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

I keep reading the de and se blades are sharper than regular straights, sometimes even "too sharp".

And now I wonder how they hone/sharpen these at their factories, and if they really are sharper than what you can accomplish at home?

Has anyone rehoned a DE/SE blade? What was the result?

DE/SE blades are disposable, it is not worth the time to try and hone them.

Bob

They are coated to achieve the sharp and, sharp can be done with a razor just smooth and sharp is what makes the difference in a straight, and what bob said their disposable ,mwhich would you want to sharpen them? Tc

Originally Posted by BobH

DE/SE blades are disposable, it is not worth the time to try and hone them.

Bob

But you are ignoring the fun factor.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

would you want to sharpen them? Tc

Because you can??

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

Use the search function and you should find a number of threads about this topic. In general, a modern coated DE blade (or SE for that matter) should not/cannot be re-honed due to the edge coatings. There are a number of devices from the early 19th century till the time they started coating blades that were made for the purpose of holding a DE while honing or stropping to extend their life. I'm sure a goodly number of these devices came into existence during the Depression when money was almost non-existent.

Years back, I am guessing pre WWII the were devices that were made specifically for stropping DE blades and some even for honing them iirc. Back then the blades were not coated so it might have been a feasible option. I have heard the people would strop them on the inside of a glass tumbler to stretch the number od shaves from a single blade.

Fast forward to now and as has been explained DE blades are made in a different way so you are not gaining anything by trying to strop or hone them.

Bob

I see I was too slow again.

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

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

Very nice vid. I found a few more related ones. straights and scalpels. But somehow they always confuse tempering with hardening (austenitization) I guess these vids are made more for the non technical oriented people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b_nRYltQ-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V89F7_MLKqM

btw i have actually reground box cutter blades on my sharpmaker, and they were much much more sharp off the sharpmaker than the stock ones, and these were the best ones, the olfas. not mentioning the difference between the cheap crap ones.. night and day there really.

I used to work in a place where we cut tape as masking for painting, and the substrate for the tape was glass so the point of the edges would dull quite fast.