The sharpening debate - razor blades!

[t8hants]

I found this we gadget in a corner of my shed.
Its a German made Tarantella razor blade sharpener!
You fix the blade as shown and there should be a stone or abrasive material fixed to the other portion and you spin it like a football rattle giving one assumes a new lease of life to your razor blade. A surprising number lurk out there on Ebay
So how do you sharpen your razor blades?

 

[D_W]

This is a two part answer. I sharpen straight razors generally on fine natural stones and then keep them sharp with a good linen and shell leather strop.

I've sharpened disposable blades before on a very fine hone followed by oxide on balsa, but the edge gets a little fatter when you do that - it needs to, too, as the platinum or chromium coating on the edge is gone when you hone and the underlying steel isn't as hard as we'd like (the old steel razors prior to stainless were a lot harder - like the gillette blue blades. There are blades marked with that now, but to my knowledge, they're all stainless blades and all softer, so we're not likely to understand why people could hone the older blades (they were harder).

The three pictures below are an astra blade with some damage (the edge is so thin on razorblades, they always dent or flex - we never wear them out).

The next is a picture of a blade hand re-honed on a fine stone and then graded chromium oxide powder.

And the last is one with a hair overlaid for scale (all taken under the same scope at 150x magnification. (I tried a buffer on the last one - the edge isn't able to survive the buffer wheel without getting too fat).

The second blade will shave fine with a little extra pressure (The rounding eliminates razorburn), but it's just not that sharp compared to a new blade and if you like that new blade feel (astras are about 12 cents each here), sharpening just won't satisfy.

A straight razor is full hardness through and through and will take a bright polish everywhere (little dots of stuff at the edge are just dirt or dust - everything looks big at 150x)

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I use a pyramid like normal people.

https://pyramidrazorsharpener.wordpress.com/

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I'm so old fashioned that I still use the safety razor my Dad gave me when I started shaving. I'm also far too much of a tightwad to use these high-cost multi-bladed fancy razors, and have found by experience that electric shavers just don't do a very good job, as well costing good money.

Thus, good old double-edged disposable blades in the old safety razor for me. A packet of ten blades lasts me well over a year, so even though they seem to have rocketed in price and become much harder to find, I just buy another packet.

 

[Doug B]

I could never get the hang of free hand sharpening razor blades & jigs are so time consuming plus everyone would argue over the best method & shape of bevel so in the end I grew a beard

 

[paulrbarnard]

I used a straight razor for a while but gave up due to excessive blood loss.

 

[novocaine]

pack of 100 astra are 8 quid on line, derby are about the same (I've just bought a new box, I can see it from here), worst comes to worst and I can pick up a pack wilkinson swords at pretty much any shop for a fiver (expensive but still sub 50p a blade), why would I want to sharpen them?

I've used a shavette for years (with a snapped double sided blade) but recently went back to a safety razor, no real reason, just because. still have a straight razor somewhere but can never be bothered to keep it sharp. I do have a sharpener for disposable blades somewhere, it was a gift from a mate who saw it in a junk shop and thought he was being funny (I'm a Yorkshire man), he was somewhat shocked when 1. I knew what it was and 2. was geniunely grateful as it's a fantastic little bit of engineering.

it's this sort, and it's a very cool little bit of kit.

 

[Garno]

When I was in the army I went to a barbers shop to have a "proper" shave done with a straight razor.

Looking back at the experience now I would never repeat it nor would I ever use one myself.
One of two things became apparent half way through, The barber had never shaved anyone before or he had been on a right old session down at his local the night before. My face was looking like a pomegranate by the time he had finished, no way was I letting him put aftershave on me. I should of just got up and left when I noticed his hand shaking.

 

[Jelly]

I use a Durham-Duplex straight razor, takes replaceable blades which are extremely sharp and made from carbon steel (fortunately the required blade design became a defacto standard for microtome blades used for preparing slides in cell-biology, so are still in production) no sharpening needed.

I've got quite a nice Krupp straight razor which does give a slightly better shave, but whilst I can get it very sharp with fine natural india stones, have never successfully got the hang of stropping it to being sharp enough to shave freely and easily by hand with a leather strop; I've been able to do it successfully using a leather wheel and a superfine fine polishing compound same as I do with my carving tools, but it's unnecessary effort compared to just using the Durham-Duplex.

