Thread: will a razor eventually wear out completely?

I am new to all of this and have yet to buy my first razor, but after watching some instructional videos 2 questions came to mind. One, since you lay the spine as well as the edge on a hone when sharpening wouldnt this take metal off of the spine as well as the blade, and if that is the case wont the spine one day wear out to the point where the razor will become useless? Two, if indeed the razor will become useless would it be safe to put electrical tape on the spine EVERYTIME you hone or will this mess up the angle needed to hone the blade properly?

Originally Posted by dustintk

I am new to all of this and have yet to buy my first razor, but after watching some instructional videos 2 questions came to mind. One, since you lay the spine as well as the edge on a hone when sharpening wouldnt this take metal off of the spine as well as the blade, and if that is the case wont the spine one day wear out to the point where the razor will become useless? Two, if indeed the razor will become useless would it be safe to put electrical tape on the spine EVERYTIME you hone or will this mess up the angle needed to hone the blade properly?

If the razor is handled and honed properly it will likely see several generations of your progeny before the razor is useless. As for setting the spine on the hone while honing, I believe straight razors were designed purposely to do this so that as the edge wore down from honing so would the spine so that your edge geometry would remain constant (in theory anyways) but again, if you hone with care your razor will out last you and likely out last your grandchildren, so tape is more for aesthetics in my opinion.

Yes a razor will wear out after a very very long time. Probarly not in a lifetime but it will wear out.
some people do use tape when honing, it will protect the spine but the razor will still wear out as the blade shortens so all you are really doing is stopping spine wear not the razor wearing out. would use tape especally when doing honing to work out chips and things like that.

Thank you for the quick response. This community is looking good already haha.

I agree with the above responses, but would like to add that they apply to normal hone wear, not what I and many other folks new to honing did to their first razors while learning! It ain't pretty, what a 1000 grit Norton, or worse yet a DMT, can do to a razor in unskilled hands. So, get a few inexpensive but vintage razors from eBay to practice on. Not any valuable razor! My .02, YMMV.

As Croaker says, if the honer knows what they are doing wear will be minimal. I used tape while honing for a year before I began honing without tape. At that time I measured the spine on a couple of NOS razors before and after honing to shave ready and there was absolutely no perceptible difference in the measurement.

I posted a poll asking if members had ever noticed a decrease in the width of their razor under normal circumstances (no chips, etc), and last I checked maybe 5 members said yes.

Do keep in mind that you can keep a razor shave ready with just a barber hone or other finishing hone. You'd do maybe a couple passes every couple shaves. The amount of metal that removes is neary nothing. I'd bet I could use the same razor for the rest of my life (I'm 23) and, if I took care of it properly, I'd see a change of less than 1/16 of an inch (much less, I would guess).

If you assume that small of a change in width, the change in bevel angle would be similarly small.

I suppose if one sees constant use it will wear out.

The wedgier the blade the shorter its lifespan. As seen most often on those early stub tails with extra wide flats; as if they were just laid aside as too much trouble. An exhaustive scouring of ebay offerings sampled over continuous months allows me to guess that while one chap may opt for a new blade, another or two preferred having the same reground. (which is not to say we cannot today do all the work to make old flats shave again, nor to say they did not simply raise the spine-which leads to more flatting)

A full hollow should last and last while keeping the same ease of use over its lifespan.

It appears to me that many of these early 20th c. worn to the nub pieces look more like they were, for whatever reason, put to some other use besides daily shave maintenance.

I do like to see an old worn but well kept barber's razor every now and again. I'm not sure why or when exactly but if you started with 6/8 and it was close to 4/8, you may want to splurge on another before it's too late.