Thread: Time Dulls All Blades

For a lack of understanding of how to get this question answered, if there is and answer, I come to post here in the hopes an answer will arise.

"A Blade once sharpened, then put away, unused, does time eventually cause a blades edge to loose its sharpness?"

This is a demonstration that no matter how long you have been doing a thing there is always something you can discover about a thing.

Nothing in the universe remains static.

It honestly depends on the storage

If there is air getting to the blade then there is the possibility micro corrosion on the Fin could actually dull the edge

If the air passes through a Desiccant barrier and there is ZERO moisture then the edge should stay just fine for years..

ie: It isn't "Time" it is "Moisture" that can dull a blade...



That is my understanding so I am sticking to that story

Time/ age dulls everything.
Just look at ourselves.

Has anyone on this forum used a previously unopened pack of very old vintage double edge blades? I haven't. If anyone has this experience, and found the blades perfectly sharp, that would be some evidence that Time does Not Dull All Blades.

Anyone?

Originally Posted by boshave

Has anyone on this forum used a previously unopened pack of very old vintage double edge blades? I haven't. If anyone has this experience, and found the blades perfectly sharp, that would be some evidence that Time does Not Dull All Blades.
Anyone?

Yup, dull after a lot of years for some blades. Rusty on the supermarket shelves for some new blades.
~Richard

Many years ago I was given 7 straight razors. Non had been used since the 50's/however they had been in daily usage until abandoned. After stropping the hell out of them first on cloth and then on leather All still gave a decent shave.

I sent one to GSSIXGUN to experiment with. He too found that it gave a decent shave and was going to experiment further however he found a small crack so that plan was canceled.

All of the razors were darkened by time but none were showing any sign of rust. All had been stored dry in a drawer far from the bathroom and kitchen.

The Japanese razor that Owen Agenbroad had found during the battle for Iwo Jima still gave a decent shave after 65+ years of similar storage and later stropping.

Based on my experience with the above razors I think that the lack of moisture is the key to proper storage.

I got a 9/16" Henry Sears & Son with barbers notch at a auction that was very sharp & in almost new condition. Was told by the former owners daughter that it was kept in a drawer next to the owners bed for around 40 years. & never used in that time. I always try my razors before I work on them & I got a great shave with out stropping it. Later I did a light honing on my coti under running water till the blade stuck to the stone, stropped it on Jager Shell strop & WOW is all I could say.
When I got my 16K Shapton the other day I got out the Sears razor, gave it a quick strop & shaved half of my face. Did 6 round trips on the Shapton & stropped & I will say you could do surgery with this razor now.
So I will say a properly stored razor can keep its edge over a long period.

Slawman

Originally Posted by gssixgun

It honestly depends on the storage

If there is air getting to the blade then there is the possibility micro corrosion on the Fin could actually dull the edge

If the air passes through a Desiccant barrier and there is ZERO moisture then the edge should stay just fine for years..

ie: It isn't "Time" it is "Moisture" that can dull a blade...



That is my understanding so I am sticking to that story

And that the bevels and edge are clean.

Look at a bevel, with magnification, after you have shaved, cleaned it and put it up.

You will see, bits of soap, skin, hair, and blood, all of that contains moisture and will cause oxidation, (rust), unless the razor was stropped.

Yes, had a similar experience as Slawman did. I recently got a Heartring razor advertised as "possibly" NOS. It came in a mint coffin in it's plastic sheath. The blade felt a little tacky so I cleaned with some alcohol, stropped it and had a surprising good shave with what I can only guess was the factory edge after all those years. A few swipes on a 12k Nani did improve it a bit but not hugely.

I would have to agree that the drier a blade is stored the longer it will remain sharp and that it is amount of moisture content in the air that will determine how quickly the edge degrades over time.

Bob