What is the minimum time a razor should rest befor it is used again?:hmmm:
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What is the minimum time a razor should rest befor it is used again?:hmmm:
How long is a piece of rope?
I'm a noob myself, but I'm fairly certain it has less to do with time and more to do with stropping and honing.
That's a great answer. I really think as long as you take care to strop properly, you should be good to go.
I think I read somewhere here 24 hours.
John
24 hrs is a wives tale.
You should let it rest until you need to shave. :D
Damn wives!!
John
...and their tales!Quote:
Originally Posted by kerryman71
I have read that the razor had to have some time to reset itself after use or it would cause micro fractures on the edge that couldn’t be seen but could be felt. For that reason men used to have a set of them. Is it a wives tale?
this question has been asked many times and no definite answer exists. Some people use the same razor day after day with no ill effects. Others prefer to rotate thru different razors.
Try both ways and see what you think.:)
This really sounds like a wives tale. This is steel - it isn't getting any harder on its own just sitting around. I would venture a guess that having multiple razors came more from needing to get them honed less often - especially with no reliable shipping, and a potentially far away barber. I would love to see a technical explanation if someone knows something I don't
Professional Barbers used to shave many people in the same day with the same razor so I think that "razor resting" is a myth spread by razor manufacturers to sell more razors. Just let the razor rest enough for your hair to grow back, that is long enough.
oh crap... you mean I've been fueling my RAD with misinformation ???!!! I've been justifying my purchases to my wife that I neeed at least 7 . One for each day cause I couldn't use the same razor for atleast a week...:roflmao
I won't tell if you dont :wQuote:
Originally Posted by justchillin
I have a book (in Dutch) about straight razor shaving. The author presents the following theory. I'm contributing this for what it's worth, being not versed enough in metallurgical physics to confirm any of it.
The very edge of the cutting bevel of a razor can be compared to a very thin foil of metal. He calls it the "fin". That fin becomes out of alignment due to the impact with beard hairs. The fact that we need to hold the razor at a angle while shaving in order to shave close enough to the skin puts extra stress at the fin. In consequence it bends to some extent. As if it was wrinkled. A razor's steel is not a plastic material, it has some memory for its original shape. Imagine the translucent wrap from a cigarette box. If you compress it and throw it on the table, you can easily witness how it tries to unfold itself, trying to reach its original state. Same thing happens to the fin of a razor. Now, imagine that you were straightening out the cigarette box wrap with your hands. The wrinkles would disappear even further. Same thing happens when we strop on canvas. No metal is removed, the fin just becomes realigned. There is A RISK that, when we use the strop before the blade had the chance to realign itself enough, that the parts of the fin that are the most off axis simply break away. (Are those the so often discussed micro-chips?). Imagine that we would take a hot iron and use that to straighten out the cigarette box wrap. That would actively reshape the wrinkles to a flat area. The author compares this to a leather strop. Again, no metal is removed (as opposed to using a hone or a pasted strop), the fin is just "ironed" into alignment again. The reason for stropping on canvas, before leather, is that if a little piece of the fin would break away it would be safely embedded in the fabric of the canvas. If that would happen on leather, the little metal part could get stuck in the leather surface and cause further damage to the fin during the subsequent passes. Therefor the author recommends a blade rest of at least 24 and preferably 48 hours.
I'm not sure myself if all this is true. Some of it makes sense to me. I also think that the grind of the razor would be a very contributing factor. With a wedge there's a lot of steel to support the "fin". With a full hollow it really is not much more than a thin foil.
Maybe allowing the blade to rest would elongate the typical time before rehoning is needed?
I am not sure that barbers used the same razor for a whole day. Maybe, if so, they needed to do a daily touch up on the barber hones?
I 've been talking to a retired barber that told me most customers had their own private razor, that was kept in the shop in a large cabinet with countless little drawers. The barber had a few additional razors that he used on customers that couldn't (or wouldn't) afford to buy their own. This represents the typical barber-store in Belgium between 1920 and 1970.
Hope to have added to the discussion,
Bart.
