Relation between beard toughness and how often you need to touch up

I've been straight razoring for a couple years now. I used to have to retouch my blades darn near every time I used them, probably because I was rolling my edge sometimes when I stropped them and didn't hone them well to begin with. But that's no longer the case, as I got competent at both honing and stropping, and switched from a four sided paddle with pastes to a hanging strop and real hones. However, I do go back more often than others seem to.

I was reflecting on that - I'm sure that will continue to be less the case to some extent as I continue to improve my honing and stropping, but basically I'm good enough at both.

But......I got into DE and ultimately straights because my beard is so strong I had to use a new Mach 3 cartridge after using one only twice - bascially two shaves on my beard was enough to mangle any cartridge. And less an issue with DE blades (because they aren't $2.50 per blade), but same phenomenon - I get two (maybe three on a blue moon) good shaves off even a feather and it's time for a new blade. That's not stropping or honing skill obviously.

Doesn't it follow that for those of us with beards that mangle cartridges and DE blades real fast, that we need to touch up our straights more often than those with light beards?

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Originally Posted by loueedacat

Doesn't it follow that for those of us with beards that mangle cartridges and DE blades real fast, that we need to touch up our straights more often than those with light beards?

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I think it follows, but I can't prove it

It makes perfect sense to me. The tougher your stubble, the rougher it will be on the blade. If that's the case, the condition of such a delicate edge as a razor will be affected in direct correlation. That's the way i see it anyway.

I have the same issue my beard burns through steel like butter. What also doesn't help I'm sure is the acidity of the oils in my skin. Guns will rust from people touching them if they are not oiled but its a different story when I touch them, even my stainless 1911 oxidizes if I touch it.

Assuming all other factors are the same (razor, initial sharpness, stroping technique, shaving technique....) then all that's left is your beard and perhaps your skin that might be making the blade dull over use.

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Originally Posted by detroyt

I have the same issue my beard burns through steel like butter. What also doesn't help I'm sure is the acidity of the oils in my skin. Guns will rust from people touching them if they are not oiled but its a different story when I touch them, even my stainless 1911 oxidizes if I touch it.

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I'm sensing a superhero/supervillain "secret origin" story here.......

Oh whoops, my geek is showing.

There are many factors affecting how long you can go between touchups. Your beard is just one of them.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

There are many factors affecting how long you can go between touchups. Your beard is just one of them.

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Of course. My filarmonicas, for whatever reason, seem to go forever without needing a touch up, even with my beard/skin. But glad to hear the consensus that beard/skin is a factor! I think I'm gravitating to regular very brief, light touch ups on my finishing hone to keep the blade hungry and keep the doctor away.

Then again, with now 30 razors in rotation, who knows how long I'm really going between shaves with any particular razor! :)

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Originally Posted by loueedacat

I'm sensing a superhero/supervillain "secret origin" story here.......

Oh whoops, my geek is showing.

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Pffft I wish.

I have a beard that is rough on steel also. I have to touch up a razor with good steel about once a week. It's not that I still don't get a good shave but I don't get a "great" shave. I have found a some things that have made a difference with the longevity of blade sharpness.

First of all; I dry my razor by running it under how water wiping it down then letting it air dry while I clean up. I then coat the blade with Ballistol which stop any oxidation and neutralized any chemicals on the edge of the razor along with the rest of the blade.

Second of all; I have found that you must have an excellent bevel set. I know when it is time to go back down to the 1K hone when I can only get about 5 days out of a razor before performance drops off. I originally used pastes on a 4 sided paddle and that worked well but when I finally went to hones my edges stabilized, got better and stayed that way longer. When I got my 16K Shapton then finished up with 0.5 and 0.25 diamond pastes followed by 5 laps on Chromium things really changed for me. I have since added a 30K then on to 0.25 diamond followed by a 0.1 micron diamond sheet. I come from the school that all one does after about a 4K hone is just polishing but not really changing the shape of the cutting edge.

Finally; I have found that with a very sharp razor I can lay the blade down till I can actually feel the steel just behind the edge. With a very sharp edge I can also use almost no pressure which I am sure helps with the longevity issue. Scything has helped in that it gives one a better shave with what is quite possibly a duller razor. I only use scything on my 3rd and 4th passes.

A lot of people would consider all this extreme but I have a beard that will eat up a DE in about 2 or 3 shaves. My particular problem is that I have a beard that is tough with skin under it that is pretty sensitive. I have 3 razors in my daily rotation. I use one till it needs attention then I do touch-ups on the 2 that I am not using. This only takes about 15 minutes because once a razor is "tuned" in it comes around very quickly on the hones. You are getting good shaves from what I read here but probably are pretty picky about the quality of the shave that you get, as am I. I get shaves that are silky smooth and I know the edges that I am getting are very, very good because I have gotten razor from some of the best honers on this forum and they all have needed a slight touch-up to meet my demands. In all fairness they probably did not want to send a razor that was to sharp to someone they did not know. The guys here are the best and take care of us new guys!


Sorry for the rambling,

Take Care,
Richard

Thank you for sharing, my wire-bearded friend. Sounds like our beard roughness is comparable, and equally contemptuous of metal. Fortunately for me, my skin is pretty forgiving at least. I've had the same experience with pro honers - I always need to touch them up for my nasty beard (except for the job Lynnn did on my CS fily).

If I stuck to my NOS fily 13 from argentina, I'd proabbaly think I had a light beard as the edge just mowes down my beard and goes for miles.

My real name is Kal-El, and I have to strop on ionized Kryptonite paste before I can even think about shaving.

I got the crabs once, and had to douse the affected area with kerosene, set it on fire and beat the crabs to death with a ball-peen hammer when they came running out. Now Batman shaves me all over.