Refreshing the DE blade

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:25 am

I have used three items so far for refreshing the edge on DE blades: a black glass depression era hone, a Kriss Kross and a Twinplex. My son (before he grew an enormous beard) used my Twinplex to make one blade last six months. But blades are cheap enough that it isn't a necessity, and I really acquired these things as curiosities.
But a thought occurred to me the other day as I was drying a DE razor after use. I normally use straights, but since I had got the one pass straight shave to the point where it was perfectly acceptable, and given that my set of seven Friodurs really need a good honing which I haven't had time to do when coping with work, my mother's metastatic cancer and my wife's prolapsed disk, I have had to resort to using a DE for a one-pass shave the last few weeks. After use I thoroughly rinse the razor in hot water, then dry it by pushing the head along a dry facecloth in the reverse of a shaving stroke; the facecloth dries the uppermost edge as it travels from the centre of the head towards the edge. Then I wondered what would happen if I used a pasted strop the same way? I guess a soft balsa paddle coated in green CrO2 would be best, and I would have to unscrew the razor, flip the blade and do it all up again to do the other side. I have a Merkur blade that will be used for the last time tomorrow and I think I might try it out. I accept that doing so will take more time than a quick refresh of a straight and so I can't claim a time-saving, but we all need things to distract us from the unpleasant realities of life. Has anyone ever tried doing this?

Chris

LouisIII · Post by **LouisIII** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:48 am

Chris,
I've tried 'palm stropping' DE blades in the past with some, it seemed to me, success. Most seem sceptical about its effectiveness but I'm convinced I could, in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, make a blade last a few months. I'm interested in what proper stropping could do for a blades longevity.

AFG · Post by **AFG** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 12:37 pm

A friend related to me that his father had always stropped his double edge blades and apparently got a lot of usage on them. I believe he said he used the edge of a ceramic or glass cup. There was a proponet of hand stropping on this forum a few years ago and I have done it too and thought it was effective. I haven't done it in quite a while as I now use Feathers exclusively and there really is no need as I have a large supply on hand.

JarmoP · Post by **JarmoP** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 12:37 pm

The blades are so cheap Chris, so i would not bother with any of the methods.

I just shake the razor and the blade edges then will sure dry fast.
Only razor i cannot do this is my Merkur Proggress, since it has the spring supported safeguard and will then go a bit uneven. But with my fixed heads a vigorous shake is used, not maybe that even needed.

ShadowsDad · Post by **ShadowsDad** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 2:01 pm

The Valet AutoStrop of many years ago came with a strop and the razor was designed with a mechanism to strop the blade. To answer your question, well to sort of answer it since it's SE and not DE...

So I wanted to try stropping with one of my Valets. I bought a brand new handmade Kangaroo hide strop from the UK. It finally arrived and I had a Feather blade in the razor with one shave on it. I normally get 2 shaves and I thought it would be a good test to see if stropping would actually work to give me more shaves. I had previously used the strop with another bladeless razor and felt I was ready. So I loaded the strp into the razor and I'm going at it and it's working fine. Then I have no idea what happened, it happened so fast, but I'm holding a piece of strop in one hand and the other piece is dangling from the towel rack. Obviously the blade failed to flip over at the end of the stroke. It was a very nice strop for a very short time. I figure each stroke on the strop cost me about $2.

I recently bought a Valet from a gent on this site that came with a brand new strop. OK, so I wanted the strop, it just so happens that the razor is absolutely gorgeous and a keeper. As I explained to him the entire set that he was selling was 1/3 the price of my kangaroo strop. One of these days, when the trama of the incident fades a bit I intend to try again.

Actually, I might do it sooner than that. I'm working on a review of Valet razors and I'll be using Feather blades. That would be an ideal time for another go at stropping a SE blade. Obviously, I'll be hoping I do better this next time.

---------------

OK, so yesterday we're talking to a friend who knows my interest and use of blades. She tells me of her brother who shaves his head and goes though $30 worth of something with a sharp edge. He bought a blade "sharpener" and has now used the same cartridge for 15 days. Needless to say he's pretty happy. I'm betting it's a sort of strop that realigns the edge. I haven't looked yet but she said she saw it in Lehmans.

OK, I just checked, it's for cartridges. http://www.lehmans.com/store/Personal__ ... 6731?Args=

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 5:17 am

I did try using a balsa paddle with chrome, and the result - well, I changed the blade after a few strokes. Not my finest hour!

Chris

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:44 am

From a bystander's perspective this thread is interesting.

Quarterstick · Post by **Quarterstick** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 3:54 pm

drmoss_ca wrote:I did try using a balsa paddle with chrome, and the result - well, I changed the blade after a few strokes. Not my finest hour!

Well, I just recently took up sharpening my own knives so I am not going to even attempt fiddling around with a DE blade yet. Given your experience with straights though, I think it would be a fun challenge to try to get it working. It seems that it could be done and I would be intereted to hear about further attempts.

Also, as you pointed out in your original post, such distractions can be an almost theraputic break from the everyday. As it sounds like a lot is on your particular plate it may be worth the tinkering. Hope things improve for you.