Has anyone ever used one of these?

[damooshki]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Twinplex-Stropper-Gillette-Blade-razor-sharpener-strop-/260625658632?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cae7ff308

curious about how well they sharpen DE blades. And if they are worth having other than as collectibles.
Thanks in advance.

 

[cfriend]

Modern DE blades wouldn't benefit much (if at all) from antiquated stroppers/sharpeners. If you can find one at a good price, though, it'd make an interesting conversation piece.

 

[I Like it Shaved]

At around 10-15 cents a piece, is it really worth the effort to squeeze out another 2-3 shaves out of a worn blade?

 

[damooshki]

At around 10-15 cents a piece, is it really worth the effort to squeeze out another 2-3 shaves out of a worn blade?

Yeah, that was kind of my thinking. But still thought they were kind of neat. A throw back to simpler times.

 

[DFrancis]

Modern DE blades wouldn't benefit much (if at all) from antiquated stroppers/sharpeners. If you can find one at a good price, though, it'd make an interesting conversation piece.

+1, it may be a nice collectors piece even if you never use it, heck if you can get some use out of it it may add to shaving enjoyment.

 

[Go West Young Man]

All you'll do with a modern blade is scrape off the coatings, leading to a rougher shave.

 

[luvmysuper]

These things don't work.

But I have one.

It looks great in the cabinet and is an interesting conversation piece.

 

[Slash McCoy]

I have a Kriss Kross, which is a little bit better system. It works a charm on NOS Gillette blue blades and some day I will try it with .5 micron diamond paste for modern blades but for now I am using only straights and occasionally my Rolls, so I don't have used blades to experiment with. But these gadgets, owing to the nature of modern coated blades, and the low cost of new ones, are mostly valuable as conversation pieces only.

 

[Stubblefield]

Fifty Bucks buys a lot of blades.

 

[michiganlover]

All you'll do with a modern blade is scrape off the coatings, leading to a rougher shave.

+1

Any attempt to sharpen a modern blade only succeeds in scraping the coatings off of the blade, effectively destroying it.

Also, these devices were designed for the much thicker older style blades, so a modern thinner blade may not fit well in these devices.

There was a youtube video posted a month or so back, of a man trying to use this device (or one a lot like it). The amount of handling of the blade edges required to insert it into the device was beyond ridiculous, and bound to eventually result in cut hands/ fingers.

Major cuts to my hands, and fingers are not worth saving a few pennies.

 

[JPDyson]

My Grandfather was telling me just this weekend about how his Dad used to run his DE blades around the inside of a drinking glass to get a couple more shaves out of them. I'm pretty sure their brand new blades pale in comparison to a discarded Feather.

 

[diamondtim]

$50 is way too much for one of these. I paid about $6.40 for mine.

 

[Slash McCoy]

My Grandfather was telling me just this weekend about how his Dad used to run his DE blades around the inside of a drinking glass to get a couple more shaves out of them. I'm pretty sure their brand new blades pale in comparison to a discarded Feather.

I have successfully used the waterglass trick, as well as the jeans trick. You can strop on the leg of your jeans. There is also a method for stropping on the heel of your hand. These little tricks will indeed help to get more shaves from a DE blade. However, remember how cheap DE blades can be. Is it worth your time to save an inexpensive blade for a few more shaves? For a lot more shaves? Up to you, and YMMV.

 

[MrShake]

There is one at an antique mall I like to visit for about 12 bucks. If it drops below 10 I'm buyin it... just because its a cool shaving-related-mechanical-thing

 

[DE Shaver]

To put it simply, they DO NOT work with modern blades. 'Nuff said.

 

[dpmtherrien]

With the cost of blades I wouldn't bother trying to scrape a couple more shaves out of a blade. IMHO its a waste of time and effort.

 

[Sydney Guy]

In email conversation with a sharpening guru on a knife forum, he said that modern blades have a steep secondary bevel whereas the older blades for which those sharpeners were designed had only a shallow primary bevel. Consequently the gadget is presenting the blade to the hone at the wrong angle and you'd take forever to sharpen a modern blade. Add in the fact that stainless steel blades are harder than the old carbon steel blades .............