Is it possible that absolute sharpness in not always best?

On my sharpest razors I have to hold then at a quite shallow angle. If I hold them out past 30 degrees or so they will dig into my skin like a TPT but on my face. Last night I was watching a video of Lynn's and noticed that he was holding the razor at what appeared to be a 40-45 degree angle. I know that I can't do this without risk of cutting myself with my sharpest razors.

This morning I took my dullest razor that will not HHT or tree top hair, stropped it and shaved. I shaved at a steeper angle than usual and got a very close shave without any tendency for the edge to bite in. It might be in my top 5 shaves.

Has anybody else experienced this? Just another case of YMMV? BTW I am not a Feather DE fan either more of a Voskhod guy.

I aim for the sharpest edge I can get within the limits of my gear. I also shave with the lowest angle I can use as that is the best for my face. The only time I even approach 45 degrees is doing the "swoop" under my nose and maybe a few spots under my chin. I don't like feathers either they seem to sharp and I get irritation.

I go for as sharp as I can get but usually have my most comfortable shaves after I have used the razor a couple times. I don't use paste or sprays to mellow the edge any.

The whole concept of "sharp" is misleading. A razor either shaves, or it does not shave. Parlour tricks (shots of the edge under magnification being a prime example) are no reliable indication of how the razor will actually perform.

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Originally Posted by Brent375HH

On my sharpest razors I have to hold then at a quite shallow angle. If I hold them out past 30 degrees or so they will dig into my skin like a TPT but on my face. Last night I was watching a video of Lynn's and noticed that he was holding the razor at what appeared to be a 40-45 degree angle. I know that I can't do this without risk of cutting myself with my sharpest razors.

This morning I took my dullest razor that will not HHT or tree top hair, stropped it and shaved. I shaved at a steeper angle than usual and got a very close shave without any tendency for the edge to bite in. It might be in my top 5 shaves.

Has anybody else experienced this? Just another case of YMMV? BTW I am not a Feather DE fan either more of a Voskhod guy.

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Everyone has a minimal level of sharpness that must be attained in order to be pleased with the shave. Depending on your beard type, that level will vary.

Some razors in my collection are sharper than others, but the difference in the end result is negligible, especially with good prep and shaving technique.

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Originally Posted by Badgister

Some razors in my collection are sharper than others, but the difference in the end result is negligible, especially with good prep and shaving technique.

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Truer words were never spoken in this context. I had much rather shave with a "dull, but shaves" razor and high quality soap, than with a "scary sharp honemiester[sic!] edge" and some pedestrian soap.

Yes, soap makes much more of a difference than edge, if your lather is right.

One of our long time hone experts kept touching up his edge after each shave. He found, after a not very long time, that the razor began removing the top layer of cells of his skin.
...that is what a microtome is designed to do in a laboratory situation.
That could also be a reason some new DE and SE blades are really unpleasant to use except at a very low, almost flat, blade angle. Too sharp or a bit of a wire edge that goes away in a short time.

~Richard

Absolute sharp? No such thing.

I don't consider the word sharp with my razors. I hone them until I get the shave I want and maintain them that way.

When a one pass WTG shave lasts until the next morning, I consider a razor the sharpest. It's all relative because that's the best that I've ever done and I can repeat it. I still get good shaves that are very smooth but they don't last as long. Still a good shave. Still sharp.

The 20K Gokumayo ruined me for "Lesser" shaves, I don't have the stone yet and get by with what I have now, Maybe that is good enough, as I get more experience that could change.

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Originally Posted by RobinK

Truer words were never spoken in this context. I had much rather shave with a "dull, but shaves" razor and high quality soap, than with a "scary sharp honemiester[sic!] edge" and some pedestrian soap.

Yes, soap makes much more of a difference than edge, if your lather is right.

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Another simple experiment Ive tried.
Use a razor that shaves well, dont strop it and use a runny or dry lather. The resulting shave was no where near as good. Next day back to proper stropping and a good lather. Hey presto! Back to a great shave.

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Originally Posted by RobinK

Truer words were never spoken in this context. I had much rather shave with a "dull, but shaves" razor and high quality soap, than with a "scary sharp honemiester[sic!] edge" and some pedestrian soap.

Yes, soap makes much more of a difference than edge, if your lather is right.

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Dull razor?...Luxury...We used to have to hone the razor on the biggest rock we could find after we drained the lake, strop it on a wire rope, and for shaving soap all we had was mud...the only brush we ever had was made from a single budgie feather...I used to DREAM about a dull razor...But you try and tell the young people today that, and they won't believe ya...

I did something accidentaly a while back:

after honing on a 6k, i went back on a 3k.

the reason is I was new to honing and I had a new combination stone and I mistook 3k for 10k. And finished with the 3k.

this thing cuts through paper like butter and shaves beautifully but fails HHT test.

when properly honed in proper progression, it passes HHT but shave is ordinary. Nothing special really.

Is this possible, or was I drunk.

Personally, I much prefer sharper razors that require flatter angles for a comfortable shave. YMMV

It has never been about absolute sharpness. At 1k the razor is sharp enough to cut hair, anything after that is for comfort.

You can absolutely make an edge so sharp it is uncomfortable and/or the edge will not last.

Honing a razor is about, keen enough to cut hair, smooth/comfortable enough, for your skin and at an angle or edge thickness that it will last.

Your experience also demonstrates that hair test does not pre-determine shave quality, at best it is a guide for edge keenness, not quality.

Personally I don't experience such a black and white line between "yeah it shaves" and " no this is terrible". I have a bunch of blades they all shave and can coax them to eventually clean all the whiskers off my face. But usually a blade freshly honed and stropped will in my experience take off hair quickly and completely where as other razors in various stages of use may take more passes or gymnastics to get the same job done. So I don't completely buy into the idea of that razor shaves and its equal to all others that also shave and the problem is prep or some other technical short fall. Razors degrade in performance and the threshold is rather long. How many of you experience a blade in optimal condition take one pass and are surprised how clean your face is as opposed to other razors where you have to fuss more to get the same result, even though the razor is still shaving comfortably. Just an observation ymmv as usual.

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Originally Posted by Razorfaust

How many of you experience a blade in optimal condition take one pass and are surprised how clean your face is as opposed to other razors where you have to fuss more to get the same result, even though the razor is still shaving comfortably.

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I've often wondered if this was just me. With most of mine, the first pass seems a little questionable, leaves more whiskers behind, is not quite pulling, leaves me wondering "am I getting close to the need to refresh?" But second pass all is clean and close and comfortable. This is my usual shave. I always end up with the same result, CCS. A few of my blades better approximate the finished result after the first pass, but most do not. These edges perform like this for months. Perhaps that is what a coticule provides... sharp enough to do the job, smooth enough to yield many comfortable shaves.

It is like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart when asked to define pornography, he said, (paraphrasing) I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.

When a razor is shave ready I know it when I shave with it.

A bit of light reading for the " My razor is too sharp crew"

http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...ller-edge.html

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/downloads...nifeshexps.pdf