 

[Jacob]

There was a safety razor design with a built in strop - you thread it through and the blade flips one way then the other as you change direction pulling the strop through. Found one in my grandparents junk many years ago. A posh little job in a pewter velvet lined case. Was in good nick and presumably not much used, or much use compared to disposable blades

 

[Noel]

There was a safety razor design with a built in strop - you thread it through and the blade flips one way then the other as you change direction pulling the strop through. Found one in my grandparents junk many years ago. A posh little job in a pewter velvet lined case. Was in good nick and presumably not much used, or much use compared to disposable blades

The Valet Auto Strop was also popular:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30208524...vcpH5yI0WatiWbLfiDd0KAUy6b0LKXmQaAjM0EALw_wcB

 

[D_W]

There was a safety razor design with a built in strop - you thread it through and the blade flips one way then the other as you change direction pulling the strop through. Found one in my grandparents junk many years ago. A posh little job in a pewter velvet lined case. Was in good nick and presumably not much used, or much use compared to disposable blades

rolls razor. worked OK, but not great. Have one - people these days would be too soft to tolerate how the blade feels (it has a fine india stone in it and a leather stropping bit, but the way it works is very marginal).

 

[D_W]

pack of 100 astra are 8 quid on line,

I shave almost exclusively with a straight razor (which doesn't end up being cheaper due to the initial cost if you're going to do them the lazy way), but astras are what I use in a DE for travel. Their value is right up there with a gallon of gasoline in Louisiana right at the refinery. You just can't fathom how much value you can get out of one compared to most other things. Change an astra once a week and you're still looking at 4 quid a year. There are probably razor refills now that cost more than that.

I've sharpened DE blades just to see if they could be chased back to an angle where the underlying stainless will survive (they can - once they look like above, you can run them over a balsa oxide strop once a week, but it takes a minute or two - why bother for 12 cents US - the rounding that makes the edge stand up also makes them feel dull).

 

[Jorny]

Safety razor. My favorite blades have been the egyptian shark brand blades, which for some reason I find the most pleasant to shave with. I prefer to lather with one of the fatter aleppo soaps.

 

[treeturner123]

Wish I could wet shave regularly, but with psoriasis I get problems after a few days so have to revert to electric. My preferred electric is the Phillips Rotary, better in my view to the foil type which I used to have. i had to replace the foil twice in 19 years.

Phil

 

[ovenpaa]

I shaved on and off with a Rolls Razor for many years which enabled you to sharpen and strop the blad. neither were particularly effective. Then I moved to a straight razor and the current one is a German model which I strop myself and occasionally have it sharpened. I spent ages perfecting the technique of swapping from left to right hand because my father mentioned it. He ended up using an electric razor and I mostly have a beard

 

[D_W]

Wish I could wet shave regularly, but with psoriasis I get problems after a few days so have to revert to electric. My preferred electric is the Phillips Rotary, better in my view to the foil type which I used to have. i had to replace the foil twice in 19 years.

Phil

it's interesting how people have different experiences -and I think probably points to how we can't really tell how something will work. If I use an electric razor, I get something that looks like a rash. I tried three different types (two screen types, well, really three different rotaries - but the rotaries were all the same design).

Not sure what the problem is but red face creeps in with all three types (could be something filthy that I leave behind on the screens?). Love the four blade types, etc, after they're three days old - before that - christmas tree.

Same with DEs.

Straight razors, for whatever reason, are the only thing that I can use that won't light me up. Once they're settled in, they're kind of the same sharpness (like a 3 day old DE blade) off of linen and leather for 6 months or more. Kind of harsh for the people who hone them every week or twice a week. The little bit on the edge of the razor burnished by linen and leather is divine. Wish there was a DE blade the same hardness, but there wouldn't be much incentive to make such a thing.

 

[powertools]

Just man up and grow a stubble length beard and buy an electric trimmer and leave the blade shaving to the ladies.

 

[D_W]

Just man up and grow a stubble length beard and buy an electric trimmer and leave the blade shaving to the ladies.

this is what I'd call the shutdown shave for people who normally would work in an office. sporting it right now.

 

[Droogs]

I've used the same razor blade since 1988. It is a Dovo with a stainless steel handle and cost me 180 DM. I only stopped using it last year and swithced to an electric philips razor as I wasn't allowed to use it during radiotherapy. Have use Geo F Thumpers Sandalwood soap all my life