I've seen some posts where "corking a blade" is mentioned.
What does it mean and what is the purpose of this?
What does it mean and what is the purpose of this?
Corking a blade
- Thread starter shm
- Start date
It refers to running the edge of a new blade across a wine cork, to 'smooth' the edge (ie make a small cut on the cork).
A lot of guys notice that the second shave with a blade is better than the first, so I assume corking is meant to simulate that first shave.
Results seem mixed at best, but I don't recall anybody saying it made anything worse.
A lot of guys notice that the second shave with a blade is better than the first, so I assume corking is meant to simulate that first shave.
Results seem mixed at best, but I don't recall anybody saying it made anything worse.
Thanks, Galius. I had wondered the same thing as well. Is it more to dull the blade or to remove possible burs?
To remove burrs and smooth the edge.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks 
I thought it was something like that, but wasn't sure.
I thought it was something like that, but wasn't sure.
Interesting, never actually recall reading about it on this site until now tbh.
Not sure how much of a difference it will make, but will give it a try sometime.
Not sure how much of a difference it will make, but will give it a try sometime.
Interesting. Seems rather wasteful to "pre-dull" a blade though.
I haven't seen anything definitive about this, but some people also strop a DE blade. Recently, I've been looking into straight razors, and people seem to recommend stropping the straight immediately prior to shaving. The theory is that the stropping motion realigns burrs and removes micro rust formation that may have been formed since the last use, so the recommendation is to strop immediately prior to use even if the razor was previously stropped after the last use. I'm wondering if its a similar principle at play here, although I've never actually tried either corking a DE blade or stropping it myself.
Thats it exactly! Sometimes the machine processes that produce DE blades can be off etc. "Corking" especially for the more aggressive DE blades like Crystals and Feathers, is literally a way to "take the edge off"
So to speak...
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- #10
When I thought of this the first time, I had two possibilities in mind. The one being the burrs thing the other being to remove the wax/oil that is covering a new blade.
I would think that this sticky substance could make the first shave not as good as the next, since the first is used to "shave off" the wax/oil.
Next question then
It seems that a lot of the blades are coated with i.e. platinum. It must be a really thin coating, and by corking a blade I would think there is a risk of damaging this coating. It is after all a more harsh treatment of the blade than a shave.
I would think that this sticky substance could make the first shave not as good as the next, since the first is used to "shave off" the wax/oil.
Next question then
It seems that a lot of the blades are coated with i.e. platinum. It must be a really thin coating, and by corking a blade I would think there is a risk of damaging this coating. It is after all a more harsh treatment of the blade than a shave.
would you rather throw a way a shave, or an entire blade?
Sometimes its the only way to save a blade from the blade bank...
When I thought of this the first time, I had two possibilities in mind. The one being the burrs thing the other being to remove the wax/oil that is covering a new blade.
I would think that this sticky substance could make the first shave not as good as the next, since the first is used to "shave off" the wax/oil.
Next question then
It seems that a lot of the blades are coated with i.e. platinum. It must be a really thin coating, and by corking a blade I would think there is a risk of damaging this coating. It is after all a more harsh treatment of the blade than a shave.
Not really, the coating is more on their to prevent rust than it is to put a smooth shave coating.
Besides if you're corking the blade, its just the cutting edge not the entire top/bottom edges which are prone to rust.
