Originally Posted by
Bill S
I have a Feather and have used all three of the common types of blades produced for it. I have also used the Feather blades in an injector and a Classic Cobra. They are, for sure, about as sharp as you would ever want in a razor. At least they feel that way which may be a byproduct of their coating, as mparker points out.
It has been my experience that a few of my conventional straights will reach the same level of apparent sharpness as a Feather. They are all customs with very hard blades and well refined and polished edges (again, to mparker's point). One in particular seems to get even sharper than a Feather. That could be because Lynn played around with it with a Charnley, an Asagi and some diamond spray at the last NC get together and then I shaved with it. Whatever the reason, the thing gets wickedly keen.
Note that once a Feather has a few shaves on it the sharpness drops back to that of a really good shave ready straight and it is much smoother than when it is new. I find that I get a better shave with a conventional straight than with the Feather. They both give you a "sticky" smooth face, but the Feather shave starts to develop stubble sooner than the shave with a straight.