Thread: How important is prep in extending edge integrity?

Well again, I can only go off personal experience. I do not consider what I do to be serious prep - just a quick splash or two of hot water and then lather. Although, I do let the lather sit on my face while I strop and then re-lather before I shave, so perhaps that does soften my whiskers adequately - my shaves go pretty well overall I guess.

In any event, I can see how an adequate amount of beard prep could impact on your edge longevity. But personally I think beard prep and leather/linen do not play as large a role in edge retention as steel quality and type, and the bevel angle. No empirical evidence to back that assertion up, just a gut feeling.

James.

My gut feeling is that it all plays a part. If you , James, were to take some extra time and do a really through prep I would be interested to know if you noticed a difference in how the shave felt and if it turned out to be closer than what you routinely do now.

As far as edge longevity the steel type, temper, grind and all of that undoubtedly plays a part but what it is cutting and how it is maintained afterwards must also be an important part of the equation IMHO.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Are you referring to how densely together the hair grows or the individual thickness and texture of each hair?

Individual thickness of each hair. Maybe I'm "splitting hairs" but a blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skinned guy is going to have thinner, more pliable whiskers than a Sicilian with olive complexion and black hair.

In other words, you can't place the responsibility of the durability of an edge on prep alone (and perhaps I have gone slightly off-topic as a result since we are talking about prep only).

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

My gut feeling is that it all plays a part. If you , James, were to take some extra time and do a really through prep I would be interested to know if you noticed a difference in how the shave felt and if it turned out to be closer than what you routinely do now.

As far as edge longevity the steel type, temper, grind and all of that undoubtedly plays a part but what it is cutting and how it is maintained afterwards must also be an important part of the equation IMHO.

I feel an experiment coming on....

I take your point Jimmy - everything plays a role, undoubtedly. For me it is a matter of degrees. If, other things being held constant, better prep can extend the time between honing by a "significant" amount, let me at it. But if we are only talking days, or perhaps a week or so, the additional time and effort involved in upping my prep on a daily basis would not be worth it to me. That's just me of course, and in no way meant to be a comment on what others should think or do.

Actually, I think I may do that experiment - I have a lot of Bengall razors, to the point where I know that I have at least four that are basically identical in terms of era of production, size, grind and hone wear. That will be two for my face and two for my head (one with good prep and one with normal prep, for each shave area). No replication, but as good as I can get - although repeating the process over time will generate replications of a kind. I will work out an experimental design and start a thread elsewhere to keep this one clean.

James.

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

Individual thickness of each hair. Maybe I'm "splitting hairs" but a blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skinned guy is going to have thinner, more pliable whiskers than a Sicilian with olive complexion and black hair.

In other words, you can't place the responsibility of the durability of an edge on prep alone (and perhaps I have gone slightly off-topic as a result since we are talking about prep only).

An absolute measure of prep (or an absolute time limit on edges) is not going to work for the reasons you mention, for sure. But relative prep should be OK, as in "an amount of prep that adequately softens the beard of an individual". In addition, this is all relative - extending the life of the edge on an individual basis. So you might get 2 months from an edge based on your beard type with minor prep, while someone else gets 4 based on theirs, ceteris paribus. We want to know what happens to each person's edges if they use better prep - the first guy may extend to 4 months, the second to 6.

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

An absolute measure of prep (or an absolute time limit on edges) is not going to work for the reasons you mention, for sure. But relative prep should be OK, as in "an amount of prep that adequately softens the beard of an individual". In addition, this is all relative - extending the life of the edge on an individual basis. So you might get 2 months from an edge based on your beard type with minor prep, while someone else gets 4 based on theirs, ceteris paribus. We want to know what happens to each person's edges if they use better prep - the first guy may extend to 4 months, the second to 6.

James.

Exactly... I got off topic. Apologies.

Are we any closer to getting good images of edges showing the effects of different stropping materials and methods, and how much rust actually builds up on the edge overnight? I thought there was someone who might have been able to do some electron microscopy for us.

????

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I will work out an experimental design and start a thread elsewhere to keep this one clean.

Please link it from here if- er, I mean when you do

My protocol has been posted, and the experiment starts in a week's time (piloting of new prep routine starts today.)

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...xperiment.html

James.