/8 half hollow has about 5mm to 6mm of "usable" blade width. Without having to go to a regrinding of the hollow, that would give you up to 4mm to 5mm of wearable blade width. That's about three lifetimes (say 200 years) using @Doc226's wear rate.

Not many half-hollow blades would have belly in their grind.

 

[RayClem]

While it is interesting to speculate, none of us will be around long enough to see if our predictions are accurate. While we might use a razor consistently until we die, the chances of someone obtaining and taking good care of the razor after our demise is pretty low. That is why many vintage razors are in poor condition. I have a collection of straight razors, safety razor, brushes and shaving soaps. I have no idea what might happen to them after I am gone. My son in law is my only male heir and he has zero interest in wet shaving. Thus, my collection might end up at the thrift store.

 

[Herrenberg]

I am thinking probably about 300 to 500 years. Too high or two low?

Why speculate, when you could just wait and see? People are so impatient.

 

[Tomo]

I actually think you would wear the spine out before the blade. Once the spine becomes thinner than the tang you start running into trouble. It becomes increasingly difficult to keep the wear even.

You get similar issues when you start to hit the heel stabilizer but that is much easier to correct.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

It would probably be incredibly tedious, but you could always get a razor and hone it 4 times a week. Each week would represent one year. Do that each week for a year, and it would give you a good idea of how much it wears in 52 years.

 

[Tomo]

It would probably be incredibly tedious, but you could always get a razor and hone it 4 times a week. Each week would represent one year. Do that each week for a year, and it would give you a good idea of how much it wears in 52 years.

Count the number of strokes required to wear out new razor on a hard Arkansas.

n/(100x52)=years of service

 

[SilverSteel]

If a razor is only touched up every three months it would need a more in depth refresh.

I believe I have seen this kind of comment already a few times but I must admit, that I never understood why this should be true (assuming you are using a stone for the touch up, not a pasted strop).

I would be interested in learning the explanation for this theory.

 

[lloydw]

As a challenge to myself quite some time ago - I got these to shave for a weeks use. They came to me in a batch. i assumed at the time they lived in a barbershop and were honed daily and improperly. If you look after a blade, imagine how long it would be to get to this level of wear, even if it’s ‘even’. Of course they’re a probably worse shape blades still in use. I like the idea of a few hundred years if looked after like many of us do today.

 

[Gamma]

How long will a razor last if I only hone it when I need to?

First, I'd have to define 'need'.

A long ways back, I honed a W&B once every night for almost 3 months straight. It didn't 'need' it, but I was learning feedback and was putting the time in to do so. The blade wore, significantly. But it survived. After that, with regular honing, I think it would be able to stay in service for a long time. Very long time. I have honed more than a few blades into a mud puddle tho... I guess they could be reground or something but I just toss 'em.

I am not much of a 'edge refresh' guy. A razor feels different after a bevel set than it does after a refresh, and in a better way. In use, steel doesn't wear evenly, continued tuneups work, sure, in the sense that the tugging stops but not in the 'fresh edge' sense. Maybe for someone else it does. It doesn't for me though. Using pastes or whatever isn't a 'forever edge' in my book. It's a matter of preferences and expectations. Cutting into a new bevel changes the game in a positive way, for me, usually. So that is what I do most of the time.

I honestly don't give much of this type of no-point mental gyration much thought though. I hone because I want to. I hone when I need to. I hone when I need something to do. I hone when I want to meditate. I hone, i hone, and then I hone. Blade life? Please...got better things to think about and work on. So someone thinks I don't need to hone something from bevel up - who cares what someone thinks? I don't. I just do it 'cause it works for me. If the blade wears out, I'll get another one.
Stones wear out though...my Shap 1.5k is looking and feeling anemic... going to have to swap it out for a fresh one in the not too distant future.

 

[5whiskey]

I too have noticed that the "refresh" on a black ark leaves a lot to be desired. I go back to a hard ark dressed with 1000 grit w/d. It doesn't take many laps unless I went entirely too long and trashed the blade. But it's a game changer versus just "touching up."

 

[alpster]

Just judging by the plethora of available Str8 razors that are still in use and more than a hundred years old, I'd guess an easy lifetime with minimal care. It's rare that honing and stropping create much wear if done properly. It's usually rust, cell rot or abuse that gets them. JMHO

 

[GeronimoWSB]

My first straight is a cryo Dovo en vogue no5, shouldn't have been so fancy, but I used it 1-2 a week for at least a year before I sent it to be honed. The second time I went 2 years and got into de stuff , steel, use, and whiskers are all variables.

 

[Robert6891]

I've got a couple 5/8 GDs that after 19 years and some serious abuse are just slightly less then 5/8ths. They were used alternating days for about 10 years. Now they each get used once a week.

With proper care and maintenance I don't see why a razor couldn't see 100 years of use.