Thread: The Grand Experiment

Originally Posted by Martin Adler

So what do you guys think about this intermediary summary?:
1. Stropping after the shave keeps the razor clean and dry preventing it from getting rusty.
2. Stropping sharpens the edge.

So one should strop carefully and long before shaving and have some goes on the strop after shaving.

It seems to be going that way. But we really don't know why stropping after prevents deterioration of the edge. Yours is a good theory.

Stropping sharpens only in the sense of aligning the microserrations, which tend to spread out during use. By standing them up the strop narrows the edge, which is sharper. I don't think this was in doubt before this experiment.

What would really nail down the conclusion is if the razors were restored to the same initial keen condition and their treatment was reversed. If the opposite razor survives, we have pretty good proof.

This morning I shaved with the other TI and you know what? I noticed just a tad of roughness in the shave. I think joe is right. During the next 4 or 5 shaves I'll see what happens. When I inspect it again this weekend it should be very interesting what I will find.

And I think the interim conclusions appear to be correct at this point. We'll see about reversing razor treatments when this thing comes to a conclusion.

Well its time for the weekly update. At this point SRP 38 is still going strong in every respect. The second TI still shaves just as strong though there is a bit of roughness in the shave though its very slight.

I examined both razors under the scope today and the results were suprising. The last time I checked last week the second TI which by the way is a Wolf and sheep black horn handle 6/8s had many microchips along the edge. Many of those chips seemed to be smoothed out this time. Not perfect but noticeably better than the last time. Also the lines in the bevel appeared to be finer and most important the lines stopped near the edge and the edge was very highly polished, very smooth in appearance with respect to the surface of the metal not the geometry of the cutting surface.

SRP 38 had many more lines extending about half way down the bevel and then they faded out. But in this razor the edge was not smooth like the other TI but had a stippled surface. The edge didn't have the chips like the other but was smooth and intact. I also looked at SRP 39 and its surface appeared like SRP 38 just with more scratch lines which were more pronounced than 38.

Check back for more updates.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Well its time for the weekly update. At this point SRP 38 is still going strong in every respect. The second TI still shaves just as strong though there is a bit of roughness in the shave though its very slight.

I examined both razors under the scope today and the results were suprising. The last time I checked last week the second TI which by the way is a Wolf and sheep black horn handle 6/8s had many microchips along the edge. Many of those chips seemed to be smoothed out this time. Not perfect but noticeably better than the last time. Also the lines in the bevel appeared to be finer and most important the lines stopped near the edge and the edge was very highly polished, very smooth in appearance with respect to the surface of the metal not the geometry of the cutting surface.

SRP 38 had many more lines extending about half way down the bevel and then they faded out. But in this razor the edge was not smooth like the other TI but had a stippled surface. The edge didn't have the chips like the other but was smooth and intact. I also looked at SRP 39 and its surface appeared like SRP 38 just with more scratch lines which were more pronounced than 38.

Check back for more updates.

What is the magnification of your microscope?

The only way the scratch lines could be worn down only on the front part of the bevel is if the strop is bending slightly under the pressure of the razor.

On the TI, when you say the chips smoothed out, do you mean the edge became wavy or that the chips disappeared an it became straighter? On 38, what is a stippled surface? Microscopically pitted?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Well its time for the weekly update. At this point SRP 38 is still going strong in every respect. The second TI still shaves just as strong though there is a bit of roughness in the shave though its very slight.

I examined both razors under the scope today and the results were suprising. The last time I checked last week the second TI which by the way is a Wolf and sheep black horn handle 6/8s had many microchips along the edge. Many of those chips seemed to be smoothed out this time. Not perfect but noticeably better than the last time. Also the lines in the bevel appeared to be finer and most important the lines stopped near the edge and the edge was very highly polished, very smooth in appearance with respect to the surface of the metal not the geometry of the cutting surface.

SRP 38 had many more lines extending about half way down the bevel and then they faded out. But in this razor the edge was not smooth like the other TI but had a stippled surface. The edge didn't have the chips like the other but was smooth and intact. I also looked at SRP 39 and its surface appeared like SRP 38 just with more scratch lines which were more pronounced than 38.

