I found this article that places a DE razor blade under the microscope at 50k magnification before and after a shave: Under the microscope: razor blades
Before
After
Before
After
Without reading that hypermiling thread, I'll say that there has to be a honing process to progress past a few shaves with any kind of comfort.
The same reason you hone your kitchen knives, is to extend the usefulness of the single sharpen. If you don't hone you're throwing away blade by sharpening every 4-6 months.
The edge of your razor blade is going to curl during shaving and would need to be re-aligned to restore a proper shave.
I'd look into that as a technique for hypermiling.
Why are all my favorite blades getting discontinued!
205 uses on a Nacet.Without reading that hypermiling thread, I'll say that there has to be a honing process to progress past a few shaves with any kind of comfort.
The same reason you hone your kitchen knives, is to extend the usefulness of the single sharpen. If you don't hone you're throwing away blade by sharpening every 4-6 months.
The edge of your razor blade is going to curl during shaving and would need to be re-aligned to restore a proper shave.
I'd look into that as a technique for hypermiling.
Why are all my favorite blades getting discontinued!
The question though, is is that level of wear perceptible in the shave. Things magnified enough often look horrid - pollen for example. Those tiny rolled edges may make for a smoother shave. Many report shave one on any blade as rougher than at least the next one or two.I found this article that places a DE razor blade under the microscope at 50k magnification before and after a shave: Under the microscope: razor blades
Before
View attachment 1041854
After
View attachment 1041855
No problem! It is cool to see the plasticity aspect of the edge, my guess is that at some point this deformation reaches a point where the edge becomes dull, and this point is perceived differently among us individuals.The question though, is is that level of wear perceptible in the shave. Things magnified enough often look horrid - pollen for example. Those tiny rolled edges may make for a smoother shave. Many report shave one on any blade as rougher than at least the next one or two.
@P1C0 (I'm not trying to pick on you with this next statement). We (mankind) have all sorts of technical measuring capability. We're, for the most part, still light on extrapolating that to real life terms that matter to whatever activity we're doing. Thank you for posting the photos, though. They are always cool to see.
Well the 13th shave did a real number on my face. All the buffing wrecked my face. I had irritation for the whole day. Yesterday my face was still irritated so I did a gentle WTG, XTG, ATG shave and didn’t push it. Today I went back to the Bic Chrome Platinum and decided no buffing, but instead I tried skin stretching.
Still used the Fat Handle Tech. I did WTG no stretching, XTG with stretching and ATG with stretching. Quick gentle clean up pass. Cold water rinse and the result was a near BBS. Probably the closest shave in the last few weeks. I have a feeling I should have put more stock in skin stretching awhile ago. The blade was smooth and didn’t tug and seemed to be cutting well.
After using I just remove the blade rinse and pay dry. I do flip the blade every shave. Hope you all are getting some great shaves.
Nice!Did my 16th shave on the Bic Chrome Platinum and it worked well today. Almost BBS and it was a comfortable shave. On to 17!
I agree so far. It has already made me a convert to Skin Stretching and keeping the number of passes down. I also have been much more aware of my blade angle, so far with this blade a nice shallow angle seems to be working. I also have been using a different lather with my shaving to also improve my shaves.As the blade dulls it will require greater skill to get a satisfactory shave. A new sharp blade will shave close even if your angle and direction aren't that good. A dull one leaves stubble if you don't have everything just right.
Even if you don't want to "use blades to the max", running one until it won't cut can improve your technique quite a bit. Nothing at all wrong with better, more comfortable shaves!
So, here is my take: I change blades once a week. My favorite blade happens to be Astra SP, but whatever. At $10 per 100, that means each blade is 10¢. That means each shave costs me 1.4¢. I am not into corking, stropping, saying obscure incantations in Urdu or anything else for something that costs 1.4¢ a day.Hi everyone,
I stumbled across a video of a guy who is hypermiling his blades during DE shaves, while I might give it a go once, I thought I would ask a few questions:
1) Have you ever done this?
2) If so, do you have any tips?
Thanks!
So, here is my take: I change blades once a week. My favorite blade happens to be Astra SP, but whatever. At $10 per 100, that means each blade is 10¢. That means each shave costs me 1.4¢. I am not into corking, stropping, saying obscure incantations in Urdu or anything else for something that costs 1.4¢ a day.
So, here is my take: I change blades once a week. My favorite blade happens to be Astra SP, but whatever. At $10 per 100, that means each blade is 10¢. That means each shave costs me 1.4¢. I am not into corking, stropping, saying obscure incantations in Urdu or anything else for something that costs 1.4¢ a day.