Thread: Edge Deterioration

Interested if you guys find that after you hone a razor and it sits for a while, say 3 or 6 or 9 months, that the edge is not quite as good as when you honed it??? I have some razors that seem like I can pick them up a year later and it is still there and yet others that need a refresh to get them back. Climate? Just nature of the metal? I usually keep a coat of camellia oil on them when they sit.

Thanks,

Lynn

I have observed exactly the same phenomenon. I use mineral oil, even between shaves, but only on the edge. Not the pivot area.

That's a good question Lynn. Unfortunately I do not have any (honed) razors that sit longer than say a month unused. I am going to put one aside from today to check it out.

I bet, though, that your are right: a combination of climate, storage method, and steel type would impact on this. I'd hypothesise that my Friodur would pull up better than a carbon steel, but I aint doing that experiment as there's no way I am removing the Friodur from my rotation for more than a week!

I'd also hazard a guess that the fineness of the edge may play a role in this too. I know it might be splitting hairs, but an edge finished on a super fine Asagi, say, may not hold up as well as one off an Escher. But that's just a guess, founded on my (very dubious) knowledge of materials science.

James.

I myself have not noticed that, I have a few that have sat over 1 year in the Shumate and DD collection and they shaved just fine....
In fact that KA-BAR I shaved with the other day on SOTD sat at least 6 months... I am trying to think of any that I have experienced that from, and they are not coming to mind.... Now I did notice a difference with one that I had honed before I got my 16k Shapton and yes there was a slight difference in the feel there.... Just not quite as smooth as I had remembered that one

I've had a J. Rodgers wedge sitting idle for 9 months, and it shave great when it went out of rotation, it just recently got back into the rotation, the shave was okish, and it improved with a trip back to the UF, but it's quite possible it's the improvement in honing skills that causes the "detoriation" on this one.

I've seen the same thing with the knives and planes in my shop, and have attributed it to the steel itself, mainly due to lack of any other reason being that my sharpening technique is the same for all knives as a group and all planes as a group. I've some plane blades that have remained extremely sharp with years of use, and one that I've had to sharpen twice in less than 18 months with no more use than any other plane.

This thread here talks about corrosion being one cause of edge deterioration. That's why I always hit mine a dozen or so licks on the horse after I shave and before I lubricate it. I can't say I have been at it long enough to judge how mine behave after they have been sitting awhile but I will try and notice in the future.

Originally Posted by Lynn

Interested if you guys find that after you hone a razor and it sits for a while, say 3 or 6 or 9 months, that the edge is not quite as good as when you honed it??? I have some razors that seem like I can pick them up a year later and it is still there and yet others that need a refresh to get them back. Climate? Just nature of the metal? I usually keep a coat of camellia oil on them when they sit.

Thanks,

Lynn

Lynn, et al,

I wish I were a better student of "post hoc ergo propter hoc," alas I am not. Isolated case file report follows: I have let languish a very nice big, wedgly Boker I got a while back from Blaireau's predecessor and recently brought it back into the fold of the shaving rotation. During its just sitting there, it was parked on a shelf in my bathroom with all the other rotators - none of them having any special treatment other than a careful drying after use and before parking. I stropped the Boker on about 50 trips on linen, 50 flip/flops or so on the flesh side of a strop, and about 50 laps on the grain side of a shell strop. The resulting shave was smooth, close, and comfortable. There is nothing remarkable about this other than I thought that recent shave was better than the one I got before the park. ????

If I put a preservative on the blade I use gun oil - the stuff which claims to be also a rust preventive. My reasoning behind this is that the stuff is reputedly designed to prevent rust. Oils such as camellia are vegetable derivatives and may contain trace amounts of water, this is just a may now, and may polymerize if not regularly refreshed - as the Samurai would do with their swords. The polymerization, if it occurs, will make it difficult to remove the hardened oil. Thus, I choose not to use that product.

I did read the 1930-ish article on razor blade rusting and treasured the disclosures of the 3000x photomicrographs. And vowed never to buy another carbon steel DE blade.

--another northman who floats against the stream--

I find no problems with Camellia oil but I think the trick is to re-apply regularly.

It does oxidise fairly quickly making it not the ideal long term storage solution.

They don't make it anymore and I am glad I have a stash of it. R.I.G. (rust inhibiting grease) is great for anything steel. Guns, knives, razors or what have you. I apply a bit with a Q tip and then wipe with an Outer's Silicone Gun Cloth. After awhile the cloth is impregnated with the RIG and it is the best thing I have ever found.