Thread: My razor is too sharp???? I like a duller edge??

This preference for relatively dullish razors isn't something I just kind of decided to go for one day. Like everybody I was getting better hones and better at honing, and eventually started getting edges that had the feather effect on my skin (thinning skin over a week or two). So I switched to the little 5/8 full hollows and things were better, but I still had to really be careful every second of the shave, and I'm *really* not a morning person and not even coffee fixes that. But it was really a lot of fun shaving with those sorts of edges, and I got to play with my nakayama and newspaper and 0.1 micron diamond etc. All very fun and educational.

Then shortly after honedright's "Stropping is King" thread I started on an experiment where I just stuck to one razor day after day to see how long I could make it last, even if it started getting dull I would just double up on the linen and keep going, until I just couldn't go any further. The razor was a 6/8 worked-back barber notch TI, from their seemingly endless supply of century-old blanks. It started out honed on the Shapton 30k with a little bit of 0.1 micron diamond for good measure, and things were fine, wicked sharp and smooth, like shaving with a shadow. Spent the next few weeks tiptoeing around my face every morning getting good shaves and having fun, then after about three weeks the edge had dulled a bit and I didn't have to tiptoe around my face as much and the alcohol sting dropped to near zero, and I kept getting BBS anyway. The blade kept silently toppling hairs on my arm mind you, but there was a bit more tugging than before, yet less (none) burn after the shave.

And this went on for months, as that blade slowly dulled, and I kept getting BBS and zero alcohol burn, and eventually I realized that it wasn't a fluke, that although it wasn't as much fun to shave with this sort of blade I was nonetheless getting objectively better shaves - same BBS, less razor burn. After repeating this same process with multiple razors (5/8 Sta-Sharp, 6/8 Heljestrand #32, and 7/8 Friodur) I'm quite comfortable admitting that I don't like really sharp edges. I don't dislike them mind you, but I feel about them roughly the same way I feel about wedges, quarter hollows, and sheffield choppers - fine for a change of pace, fine that other people love them, but just not the sort of thing I'm interested in shaving with every day, because ultimately I prefer to have a better shave even if it means enjoying it less. And that's the reason I got into straight razors to begin with, not for the fun, not as a hobby, not for the machismo or the way women spontaneously ovulate when the hear about it, but because I wasn't getting the sort of shaves I wanted any other way and my beard was getting piebald.