Re-sharpening razor blades

Jack Black

Jack Black

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During World War 2, certainly in Britain, there was strict rationing of razor-blades and they were difficult to obtain. Some folk used to re-sharpen them by stropping on the inside of jam (jelly) jars, and I dare say by other methods. I had a small kit from that period, consisting of a leather pouch with a stainless steel mirror and another curved piece of what appeared to be the same steel designed for re-sharpening razor-blades. I never used it and unfortunately lost it many years ago, but I saw a device for re-sharpening razor blades of all kinds advertised in a newspaper today. It consisted of a small ceramic plate against which the razor-blade (still in the razor) was stroked. The advert claimed that a few strokes would restore any razor (including multi-bladed ones) to new. It was the 'Razorpit' shown here:

http://www.mankind.co.uk/brands/razorpit.list?gclid=COLNnNDvwbECFccLfAodNRoA9Q

But this other model looks similiar:

http://www.razorsharpuk.co.uk/buy-razorsharp.html?gclid=CNeOxqjvwbECFUcKtAodKF4A1g

Maybe they're more common than I realised, or maybe it's a sign of the harsh economic climate. Has anyone here ever re-sharpened any kind of razor blade (obviously I'm not talking about straight-razors)? Personally I've never bothered, but I'm sure it's easy enough to get extra life out of them.

As a complete aside, the younger brother of my maternal Grandfather was saved from a WW2 bullet by two steel mirrors he had in the chest pocket of his battle-dress.
 
I shave with a Gillette Rubie, takes the double edge razors. They must be available here in the US but I've never seen them, (the razor, not the blades) picked mine up in Russia. I have thought about sharpening the blades many times.

So Mr. Black, you are not the only one thinking of re-sharpening razors.
 
There have been a couple of people here that did/do the DE blade resharpening thing and at least one of them insists that it works and that they got an extremely extended life out of a blade. I personally don't think its worth the time or trouble, but that is just me and everyone is entitled to their opinion. Mantic59 did some investigating into the razor pit, and it was pretty much agreed that unless you could access both sides of the edge, that it wasn't going to do much good, you can only access one side of a cartridge razor without taking it apart and that ruins it. Once again opinions will vary on this so what I am saying is just one side of the story
 
Why don’t you people just buy an electric razor?? You get to use it a very long time. You can’t cut yourself while shaving. Just asking.
 
Mr. Black, Yes, I've done it for some time and gotten up to 40 nice close shaves with one blade. Its posted here in 'A couple of new razors'.I did it by mostly just stropping it. DM
 
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richard thurman said:
Why don’t you people just buy an electric razor?? You get to use it a very long time. You can’t cut yourself while shaving. Just asking.
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:eek: :) Ooh they give an awful shave though.

I'm hoping to get started soon with a Dovo Black Star. I've got the razor, but I need to get it honed and buy a strop (it's a long story!) Having shaved with multi-bladed cartridge razors for 20-30 years, I'm also getting tempted to buy a DE like I shaved with in my youth and try the razor-blade re-sharpening.

David Martin said:
Mr. Black, Yes, I've done it for some time and gotten up to 40 nice close shaves with one blade. Its posted here in 'A couple of new razors'. DM
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That sounds excellent value Mr Martin, I'm very sorry I didn't think to search out that thread.

Here's to many more close shaves :)
 
I've thought about resharpening Feather blades but they're so cheap it's probably not worth the hassle. I buy a 200 pack (20 packs of 10 blades, sealed, in a larger cardboard box) on ebay with each blade coming out at around 37 cents a piece. Each blade lasts about 2 weeks. I might try stropping them at some point but for how much money I'm already saving over regular Gillette cartridges I don't really think it's worth the extra effort.
 
Fanglekai said:
I've thought about resharpening Feather blades but they're so cheap it's probably not worth the hassle. I buy a 200 pack (20 packs of 10 blades, sealed, in a larger cardboard box) on ebay with each blade coming out at around 37 cents a piece. Each blade lasts about 2 weeks. I might try stropping them at some point but for how much money I'm already saving over regular Gillette cartridges I don't really think it's worth the extra effort.
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This is my sentiments exactly, with blades being so cheap compared to cartridge blades it just not worth the hassle for me. Yet with that said to each their own, if someone wants to do it they can and I wouldn't question their motives
 
Unfortunatley I am in a position that I have to strop some blades to use because they are no longer made. The good thing is that I got three boxes of new blades with my Enders razor, but there is one heavy duty blade that shows signs of being stropped in the past that I wil likely try out first.

