Ran into a reference to John Verhoeven's experiments on blade sharpness on another thread... Experiments on Knife Sharpening - John Verhoeven. An absolutely wonderful read!

What is common wisdom, and also have there been any similar studies about the effect of the heat of the shaving blade on the quality of the shave?

As an aside...

There are heating elements that are used to keep a cup of soup or coffee warm. Yesterday, I clipped the element to the side of a coffee mug, filled it with water, and while shaving (carefully) dipped my razor in the hot water. The warmer than usual blade was quite pleasant to shave with. Got me thinking about the above question.