cartridge blade sharpener

lotuselanman · Post by **lotuselanman** » Thu May 06, 2010 7:52 am

Guys I have moved on to a gillette fusion much to my surprise as a DE shaver for the last ten years. I dont mind the price of the cartridges but as were all in a credit crunch I thought I would try this.

http://www.mankind.co.uk/src/base/Razor ... PRODRPPS1/

I dont hold out much hope but I thought I would give it a whirl as the reviews are good. So far 1 week in and I havent changed my blade but would normally only do so about now on a fusion. I am careful to clean the blade and let it dry after use. Lets see if I can go 2 weeks. I do notice that if after a shave I do a strop type movement on the palm of my hand against the shave direction I get a couple of days extra use so perhaps this might improve further.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Thu May 06, 2010 10:21 am

I get three full weeks of shaves from a Fusion blade without using any gimmicks.

Maybe you do too and you just haven't realized that yet.

95% · Post by **95%** » Mon May 10, 2010 5:38 am

lotuselanman, let us know how it goes with the Razorpit. I'd think you could get the same result by stropping the cartridge - pushing it against a strop in the opposite of the shaving direction. That would remove microscopic amounts of dried soap, skin and hair, and perhaps calcium deposits from the exposed edge of the blades. I've thought of buying a Dovo paddle strop just to sharpen my Fusion.

I begin to notice a little dullness after five or six shaves with a Fusion cartridge. But I work that cartridge hard each time, with four full-lather passes. I don't know how other men, like notthesharpest, are able to get three weeks out of a cartridge.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Mon May 10, 2010 8:12 am

It's definitely something Gillette did, not something I did. With a Mach 3 cartridge I get five shaves maximum, and that fifth shave is usually not very good.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Mon May 10, 2010 9:20 am

By the way, this type of "home razor-sharpening, make your blades last longer" gimmick is here because of the following imaginary conversation:

Marketing Droid A: Hey, times are kind of tough. What useless thing can we get people to waste money on now?

Marketing Droid B: I dunno. Umm... Hmm... no money, umm... Oh, hey! How about small-ticket items that claim to actually save them money?

Marketing Droid A: (snicker) Like that old razor blade sharpener from the 1930's? Who in his right mind would fall for that now?

Marketing Droid B: (self-righteously indignant) Who said anything about right mind, goofball? We're marketing droids, remember? Wanna bet we sell ten thousand?

... They're a little closer to their sales target now.

lotuselanman · Post by **lotuselanman** » Wed May 12, 2010 7:49 am

I think this "gimmick" is actually working. I am now up to 3 weeks with no tugging or pulling. I am not noticing it get any blunter. Prevoiusly I could tell day to day that the blade was getting blunter. Not anymore.

I am astounded it seems to be working. It should pay for its self in no time!

paperpundit · Post by **paperpundit** » Wed May 12, 2010 8:52 am

Like the infamous "hand stropping," I think there is something to it, even if all it does is remove the crud from the blade.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Wed May 12, 2010 11:57 am

I'm still skeptical/cynical/whatever I am, but if it works it works.

95% · Post by **95%** » Wed May 12, 2010 2:25 pm

nts - what do you think of my idea of sharpening the Fusion on a strop? I don't own a strop and can't try it.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Wed May 12, 2010 2:56 pm

Stropping (as I understand it anyway) puts some pressure on the edge and straightens out any mis-aligned parts of the very thin metal. Stropping from only the face side of a single-direction blade would do almost nothing at all (other than clean the blade).

95% · Post by **95%** » Wed May 12, 2010 3:05 pm

Well no, because stropping a cartridge means to move it in the opposite direction of the shave. For example, this gentleman uses his forearm as a strop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ADaRIqy0Dc

The Razorpit works on the same principle. I tried the forearm strop after watching the above video, but instead of sharpening the blades, it clogged the cartridge with dead skin cells. It's an inelegant solution, and I thought a bona fide strop might work better.

