Blade life in shavette vs DE razor

[AimlessWanderer]

I took a photo of all my razors earlier today, and when I picked up my Dovo shavette to close it, I thought the edge looked wrong. I looked at it with a magnifier, and then using my light bounce test, and the edge was utterly wrecked - way beyond what I would ever try to shave with in a DE razor. That blade has had 5 shaves on it.

The blade is a Derby Premium, and in comparison, I got 16 shaves from one in my Edwin Jagger, and the edges were nowhere near that wrecked when I discarded it. OK, the shavette blade only has one edge, whereas the DE blade has two, but that's still a big shortfall on shaves for a heck of a lot more edge damage.

Is this typical? Do other DE and shavette users get a reduced blade life in their shavette in comparison with their DE?

 

[albsat]

I am interested to know the feedback to this question too. Personally I think that shavette is less demanding and I think my blades do last there at least as in a de razor.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I am interested to know the feedback to this question too. Personally I think that shavette is less demanding and I think my blades do last there at least as in a de razor.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that many people use both DE razors and DE blade (or half blade) shavettes

 

[Seveneighth]

What blade angle are you using?

 

[AimlessWanderer]

What blade angle are you using?

As shallow as possible, but still at skin level. The shaving feel is as close as I can get it to cap riding shave feel in a DE razor. Shaving, not scraping, but not cutting high and tugging either.

 

[Seveneighth]

As shallow as possible, but still at skin level. The shaving feel is as close as I can get it to cap riding shave feel in a DE razor. Shaving, not scraping, but not cutting high and tugging either.

I have noticed that I get shorter blade life in my Feather AC SS than I do with my DX or Kai Captain. Using the SS I shave with a flatter / shallower angle. Not sure if both factors are related. These are SE blades not DE blades however. Others get much longer blade life than me from the SS.

I'm not the best person to give a POV though. Whilst I record my blade use I confess I am a fully paid up member of the anti-excalibur league and would happily change my DE blades every time. I only started recording my blade use in order to instill a bit of self control and reuse blades more.


(BTW I have adopted your riding-the-cap terminology for SS shaving in my head, I call it riding the lip, which the Feather SS has)

 

[Seveneighth]

My only other thought is a shavette which offers more blade support like the Focus or the IBC.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

My only other thought is a shavette which offers more blade support like the Focus or the IBC.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm not actively trying to improve blade life, just wondering if it was "normal". Five shaves off a half blade, is still less than a penny a shave (my usual guideline), so I've no need to buy different kit just to eek out a bit more blade life. I'm maxed out on razors already

 

[Seveneighth]

I'm maxed out on razors already

No such thing...

 

[AimlessWanderer]

No such thing...

Seven for home, plus one for travel is my limit, and I'm at nine working razors, and one unfinished project - so I'm two razors over my limit. I know which two, but I need to do more modification work prior to offloading.

 

[GearNoir]

I don’t use a DE bladed shavette unfortunately, only a Feather AC SS.

However I would postulate based on the shaves I get between say my Prewar Fat Handled Tech and my RR Baby Smooth (which bends the DE blade closer to a shavette angle), that one would get less blade life out of the DE blade in the shavette vs the same blade in the DE.

Because of the wide range of available angles against the edge and the blade’s thin nature, there is more opportunity to mess up the edge. Most DEs bend the blade minimally off of a perpendicular/90 degree angle to the shaving surface so the edge contacts and cuts the hairs so the the edge does not take the full force straight on; whereas a shavette, at a shallow angle, might put the full force of the cut on the edge *maybe* dulling the edge more quickly.

This is all purely speculation.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Because of the wide range of available angles against the edge and the blade’s thin nature, there is more opportunity to mess up the edge.

I think you probably hit the nail on the head here Chris.

Maybe I'll get better blade life as my skills improve. I'm getting acceptable (for me) blade life, so it's of no real concern, but maybe matching the blade life in the DE will be an indicator that I'm getting more competent with it.