1. I'm not super familiar with razors, but I am pretty familiar with knives. The chipping they describe is typical of a knife that is ground with an angle that is too acute. In knives made of hard material they fail by chipping, whereas in knives with a softer edge (think German kitchen knives) the edge rolls instead.<p>The classic solution to this problem is to grind the secondary bevel more obtusely so that there is more material to "support" the edge. This results in a knife that is less sharp, but more durable. That may be a tradeoff that razor manufacturers are not willing to make.<p>2. There are already steel making processes that are designed to make more homogenous steel. The most famous one is probably CPM (Crucible Particle Metallurgy):<p>Instead of pouring an ingot (where the additives have a chance to settle into a non-homogenous state, they basically pour the steel through something similar to a shot tower - making lots of tiny homogenous micro-ingots that they later fuse together in what is essentially a sintering process. The end result is a much more homogenous ingot. Practical testing shows that steel made in this way is more performant, although it presumably increases the manufacturing cost.
Cartridge razors are garbage, but they are idiot-proof. I use a straight razor (cuthroat) and hone it a few strokes with 8k diamond after every use, no leather strop. Even with the time spent sharpening it is faster than a cartridge razor because it cuts a wider swath and never clogs. It took me quite a few iterations to find a razor/sharpening tool combo that worked properly. A safety razor works almost as well with no fuss sharpening. The other downside of a straight razor is if you drop it could cut your d<i></i>* off so I always put on shorts before shaving.
Not "even the sharpest" but "especially the sharpest". The sharper the edge the easier it is damaged.<p>Also - I've got a cheap beard trimming machine I bought 10 years ago. I use it every week or two, and I haven't replaced the blades even once (I don't think it's even replacable) - still works fine.<p>It seems the solution is to use blades that are almost dull?
I assume they mean crystalline domain heterogeneity. The best metals are single-domain so that there are no fissures along the boundaries. But that takes very pure material and very slow cooling. A good alternative is nanacrystalline or amorphous domains, which are fairly simple, just blast with microwave energy during cooling. This can make a very strong metal with great working properties, a bit softer, but doesn’t fracture.
Huh, I always thought that it was oxidation from getting wet that damaged the blade. I even remember getting a recommendation to clean the blade with alcohol to dry it of faster.<p>I always find myself falling for this sort of 'Well of course the answer is <simplified answer that is wrong>'<p>Edit: I've posted to /r/ImageStabilization/ for that first image - <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ImageStabilization/comments/i54p9s/could_someone_help_to_stabilize_this_gif_of_hair/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/ImageStabilization/comments/i54p9s/...</a>
> “We’ve learned how to make better blades, and now we want to do it.”<p>Unfortunately this is at odds with the interests of blade manufacturers, so I doubt we’ll see better blades anytime soon - at least from the current manufacturers.
I have used straight razors, safety razors, electric razors, and various cartridges. A
good multi-blade cartridge is vastly superior to anything the layman can do with the first three. They shave all kinds of growth in one pass, don't cut you, and get very close, without needing any foam. They really are the pinnacle of shaving technology. It's amazing how people ignore them for older tech which can only match them with a lot of extra work.
Wow, amazing imagery. Personally I switched to straight razors recently and given the very low cost of blades I'm quite happy to use a new one every couple of shaves, which for me is only once a week.<p>Edit: sorry, I meant safety razor, not straight.
I had always assumed based on what I’d heard that corrosion was the main factor in blades wearing out. Which may still be the case. But this suggests that there are still ways that soft materials can still chip very thin cutting surfaces.
"When the hair was free to bend, however, chips were more likely to occur. These chips most commonly formed in places where the blade edge met the sides of the hair strands."<p>So the question is, in shaving, how do we ensure that all hairs are perpendicular to the blade edge and not free to bend?<p>I use Feather blades exclusively; the number of shaves I can get from one blade varies according to the shaving soap used.
Here is the actual article, with much more analysis:<p><a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6504/689" rel="nofollow">https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6504/689</a>
I does ring true that there's little financial incentive to create long lasting blades.<p>Even if you produce something that's cheaper over a year, I doubt there are many takers for the high up front cost.
before gillete started to market multi-use, multi-blade razors. most folks, like me who have course curly hair would've only used disposable blades only once. n I find, single blade razors to be effective, no razor bumps etc. just wet with water, a light moisturizing oil such as almond n you're done.
I've heard a second hand story about some titanium razors made internally at <large razor company> which were given out to employees as gifts. They lasted for years, but could never be released as they simply wouldn't be able to turn a profit.
Water dulls blades in my experience.<p>You need to ensure they are dried well after use, otherwise they dull far quicker. I have no idea why, so perhaps someone can test my hypothesis?