Thread: Razor edge duration

I've read stories about "the days of yore" when someone's grandpa used the same straight and only stropped it to keep it going.

Can some people give personal accounts on the LONGEST they've been able to shave comfortably with a razor prior to it needing a honing touch up?

I ask because I honed a DD Dwarf spike point over a month ago and have been using it as my only shaving razor 6 days per week. I'd say I'm at 25 shaves with no indication that the edge is going south and doing nothing other than stropping on an untreated (no chrome or paste) horsehide strop. I strop 25 times after shaving to dry the edge, then 50 laps on the coarser horsehide (I resurfaced the "coarser" side so it's perfectly and uniformly finished with a nubuck finish) side and 50 on the silky horsehide side of the strop I'm using just prior to the shave. I'm going to run with this one until the edge finally needs attention or the urge to shave with one of my other razors gets overwhelming.

Since this experience I've also decided to make a simple spreadsheet where I can post a page on the wall above my strop to keep a maintenance schedule on each of my razors and therefore have stats on each razor.

Chris L

2 to 6 months is common for me!

The spread sheet is a neat idea!

Originally Posted by JMS

2 to 6 months is common for me!

Is that of daily use? 5 times per week x 24 weeks @ 6 months = 120 shaves before needing rehoning?

Chris L

Originally Posted by Chrisl

Is that of daily use? 5 times per week x 24 weeks @ 6 months = 120 shaves before needing rehoning?

Chris L

I'm sorry, I am taking the number of shaves and turning it into a time line!

1 day = 1 shave
1 month = 30 shaves

get the picture!
In reality I only shave every other day on average, so the actual time between honings would be 4 months to a year!

I have to polish the edge with Cr02 every 3rd or 4th shave or I can feel the deterioration. This is due to (1) my steel-eating beard from hell, (2) my 3-pass shaves, (3) my insistence on absolute perfection. By the end of the month I have convexed my bevel into oblivion from all the polishing & must hone. Sometimes I hone every 2 weeks instead so it's less work. (Well, it's just as much work, but spread out more, if you know what I mean).

Originally Posted by JMS

I'm sorry, I am taking the number of shaves and turning it into a time line!

1 day = 1 shave
1 month = 30 shaves

get the picture!
In reality I only shave every other day on average, so the actual time between honings would be 4 months to a year!

I see what you're saying. The number of shaves really would be the same then. For you, up to 120 shaves on one razor is possible (even if it takes you more than six months to accumulate that number for a razor) if I'm following.

Chris L

Hmmmm gotta get out the calculator

My Dovo is one of my oldest razors so I am figuring lets see every other day for 2 months =30
next 3 months maybe 9 per month so that = 27
then about once a week for 4 months so that= 16
now twice a month for maybe 4 months so that = 8
So that razor has about 81 shaves on it and I just used it the day before yesterday with no problems.....
I do 25 laps on linen then 50 laps on leather with 20 laps on leather between the first and second pass for every razor that I shave with in the morning.... My beard is thick but not wiry and although I only shave around the bread lines the terrible angles that I use are pretty tuff on the edges....