Durham Duplex blade re-sharpening ?

[Umma2gumma]

Sorry if this is a wrong forum for this question.

I recently got a Durham Duplex demonstrator with a blade. I have no idea where the blade came from - i.e. whether it is an original blade (doubtful), a shaving blade, a doggy blade, or a carpet blade. It has absolutely no markings of any kind.

It is fairly sharp - I got a slight cut on my finger by just trying to remove it - but I don't think it's sharp enough for actually shaving with.

So, how do I go about trying to re-sharpen it ? Given that I don't own a straight, or any striping or honing implements. Obviously, not with a Dremel . Toothpaste on cardboard is what someone else recommended.

 

[Dave himself]

I would just dump it, and get some hair shaper blades. It would save you the hassle of trying to put an edge on the old blade, unless you really want to give it a go.

 

[Manannan]

To strop your Durham-Duplex blade (dragging the blade edge backwards) before each use and afterwards to help to dry the blade edge, you can use a smooth-surfaced leather belt or a fabric belt (my traditional strop has both), denim jeans, a piece of balsa wood (similar to paulownia wood used for stropping Japanese kamisori), etc.
To occasionally hone the blade (pushing the blade edge forwards) you can use the smooth inside surface of a drinking glass (the Lillicrap’s hone and the Kenberry hone use glass as a honing surface) or the ridge (no chips) on the underside of a ceramic plate.

When honing or stropping a razor blade ‘in the wild’, best to count your fingers before and afterwards… If you feel brave enough, you can strop a blade on the palm of your hand; palm honing is not recommended, since this would most likely require a visit to a hospital accident and emergency department…

Views on using toothpaste for stropping:

Toothpaste as a stropping paste

I was wondering today if you could use toothpaste as a stropping paste. Not sure how small a grit it actually is. Must only be microns! Any one tried?

www.badgerandblade.com

Ever Ready Compact Hair Trimmer replacement blades (I recently found an old stock pack in my local pharmacy and they are advertised on eBay) fit Durham-Duplex razors.

 

[Manannan]

As an aside, I have noticed a slight design issue (IMHO) in using my Durham-Duplex ‘barber style’ open comb DE razor. After seating the slotted DE blade over the two bent lugs in the open comb back plate, the two lugs fit up through rectangular holes in the razor arm and are then pushed in the direction of the pivot with the underside of each lug clipping over a recessed plate beyond the hole and secured with a simple nipple and dimple system. When using the razor with a traditional straight razor hold, the two fingers (index and middle) held on top of the arm or what is in effect a short tang, can (especially with large fingers) press against the curved upper second ‘heel’ of the open comb back plate, pushing it forward and disconnecting back plate and blade from the arm. This would not be able to happen if the lugs were seated in the opposite direction away from the pivot. Pressing the lugs down in the open comb back plate before assembly makes for a tighter and more secure fit. Adopting a different grip, such as, for example, holding the index finger in front of the pivot and the middle finger behind the pivot, ensures that there is no pressure pushing the back plate fowards.