Does anyone have any tips for stropping razor blades back to a keen edge? I have played around with news print paper, but it is an inflexible blade and getting proper angle is difficult for me.


-Xander
 
Fast, You merely mark the edge apex with a Sharpie then add 2 layers of tape to the other side and strop it on the newspaper layed on a hard flat surface. Continue adding a layer of tape until the edge angle is correct. Make note of the number of layers and strop it, lightly holding it's edge against the newspaper. Perhaps, 10 strokes on each side then change ends with the tape. DM
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Stropping of straight razor blades goes back eons. You can see on one of my straights I leave the tape on it. The stropping of DE blades goes back to around WWI as the original post noted. It was done because the blades were scarce as blades became more available the need and knowledge became lost. Now days this knowledge is returning for sharpening enjoyment, more economy, plus deminishing the land fills, as they are available and cheap. So, the need is different today but the usefulness remains. A nice close shave. Leather with slurry can be used but newspaper should be the final stroking. DM
 
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Thanks for all the information Mr Martin, would it be worth having some sort of sticky on the subject, I'm sure that most Bladeforums DE users would be interested and benefit from your knowledge on the subject?
 
David Martin said:
Stropping of straight razor blades goes back eons. You can see on one of my straights I leave the tape on it. The stropping of DE blades goes back to around WWI as the original post noted. It was done because the blades were scarce as blades became more available the need and knowledge became lost. Now days this knowledge is returning for sharpening enjoyment, more economy, plus deminishing the land fills, as they are available and cheap. So, the need is different today but the usefulness remains. A nice close shave. Leather with slurry can be used but newspaper should be the final stroking. DM
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So you just strop on newspaper over a mouse pad?

DE shaving means throwing away little bits of metal instead of hunks of plastic, so that's a step in the right direction at least. I'll try stropping my Feather blades just to see if I can get a little more use out of them.
 
Fanglekai said:
So you just strop on newspaper over a mouse pad?

DE shaving means throwing away little bits of metal instead of hunks of plastic, so that's a step in the right direction at least. I'll try stropping my Feather blades just to see if I can get a little more use out of them.
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No mouse pad, just a flat hard surface under the news paper.


-Xander
 
Yes, a hard surface underneath helps prevent convexing of the blades apex and use little pressure. Even a knife's edge will convex quickly when stropping on a spongy material as a result burrs form easily. I can as well get 2 weeks shaving from a new Feather blade. Bringing the cost to 6 1/2 cents a shave. Which is good economy and better than any Bic plastic clog-o-matic razor. Yet, much more is possible should you enjoy the ease of stropping your blade the cost could be brought to under one cent a shave. Also, I've noticed it refines the edge, giving a smoother shave. Which makes DE shaving even more enjoyable. With me this makes me feel like I've gotten all it's usefulness. Happy shaving, DM
 
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As I understand, when Gillette first released its DE razor system, blades were available, but very expensive and so there was a factory re-sharpening service. As the cost of manufacture came down, was more streamlined, then this service was discontinued. Also as DEs grew in popularity, a whole range of devices for sharpening them were produced, some good, some... less so. Everything from specially shaped stones to mechanical jigs on spinning abrasive platters. Remember that patent protection at the time wasn't long (17 years I think) so lots of competitors sprung up right around that time. I understand that the blades were produced from thinner stock as time went on, as manufacturing efficiencies improved. I think the recent flurry of "razor savers" is a way to part fools from their money, as one would think they are going to save money, but most probably won't get much improvement. That said, my brother in law has one, and says it works wonders, but he can get 6 or 8 shaves from a new cartridge, where I was lucky to get 5 back when I used them. So to each his own I guess. There is no perfect razor, the best a man can hope for is to find a shaving method that is tolerable. That some of us find a method that is enjoyable, is pretty lucky I think.

All that aside, I've been told that the older carbon steel blades were shockingly bad, and that's partly why double blade disposables became popular in the west. Since huge parts of the world still use DEs though, manufacturing has improved and so we get really great blades like Feathers.
 
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