Thread: my razors get dull all by themsleves, whats up with that?

I can hone and strop my razors so that they can pass the HHT. But if i let them sit overnight, or even for an hour and come back, they can not. Is there somethign wrong with my honing? am i maybe bending the edge over a bit so that the strop straightens it but then it creeps back? has anyone else experianced this?

Trapper,

From what I have read, if you over hone you have a "fin"
extending out from the edge. The razor will pass the HHT
with this fin. But when you attempt to shave the fin will
turn. I suppose that the extreme thiness of the fin can
be affected by gravity.

I'm positive others will respond and correct me if I am
wrong.


Terry

Gee, I'm REALLY interested in hearing responses for this thread! What kind of razor are you honing?

-Rob

Its those evil spirits they don't want you to succeed so once you have your blade honed to perfection, during the night they come in and mess up your honing job.

Actually I can't imagine why the condition of the blade would change so drastically overnight by itself unless your really heating up the edge and in the cooling process it changes the edge geometry.

I want to here the answer to this one also. I used to have knives do the same thing. I would have them cutting hair on my arm and a few days later, after not using them, they would not cut hair on my arm????????????? I was told that some stainless steels edge would flake off after a period of time??????????? Go figure...........

It's those pesky shoe elves. They are trying to find a new field because nobody gets customs shoes anymore, but they are not succeeding.

I also would like to know what is going on.

Keaton

My razors pass the hanging hair test and stay that way for a looooong time. I usually only strop twice a week and shave on the same edge for the entire week.

But, they do say you should strop everytime before you shave....

I don't have THE answer, only some thoughts that come to mind.

Perhaps your using a water based paste to finish honing?

Perhaps your stropping a little more and rolling the edge at some point?

Perhaps your leaving the razor in the bathroom and showering at night?

After honing, how are you drying the razor? You need to dry the edge and yet you need to do it in a method that won't spoil the edge.

My guess is probably not gravity.

The best guess, after all that, is that the spine is bent and its simply realigning itself after honing, does it lay completely flat?

You are aware that the HHT only tests one spot on the razor? Are you sure your checking the exact same spot the next day? Have you run the razor over your arm hair?

Your not touching the razor to the strop in between tests?

I did have this happen once, but I had a guilty looking girlfriend too. Anyone else in the house?

Is there any noise when you open the razor? Could it be touching the scales when you open it?

Finally,

Do you clean the inner scale and remove water before putting the razor away for the night?

Guesses only, I've never experienced this. But there are plenty of remote possibilities.

I think it's those same gremlins that steal a sock from the dryer. I think they work for Gillette. I agree with some of the points made here. Make sure it's dry before you put it away, ease up a bit on the stropping, and you might try what I do....I coat my edges with Sterol before putting them away. May be overkill, but just to be safe. I put three small drops just above the edge on each side, then wipe my finger down and ensure the edge is completely oiled. That way even if there IS a tiny bit of moisture I left behind, it get's no oxygen to catalyze the bad things. I simply wipe it off before my next pre-shave stropping. If an edge oxidizes on you, a good bit of steel must be removed to get back to the good stuff, so I strive to avoid this at all costs.

Jeff

OK, one more time. The HHT is used during honing on the 8000 grit or fine hone, NOT! after the pastes or after stropping. Most any dull razor will pass the HHT after stropping and then shave poorly.

Next, you must strop just before the shave, not hours or days before. The reason why is that steel has built in stresses created during the smelting and forging of steel. These stresses are reduced by the process of tempering but they are not eliminated. The result is that the steel has a direction that it wants to take and it will over time. The act of stropping moves the elements of the fin into alignment but only temporarily. If you let the razor sit after stropping the steel begins to move back into its desired direction. This called the "memory" of steel. I first read about the "memory" of steel 20 years ago. Its very easy to understand, just think of a steel spring. The fin on the razor( the part that does the actual cutting) is so thin that it can move according to the built in stress. Since the fin is composed of small "teeth" each has the potential to move in its own direction. Thus the need for stropping just before the shave.


Hope this helps,

Interesting explanation. But my experience these days is different: I strop only after the shaving, and then shave without stropping two days after... The razors shave fine. I'll try to strop one of my DOVO's right before the shave to see the diference...

Nenad