Thread: How sharp are DE/SE blades? And how do they sharpen them?

Here's a video on YouTube showing DE blade manufacturing on How it's made

Straight razors are single edge blades, but we don't achieve the same sharpness as factory made edges with their coatings, machine stropping etc. by hand honing, and the steel in our straights are likely different from what is used in these factory made disposable blades.

While it is technically possible to rehone something like a Feather SE, replacing the coatings would be hard/expensive, and achieving the same level of sharpness without the coatings seems unlikely.

DE blades have an additional problem, honing them makes them narrower than a fresh new blade, resulting in reduced edge exposure in a safety razor, and we're still struggling with the coating issue... vapour deposition of chromium is a tad difficult to do in most home situations.

There was, years back, an internet contest on sharpening single edge box cutter blades. One person would purchase a box of cutter blades and send one to each participant for honing and then it was returned for testing in a special contraption that used a cutting media that was identical for all the blades tested, and the cutting pressure was recorded. All were compared to a stock blade. The winner on one of those competitions used an Edge Pro jig with polishing tapes. Smoothness did not figure into the contest (as in shaving), just cutting pressure. It turns out it is possible to make something sharper, sometimes, but we don't just want our razors sharp, we want them smooth and comfortable.

Regards

Christian