Thanks for the expert quote. It will at least justify buying more razors when the wife complains.
:) :) you're welcome. Glad I could be of assistance...:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by craig
Bart.
I read something the other day that took this theory to the extreme.
Went something along the line of the edge being so thin and mellable that it is susceptible to magnet influences. While the razor is resting it should be stored in a north south orientation so that the earths magnetic field will help the edge realign.
All I can say is the my razor will not be stored in a north south orientation.
There is actually a german device, a "magnetic stropper" , for cartridge razors that uses magnetism to re-align the micro fractures to the edge.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Kiwi
Blademaster (The english link doesn't seem to work, but I guess you get the idea from the pics if you don't understand german)
http://image.channeladvisor.de/12976...2251a17eb8.jpg
Google for Blademaster
You should only shave during a rising moon, while humming a continuous low C-tone. The sonic vibrations will travel through your jaw bone into your skin and give you the smoothest shave ever, even if you were using a butter knife. Where do you think gillette got the idea of their vibrating "Fusion"razors?Quote:
Originally Posted by The Kiwi
From a 1930's invention; The Stahly Live Blade!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bart
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/image...ve_Blade_1.jpg
Not 'Gladde Jongens' I hope?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bart
Because I got that book as a birthday present from my sister.
Virtually on every page, the author makes claims that I disagree with.
Things like
- antique razors are for looking at only, and you should not shave with them
- a nick > 0.5 mm means you have to throw away a razor
- 8/8 razors are very flexible (never heard of half hollow, quarter hollow or wedge then?)
- 8/8 razors are extremely expensive.
- rust is the death of a razor.
- custom razors are extremely expensive.
and the list goes on and on.
I am working on a list of disagreements to mail to the author.
In all fairness to wives, I think it's actually a razor salesmans tale.Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc
The edge of the razor will be deformed by shaving, this is unavoidable because steel is somewhat elastic. Like most elastic materials, steel also has a memory and will over time relax toward its original shape. Thus, allowing the razor to "rest" between shaves reduces the cummulative effects and thus the frequency of honing required to maintain an edge.
How long is somewhat subjective. Most of the relaxation will occur in the first 24 hours, and there is probably little additional benefit after 48 hours.
I think it is just an excuse to buy more razors. I've never noticed anyhting like that and don't really believe in it.
Yep, that's the one. I don't know if he's right or wrong with the "wrinkled foil" principle, but I'm pretty sure he's not just making this up. My bet his he probably got that information from one of the engineers from Dovo, or perhaps Thiers-Issard, during research for his book. Personally I believe the theory may be scientifically sound, but not always theoretical things manifest themselves in daily practice as well. There are simply too much unaccounted variables, like blade thickness, steel alloy, the sharpness of a 30K edge versus a 8K edge, the damage a coarse beard does to a blade versus the damage a soft beard causes, etcetera...Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
Maybe stropping after the shave, or allowing the blade not enough rest, will diminish the amount of shaves one gets out of a razor before it needs a touch up on a hone. But so what? I like honing, as long if I don't have to hone a razor after every second or third shave.
As I see things, SRP is a bit the equivalent of a grease monkey forum for guys who rebuild the engines of their own car, which is a very nice hobby I think. But most normal people that own a car just drive with it and fill it up with gasoline if the tank runs empty. For everything else they visit a garage. I know a few guys in my town that took a straight razor course in Antwerp (hosted by Mr Chevalier) They shave for recreational purposes with the straight every weekend. They use a strop and a pasted paddle strop to keep it sharp. When that no longer suffices, they send it out for honing, or in case of an accidental nick, for a regrind. (Dovo offers such a service, through Mr Chevalier's store) In other words, they visit the garage. I guess, even in the old days, things weren't all that different.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
From that viewpoint, a lot of what Leo De Brouwer represents in his book "Gladde Jongens" (Smooth Guys, in english) is quite accurate.
[quote=Bruno;166637] - custom razors are extremely expensive.
They are, aren't they?:cry:
Kind regards, my fellow countryman,
Bart.