Excalibur Club - Blade Longevity DE, SE and Injector

[psfred]

Sort of a bummer starting a new "hobby" with a blade that has lasted almost two weeks of daily shaving! Today's stubble grew out a little faster than before, so I set the Slim to 4 for tomorrow's shave and will see how it goes.

I have a couple blade samplers sitting here waiting for me and that Astra just keeps going like the Energizer Bunny.... If I get 20 or shaves out of it, I will have enough blades to last my heirs half a lifetime!

Peter

 

[psfred]

Just a note to say I discovered what "buttery smooth" means today! On shave 11, this Astra SP is suddenly super slick. Takes the beard off without much sound, I can shave as much as I want in any direction with or without fresh lather (I'm using Williams, so there is plenty of residual slickness) and I get zero irritation. Great shave today!

If this is what they feel like with quite a few shaves on them I have a supply of blades that will last me 40 years or so and I haven't bought some I think I want yet.....

Peter

 

[bosseb]

 

[dkeester]

Shave 10 on an Astra SP today.

After trying out a bunch of blades last month it is really nice to get back to Excalibur-ing a blade. My face is much happier for it.

17 is my current personal best. Up until now my goal has been to simply add a few more days to my record with each new blade. This time I think I might try to see this blade through the end of the month. Then we will see how I feel about continuing with it.

 

[Runnin_Ute]

Retired a GSB after shave #27.

 

[Thomas Darkblade]

Gentlemen, what do you think is the reason for the "buttery smooth" stage?

 

[psfred]

I believe what is happening is that the apex of the edge rounds over a bit and stops digging into the skin while staying quite sharp enough to cut well hydrated hair. This is what sharpening experts would call "working sharp" -- the state where the tool performs quite well but is not as sharp as when initially ground. Initial edge degradation is fairly fast (six or eight shaves, depending on the steel) and then slows down until the blade eventually becomes so dull it won't give a good shave.

I suspect Derby and similar blades are ground a bit less acute than say Feathers, so they feel "dull" out of the box but don't dig in as much. They shave well for me, at least for the two shaves I had with them, and may or may not last as long as a "sharper" blade in use.

Getting to the "buttery" stage requires fairly good shaving technique. High angle and poor preparation will result in deformation of the edge, and that causes pulling and skin irritation. The number of shaves between the "buttery" stage to actual dullness is probably dependent on beard density and hardness, a dense, wiry beard will wear the blade out faster than a fine and sparse beard. Harder steel will last longer, so will a less acute grind. Proper stropping should reduce the deformation quite a bit, but stropping a DE blade by hand is an issue, they are quite thin and it's easy to either wreck the edge (and i think I did one of mine in on the Astra I'm currently using) or cut yourself very badly. Hard to justify for the penny or so you would save, too, for many people.

Peter

 

[bosseb]

Gentlemen, what do you think is the reason for the "buttery smooth" stage?

Frankly I have no idea, the term comes from the straight razor guys. On the other hand I also have no idea about reasoning of women, even after 35 years of marriage...

 

[Gnomeo0228]

Frankly I have no idea, the term comes from the straight razor guys. On the other hand I also have no idea about reasoning of women, even after 35 years of marriage...

There's a lot of truth in that post ,lol

 

[Old_Hiker]

Save number 26 on a GEM SS PTFE and still going strong.

 

[LoungeLizard]

Just put #10 (officially, not counting head shave 2nd passes) on my Astra SP. Oddly, this was the smoothest shave so far. Put it in my Super Speed Red Tip, which is certainly more aggressive than my Merkur 34C, and almost felt as though there was no blade. I kept playing around with the angle because I thought perhaps I was "off". Nope....just smooth. Looking forward to seeing how far I can take this blade.

 

[psfred]

Mine smoothed out a lot about shave #8, and still feels pretty much like a new blade other than no harshness. I may never get through my sampler, I don't really see any reason to use any other blade if this one lasts a month!

