Thread: The Grand Experiment

Well I thought it was time for an update. This thing has been going on for about 2 weeks now and its too early to draw any conclusions yet but I will tell you this much.When I honed up the three razors all three shaved equally well but SRP 38 the one that gets stroped 30x before and after didn't quite shave as smoothly as the other two. The shave closeness was there but the comfort was a tad off. As of this point in the game SRP 39 and the other TI are still shaving as they were at the start but 38 now shaves as comfortably as the other two. All three are totally equal at this point. Its definately not a case of the other two having deteriorated and 38 staying the same. It has improved.

Now I could have put 38 back on the 8K for another 30 or so passes and brought it up to the other two exactly but I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen as I progressed since the general opinion seemed to be that that razor would best the other two in the end.

So you can draw your own conclusions at this point. The experiment continues!

Hello str8 razor shaving friends,

Even if agreement is reached on some experimental parametres, doubt may be expressed if such methods will ever lead to shaving nirvana. They may narrow the number of paths but the climb seems formidably steep and arduous. Other variables like air humidity, temperature, stropping pressure might also skew the feedback, leading the shaver to stray off one of the numerous experimental paths.

What about just relaxing into shaving nirvana?

My experience is that immediate sense feedback during stropping is vital. Turn the mind volume down, relax and identify with your fingers and ears. When the str8, after just gliding, intensively caresses the strop and mates with it, shaving sharpness is attained.

Greetings,

lux

My recollection is that the experiment was supposed test if there's any difference between stropping just before and both before and after shaving. How can you do this without starting out with both razors in the same condition?

I don't understand how you could ever do that without starting out with all the razors in the same condition. The fact that you were able bring the one razor up to par by stropping only shows that the initial difference was only a differenc in stropping. It should be OK now.

I think we are splitting hairs here (no pun intended). The closeness of the shaves given by all three razors was equal. yes there was a tad difference in #38 only affecting a slight degree in comfort and yes all three are completely equal now. I think the results so far though I don't want to make any premature conclusions is that the additional stropping is improving the shaveability of the razor while the other 2 are remaining equal. Time will tell if one of the three starts to deteriorate but that will take a while.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think the additional stropping is improving the shaveability of the razor while the other 2 are remaining equal. Time will tell if one of the three starts to deteriorate but that will take a while.

That's what I was talking about. The additional stropping brought the razor up to the same level of comfort, which where you should have started. Now that they're all equal, let's see if they become unequal.

Well this thing has been going on for about a month now and I really thought when I began that it would be at least two months before anything significant happened but that doesn't appear to be whats happening.

I figure each of the razors has given about 11 shaves now and the 2nd to the last time I shaved with SRP 39 I thought that though the closeness of the shave was the equal of the other two razors the comfort just seemed to be lacking and then the last time I used 39 it seemed to be more so and today I used 39 and there was a very noticeable decrease in the comfort level and it just didn't seem to do the job like it had been doing. Mind you it still gives a very good shave indeed but there was a definite difference in comparison to the two others. (The other two and originally all three gave exceptional shaves so small differences are very apparent.)There was a little drag on my face and I had to do an additional pass and it still didn't equal the other two in comfort and closeness.

So at this point unless there are any objections I will remove # 39 from the experiment. If that razor was part of my normal rotation it would be visiting the 8K for a few trips at this point.

I think it clear that stropping 60 strokes is superior to 30 but is it better to do 30 before and 30 after or just 60 before. Is it the total number or the way its done the important factor. Or might 90 strokes be even better. Well that's not part of my experiment but as I continue with the other two well see which starts to deteriorate first.SRP 38 and the other TI are neck and neck at this point. Stay tuned as the experiment continues.

And yea my other razors are starting to get mighty lonely these days. Why I thought I heard my DDs quacking from in the box yesterday.

Oh and if anyone objects to my removing #39 from the experiment at this point I'll be glad to send it to you to continue on your face not mine!.

I am deeply shocked that you could consider discarding the #39 blade from this crucial experiment. The starting not equal thing was small, but this! As for shaving with it. I'd love to say you're wrong, but I know you're actually afraid to send it out and be contradicted further. Are you?

No no X,

I think the continuation of the test on #39 should rather be done in a different continent, just to alleviate any influence from the continent itself

I know its a tough job, but somebody's got to do it - so as being European I'd volunteer...

-Axel-

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Well this thing has been going on for about a month now and I really thought when I began that it would be at least two months before anything significant happened but that doesn't appear to be whats happening.

Oh and if anyone objects to my removing #39 from the experiment at this point I'll be glad to send it to you to continue on your face not mine!.

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to the final outcome [even though the experiment was confounded ]
I guess I'm going to have to start double stropping--or is that doubling my stropping?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

So at this point unless there are any objections I will remove # 39 from the experiment. If that razor was part of my normal rotation it would be visiting the 8K for a few trips at this point.

Now, which one is this, the 30 passes once?

I think you need to think about why this one failed. It may not be related to the experiment at all. Maybe it just wasn't prepared the same. If you accept this as a result of the expeeiment, then one of your conclusions would be that stropping twice as much decreased the rate at which the razor edge deteriorates.