Flipping Blade for Longevity?
- Thread starter squank
- Start date
As @HoosierTrooper has shown, it's amazing how much thought and brain power has gone toward considering whether flipping blades can actually extend the life of a blade that costs (in the overall scheme of things) so very little money. Too many environmental, production, use, age and other factors to consider to really base the validity of any certain practice on a disposable piece of metal (be it new or vintage) that one can be sharp for 10+ shaves and the next blade in the tuck can be pure garbage.
If I'm cutting a steak and the knife edge gets dull it means I took the evening off of grilling duty and SWMBO filled in.
This was a joke except for the last sentence if that wasn't obvious. Although maybe rotating the razor blade should also be discussed. Like a mattress. Flip and rotate.
That's a pretty interesting article @JimmyJoeMeeker. I guess it answers the question whether whiskers are coarse enough to roll a steel blade. The answer is that its worse, since they're coarse enough to actually chip and fracture a steel blade.
Just for the sake of clarity, there can be chipping and cracking without rolling. The trade-off for hardening steel enough that you get good wear resistance at the edge is that you increase brittleness.
That I can see the logic of, if a person tends to favor a certain corner of the razor for nooks and crannies or whatever.
I agree 100%.
As a fan of the various super-steel knives being offered today, you really do have a trade off in terms hardness, edge retention and overall strength of a blade. The same can be said for the angle of the grind. A razor thin edge is no where near as durable as an apple seed convex grind, but at the same time, the apple seed grind is not nearly as sharp as the razor thin edge.
What does this have to do with razors? Well, there will always tradeoffs in the chosen materials and clearly our facial hair is enough to wear a seemingly hard blade down to the point where it simply isn't comfortable to use anymore.
Overall, I'm on the side of 'what's the point of trying to extend the life of a blade simply to save a few cents'. I can't be bothered to flip blades or push them well past the point of a comfortable shave.
If it's not CPM-M4, it's crap.*
I agree on bevel angle but would add that almost all knives will perform better with a way shallower angle than the factory grind, so long as the user doesn't try to cut through box staples or torque the knife out of snakewood. I re-bevel almost every knife I get way lower than the factory angle. I've never regretted it yet. They set factory bevels to minimize customer complaints and returns from users who try to do things that knives weren't intended to do.**
DE razors all get ground very close to the same shallow angle, and since they're so inexpensive and disposable by design, the manufactures can practically ignore returns based on user folly.
*Okay, that's a joke. There are almost too many excellent steels out there to count... but M4 is probably my favorite, followed closely by 1095. It's hard not to like K390... haven't gotten a Magnacut blade... yet.
**There's a reason that they make pry bars, hatchets, and wire cutters.
My scientific answer is: it beats me. I have no interest in handling the blade more that necessary, but if blades go up to $1.50 each I'll consider trying it.
I flip my blade daily.
That's my view as well. I doubt it makes any difference and even if it did I'd rather avoid handling blades after every shave.
Please don't read this as an insult to the many shavers who take the blade out after each shave and do a clean-up, I'm just too clumsy and lazy for that to be my modus operandi. No offense intended.
Look at them blade flippers,
Ain't they snappy?
Flippin' them razor blades
Sure makes 'em happy.
(apologies to Mason Williams)
Ain't they snappy?
Flippin' them razor blades
Sure makes 'em happy.
(apologies to Mason Williams)
I decided to join the "once and done" crowd for DE blades so flipping is moot. I do flip my AC blades and use them for 4 to 6 complete shaves. Does it make a difference? I have no idea but I take my razors apart, clean and dry them after every shave so it is easy. I doubt I'd break down a razor "just" to flip the blade.
I havn't seen any need to flip blades. My blades are left in the razor as they are until it's time for a new blade - I just rinse well with hot water after each shave. Get plenty of great shaves out of my blades. Since, per the recent MIT study, blades wear via microchipping it's unlikely that flipping would make a difference in blade wear.
Still, you use a steak knife differently than a razor blade.
I have folding knives and kitchen knives, though retired I still work in kitchens cooking professionally.
Most larger restaurants have knife sharpening services. These companies exchange the knives in the kitchen once a week with freshly sharpened knives.
Even then I use a honing steel on them every morning.
True you don't flip a steak knife around. But the knife is cutting through in a perpendicular slicing motion, with the blade cutting straight against the fibers of the steak.
The sides of the blade edge are subjected to pressure on each side as you cut through the meat. This does not happen exactly evenly on each side and the blade tip does develop an "S" shape along its edge.
Running a steel alternately along each side decreases these waves. Although it does not sharpen the edge it does realign it.
With a razor, the blade cuts perpendicular to the hair. At least in theory. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.
When it doesn't, it us slicing at a diagonal which might be exerting force on one side of the blade more than the other. This could result with the blade edge becoming slightly bent toward one side more than the other.
The bottom line is that IDK?
But, I never leave my blade in the razor. I always remove, rinse, wipe and dry the blade.
Being that the blade is already out of the razor, what the heck? I flip it over when I put it back in the razor.
This involves zero extra time or effort. It might allow force to be applied to the opposite side of the blade, realigning the blade?
There is really no downside for me to do this. It might help keep the blade straight and aligned? No real reason why not?
So flipping a chisel over makes sense?
Cutting surfaces (counters, cutting boards, plates, etc.) are the primary factor in "dulling" most kitchen knives. (There are exceptions, like butchering and paring.)
This is commonly stated, but steels also remove metal. That is, they do some actual sharpening too.
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It is for a lot of people. If you watch them, they literally attack cutting boards.
I like a sharp knife but I don't particularly care to sharpen knives.
Here is a photo from last November. I was doing some prep for the salad station I was running. I like to cut on a towel. It keeps everything in place better and the knife edge off of the cutting board underneath.
True about the steel. I was showing this to the guy next to me at the fry station who does appetizers.
After using the steel, I wiped the blade and showed him the metal residue. One of the "cooks" was laughing because I was using the steel because the restaurant has a sharpening service and thought what I was doing was funny.
People would be surprised how that very sharp edge gets our of wack just cutting vegetables. The skin on cucumbers is very tough. If you don't keep a sharp edge on your blade, they become difficult to cut through.
