New type of razor blade pressure sharpening may make blades last longer

[Frito Ray]

This really interesting video popped up on my YouTube suggestions:

It shows how a razor blade edge actually chips and cracks away while shaving instead of the common belief that it just dulls down.

It also shows how blades might one day be sharpened by high pressure rollers instead of the current grinding method.

It’s really worth the watch.

 

[silverlifter]

Longer lasting blades? This is terrible news for all of us that have several lifetimes of blades stashed around the house...

 

[Kix]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

BTW, the video is about 3 minutes, IIRC.

 

[Omega48]

Thank you.

 

[Dave himself]

This sounds interesting, I'll get a look at it first chance I get.

 

[Dave himself]

Just had a look at this. From what I could make out, it looks like this is going for the cartridge market.

 

[Frito Ray]

Just had a look at this. From what I could make out, it looks like this is going for the cartridge market.

Initially, but perhaps could trickle down to the DE world. If it decreases the production cost then it should get adopted.

But one thing is for sure, if it decreases production costs and makes the blade last longer, we won’t see lower blade prices!

 

[Dave himself]

Initially, but perhaps could trickle down to the DE world. If it decreases the production cost then it should get adopted.

But one thing is for sure, if it decreases production costs and makes the blade last longer, we won’t see lower blade prices!

We'll probably need to take out a second mortgage to buy a hundred blades.

 

[Mitzie]

I'd like to see and compare how a vintage razor blade degenerates with shaving hair -when steel was 'purer' before recycling of steel was introduced at the steel works, and could hold an edge longer and better.

 

[swellcat]

The contrarian green solution: straight razors. (Gonna need help with the SAD, though.)

 

[Darth Scandalous]

Cool video. The way an edge fails during use isn't really news but they managed to get some great pictures of it. And it demonstrates why a finer grained steel with smal carbides will perform better for shaving.

I would have liked to hear more about the sharpening idea. It sounds a lot like the traditional process of peening scythe blades. Obviously scaling it down to a razor blade would present some interesting challenges.

 

[Lane101]

This really interesting video popped up on my YouTube suggestions:

It shows how a razor blade edge actually chips and cracks away while shaving instead of the common belief that it just dulls down.

It also shows how blades might one day be sharpened by high pressure rollers instead of the current grinding method.

It’s really worth the watch.

Hi Frito Ray, This appears to be based from the MIT research published in 2020 on this topic. See the link below to one of our earlier threads on this. Kind of surprised the video did not show any attribution to the MIT study. Guessing that the use of rollers to better sharpen blades is the new technique referred to in the MIT study for which a provisional patent was applied for.

Overall research is great and explains some of what we see with our razor blades. For example the microchipping will likely be worse on a sharper blade (narrower blade tip hone angle) where there is less metal to resist the impact of each cut hair. Good explanation for why so many only realize a shave or two with Feather blades that are considered some of the sharpest out there for example.


Link to post on MIT study:

Article On What Causes Razor Blades To Go Dull

I found an article on Dr. Larrin Thomas' website, knifesteelnerds.com, that was written by a guest, Dr. John Verhoeven on what causes razor blades to go dull. Dr. Verhoeven studied Gillette Mach 3 blades, but this could probably give a clue as to how any blade will go dull. The article can be...

www.badgerandblade.com

Second Link to another B&Ber thread on this:

MIT STUDY ON THE REASON WHY HAIR DAMAGES RAZORS

Interesting article by MIT. Don't know if this has been posted yet or not. Down below, I pasted some excerpts from the article that I found interesting on what causes shaves to get dull. Do the results surprise you or does it verify what you already knew? I know about homogenous super steels for...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Longer lasting blades? This is terrible news for all of us that have several lifetimes of blades stashed around the house...

You needn’t worry. Shavers are notoriously anti-change and nothing new is ever accepted, simply because it is not the same as before. And if your favourite blade is rendered obsolete and no longer made then it will instantly be acclaimed as the best there has ever been and your stash will be worth a fortune. You can’t lose in this scenario.

 

[Frito Ray]

Hi Frito Ray, This appears to be based from the MIT research published in 2020 on this topic. See the link below…

Thank you for taking the time to post the links. Really interesting readings.

Since angle of blade to beard seems to be a critical factor, the individual’s angle of beard follicle growth could explain why some guys can use a blade much longer than others. Can also partially explain why blades last longer in some razors than others (blades last longer for me in my FOCS).