RAZOR SHARP?

[bertl]

I am not a fanatic about sharpening or blade steels, but this is interesting. A recent study explains why cutting something as soft as hair can dull a blade. My interpretation of the information is that a lack of homogeneity in the steel can cause micro-cracks which dull a blade.

Bert

http://news.mit.edu/2020/why-shaving-dulls-razors-0806

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/06/898577234/cutting-edge-research-shows-how-hair-dulls-razor-blades

 

[jbmonkey]

I am not a fanatic about sharpening or blade steels, but this is interesting. A recent study explains why cutting something as soft as hair can dull a blade. My interpretation of the information is that a lack of homogeneity in the steel can cause micro-cracks which dull a blade.

Bert

http://news.mit.edu/2020/why-shaving-dulls-razors-0806

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/06/898577234/cutting-edge-research-shows-how-hair-dulls-razor-blades

i read that yesterday.

 

[afishhunter]

"As "soft as hair""...?

UMMM ... You are aware that a Rhino's "horn" is really a hair, right?

Hair (other than a rhino "horn") may feel soft, but it is tough and abrasive.

 

[soc_monki]

Keratin is really tough stuff. As afishhunter said, it may feel soft, but its the same stuff that makes up your nails, and your nails (or a cats claws, eagles talons, rhino's horn) are actually very, very tough.

A razor's edge is very thin, and at that level a human hair isnt as easy to cut as you might think. Edges dull because of many factors, and the thinness of the edge, the strength of the steel and if it is able to hold that edge, the material being cut...will the steel fracture, roll, abrade away? Too many variables.

 

[afishhunter]

Oh yeah ... technically, no matter how dull a razor gets, it is always "razor sharp", since it is still a razor.
"Razor dull" would be an oxymoron, even more so than "military intelligence" or "honest politician".