WetShaving
This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
New subscribers welcome!
Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.
Check out these alternative front-ends for this server:
https://gem.wetshaving.social - a nice modern interface
https://old.wetshaving.social - designed to look like old.reddit.com
Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social.
Community Rules
Rule 1 - Behaviour and Etiquette
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Be Respectful. Do not bully, flame, or harass others.
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Malicious comments are not allowed but heated discussion and salty banter is okay.
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Low effort replies and complaints about content will be removed.
Rule 2 - Content Guidelines
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Mail Calls, Simple Questions, and SOTD posts belong in the recurring weekly threads.
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Posts must have sufficient content to generate a meaningful discussion.
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Images, links, or videos must include additional text that summarizes the topic.
Rule 3 - Reviews and Disclosure
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Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
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Use the [Review] in the title if you can provide comprehensive details with enough familiarity to answer follow-up questions.
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Disclose how the product being reviewed was acquired (e.g., PIF, loan, or purchase). If the product was provided to you directly by the maker or vendor free of charge or at a discount, you must disclose this fact even if the item will later be returned to the maker or vendor.
Rule 4 - Advertising
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Vendors are to keep marketing within the biweekly Deals/New Products threads.
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Non-vendors may post topics about products if it will foster a compelling discussion.
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Do not solicit donations or share fundraisers without mod approval.
Rule 5 - Inappropriate Content
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All NSFW/L content must request mod approval and be flaired appropriately.
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Non-shaving related NSFW/L content is not allowed.
Rule 10 - Moderator Discretion
- The rules may not apply perfectly to every situation. The mods have final discretion.
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I recently touched up a blade after 13 shaves because it seemed like it was a bit less keen and I was curious if my ark could bring it back as I definitely find it rather slow and subtle (but also really like how that lets me tune up my coticule edges a bit while still leaving them feeling coti-ish). Definitely noticed a difference so it does something :)
But for the most part I have too many razors to get them that far. However I do wind up re-honing them when, for various reasons, they don't retain an edge. Sometimes the steel is too soft for the bevel angle so I need tape to make it a bit more obtuse and get reasonable edge retention (usually in these cases it degrades over the course of the very first shave on the edge). That could be because previous honing has taken too much off the spine or the steel is somehow compromised eg. by polishing or regrinding done carelessly allowing the razor to get too hot and affect the temper. Beyond changing the angle I also find one can get lucky and just need to take off a bit more metal, I wonder if some of those weren't necessarily heat treating but some subtle oxidation or something over time that affects just the thin layer near the very edge so even if I'm lucky enough to find an old razor without any pitting or damage to hone through I might need to take off a bit more than it looks like.
I imagine similar things (steel hardness/quality, bevel angle) can also affect the overall edge retention so even with my same face and technique some of my razors with hard steel can probably go for 20 shaves (if I ever let them) while others would not be able to hold an edge past 10.
Thanks for that detailed response!