Check back for more updates.

One other question, when you examined the razors, both this time and the last time, was it soon after shaving with one? I'm wondering if letting the razor rest allows the edge to 'grow' as some of the old texts have mentioned. Is it possible that the chips and stippling are 'growing out' over time?
Thanks for the updates. Fascinating experiment.
Ed

In both cases the exam of the edge took place about 8 hours after shaving.

As far as the other TI goes the edge chips were milder or we can say the edge was straighter. The magnification used was 40 x though I can see almost as much with 20x though I know you won't believe it.

With SRP 38 and 39 the stipled edge is really hard to describe I guess you could say they were micro pits in the edge surface but the cutting edge is very smooth not with the chips like the other TI. The thing is these "micropits "are not scattered artifacts on the bevel but the entire bevel is literally a mass of them from top to bottom or heel to toe. I don't know if the light was such that I missed that the last time I looked, it must have been there before and I just didn't see it. They couldn't have just appeared and both SRPs have them. I wonder if anyone else with an SRP can look and see if they have them too.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

In both cases the exam of the edge took place about 8 hours after shaving.

As far as the other TI goes the edge chips were milder or we can say the edge was straighter. The magnification used was 40 x though I can see almost as much with 20x though I know you won't believe it.

I believe it. I'm in the camp of quality of magnification over quantity any day. I have a 10x B&L Hastings Triplet hand lens that tends to give me nearly as much feedback on the edge than my RadioShack 60-100x at any magnification. It is also MUCH quicker. Unfortunately, it was also significantly more expensive. Tradeoffs

Well time for the weekly update gents.

Both razors are still shaving neck and neck. There had been a very slight deterioration in the comfort level in the third TI but that has net deteriorated any further in the last week. The weekly microscopic exam hasn't changed any from last week. SRP 38 looks exactly the same and the microchips in the other TI are still there but they appear to be getting a little less pronounced.

I was thinking though that I kind of assumed that these two would kind of change in comfort and closeness and that would become apparent but then again what if they both deteriorate at the same rate, would I be able to tell if this was happening little by little.

So today I decided to shave with a different razor. So which one to use. Now I have to say that I classify my razors as either giving excellent shaves, outstanding shaves, or exceptional shaves. The difference twix the excellent and outstanding is trivial and its just that I'm too lazy to do the additional honing to get them outstanding so as they need to be honed I bring them up to that level but the exceptional shavers, now thats another story.

From where I'm sitting you can't turn an outstanding shaver into an exceptional one. The razor has to have it in it to reach that level. All three razors in this experiment are outstanding shavers. I think its a combination of things that makes it exceptional, closeness of shave, comfort, feel and balance all go into the equation things beyond honing. Maybe things that can't be quantified or even described maybe spirits, I don't know. I have about 35 razors and probably 6 or 7 are exceptional. Some DDs, a Henkels, My TI Pierre Thiers Limited Addition a few more.

But back to the question at hand, which razor to use today? I chose my TI Damascus. Its kind of on the cusp almost exceptional but not quite only because its not the closest shaver but it meets the other criteria especially the comfort factor. That its got in spades. Well with the first stroke of the razor (and mind you I've been shaving exclusively with SRP 38, 39 and the third TI now for almost 2 months straight every day and the last month now with SRP 38 and the third TI) it was very obvious there has been quite a bit of deterioration with these two experiment razors. And its amazing how they appear to be deteriorating at the same rate. Mind you they still give very close shaves and very comfortable shaves but they are out of the league the damascus is in. At this point I would classify the two as giving excellent shaves but barely, using the damascus as a benchmark here. I think next Sunday I'll try a different razor as a further comparision. Maybe one of the excellent shavers. That might be a fairer comparison.

Stay tuned for further developments!

How will you decide when to stop if neither razor actually fails?

My take would be that if both are degrading similarly, then stop when they reach the point where you would normally hone them. In this case, hone them both, switch the 'treatments' and rerun the experiment to ensure there was not a difference between the razors to start with.

Once again, thanks for your efforts. I don't know about anyone else, but I've certainly learned a thing or two .
Ed