Thread: I know this sounds strange but...

I was talking to an 85 year old barber today at the barbershop and he told me something interesting. He may have been pulling my leg but thought you guys might like to hear it. He said that when he started out is the business sometimes they would get a razor that was to hard and was difficult to sharpen, so he said that when that happened they would get thier wife to make a pan of cornbread and when she pulled it out of the oven they would break off a section of the hard crust a dipose of it and then push the razors blade inside to hot loaf of cornbread and leave it there till the loaf cooled and when they would remove the blade the heat from the loaf would have softend the blade just enough that it would be easier to sharpen.
Now was this a talltail? well I don't know but you make what you want of it.

Steel is tempered starting at around 300F. Cornbread is cooked at 400F-425F, so it's definitely possible. The edge is thin enough that it would get up to temperature very quickly, so assuming it takes the interior of the cornbread 10-15 minutes to cool below 300F (possible, esp if you left it in the iron skillet, and especially if you also left it in the warm oven) then that might be enough to knock off a point at the edge, which would be enough to significantly ease honing.

I'm not sure why cornbread specifically, since you could just put the razor in the oven, wait 15 minutes, and get basically the same result. Unless your barber was from the south, in which case why not cornbread.

mmmm, cornbread....

Yep we are from the south born and raised! Also this guys 85 years old so his oven may have been heated with a fire.

Well... they would stick only the blade in the hot cornbread... the scales would melt it they simply placed the whole razor in the oven.

that is bada$$....there's a reason those folks are called the greatest generation!

the cornbread thing works but only in a cast iron skillet. thats the only way it gets hot enough. i have done it with knives for years, it also works well to rehardenn if the blade has been broke and reground back to shape


****cornbread holds its heat longer than just about anything you cook.

Alabama born and raised!!!

Why cornbread? It probably tastes good too.

I was under the impression that the corn bread never reached 400-425

what temp does sugar boil at and at what temp do things light off?

the corn bread stays at a much lower temp because it still contains water
once the water is all evaporated it can go higher, but then it burns

make sense?
thank me

Originally Posted by smythe

Well... they would stick only the blade in the hot cornbread... the scales would melt it they simply placed the whole razor in the oven.

Does bone, horn, ivory, etc melt at 300?

Originally Posted by gratewhitehuntr

I was under the impression that the corn bread never reached 400-425

Hmm, it sounds like a good excuse to bake some cornbread tonight!

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Does bone, horn, ivory, etc melt at 300?
Hmm, it sounds like a good excuse to bake some cornbread tonight!

My understanding is... those hard animal products will withstand those temps... especially bone... if you ever seen a burnt roast... the flesh may char but the bone is still intact.


I also celluloid would probably survive the hot cornbread... though it may soften a bit, I don’t think the blade would conduct that much heat to melt the celluloid… but I could be wrong.