Thread: I'm Resting a Razor

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

At this point I think I am starting to be able to visible see edge damage with the naked eye and bright light.

So, I think the only thing I have managed to identify is that I can go, but wouldn't want to, six shaves without stropping.

I think the 48 hour resting myth is busted.

Revisiting 'cuz I'm curious if anything more happened. When I considered this experiment my mind was drawn to the earliest days when I looked into honing kitchen cutlery. I was sharpening quite regularly, at the initial learning phase, all with the ease of mind that I was actually preserving the life of the blade by regularly shaving off steel because when the blade is maintained well there is no additional degradation of the edge due to impacted parts being impacted further through crushing against the items being cut, rather than being cut cleanly. Now, open razors aren't the same kind of steel as the soft modern cutlery but whatever rolling or flipping of the razor's little "fins" that occur from repeatedly cutting through hair is going to build up a messy and troubled edge. If the edge doesn't realign itself... all those untrue sections of the edge, however off they may be, will have accelerated degradation when not realigned by the competent shaver.

I swear I can feel the difference in the blade's edge at the end of my shave. I haven't experimented much with re-softening my hairs with another hot towel soaking so my experience may be exaggerated but I truly believe I can discern at this point when I haven't adequately stropped my blade (I like to stick with the same one for awhile for clarity and familiarizing myself with different razor designs and steels).

I'd love to hear more, such as a 48 hour resting experiment.

I have heard stories of Japanese sushi chefs having 2 sets of knives so that each knife could have a day to rest. I want to say it had something to do with the belief that the knife developed some kind of protective patina while it was resting and when it went back to work it was subjected to all the acidic onions and tomatoes that began eating through the protective coating and into the high carbon steel.

Hey AFDavis I was wonderening if you followed up this with anymore testing?

Also I always thought that the oldtimers would use two razors while resting blades from the start, meaning right after honing) and that they would still strop them before ever use just not after they use them? Again like others I can't exatcly see what the point of it is but thats is how I thought it was suppose to be done.

I would try this out my self but I am tring out honedrights method of keeping one blade sharp with stroping for a year at the moment.

I don't really buy into the ''resting'' stuff either. The only reason I use my razors in rotation is because I enjoy using all of them.