I palm strop my blades. My question is whether using the inside of a glass would strop them any better than my palm?
Glad you are enjoying your new blades. Regardless of the packaging and logo version the Dorco Stainless ST300/301 are excellent blades.I read your thread, and it is really interesting. Towards the end of the thread, someone pointed out that even after the manufacturing moved to Vietnam, the St300 blades came with two different logos. The early Vietnam blades still keeping “D” printed on the blade, yet the lather ST300 Vietnam blades dropped the “D”. So I thought, maybe the negative reviews that the ST300 blades receive are from the early ST300 blades.
It turns out most of the negative reviews on the ST300 comes from the ST300 blades, which still had a D printed on them. Yet the ST300 blade that @helicopter reviewed appears to be from the newer variety, and @helicopeter photographed the ST300 and the ST301 and stated that the two blades are different blades with different grinds in the bevel.
Although the ST300 gets some superb reviews where people cannot distinguish the difference between the two blades. To me, there appears to be another factor that we have not considered yet. The other factor may just be shipping damage, yet shipping damage won’t explain why @helicopter photograph the two blades as completely two separate blades.
Either way, I decide to play it safe and go with the packaging I like and bought the ST301 blade. I am happy with my purchase even if the ST300 is the same blade with a different packaging.
Dang!I also found the rare "GLASHARP" specifically for the skill of sharpening blades using glass cups.It is specially designed for this purpose.
It is designed in a hexagonal shape on the outside, so it can be placed on the table for stable operation, and it is also more stable to hold in the hand.
In addition, the arc inside the cup is consistent, unlike ordinary glass cups that often have a cone shape inside.
The most interesting part is of course that trace amounts of uranium dioxide are safely added to the material, which produces mysterious fluorescence when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Also a good container for soaking brushes if not being used for sharpening blades. And don't worry about turning into Professor X by using it.
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Because it’s there.Best ask @LJBraaten.
I bought 1200 grit diamond sharpening paste as I figured 1200 grit may be a happy medium where I’ll get some sharpening but not too much. I was a little worried that the diamond past can ruin the sharpener as the paste may eat into the metal. Anyway, I figure I have several sharpeners and if one gets ruined, it’s not the end of the world. I tried some diamond sharpening past and had a similar experience to what you have experienced when adding sharpening paste to a glass. The diamond paste initially appeared to have little effect, but it eventually dulled the blade. I wiped off the sharpening paste and call that experiment even though there are other factors that may have come into play.I think most older DE blade sharpeners where designed just to straighten small blade edge curvatures to improve sharpness similar to stropping a straight razor before using.
To sharpen a blade you would need a abrasive like diamond paste to impregnate or load the surface of the machine to help in straightening and keening a edge.
You will lose some of the edge coatings using a sharpening attempt using abrasives.
(old archived photo of a DE blade edge with a coating)
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Have some great shaves!
I would think that most people will have more success with the cup over palm stropping, yet a professional palm stopper may actually get better results with their palm. To answer this question, I think you are the only one who can truly know which method is better for yourself. I think the Twinplex stropper may be better than the cup, as the Twinplex stropper is a dedicated tool built for stropping where using a glass cup is more of a one-size-fits-all that can get the job 80 to 90% done.I palm strop my blades. My question is whether using the inside of a glass would strop them any better than my palm?
You are right. Yesterday, I gave the vintage Gillette blade more love and had to give my fake Personna blade some more love as well. I spent a couple minutes alternating the personna blade through the Stanford sharpener and then stropping the blade in the Twinplex stropper. The Personna blade felt much sharper after about five minutes.I'm sure that with time & effort, it will be possible to hone/sharpen both carbon & stainless steel blades.
From what I have read, though, when stainless steel blades were first introduced in the 1960's, they failed as the edge was very uncomfortable to shave with.
Apparently carbon steel edges have much lower friction than stainless steel edges do.
It was only after coated stainless steel blades were introduced somewhere around 1965 or so that stainless blades finally took off .
The main purpose of coatings is then friction reduction.
Is corking with a wine bottle cork a way to sharpen or just remove microscopic burrs etc?It’s just an easily accessible way of stropping modern DE blades. Even the one and done people can gain from a little stropping. Depending on the manufacture, a blade may improve by the second shave. Maybe the blades aren’t all properly stropped, or maybe the plastic coating is slightly splotchy. Either way, spending 30 seconds and running the blade through a cup before a shave can smooth out the shave for all the shaves. For those that use blades multiple times, stropping can remove jagged edges, reducing the chance of unintentional weepers.
For now, sharpening a thin DE blade is not worth it. Mainly because I am not a builder and nobody else seems to have the motivation to build one.
I have never corked a blade, but from my understanding corking removes some microscopic burrs. Corking can also can remove some of the plastic coating. finally corking can tame a too sharp blade by making the blade slightly duller. If one is looking to remove microscopic burrs while making the blade sharper, stropping is the go to method.Is corking with a wine bottle cork a way to sharpen or just remove microscopic burrs etc?
I also found the rare "GLASHARP" specifically for the skill of sharpening blades using glass cups.It is specially designed for this purpose.
