Thread: Shavette vs Straight Razor

Originally Posted by Substance

There are a few very good hones in Sydney

Yes, there are a few very good hones in Sydney. Pretty sure they are all at Oz's house...

This question comes up every so often and I reply with the same answer every time. First of all YES it IS possible to get a straight razor edge as sharp as a DE edge. The Verhoeven. Papers clearly show this as he compares the thickness of both edges. Here is a direct quote from his paper Page 7- “Measurements of the edge width averaged out at 0.4 microns, which was essentially the same as found for the Gillette blade of Fig. 7.” He is referring to a German straight razor hereby. I shave daily with razors that, IMO, shave better and are sharper than a DE blade. They are my own edges along with two other members here. I have went back to a shavette to compare in the past and the straight razor was a much better, closer, and smoother shave. It also had less irritation. I shaved with a shavette for years and I would have gladly went back long ago if the straight razor’s shaves were “less then”.
That being said, I have shaved with many other peoples edges and am pretty certain only a few people enjoy shaves at this level. Either the ones that have put the time into their stones to learn how to hone to that level or the ones that spend the ca$h to have their razors professionally honed by a REPUTABLE honer. Because of this, there is a misconception that a straight can never be as sharp as a DE. You don’t know until you know.

Originally Posted by Grazor

Turn your spell check on bruv...

Its more like auto uncorrect

Originally Posted by Steel

YES it IS possible to get a straight razor edge as sharp as a DE edge.

Absolutely. See also the pictures and discussion on Science of Sharp.