Thread: Coarse beard & edge longevity

Just received 2 razors from 2 different guys who both have coarse beard /sensitive skin combination.

1 razor has 2 months use & 1 has 7 months on it. One pic of each is below. Guess which is which.

I'll give more input within 24 hours . Meantime put your Sherlock cap on tell me what you see from the pics. No prizes sorry.

I would say it has nothing to do with the beard but how they were maintaining it? since both had corse beards, so, um dunno. I mean one looks nice the other looks like...crap (the top pic)

I see microchips in both (the 2nd one is harder to spot, but I see it).

Great pictures...
I assume that daily care would have an impact...
And can we also assume that they are not identical razors - and this would contribute to the changes?

I await the dropping of the next shoe...

thanks for posting this.

Dunno what the mag is, so I dunno how large they are, but those pits in the bevel of the first can't be a good sign...

Would say the user of the top blade tried to maintain it on some sort of pastes and overdid it.
The second just needs a minor touchup on a barber hone.

Originally Posted by Mephisto

I would say it has nothing to do with the beard but how they were maintaining it? since both had corse beards, so, um dunno. I mean one looks nice the other looks like...crap (the top pic)

Bingo !

Originally Posted by PA23-250

I see microchips in both (the 2nd one is harder to spot, but I see it).

Yep, well spotted but you'll only see that one with the m'scope.

Originally Posted by MJC

Great pictures...
I assume that daily care would have an impact...
And can we also assume that they are not identical razors - and this would contribute to the changes?

I await the dropping of the next shoe...

thanks for posting this.

Mos def care was a part of the prob.
Diff razors but both very hard steel so not really razor dependent on the answer.
TI #1 & a Bengall #2.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Dunno what the mag is, so I dunno how large they are, but those pits in the bevel of the first can't be a good sign...

Pics are at the upper mag of a Veho 200x so don't know the true mag. Each pic is around 300KB & approx 750 x 850 if that tells you anything.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Would say the user of the top blade tried to maintain it on some sort of pastes and overdid it.
The second just needs a minor touchup on a barber hone.

2nd Bingo. Misuse of pastes was one problem.
Would love to try an uber smooth Barber hone eg Norton or Frictionite 000 but my Carborundom 104 would kill that 2nd edge. It's only "slightly dull" in the words of the owner. I've since taken it to a Jnat prepolisher but yet to finish it.


So no one said which one has 7 months use yet.

OK - I'll take a stab...the 7 month razor is the better looking one on the bottom...

Originally Posted by MJC

OK - I'll take a stab...the 7 month razor is the better looking one on the bottom...

And your guess would be right .

Ok, so for a few facts.

Both gents get from 2 -4 shaves from disposables or DE's. Both coarse beard & sensitive skin.

Pitted razor owner hence to be known as "PRO" is new to straights. Other hence to be known as "O" is not so new but call him intermediate.

PRO has clearly allowed water damage either thru the shave &/or after. Didn't oil the blade regularly either.
O always wipes dry with a microfibre towel during & after shave & religiously strops & oils the blade after use.

PRO has heavily stropped on balsa with various pastes & even rounded the edge in spots. Found he lost the shave ready edge within 1 month. It arrived dull as a butter knife after 2 months, single razor use. Imagine the damage if he used a stone.

O only uses linen & leather & strops correctly. The razor arrived not far off shave ready after 7 months use & has a 2 razor rotation.

I realise a 2 razor sample doesn't make for undeniable statistics but hopefully it gives some guys with tough beards a bit of hope that edge longevity can be extended with proper use & maintenance.