Has anybody tried honing, stropping, or otherwise improving Feather DE or straight blades? I know people cork them and palm-strop them, but I'm wondering about modifications beyond those. I've only used the DE blades, but they've always seemed a bit harsh. Now that I'm maintaining my own edges, I've been thinking of playing around with my remaining stash of Feathers. Any ideas or suggestions?
Treating Feather blades to make them smoother/sharper
- Thread starter gash
- Start date
Somewhere on here (perhaps the stropping forum) I showed my results with stropping Feather blades on a hanging cromox strop. Definitely tames the beast.
Keep your blades going indefinitely:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...d-stropping-a-Feather-blade?highlight=Feather
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...d-stropping-a-Feather-blade?highlight=Feather
The Feather DE has a generous amount of teflon on the edge. I expect corking or stropping will remove this coating quite readily.
Great SEM pics.
Strop it on a towel will also remove the Teflon
I stropped an Astra SP on a small piece of pigskin leather and it made it smooth. Astras are rough for me.
I use a Feather AC and I strop the blade before each shave using a small benchtop strop. I find that stropping "takes the edge off" making the razor easier to shave with and it prolongs the life of the blade. My blades easily last through a month of daily shaving. If I don't strop I find that the razor draws blood every time it finds a wrinkle or a bump during the first five or six shaves with that blade.
I was looking for a disposable blade straight razor to strop the disposable blades I use in my Cobra.
BUT.....
After thinking logically about it..... Why would I pay $100 to make a $1 blade last for a few more shaves?
BUT.....
After thinking logically about it..... Why would I pay $100 to make a $1 blade last for a few more shaves?
Because this is B&B, where we do crazy things like that
You can load the Feather blade into a Parker shavertte for stropping.
OldSaw
The wife's investment
Feather blades are awesome and don't need any help. That's like asking which sidekick would make Chuck Norris stronger.
But at a buck plus a blade, ways to prolong their life are definitely worthwhile.
OldSaw
The wife's investment
I didn't realize I was in the straight razor forum at first because the OP mentioned either DE or straight. Anyway, I could definitely see the advantages to stropping the more expensive straight variety.
- Thread starter
- #16
Very interesting info. Thanks.
Seraphim, did your experiments make the blade any sharper?
Seraphim, did your experiments make the blade any sharper?
You cannot get sharper than a Feather blade.
Theoretically it is possible, like travelling faster than the speed of light, but in reality, it is impossible.
The feather blades I use are these and I don't they they will fit in the Parker
The blade will protrude a bit at the tip, but that's fine for stropping.
If you want to utilize your Feather blades in your Parker, that's do-able too. See here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...e-your-Parker-Shavette!?highlight=Turbocharge
- Thread starter
- #19
Challenge accepted! Maybe.
OldSaw
The wife's investment
Thanks for confirming this. I feel so much more at ease now.
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