Thread: Letting the edge rest

I think an experiment is brewing. I think I'll let a few blades rest for 48 hours and see how it goes. Shouldn't be difficult for all of us to try it. No stropping. The edge I'll evaluate will be a carbon steel razor.

The razors I will rotate will be my Henkels carbon steel on its 10th shave, a Dovo Inox stainless on its 6th shave and my new Renaissance on its 2nd shave (which isn't wicked sharp yet, but is shaving).

Whatcha guys think? No stropping for a while? Two weeks maybe?

Why bother, after all we are talking about stropping a razor not rebuilding your car's engine. It takes under 5 minutes so who cares... I never use the same razor two days in a row and I strop before each shave, works for me.

I'm into this experiment.

I'm with Rich on this one.

The quote from Dovo is the one I was talking about, but I've seen the same thing mentioned in other places. Boon is one of them.

I don't think anyone is saying that you don't have to strop if you let the razor rest for 48 hours. The way I understand it is that the microserrations will come back to close to their stropped condition after 24-48 hours. If you strop then, you'll just push the fin a short distance when you strop, and you'll be back to your shaving sharp edge. However, if you srop right after the shave you will be pushing the microserrations a large distance, which causes metal fatigue (like breaking a tin can lid by repeated bending), and eventual breaking of the microserrations.

I never tried the 6-10 shaves without stropping. I always thought it was a mistake and they were talking about honing (refreshing the edge). Like Rich, I never use the same razor within 48 hours, but I always strop before I shave.

I have to say that I'm skeptical that you could shave 6-10 times without stropping, just by not using the razor for 48 hours. I think the razor would be useable without stropping, but it would deteriorate more with every shave. Maybe you could tolerate a few inferior shaves, but why bother?

I'm always up for an experiment, but I don't use any one razor often enough to do this one.

heres a question from a newbee but its relevent to this discussion:
If it is best to let the razor rest, how many shave ready razors did those old time barbers keep around for each days use?
One for each client?
One for the day?
I tend to think that the number would be close to the later as even back when these were common household items they were not cheep, and barbering has never been a rich mans trade.

What was good enough to give a professional shave to a descerning gentleman would be good enough for me.

The manual that came with my new Henckels Friodur recommends stropping 10-15 laps before and after the shave.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

heres a question from a newbee but its relevent to this discussion:
If it is best to let the razor rest, how many shave ready razors did those old time barbers keep around for each days use?
One for each client?
One for the day?
I tend to think that the number would be close to the later as even back when these were common household items they were not cheep, and barbering has never been a rich mans trade.

What was good enough to give a professional shave to a descerning gentleman would be good enough for me.

You have agood point. I used to go to an old barber and he only used a few razors in a day. Also, it was not unusual for him to strop mid-shave. If the microserrations are misaligned, how does the razor know if you're stropping mid-shave or after the shave?