Thread: How many shave can you get?

Hi. How many shave can you get from shaving with a "good quality" (Sheifileld or Solingen) straight, properly honed by a pro and maintained with a very good stropping.

Could it be 20 shaves, 30 or more before going back to honing.

Thanks

Depends on your skill with a strop and the particular razor. I think most people can go 2-6 months shaving every day without re-honing.

There was a story posted recently about an 80+ year old gentlman who had been using the same straight for his entire life with nothing but that razor and a strop. Never had it re-honed since the day he bought it, and was still getting perfect shaves.


Also, a simple barber hone, which can be had for $10-$40 can maintain a straight razor indefinitely if properly used. (provided you don't do anything clumsy to damage the edge)

Definitely what Steve said. If I may add this from my early experience with straights and not having developed proper technique. Given that my beard is probably tougher than most, I know for a fact that in the begening I was able to ruin a great edge in a single shave. I remember looking at a before and after bevel undermagnification and was disturbed by the deterioration one unskilled shave could produce. Forcing a respectable modern Dovo at the time at 90 deg with force destoyed the fine bevel. Maybe men with fine hair can get away with that better but I can't imagine even then going too long with out needing a bevel redone. I should have known from the first day that was wrong as I have been using planes and found long ago that skewing plane effectively lowers bevel angle and is much easier to breeze through highly figured maple and even end grain. Not that I don't like to sharpen, I also enjoy the work the blades are doing as well. Between plane blades, gouges and straights I am a sharpening madman.
For newbies that find their first shaves a little uncomfortable, hang out here at SRP and pay close attention to posts dealing with technique. Good technique will give you buttery smooth shaves that are beyond what you now think possible. You will be able to make multiple passes with grain against grain and every angle in between. Irritation will be the exeption and no longer the rule. But it does take time and potential depends entirely on your ability to keep an open mind. Learning is painful but the rewards are sweet, something our modern world has lost in the persuit of gains that require no effort.
Mike

Hi,

Like a lots of things, it is difficult to give specfic numbers because of the many factors involved.

Some examples:

I have found with my Dovo Best 5/8 1/2 hollow, that the edge defintely needs a touch up on a pasted strop after 10 shaves.
After 40 shaves, it needs a quick trip to the hones.

However, my TI C135 has had 65 shaves under its belt and has needed nothing but the usual pre-shave strop on leather.

Best regards

Russ

Remains to be seen since my 4 sides paddle strop with pastes seem to be light honing in the process. I don't thank any of my blades will touch a stone any less than 100 shaves. But that is just a guess and who knows.

Pabster

This is just hit me. i will go and sharpen all my shaving blades they are not so many 2-3 . and see how long i will shave without touching the stones. thank you for screwing up my blades .

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

a simple barber hone, which can be had for $10-$40

wow, where??? Maybe i've been looking in the wrong places, please help

Because of this thread i am experimenting my Ti .So far sharpness still in there but i am doing more stropping. I will not use anything else except strop. Lets see how long it will last.

I did this a few years ago. Biggest problem I found was boredom, I was using the same razor every day to make it easier to keep track of the # of shaves. More stropping was definitely the key, esp on the linen side. Anyway I wound up with a few razors with 120-150 shaves on them and still going strong. I really don't know what my upper limit might be - my boredom eventually overcame my curiosity.

I think this also has to do with your beard. Some people have coarser hair than others, which will wear down a blade faster.