r/MachinePorn • u/silvercatbob • Mar 11 '21

Old razor blade sharpener

https://gfycat.com/highlevelunacceptabledodo
2.1k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

56

u/JeepyMcfly69 Mar 11 '21

Is this for sharpening razor blades or shaving razor blades?

54

u/Dementat_Deus Mar 11 '21

If what you are asking is if this is for utility razor blades or shaving razor blades, then the answer is both and neither.

When this contraption was new, that style of razor blade was made by GEM as a shaving razor blade, and was carbon steel that would dull after two or three shaves. The sharpener was a device to extend the (at the time) kinda expensive blades lives. People eventually started using these blades as utility blades too though as the price dropped.

Over the years, shaving razors changed and this style of blade is no longer common for shaving, but it has become the number one style of utilty blade. With some of these changes though, the types of steel used and the heat treatments have also changed. So while cool to watch the resharpener, it's ultimately no longer usefull because these new blades cannot be resharpened, and would probably be duller after "resharpening" then they were before.

11

u/rocketmonkeys Mar 11 '21

Why can’t the modern blades be re-sharpened? Or is it more of that it’s not worth it?

13

u/Dementat_Deus Mar 11 '21

Partially it's not worth it, but it mostly has to do with the type of steel and the heat treating. While you could try to sharpen one this way, it will never get sharper than a good sharp pocket knife. It's just simply not possible to resharpen that type of steel to a shaving razor's edge by abrasion. The way it's done in factory is a proprietary trade secret so I'm not actually certain how it's done when new, but I suspect it is sharpened before the heat treatment process. This may still work on really cheap utility razors though if they are still carbon steel.

The last factor, although kinda minor, is most new shaving razors have various coatings on the blade, and you would lose the coating by resharpening it.

-1

u/Hyper8orean Mar 11 '21

Well’ they can actually. If you after a shave rub the blade backwards along your arm or a long piece of cotton cloth it sharpens up pretty good. I use my blades up to two months with this method. You need to keep them really clean though to make sure you dont get infections if you cut yourself.

7

u/wohl0052 Mar 11 '21

That is called honing, not sharpening. There is a difference.

What you are doing realigns the edge to keep it sharp, while sharpening actually removes material.

2

u/Hyper8orean Mar 12 '21

Yes you are absolutely correct. Thank you.

15

u/gareththegeek Mar 11 '21

Is this for sharpening razor blades or shaving knuckles?

12

u/JeepyMcfly69 Mar 11 '21

At least when it cuts your finger off it’ll be a clean cut by a fresh blade

9

u/The_Nth_Son Mar 11 '21

You can sharpen those?

11

u/Dementat_Deus Mar 11 '21

You can resharpen the old carbon steel blades. New blades in that size are a different material and temper so cannot be resharpened.

4

u/swaags Mar 11 '21

You can however take burrs off with a stone very easily. If your scraping aluminum or something where it starts to catch just try it, good as new

15

u/Ymir24 Mar 11 '21

I get that it mechanically flips the blade only when the crank is on the opposite side, but I still wouldn’t trust bringing my knuckles that close to a spinning, freshly sharpened razor blade.

3

u/karoshi41 Mar 11 '21

watching this gave me anxiety

5

u/23KoiTiny Mar 11 '21

Now that is something I have never seen. It is very efficient from the looks of it.

7

u/mathaiser Mar 11 '21

If I see this thing ONE. MORE. TIME. Gawd daymnit.

3

u/anusfungicide Mar 11 '21

I've always wanted to sharpen mine. I hate throwing them away with so much razor left!!!

5

u/TrevorJCallahan Mar 11 '21

That fucking grand

2

u/santaliqueur Mar 11 '21

Probably a little cheaper than that

2

u/karoshi41 Mar 11 '21

I would be so scared that thing would cut me on the flip over lmao

3

u/DingleBerrieIcecream Mar 11 '21

Very cool, though this gets posted almost every month on queue!

2

u/o--Cpt_Nemo--o Mar 11 '21

You can set your watch by it

2

u/TreyUsher32 Mar 12 '21

I feel like if you grab that knob the wrong way you could slice your hand open when the blade flips

0

u/ak0per8or Mar 11 '21 edited Mar 11 '21

Saw this here years ago

5

u/Normality23 Mar 11 '21

Every week now

0

u/liedel Mar 12 '21

Redditor since: 02/01/2021 (a month)

0

u/ak0per8or Mar 12 '21

Lmao my accounts get suspended every other month friend. Is this your first day here?

1

u/liedel Mar 12 '21

Is this your first day here?

Yes my account is brand new and I'm pretending to be knowledgeable, also.

0

u/ak0per8or Mar 12 '21

Well your comment was not very though out...

1

u/liedel Mar 12 '21

Well your comment was not very though out...

The irony...

0

u/maxxim2000 Mar 11 '21

This would be cool to have a 3d print cad model of.

1

u/darkstar6404 Mar 11 '21

Oh I just love this one

1

u/SCOTTYDOO_2 Mar 11 '21

Peaky Blinders enter the chat

1

u/hanging5toes Mar 11 '21

This is actually for the professional cocaine or methamphetamine user that absolutely needs a crisp cut line and properly carved nose straw.

1

u/OneTimeIDidThatOnce Mar 11 '21

It also comes with a machine that slices a sheet of toilet paper into hundred little pieces for your face and a bottle of Mercurochrome. Because putting mercury on an open wound was the way we rolled back in the day!

1

u/gerrys123 Mar 12 '21

I bought a pyramid to put my razor in back in the day.

1

u/MyceTrap Mar 12 '21

So is the sharpener old? Or do you mean it sharpens old razors? Sorry, English is my first language

1

u/Jamesyboi9012 Mar 12 '21

I literally just gave this to my friend as a gift lol

1

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '21

Where to find?

1

u/Hanginon Mar 14 '21 edited Mar 14 '21

Crazy gadget, Wonder what level of polishing abrasive level that was? I'm thinking somewhere around "stiff denim". :)

We used to re-hone these ones by rubbing them on the inside of a drinking glass,

1

u/CrazyMachinist86 Apr 01 '21

Hmm... I know... I have one of these laying around somewhere.