Cut Throat Razors

[mercalia]

For some reason i got thinking of all the disposable razors ending in land fills I must have used during my life and wondered well what about a cut throat razor - not the silly ones that use separate blades but the real mcoy. I see Ebay you can still get them.

Does any one here use one or have used one? DO they do a good job? And how on earth do those leather strips sharpen the blade - dont make sense to me

[DevonDamo]

"Stropping" a blade on a tough surface like leather is all about straightening out the very fine edge of a sharp blade which folds over after use. So it's not removing any metal, just bending it - on a microscopic level. You'd still have to use an abrasive stone to do the actual sharpening and then do stropping regularly to maintain the edge.

I sharpen and strop various knives, but I find it really difficult and is probably one of those physical skills that take years to master, like plastering. I'm certainly not good enough to think about shaving with my end results

[Jdsk]

Edited: Crossed posts.

And how on earth do those leather strips sharpen the blade - dont make sense to me

They don't. But they can realign the edge and deburr.

Jonathan

[simonineaston]

loads of vid.s on YT on the subject of the sharpening of metal tools, inc. razors. I followed one that showed me how to sharpen plane blades and I couldn't believe the difference it made to my plain vanilla Stanley plane. Awsome.

[[XAP]Bob]

Or grow a beard?

[Bonefishblues]

Go double edge.

[merseymouth]

Hi all, One might research the original "Rolls Razor" shaving system? It was a system that used a single edge blade in a carrier rather like the King Camp Gillette Safety Razor. It was a single edge that had a stiffening rib on the other edge.
It was removed for service, in a case which also involved a stropping unit. Quite a bit of kit.
So one would sharpen it on an oil stone, the fitted it into the stropping unit to whet the edge. I played with one nearly 60 years ago.
An oddity is the fact that the company name was reused as a shell company by John Bloom to float his Rolls Washing Machine business, he over extended himself, leaving a right mess of debt! IGICB MM

[philvantwo]

Double edge! Get a Merkur futur, Astra platinum blades work best for me. A penny a shave!
Been using a Tormek sharpener for 30 odd years for my chisel and plane irons, sharper than sharp!!

[Bonefishblues]

Double edge! Get a Merkur futur, Astra platinum blades work best for me. A penny a shave!
Been using a Tormek sharpener for 30 odd years for my chisel and plane irons, sharper than sharp!!

Futurs are way too bulky for me, I sold mine. Also anything other than 1 is so aggressive I can't imagine anyone actually ever uses those settings

The default DE kit (beyond a Boots plastic-wrapped kit) is, IMHO an EJ89, plus Personnas or Feather, with soap of choice (ordinary bar soap is fine, Poraso very good) and a cheap hogs brush to start.

[mumbojumbo]

I lengthen life of razors by rubbing against denim material and always shave wearing jeans,ideally with a leather belt.

[NUKe]

cut throats here
https://connaughtshaving.com/

If its a plastic/landfill reduction you want, Double edge razors last a lifetime, collecting them up you can recycle the blades you can get blades in cardboard boxes and Astra being an example.
A good soap rather than tubs or aerosol. My current soap has lasted 18 months shaving ~5 times per week. And the refill comes in a cardboard box

[philvantwo]

Love my futur.....it's a thing of beauty! No.6 all the time for me but I dial it down to No.1 on my legs!!

[mercalia]

cut throats here
https://connaughtshaving.com/

If its a plastic/landfill reduction you want, Double edge razors last a lifetime, collecting them up you can recycle the blades you can get blades in cardboard boxes and Astra being an example.
A good soap rather than tubs or aerosol. My current soap has lasted 18 months shaving ~5 times per week. And the refill comes in a cardboard box

I had a look at the prices of some of them - £100+ for a razor "You Must be joking" to quote some one

[thirdcrank]

In my long-gone student days I was given a cut-throat razor by the mother of a schoolfriend. I think it had belonged to her grandfather. I never used it for shaving, not least because at that age there wasn't much to shave. Most French paperbacks used to be published with the pages uncut so that had to be dealt with before a new copy could be read. That type of razor was just the job.

In those innocent days, I didn't realise the possible implications of carting one around in my student briefcase. That type of razor was a weapon of choice for Teddy Boys etc., and the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 was a result.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/El ... /section/1

I don't think they've been used much by people shaving their own face since the invention of safety razors although I do remember some barbers providing the service: part of getting ready for a special day out. My mother used to recount how her grandfather (b 1865 d 1937) used to require his one of his grown-up daughters to shave him.

[Mick F]

Or grow a beard?

Or lose all your hair due to alopecia?

No idea why, but I have zero hair anywhere. Alopecia Universalis.

Not shaved since November 2015 and my last haircut was in the summer of that year.
Utterly bald everywhere now.

Wonderful!