Edit: nts, I was replying to a post from you, which you corrected while I was composing my own.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Wed May 12, 2010 3:37 pm

And I changed my original post because it was dead wrong, as you pointed out.

michiganlover · Post by **michiganlover** » Wed May 12, 2010 6:44 pm

I am sorry, but this is a gimmick that simply can't work. Stopping, or sharpening a blade requires that you have access to both sides of the cutting edge.

When you strop a straight razor, you strop it equally on both sides of the cutting edge.

When you sharpen a straight razor, you sharpen both sides of the cutting edge equally.

Since the nature of the cartridge means you only have access to one side of the blades cutting edge, any attempt at stropping, or sharpening is basically a pointless waste of time.

95% · Post by **95%** » Wed May 12, 2010 6:55 pm

If I can sharpen one side of a blade, isn't that better than not sharpening it at all? Stropping the cartridge on one side ought to do some good. At least, as others have pointed out, it will clean the outer, accessible edges of the blades. Beyond that. it might even hone them slightly. That would explain the longer cartridge life that has been noted by those who've tried these various sharpening techniques.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Wed May 12, 2010 7:37 pm

95% wrote:If I can sharpen one side of a blade, isn't that better than not sharpening it at all?

Stropping isn't sharpening, so that's not the right question.

95% · Post by **95%** » Wed May 12, 2010 7:46 pm

Stropping is not sharpening, you say? What then is its purpose?

function · Post by **function** » Wed May 12, 2010 7:51 pm

95% wrote:Stropping is not sharpening, you say? What then is its purpose?

Stropping, like steeling a kitchen knife, realigns the edge, and does not actually create a new one. A sharp edge is actually pretty long and will curl when used, stropping straightens the curl, which is why both sides need to be accessed. If you strop or steel just one side, you reinforce the curl.

Same applies to the cartridge stroppers, but this depends on to witch side the curl forms when you use the cartridge, if it forms to the outside(skin side) of the blade, the stropper will work, if it forms to the inside(closed side) the stropping is useless.

95% · Post by **95%** » Wed May 12, 2010 8:11 pm

Thanks, Nick, for that explanation. It's new to me, who have never used a straight razor. But I've observed barbers stropping their razors, and I always assumed, intuitively, that stropping sharpens (smooths) a microscopically pitted edge by removing molecules of steel. Are you sure that this doesn't happen when the blade is run across a strip of leather, or is it 100% about realigning a curled edge?

The Groom Room · Post by **The Groom Room** » Fri May 14, 2010 1:16 pm

I have used the SAVE-A-BLADE sharpener nearly all last year with M3's and Fusions. One M3 cartridge, I sharpened 60 (yes sixty) times, and it shaved as if it were a brand new M3 every single time. It works better on the M3's than the Fusions. The only problem I could tell, was that the lubricating strip totally disintegrated, and the thing honed the blades past t plastic... so eventually the blades wouldn't touch against the skin anymore.

Another problem, is how are you going to replace the sharpening emery cloth once it's used up? I called the company, and they mentioned that they are working on this issue... possibly going to offer the sharpening wheel for replacement (at a cost none the less)

I have been offered to retail these at my Grooming Center. They do work quite well for what they're intended for.

- Troy

function · Post by **function** » Fri May 14, 2010 1:28 pm

95% wrote: I always assumed, intuitively, that stropping sharpens (smooths) a microscopically pitted edge by removing molecules of steel. Are you sure that this doesn't happen when the blade is run across a strip of leather, or is it 100% about realigning a curled edge?

I am not positive about steel removal, but it is very unlikely. Steeling a knife in a steel rod does not remove any metal from the knife or the steel rod, I don't see how stropping the leather can do this. I actually had the same thought as you did when I started purchasing knives (had a bit of KNAD for awhile) to stock my remodeled kitchen, but learned otherwise from chef friends and knife sellers.