Thread: How many shaves on a straight razor before the edge needs a refresh?

I keep track of how many shaves I get, but I don't use that number to determine when to hone. I hone the razor when it no longer performs as well as a freshly honed razor. The counting is just a curiosity and product testing.

I just don't keep track. If it pulls, it gets honed.
What with all the stropping, it seldom happens. Most get better!

It depends a lot on the type of metal, the shape and the grinding.

I had a Medusa sintered steel blade of the latest generation (CPM-S35VN, see pic).
It is as sharp as a C135 (Thiers Issard Carbonsong, see pic) but definitely much more resistant and durable.
With the TI I have a good shave daily for about two months before returning to the finishing stone.
With the Medusa over three months.


But my favorite, for sweetness and pleasure, is another.

Yup, depends, mostly on your stropping ability and your strop. The quality of the strop and more importantly the cleanliness of the strop will dramatically determine how long an edge will last.

There is also the quality of the steel, grind and quality of the honing and the ability of the stropper.

Mostly it is stropping that determines the life of the edge. As your stropping improves, so to will your edges and your shaves. Keep your strop clean, it is the final polish on your edge, proper stropping and a clean strop can keep you shaving a long time. Too much pressure will flex a weak edge and cause it to fail, resulting in micro chipping.

There is a micrograph photo in a video in recent post on honing forum, of a 12k edge with deep random stria on the bevel and resulting chipping, caused by stropping on a dirty strop. This is consistent with razors I see that come in for honing.

Years ago, a few of us stropped the same razor on Chromium Oxide and shaved with it daily for over a year, with no damage to the edge. After a week or two of stropping and shaving, all the stria on the bevel disappeared and the shave plateaued to a smooth comfortable shaving edge. After a year most got bored with the experiment as there was no change.

excell spread sheet? really? wow.
If it ain't broke don't fix it! If it doesn't shave comfortably, hone it!
Keep a dull razor around in case you get bored and just want to hone something!