Excalibur Club - Blade Longevity DE, SE and Injector
- Thread starter jamesspo
- Start date
Buttery smooth is past smooth for me. You may find a smoother smooth at about 25 shaves. That's what happened to me with an Astra SP. I'm now at 38 shaves with no signs of buttery smooth ending. I use Williams also. I think you have moved on.
- Blade: Astra SP (39)
- Razor: Van Der Hagan short handle (303)
- Brush: Cremo Horsehair (231)
- Soap: Williams (228)
- Pre-wash: Dr. Bronner's Peppermint (79)
- Aftershave: Mennan Skin Bracer (120)
Short strokes recommended by @psfred, @bosseb and others worked well. It took extra time for the pass, but that time was saved because there was little or no touchup needed.
Read the first 2000 messages in the thread yesterday.
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Nice to see the light bounce test catching on
Could you please explain the test in detail?
Thanks
After reading the entire thread, I realize I kind of missed the point of the thread with this post. Still, I can't help how I feel, so I'm going to strive for 100 shaves from a blade. If it happens, they will be a byproduct of following all the great advice from those whose shoulders I'm standing on.
Thank you very much. I hope this information is helpful. The basics definitely do apply; good lather, light touch and a shallow angle. I am also a cold water shaver beginning to end and 12 months a year.
Haven't been doing any longevity tests as of late. Just running through my open tucks and averaging shaves in the mid- to high teens. Trying to make way for new, untried blades.
A NOS Schick Super Chromium is one of those first-time blades, and without really striving I've reached 24 shaves on it. Twice what I got on a Wilkinson Sword Chromium, which surprises me.
Even though I am running it through a variety of razors, changing up my soaps and creams almost daily, shaving steep and shaving shallow, I'm getting close, comfortable, and long lasting shaves. I have no reason to think I won't get to 30 shaves or beyond.
A NOS Schick Super Chromium is one of those first-time blades, and without really striving I've reached 24 shaves on it. Twice what I got on a Wilkinson Sword Chromium, which surprises me.
Even though I am running it through a variety of razors, changing up my soaps and creams almost daily, shaving steep and shaving shallow, I'm getting close, comfortable, and long lasting shaves. I have no reason to think I won't get to 30 shaves or beyond.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I rotate the blade slowly through a bright directional light (I use a torch/flashlight, but you could use a directional desk lamp too). A sharp edge doesn't reflect light, but flat spots, burrs, or distorions on the edge will reflect, and show up like little pin pricks of light on the edge. A dulled edge will show up as a fine line, thinner where it's sharper, and wider where it's duller.
Thanks
I've been reading this thread from the start again. As far as "How to shave" information, it's quite limited. In fact, I'm guessing it would fit in an old Gillette Size pamphlet. The hard part is believing it can be so simple. That took some pioneers who started to push the limits in 2014. They added experience and encouragement to the basic information. Maybe 10 or 15 of them formed a core group that advanced the cause until...
In March 2015 something serious happened that moved the endeavor to a whole new dimension as someone put it.
In March 2015 something serious happened that moved the endeavor to a whole new dimension as someone put it.
Unfortunately, I can speak English not so well and I have trouble to translating that, so I do not write that much. But we can learn a lot from the experience in this thread and combine it with our own experiences. My experience says: In the peace lies the power ! That´s why I always leave my blade 48 hours to recover .
mfG King-Joe
mfG King-Joe
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I'm an engineer (EE, but ME and EE are the same where it matters). I've also got a good knowledge of metallurgy, as my dad is a metallurgist (with a degree in Physics), and we've talked metallurgy for 40 years
The blade isn't getting sharper. There's no mechanism by which it could get sharper over the long term (in the short term, there may be some strop-like effects at certain points in the blade's life that may lead to better performance). There are basically two things occurring when a blade dulls. First is mechanical breakdown of the edge itself. This is due the material not be strong enough to withstand the forces applied to it. These forces tend to compress and/or folder over the blade edge, or just completely break it off. Both lead to it being less sharp. The second major mechanism is abrasion. This is microscopic removal of material from the edge, slowly rounding the point.
This all said, even with a lot of use, and the inevitable reduction in sharpness, the blade can remain "sharp enough" for a very long time, to the extent that you can forestall the mechanical and abrasion issues. The blade itself is a factor, of course, although there are not likely to be huge differences between blades. There are competing goals when making something sharp that has to do real work. To get sharper, you have to have a hard steel. Unfortunately, the atomic structures in the metal required to make it hard make the metal less ductile and more brittle. This makes the edge easier to break. So there are competing goals. Good edges reach an ideal compromise between hardness and strength. So, is the P74 inherently better in this regard? That was certainly the marketing pitch at the time these blades were made because of the Tungsten used (I don't know if that was alloyed with the steel itself, or just a coating, or maybe even infused on the edge). Regardless, the tungsten is there to both increase hardness and resistance to abrasion.
