While I was shaving this morning . . .

[Hoyt Weathers]

and I nicked myself, again, a question of the obvious struck me. How do they sharpen razor blades? The thingies stay sharp for a month or more. [I do not shave each day.] Those thingies must be made and sharpened in the millions every shift. Are there any clues in their secret methods which would be helpful to woodworkers? I am just guessing now, but I think the makers use a procedure with a narrow steel alloy ribbon about a mile or more long, then sharpen one edge of that ribbon on one or both sides, then blank out the individual blades. Assembly would then be a piece of cake. How do they sharpen that edge?

Hoyt W.

[Doug Winterburn]

Don't know how shaving razors are sharpened, but according to Leonard Lee you can sharpen your plane irons and chisels to an even better edge. There is a difference in angles and definitely a different shaving technique.

-Doug

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It's a secret. Honest. Gillette in Boston was a customer of mine. It is the only company where I could not get into the plant. They never discussed things like that at all. Only think I know is that the material is in a band and then cut.

They did have a group of employees that came to work everyday and shaved on company time. They evaluated new razors and did durability tests on existing ones.

[Andy Dingley]

_Really_ _Big_ pyramids

[J T]

Tue, Oct 19, 2004, 12:43am (EDT+5) [e-mail] (Andy=A0Dingley) claims: _Really_ _Big_ pyramids

Oh, that's just plain silly.

Obviousiy, they use a bunch of little pyramids.

JOAT Flush the Johns.

- seen on a bumper sticker

[Leon]

And why do they not use the same materials after the product has been on the market for a year or so. 4 or 5 years ago I got a sample razor with 2 refills IIRC. It was a double blade coated with near microscopic diamonds. No kidding, I used the first razor for 1 year, but not shaving every day, before changing to one of the refills. The refills lasted quite long also. When I bought replacements, I was less than impressed. 1 month was about it.

[Richard A.]

That's why they do the durability testing mentioned above. That way they can find out if there products are lasting too long and develop ways to shorten their life. Only selling one set of replacement blades a year isn't profitable business.

It's like the old story where the happy customer wrote the company bragging that the great toaster he bought from them lasted 40 years. The company bought the toaster from him for a lot more than he paid for it. They wanted to ensure that that mistake never happened again... :)

[bugbear]

Not sure why covering a sharp edge with a (durable) powder would be a good thing.

BugBear

[JGS]

[JGS]

[Leon]

The blade stays sharper longer... at least 175 shaves with one blade.

[Fraser Johnston]

I recall this topic coming up on rec.knives and they use a technique called vapour honing. Can't remember much about it but I imagine it is still in the archives.

Fraser

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 16:09:19 -0700, Doug Winterburn calmly ranted:

> do not shave each day.] Those thingies must be made and sharpened in the

I must say that the little plastic Bic razor is much easier to manipulate around my chin than an 18" long, 2" wide, 4 pound slick...

Or an axe.

Like peace and quiet? Buy a phoneless cord. http://www/diversify.com/stees.html Hilarious T-shirts online ==============================================================

[Eag111]

I think they must use a fairly soft metal that can take an extremely sharp edge, because the blades arent' meant to last long or be re-used. Unlike the OP, I have to shave every day, and I use the same blade no more than three or four times, because my beard is pretty tough (not a boast, in fact it's a real pain), and the quality of the shave declines markedly after that. Remember how much shots hurt when you were a kid? It was partly because you were a kid, of course, but mainly because the needles were re-used, and harder, and couldn't be as sharp or as thin as the disposable ones they use today. Same idea applies to razor blades.

[Larry Bud]

They stay sharp for a month because you're not cutting wood with them.

[patrick conroy]

*This* is why I read the wreck these days. There was about a 20 second lapse between comprehension and grin...

Good one, sir!

[Tim Douglass]

Either you are getting a lot better blades than I can or my beard is awfully tough. I only have to shave my neck (full beard) and only do it 2-3 times a week. Two shaves is about the limit on any of the disposable razors, sometimes 3 on the replaceable cartridges.

Tim Douglass

[Ken Muldrew]

You can also sharpen disposable razor blades to an even better edge just by stropping them on leather treated with a green crayon (chromium oxide).

I still don't understand how a steel razor blade dulls so quickly cutting hair. The difference in hardness is enormous and yet somehow the razor's edge deteriorates.

Ken Muldrew [e-mail] (remove all letters after y in the alphabet)

[mac davis]

if they were really tough, they'd use disk sanders..

[Silvan]

You must just have sensitive widdle skin. :) I do a couple patches on my cheeks and my neck once a week, and those cartridge deals last... Well, I have no idea how long they last, but I bought a 10 pack of them in the '90s sometime, and I'm not out of them yet.