It is designed in a hexagonal shape on the outside, so it can be placed on the table for stable operation, and it is also more stable to hold in the hand.
In addition, the arc inside the cup is consistent, unlike ordinary glass cups that often have a cone shape inside.
The most interesting part is of course that trace amounts of uranium dioxide are safely added to the material, which produces mysterious fluorescence when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Also a good container for soaking brushes if not being used for sharpening blades. And don't worry about turning into Professor X by using it.
View attachment 1950869
Interesting info. I only used to try and sharpen with a strip of blue jeans on a piece of wood, and I think I tried a leather belt section attached to some wood. I don't think I got real good results tho.I have never corked a blade, but from my understanding corking removes some microscopic burrs. Corking can also can remove some of the plastic coating. finally corking can tame a too sharp blade by making the blade slightly duller. If one is looking to remove microscopic burrs while making the blade sharper, stropping is the go to method.
I am using the Stanford sharpener and the Twinpex stropper with each other. My Dorco blade is still sharp and smooth after 10 shaves and lots of paper cuts. I spend about a minute on a blade between shaves 30 seconds in the Stanford sharpener and another 30 seconds in the Twinplex stropper. I hope to do a more in-depth analysis on the Stanford sharpener if/after this Dorco blade reaches 20 shaves.
If you don’t have some cool toys like @ERS4 has, this just means you should use a simple glass drinking cup to experiment with extending enjoyable shaves from one blade.I'd be motivated to sharpen my DE blades if I had something like that to play with.
If you don’t have some cool toys like @ERS4 has, this just means you should use a simple glass drinking cup to experiment with extending enjoyable shaves from one blade.
Now that I’ve been playing with the twinplex stropper and a glass drinking cup, I think I can give a little more of an impression comparing the cup method vs the twinplex stropper. Running a blade through the glass cup was the first sharpening method that wowed me. It took a barely used blade that was no longer cutting good and made the blade cut beautifully again. Yet the glass cup is not as effective as the twinplex stropper. I think, although I haven't done any conclusive experiments yet, but based on other people’s results and what I am seeing, I think a glass cup can extend a blade to somewhere around 10 comfortable shaves, vs the twinplex stropper that may extend the blades life closer to 30 shaves (30 shaves is just me theorizing).
The difference probably has to do with the fact that a glass cup does not smooth out the complete bevel like the twinpex stropper does. I notice this drastic difference when I tried to sharpen a blade with the Stanford sharpener. When taking a blade that I sanded off its edge to see if I can get the blade sharp again, I did not get significant results until I combined the Stanford sharpener together with the twinplex stropper, even though I tried stropping the blade in a glass cup between sharpening in the Standford sharpener.
In short, if someone just wants to avoid possible nicks because of a misaligned blade and slightly extend the blade life, a glass cup is a great free way to do it. Yet if someone is more serious about sharpening their blade, I would first recommend getting a stropping/ honing tool which are built for the job like the twinplex stropper. Afterwards, if they want to experiment with extending their blade’s life indefinitely, or maybe just to a hundred shaves, they may want to try a sharpener like the Stanford sharpener as well.
"STANFORD 5 SECOND" used to be produced in large quantities, so as long as you spend some time searching/waiting, you can always find one that is almost new.Maybe I'll give it a try with a glass. I admit I'm still having trouble imagining how something like the Standford sharpener works; also, when I've looked for them on places like Ebay, they're often rusty, which has me wondering how they'd perform even if the rust were removed?
I did find a uranium glass DE blade sharpener for sale, as well as some kind of DE blade stone? Both were much more expensive than I thought they would be. The stone was the most interesting to me but I wondered how well it would work in practice. Maybe best to just try a glass at first.
have you ever seen these Pull through kitchen knife sharpener’s?Maybe I'll give it a try with a glass. I admit I'm still having trouble imagining how something like the Standford sharpener works; also, when I've looked for them on places like Ebay, they're often rusty, which has me wondering how they'd perform even if the rust were removed?
I did find a uranium glass DE blade sharpener for sale, as well as some kind of DE blade stone? Both were much more expensive than I thought they would be. The stone was the most interesting to me but I wondered how well it would work in practice. Maybe best to just try a glass at first.
Wow, your Stanford sharpener looks immaculately clean and even has a pristine box. Have you been getting excellent results with this sharpener? Stropping the blade after running the blade through the Stanford sharpener works great for me. I got a super keen edge on a previously okay vintage blade, and my Dorco blade just gave me a great shave number 12."STANFORD 5 SECOND" used to be produced in large quantities, so as long as you spend some time searching/waiting, you can always find one that is almost new.
Just like Gillette Slim, if you feel hesitant to find the item currently on eBay, then wait a little, and there will always be a more complete one.
The dark colors inside are not necessarily rust, some are residual oil stains, which can be easily wiped off with a cotton swab dipped in some new mineral oil.
The one I found came in its original packaging, was inexpensive, and was an interesting little piece of shaving history worth buying and appreciating regardless of the results. I've also been trying to use it on and off for four or five years.
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