I think what you're seeing here is just the blade continuing to be sharp. Remember, you're not judging the sharpness here with an objective measure (which would be precisely measuring the force of cutting a reference media). Your observation basically comes down to "is the blade sharp enough to cut through all of the hairs with acceptable force?". There are lots of random variables here. Small differences in prep, and probably other unknowns could lower the required cutting force for your hair on a given day, resulting in the impression of a sharper blade. I see this on a constant basis as my workout varies (and thus the amount of sweating my face endures). More sweating, better beard prep, higher perceived blade sharpness. This difference day to day can be substantial.
Scientifically, you are probably right. I still think demons are a better answer.
- Blade: Astra SP (44)
- Razor: Van Der Hagan short handle
- Brush: Cremo Horsehair
- Soap: Williams
- Aftershave: Mennan Skin Bracer
I stopped using Dr. Bronner's as a prewash. It doesn't work any better for me than rinsing with hot water.
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66 is a lot of shaves. Good job.
Blade: Astra SP (45)
I'm getting close to the end of a Williams puck, and I've been having some difficulty loading enough soap and getting enough lather. I decided to do a practice shave an hour after my first shave. I counted the two as one shave with a second pass.
The first shave was one pass with my Van Der Hagan short handle. I didn't do much touchup as I knew there would be a second pass in about an hour.
For the second shave, I used a Manion M5 (Futur Clone) set on 1.5. It was so smooth, I couldn't feel whiskers being cut. I could hear them. One pass with no touchup (added to the previous shave) and the shave was close to BBS.
Adjustable razors don't seem to get much love here. The Futur and the clones aren't mentioned often. I think it's an outstanding razor. I'll continue to use it for the next part of the journey with this blade.
I ran across this quote while reviewing an early post in this thread:
Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality
- Dalai Lama XIV
Most likely, some of the early pioneers have passed on. However, their memory lives as they are still passing on their knowlege. It would be more fun if some of the old heads would give more encouragement and advice to the new guys.
I'm getting close to the end of a Williams puck, and I've been having some difficulty loading enough soap and getting enough lather. I decided to do a practice shave an hour after my first shave. I counted the two as one shave with a second pass.
The first shave was one pass with my Van Der Hagan short handle. I didn't do much touchup as I knew there would be a second pass in about an hour.
For the second shave, I used a Manion M5 (Futur Clone) set on 1.5. It was so smooth, I couldn't feel whiskers being cut. I could hear them. One pass with no touchup (added to the previous shave) and the shave was close to BBS.
Adjustable razors don't seem to get much love here. The Futur and the clones aren't mentioned often. I think it's an outstanding razor. I'll continue to use it for the next part of the journey with this blade.
I ran across this quote while reviewing an early post in this thread:
Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality
- Dalai Lama XIV
Most likely, some of the early pioneers have passed on. However, their memory lives as they are still passing on their knowlege. It would be more fun if some of the old heads would give more encouragement and advice to the new guys.
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@bosseb was one of the early pioneers. In March 2015, he catapulted the Excalibur Club into a new dimension by getting 128 shaves on a vintage Wilkinson. Before that, the 50's were considered good. During about the next 18 months, over 100 shaves became commonplace. Then for some reason, most likely boredom, the streaks stopped. Or at least people stopped mentioning them.
Some knights have mentioned moving a blade to a more aggressive razor when it started to decline. In this post, @bosseb described a sequence of 18 razors he used for a standard run of 126 shaves. I think they were ordered from the mildest to the most aggressive.
I only have two razors, but one of them is adjustable. For the rest of the current blade, I'll increase the setting a bit when the blade starts to decline. It's possible this blade will go over 100 while continuing to give quality shaves.
Some knights have mentioned moving a blade to a more aggressive razor when it started to decline. In this post, @bosseb described a sequence of 18 razors he used for a standard run of 126 shaves. I think they were ordered from the mildest to the most aggressive.
I only have two razors, but one of them is adjustable. For the rest of the current blade, I'll increase the setting a bit when the blade starts to decline. It's possible this blade will go over 100 while continuing to give quality shaves.
I only use a razor for a blade from start to finish. Then new razor with new blade and so on. My way !
With kind regards King-Joe
With kind regards King-Joe
I found my way over here a week ago because it seemed to me that I should, at least with some blades, be able to get more than 4 or 5 shaves. And so it seems. I’m now on shave 13 with a Gillette Silver Blue.
What I am concluding is that I have a lot to learn.
What I am concluding is that I have a lot to learn.
You are already doing great by breaking the mindset that blades are only good for five shaves. the GSB is one of the outstanding blades. Keep going as long as it cuts whiskers without too much trouble.
I recommend skimming about the first 100 posts in the thread. The shaving techniques are simple and easy to practice. The shaver's attitude is the most important bit of gear. I looked through your posts, and you have some of the best blades, soaps and razors for Excalibur.
- Blade: Astra SP (46)
- Razor: Manion M5 (Futur Clone), setting 1.0
- Brush: Cremo Horsehair
- Soap: Williams
The shave was incredibly close and smooth. I only needed a tiny bit of touch-up.
