Thread: Questions about sharpness.

Originally Posted by prrfan

I also have a Feather disposable straight and can tell you that the blades are very sharp. The other regular straight razors I have are not as sharp and all have been honed professionally.
I agree with the post above that the first shave with the Feather blade is very unforgiving.
I'm curious as to peoples opinions on whether or not a machine made disposable blade can be as sharp as a regular straight razor blade?

To answer this question, yes, a well honed straight is as sharp as a feather or DE blade. Frankly, I get better shaves with my straights than I do with my DE...!

The reason feather blades feel so sharp is that the makers coat them in teflon to reduce friction. This gives them that "super-sharp" feeling that the OP describes. They're not any sharper, they just have less resistance when cutting, which makes them feel sharper.

There is a tendancy for people to compare straight razors to feather or DE blades like this, and decide that the razor needs honing as its not as "sharp", when in fact the razor is ready to go.

Prep and technique are more important with a straight because you dont have the teflon on the blade adding extra glide and masking the imperfections in your shaving technique. You need good lather, a well softened beard, the right angles and skin stretching to get the best shave.

Stropping is also a key consideration, and you really need to get this right or else you shave will suffer. And so too will your face..!

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Stubear

The reason feather blades feel so sharp is that the makers coat them in teflon to reduce friction. This gives them that "super-sharp" feeling that the OP describes. They're not any sharper, they just have less resistance when cutting, which makes them feel sharper.
Good luck!

That is certainly true, and they are much thinner than open razors too: on another forum, a sometime poster here has measured a DE blade and found it to be .10mm thick, while his thinnest open razor is .24mm thick, and that the edge angle of the DE is much lower, too. Another reliable poster confirmed the measurements and gave the edge angle as something around 9.5 degrees.

He also looked at the blade under high magnification and found that although it looks shiny-sharp, when it is turned at the right angle to the light it has a mass of machining marks that make it look like it has been honed on a 3000 grit stone!

It makes you wonder about the term "sharpness" if thinner+coated+rougher is apparently "sharper" than thicker+uncoated+smoother ('rougher' and 'smoother' relating to edge refinement, eg 3000 grit as opposed to 12,000 grit, say).

Most people I know find that DE blades feel "sharper" than open razors. I don't know many people who use both though, so take that in context!

Regards,
Neil

I started with disposable straights, so I knew what a sharp razor felt like when I got my first fixed straight razor. As much as I tried to strop it on the leather, it just didn't feel as fine of an edge as the disposable straights.

Then I bought a 4 sided pasted paddle strop with three sides Chrom Ox. 3.0/1.0/.50. After a few passes, the edge of my fixed straight felt just as fine or finer than the disposable straight blade edge. I enjoy keeping my fixed straights very sharp and consider my pasted paddle strop as "key" purchase to making this happen.

I still enjoy my disposables straights and they come in handy, but my fixed straight razors do 90% of the shaving and I always get a BBS shave.

Pabster