Peter

 

[Runnin_Ute]

Today was number 17 on a Gillette Silver Blue.

 

[Thomas Darkblade]

I believe what is happening is that the apex of the edge rounds over a bit and stops digging into the skin while staying quite sharp enough to cut well hydrated hair. This is what sharpening experts would call "working sharp" -- the state where the tool performs quite well but is not as sharp as when initially ground. Initial edge degradation is fairly fast (six or eight shaves, depending on the steel) and then slows down until the blade eventually becomes so dull it won't give a good shave.

I suspect Derby and similar blades are ground a bit less acute than say Feathers, so they feel "dull" out of the box but don't dig in as much. They shave well for me, at least for the two shaves I had with them, and may or may not last as long as a "sharper" blade in use.

Getting to the "buttery" stage requires fairly good shaving technique. High angle and poor preparation will result in deformation of the edge, and that causes pulling and skin irritation. The number of shaves between the "buttery" stage to actual dullness is probably dependent on beard density and hardness, a dense, wiry beard will wear the blade out faster than a fine and sparse beard. Harder steel will last longer, so will a less acute grind. Proper stropping should reduce the deformation quite a bit, but stropping a DE blade by hand is an issue, they are quite thin and it's easy to either wreck the edge (and i think I did one of mine in on the Astra I'm currently using) or cut yourself very badly. Hard to justify for the penny or so you would save, too, for many people.

Peter

Frankly I have no idea, the term comes from the straight razor guys. On the other hand I also have no idea about reasoning of women, even after 35 years of marriage...

Thanks!

 

[SamariJack]

Ok - I'm going to give Excalibur a try.

I've noticed I can push blades much longer than I use them. I've defaulted to tossing my blade every Monday, and use one blade from 5-6 shaves. I don't know if I've ever tossed a blade because I thought it was truly spent.

I'll start with an Astra or GSB as I've noticed they do last long. The longest I've pushed is a wilkie to 12 shaves. I also "strop" my blade on a dry towel every day after my shave.

I do 3 passes regardless, so even as the blade ages I can still get a DFS.

Since I also use the same razor for a week straight, and am a 3017er I may get board. But I think variety is not what drives me as much as a fine shave.

 

[troy]

I just finished my 9th shave on a Chick in a C-1 Repeater, and it still feels wonderful. This will be the first injector blade I'll take to double digits. I've started blades in a D, E, I and couple of Gs. None have been tossed yet, but I really felt most were quickly falling in performance by 6 or 7. This one is still magically melting whiskers away, it will be interesting to see how far it goes.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

This will be the first injector blade I'll take to double digits.

Great milestone, that first double-digit shave. I looked in my shave log and from when I starting tracking blade use I gotten 6 shaves, 12 shaves and 14 shaves with the Schick injector blade. Climbing steadily. I'm currently at 8 shaves with a chick Schick in a Pal adjustable, and the last shave was the first one where I didn't nick myself. I'm thinking I will get to at least ten shaves.

 

[dkeester]

Shave #13 today on my Astra SP in my Merkur 37c.

I don't use the slant often enough. I forget was a comfortable and efficient razor it is. Two passes and I am still DFS 5 hours later.

I think this thread is one of the things that has helped me improve my technique the most. I am paying more attention to prep and to what the cutting edge is telling me and thus getting better shaves with longer blade life because of it. Thanks everyone.

 

[LoungeLizard]

Hit #12 on the Astra SP today (probably 5 2nd pass head shaves on it also). First pass indicated it was not cutting as efficiently as it had previously. In all, I ended up with a DFS but I'm doubting how much farther I can push it. Will have a better idea tomorrow.

 

[Thomas Darkblade]

Today was shave #6 with the Derby Extra in the Rockwell 6S with plate 3.
It didn't cut too well, I had the feeling the blade is dull. I managed to get a very good shave on the face, 2 spots on the neck where it could have been better.
The alum burned but the sensation dissipated fast.
I look forward to try again tomorrow, I'm curious to see if it was the blade or something in my technique.