Interesting stuff Mr. Rick! Thanks for the post.
I'm claiming absolutely no knowledge of exactly how razors dull, but rather just blurting out what came to mind when I saw your post.
I know razor blades dull from corrosion and it's easy to prove with your edge tester. There was some discussion on that here but more related to knives:
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...84#pid3684
Because the razor is so sharp and therefore thin I'm not surprised the edge gets crushed in. I had not known of the fracturing, but, OK. There are the images of it. Maybe that varies between brands, but whatever, there it is in the presented evidence.
We know that the majority of blades, or at least the majority of dullness is the result of rolling. That said, I've always guessed that razors might be a special case because the blades never suffer surface contact like a knife impacting a cutting board. It's more like a chef who only thinly slices shashimi whilst never contacting the cutting board. There is just never much force applied to the edge.
As I mentioned, razors are a special case not only because of what they cut but also because they are so sharp and sharp, by definition equals thin. Really thin, (35 - 50 BESS), in the case of a razor. It only makes sense that anything that thin is delicate and won't hold up to much impact or abuse. That's why I'm of the opinion that getting a general purpose blade razor sharp makes little sense. That super sharpness quickly rolls and is ephemeral at best.
I question one the the quotes somebody made in your post, but it is out of context and not exactly clear what they are referring to:
"So yes, this is definitely also what’s happening to our plane blades on bamboo, and to plane blades on ’normal’ wood, and to kitchen knives while cutting onions on a chopping board."
IMHO, the majority of dulling with blades contacting wood is the result of rolling. Maybe there is caving in and microscopic fracturing too, but the majority of dullness is due to rolling. I believe this because I have taken microscope images of rolled edges created by slicking tomatoes on a cutting board.
I checked out a disposable razor I had that had become too dull to shave with. It was still very sharp, 65, 75, 75 along the edge, but shaved for crap. I examined it under the scope and could not find any rolling. At the time I chalked the inability to see roll up to the limitations of my USB microscope and guessed it might be corrosion too.
Maybe there was some tiny amount of rolling, but the evidence you preseont suggest it was a fractured, corroded, bashed in mess at the edge.
Good stuff Rick. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Good food for thought.
I'm claiming absolutely no knowledge of exactly how razors dull, but rather just blurting out what came to mind when I saw your post.
I know razor blades dull from corrosion and it's easy to prove with your edge tester. There was some discussion on that here but more related to knives:
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...84#pid3684
Because the razor is so sharp and therefore thin I'm not surprised the edge gets crushed in. I had not known of the fracturing, but, OK. There are the images of it. Maybe that varies between brands, but whatever, there it is in the presented evidence.
We know that the majority of blades, or at least the majority of dullness is the result of rolling. That said, I've always guessed that razors might be a special case because the blades never suffer surface contact like a knife impacting a cutting board. It's more like a chef who only thinly slices shashimi whilst never contacting the cutting board. There is just never much force applied to the edge.
As I mentioned, razors are a special case not only because of what they cut but also because they are so sharp and sharp, by definition equals thin. Really thin, (35 - 50 BESS), in the case of a razor. It only makes sense that anything that thin is delicate and won't hold up to much impact or abuse. That's why I'm of the opinion that getting a general purpose blade razor sharp makes little sense. That super sharpness quickly rolls and is ephemeral at best.
I question one the the quotes somebody made in your post, but it is out of context and not exactly clear what they are referring to:
"So yes, this is definitely also what’s happening to our plane blades on bamboo, and to plane blades on ’normal’ wood, and to kitchen knives while cutting onions on a chopping board."
IMHO, the majority of dulling with blades contacting wood is the result of rolling. Maybe there is caving in and microscopic fracturing too, but the majority of dullness is due to rolling. I believe this because I have taken microscope images of rolled edges created by slicking tomatoes on a cutting board.
I checked out a disposable razor I had that had become too dull to shave with. It was still very sharp, 65, 75, 75 along the edge, but shaved for crap. I examined it under the scope and could not find any rolling. At the time I chalked the inability to see roll up to the limitations of my USB microscope and guessed it might be corrosion too.
Maybe there was some tiny amount of rolling, but the evidence you preseont suggest it was a fractured, corroded, bashed in mess at the edge.
Good stuff Rick. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Good food for thought.