11-16-2019, 09:27 PM
I use disposable razors because they perform reasonably well, last a month or more each and are incredibly inexpensive. I use nothing special double bladed ones because for no real reason I think they perform better than single blade models. I bag of a dozen costs less than $10 and I’m good to go for a year or so. When they get too dull to use they join billions of others to help fill our landfills with plastic crap that will survive there for the next 400 years or more.
I have probably about average beard consistency. Not like a wire brush but not peach fuzz either. If I don’t shave for a day it’s very visible and scratchy.
Today one reached the point where I decided it needed replacing with a new one. I think it has been in use for more than a month. It was not horribly dull. It did not grab, yank or tear hair out but required 3 or 4 passes over the same area to get the job done. In a pinch it could probably have been used for another couple of weeks but I decided its useful life had passed. Here is a picture of it.
I’ve often wondered as to the sharpness when I decide one has reached its demise. I was guessing it would be 300 or so. This time curiosity got the better of me and I decided to actually measure the sharpness. I “disassembled” it and removed the two razor bands using a process that resulted in eliminating any possibility of reassembly.
The little strips of metal are incredibly wimpy, thin and flexible. An impressive job of design and engineering to make a razor out of them that performs as well as they do. To perform the measurement I gripped the metal strip with two needle-nosed pliers and grasped the razor band with the jaws maybe 3/16” apart from each other. This stabilized the blade between the jaws of the pliers enough to perform the measurement.
I took a total of 3 measurements, two on one blade and one on the other. I was truly surprised by the results. As I mentioned I was guessing to see something like 300, but instead the measured sharpness with the PT50-B was:
65, 75, 75
I have probably about average beard consistency. Not like a wire brush but not peach fuzz either. If I don’t shave for a day it’s very visible and scratchy.
Today one reached the point where I decided it needed replacing with a new one. I think it has been in use for more than a month. It was not horribly dull. It did not grab, yank or tear hair out but required 3 or 4 passes over the same area to get the job done. In a pinch it could probably have been used for another couple of weeks but I decided its useful life had passed. Here is a picture of it.
I’ve often wondered as to the sharpness when I decide one has reached its demise. I was guessing it would be 300 or so. This time curiosity got the better of me and I decided to actually measure the sharpness. I “disassembled” it and removed the two razor bands using a process that resulted in eliminating any possibility of reassembly.
The little strips of metal are incredibly wimpy, thin and flexible. An impressive job of design and engineering to make a razor out of them that performs as well as they do. To perform the measurement I gripped the metal strip with two needle-nosed pliers and grasped the razor band with the jaws maybe 3/16” apart from each other. This stabilized the blade between the jaws of the pliers enough to perform the measurement.
I took a total of 3 measurements, two on one blade and one on the other. I was truly surprised by the results. As I mentioned I was guessing to see something like 300, but instead the measured sharpness with the PT50-B was:
65, 75, 75