To turn or not to turn

[rupertbear]

After shaving and rinsing everything off, I flip my blade over for the next shave so that I'm using the other side of the edge. Does this really do anything, or is it just a useless habit? And is there anyone else who does this?

[michiganlover]

After shaving and rinsing everything off, I flip my blade over for the next shave so that I'm using the other side of the edge. Does this really do anything, or is it just a useless habit? And is there anyone else who does this?

It accomplishes basically nothing. Each DE blade only has two cutting edges. Each cutting edge is made up of two bevels. Regardless of which way you flip the blade, you still have the exact same cutting edge.

On a similiar note, most people don't track one cutting edge over the other (so as to make sure both edges are used equally) either. They simply shave until one side is full of lather, and flip the razor over; or they shave with the one side, rinse, and flip.

[gsurko]

Can't hurt anything.

[kingfisher]

Can't help, either. Just like John said, you use both bevels of the edge to shave, no matter which way the blade is flipped.

It's equivalent to this: Suppose you're cutting a piece of meat on a cutting board with a kitchen knife. You cut a couple of slices, and then you walk around to the other side of the kitchen island to cut the next couple of slices.

You're still using the same knife with the same cutting edge. Walking around the island doesn't accomplish anything.

[dirtdog]

Can't help, either. Just like John said, you use both bevels of the edge to shave, no matter which way the blade is flipped.

It's equivalent to this: Suppose you're cutting a piece of meat on a cutting board with a kitchen knife. You cut a couple of slices, and then you walk around to the other side of the kitchen island to cut the next couple of slices.

You're still using the same knife with the same cutting edge. Walking around the island doesn't accomplish anything.

WITH THE MEAT EXAMPLE AREN'T YOU CUTTING USING BOTH SIDE OF THE KNIFES EDGE ?


WHEN YOU SHAVE AREN'T YOU USING ONE SIDE OF THE RAZOR BLADES EDGE ?
You are in fact scraping hairs off not cutting them so to speak

sorry cap lock

[Optometrist]

When you consider the relative inexpense of DE blades, whether turning a blade has any benefit or not, I wouldn't think it was worth the bother.

David

[Sledgehammer39]

It never really did anything for me. With blades mostly being cheap I would just avoid doing that.

[rupertbear]

I guess I didn't make myself clear in that it is as Dirtdog noticed; only one side of the edge is actually being used in any given shave. Nonetheless, it appears to be another useless habit amongst a few dozen others.

Thanks muchly for the responses.

[CaptainK]

I guess I didn't make myself clear in that it is as Dirtdog noticed; only one side of the edge is actually being used in any given shave.

No, you do use both sides when shaving. To kind of "marry" the meat cutting example with the concept of shaving:

Somebody glued your nice big roast onto the side of your refrigerator. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take your razor sharp kitchen knife and remove the roast from the fridge, leaving as little roast stuck to the fridge as possible, while simultaneously scratching/damaging the surface of the fridge as little as possible. Then, slather the side of the fridge with something soothing.

[talibeard]

What other edge?? What is cutting is the 'border' of the two bevels coming together; whether you flip it or not makes no difference since it is still the same 'cutting-line' you are using.

[c0ry]

WITH THE MEAT EXAMPLE AREN'T YOU CUTTING USING BOTH SIDE OF THE KNIFES EDGE ?


WHEN YOU SHAVE AREN'T YOU USING ONE SIDE OF THE RAZOR BLADES EDGE ?
You are in fact scraping hairs off not cutting them so to speak

sorry cap lock

I've had some awful shaves, where meat was certainly being cut in the process.

[michiganlover]

What other edge?? What is cutting is the 'border' of the two bevels coming together; whether you flip it or not makes no difference since it is still the same 'cutting-line' you are using.

+1

That is exactly the point I was making. A DE blade only has two cutting edges, one per side. So regardless of flipping the blade from "top" to bottom" you are still shaving with the exact same two cutting edges.

[kingfisher]

WITH THE MEAT EXAMPLE AREN'T YOU CUTTING USING BOTH SIDE OF THE KNIFES EDGE ?

Yes.

WHEN YOU SHAVE AREN'T YOU USING ONE SIDE OF THE RAZOR BLADES EDGE ?

No, you are not. You are using both sides of the razor's edge, just like the kitchen knife.

[danparker77]

Can't hurt anything.

The more you handle the blade the more of a chance to slice into a finger!

[Go West Young Man]

An 'edge' is the intersection of 2 planes at an angle (aka "bevel"), it doesn't have any dimension of it's own. Whether plane A is up and plane B down or vice versa doesn't change anything.

[Tucker]

Initially, as a green horn rookie, I thought that it made sense to flip the blade between shaves to distribute the wear evenly. I ended up with ingrown hairs and irritation. I believe now that the blade gets "stropped" by your face, and flipping it is detrimental. Although, I transfer a DE blade between razors, I am careful to keep it oriented the same way to avoid this problem.

[Ski-Patroller]

An 'edge' is the intersection of 2 planes at an angle (aka "bevel"), it doesn't have any dimension of it's own. Whether plane A is up and plane B down or vice versa doesn't change anything.

It seems to me that since one side of the blade rubs your face, that turning them might have some minor affect, but I would not do it, both because of the hassle, and the increased possibility of cut fingers.

[talibeard]

It seems to me that since one side of the blade rubs your face, that turning them might have some minor affect, but I would not do it, both because of the hassle, and the increased possibility of cut fingers.

It is not the side that is cutting; actually it shouldn't really rub your face either since it is a 'freefall' for the cutting edge.

Try to see it this way; the only importance of the entire DE blade is to form two '1-dimensional' lines on either side of the blade, just the last molecules on them. There is just one of those lines on either side and flipping your blade wouldn't show a new cutting line, just reverse the blade forming that line.

[Pulley]

When you consider the relative inexpense of DE blades, whether turning a blade has any benefit or not, I wouldn't think it was worth the bother.

David

+1 DE blades are cheap.

[Ski-Patroller]

It is not the side that is cutting; actually it shouldn't really rub your face either since it is a 'freefall' for the cutting edge.

Try to see it this way; the only importance of the entire DE blade is to form two '1-dimensional' lines on either side of the blade, just the last molecules on them. There is just one of those lines on either side and flipping your blade wouldn't show a new cutting line, just reverse the blade forming that line.

Three things:

Almost all DE Blades are coated, and I would assume that the coating wears off the side towards your face first.

I don't think our honing/polishing is good enough to get down to one molecule at the edge.

If your are a wood worker, you would often see that chisels and scrapers develop a bur on the cutting edge. The bur is useful on a scraper, but not on a chisel. Never the less, it will be on one side or the other of the blade, so the two sides will behave differently. I doubt if Razor blades typically get a burred edge, but carving knives definitely do.

That said, I still think it is waste of time to flip blades and that it increases the chance of getting cut. Other than discarding them, the only time I take a blade out, is if I want to use a different blade in the same razor for comparison. If I quite experimenting with different blades I wouldn't need to do that