Question regarding sharpening - sort of

[David Laaneorg]

Hello, I had a thought last week, and I've been trying to find some more information regarding this question I've been mulling over. Can't find any, so I though I'd try posting it here to see what happens.

The question is this: was the invention of the disposable safety razor in 1901 partially responsible for the loss of general skill in sharpening tools as well?

It seems that fewer and fewer people have any knowledge of how to keep tools sharp, or even what a sharp tool is. With a number of generations of people who have never had to keep a straight razor sharp, did the basic skill of sharpening in woodworking start to disappear at the same time? It seems to be that we are just recently rediscovering what sharp tools are. Books on the topic of sharpening all refer to how sharpening was common knowledge up until the industrial revolution. Then it became the realm of the trade masters, then it seems to have dwindled even more.

Is there a connection. I'm not saying that this was the main cause, but could it have been a contributing factor?

Just wondering.

[David Cefai]

This is speculation:

Although the disposable razor may have played a part I think that the loss of sharpening knowledge paralleled both the reduction in the number of hobby woodworkers and the development of power tools.

Simply stated, the number of people who needed to know how to sharpen tools dropped drastically.

[Sam Takeuchi]

I don't have any documentation to back up what I'll write here, so take it however you wish.

The matter of fact is, I can sharpen chisel and plane blades, but I can't sharpen straight razor. I'm 32, I remember seeing my grandfather stropping it before he shaved when I was a kid. Personally I never even handled a straight razor, much less taking it to sharpen it. So in my opinion, safety razor has less to do with sharpening woodworking tools. If anything, probably wider use of power tools have more to do with it.

However, I highly doubt you can pin point the cause in just one aspect. As with tools, even materials used are less efficient if worked on by hand tools. MDF, plastic and other materials just weren't exactly the best match for hand tools either.

In mass production environment, use of skilled labor was less important then. If you look at the woodworking industry (the main body of woodwork manufacturing and production, not the cottage industry of joy and leisure of you and me), production time, cost and quality (read: repeatable and predictable result) were of main concern. In that kind of environment, to achieve these things require skilled hands. The the fact is, the kind of quality skilled hands can achieve is little of importance when machines can do it acceptably ok, cost less in a long term, don't have to teach skills (including how to sharpen things) and such, just like everything else, knowing how to sharpen things became unnecessary except for those who choose to do things by hand.

Power tool users who can make beautiful items, I'm sure there are many who never had to sharpen any blade or chisels. It's because they don't need to. Sharpening a blade (of all kind) is just a generic idea, learning to sharpen individual type of tool is a skill of its own. I'm sure I'll remain unskilled knife and razor sharpener while proficiently capable of chisel and plane blade sharpening.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I would suggest that perhaps the introduction of the safety razor was a MINOR contributing factor. This razor was introduced to the mass market by King Gillette around the time of the First World War and was sold as convenient, safe, and taking up less space than a set of straight razors, the sharpening setup, and a strop.

At the time of the First World War almost all carpentry was still done with hand tools including saws, chisels, planes, and the like. Therefore sharpening was still a necessary skill for a very major trade, construction. Most local hardware stores like the one my grandfather worked in, had a full time sharpening man to do scissors, ice skates, scythe blades, push lawnmower rotary blades, and hand saws, and just about anything else a family needed sharpened. While the the pros did their own sharpening, homeowners were already on the way toward the life of convenience in urban and suburban areas.

I think the trend toward a lack of sharpening knowledge and skill took a major leap forward (progress???:eek:) as portable power tools became readily available and affordable. This started before WW II, but became an accelerated trend after the war when production capacity became available again and there was a need for new markets to absorb that capacity. Welcome to the consumer society. That prewar high priced circular saw now was available in a homeowner version for a few bucks. Adding to this, you now absolutely HAD to have a pro sharpen it. Other tools needing sharpening skills saw similar things happen. For years this became a vicious circle. As the prevalence of power tools increased, the variety and quality of human powered tools dropped and the market decreased. The decrease in the quality of the hand tools discouraged new users who then turned to power tools, we were now in a downward spiral.

That's my take. Who know, I might even be right.

[Joel Goodman]

Interesting thought. I am too young for the straight razor but I do decry the general inability of many otherwise competent folks to put a good edge on a kitchen knife. Perhaps the straight razor's demise was the beginning of the end!

[Jeff Willard]

I think Dave is on the right track with this one. Between Henry Ford, WW II, and the post-war boom years it was discovered that it was more cost effective to have someone else do it, or in some cases, just throw it away and replace it.

I first learned to hone a knife as a Cub Scout. In 1978, at the tender age of 16, I entered the meat business. I found that many in the business had no idea how to put an edge on a knife. Since about the 1940's, when the supermarkets started to "eat up" the small shops, the focus shifted to production. Cleavers and splitters were replaced with bandsaws, and at the slaughterhouse level, chain and circular saws. The last thing management wanted was a bunch of high priced meatcutters standing around doing non-revenue generating tasks, such as pushing a blade over a rock. As a result, many businesses took to renting knives. There was once even a popular model of boning knife available with a disposable blade. I've worked in shops that didn't even have a stone, and often when there is one, it's glazed, dished, or broken-almost always useless.

I feel lucky. I started in the trade at a small, privately owned shop, and was taught to practice the trade as craft. One joke often heard is that "I've forgotten more about the meat business than you know!". But in my case, it's often true. I think another part of the problem is cultural/societal. I'm not sure how to describe it. Instant gratification? Some of these people expect to pick up a knife, and have it function perfectly, without any care or maintainence, and when it doesn't, they just complain. Sad thing is, they can't be bothered to learn how to do something about it. I often wonder if this is partly a function of geography (urban).

[Jim Koepke]

There was likely not one single thing that caused this as much as a lot of little things adding up.

At one time, it was likely that every young man and woman would learn to sharpen their knives. Whether it was for use in the kitchen or for skinning animals or cleaning fish. If your knives were dull, you might not be able to eat.

The same with tools being sharp. People out in the wild areas had to be able to wield an axe and build their own buildings. A dull blade would likely leave them without protection from the elements.

Farmers had to be able to sharpen their plows and harvesting tools or equipment.

So much of society at the time required skills that involved using a sharp edge for one thing or another.

Then came the bean counters. Sure, the first clerks and accountants may have had to use a sharp knife to make a quill or sharpen a pencil but then came the fountain pen and the pencil sharpener.

Those little conveniences lead to more automation that required less skill from the working masses. The working masses no longer had to be able to skin a rabbit or a deer. Instead, the butchers took charge of that for a small fee. The man at the hardware store would sharpen knives for the ladies while they went about shopping for niceties about town.

More automation and less need to sharpen. The automobile industry replaced the carriage and wagon industry. Machine made furniture did away with a lot of small makers that did it by hand power.

Just like so many other skills that have been all but lost to modernization, we are now having a revival of skills from an earlier time. Maybe this time those skills will stay as an important part of society.

BTW, even though they were out of fashion by the time I was shaving, I did buy a straight razor and used it. I had a tendency to grow a beard during the winter and shave it off in spring. A straight razor is an easy way to remove a lot of beard fast. I often wonder where that razor is since I still tend to grow a face warmer during the winter.

jim

[Joel Goodman]

Some of these people expect to pick up a knife, and have it function perfectly, without any care or maintainence, and when it doesn't, they just complain. Sad thing is, they can't be bothered to learn how to do something about it. I often wonder if this is partly a function of geography (urban).

I live in Los Angeles and I met a guy who would buy a new set of Wustoff knives when the old ones got dull! At least some one benefitted when he gave the old ones away.

[David Laaneorg]

Thanks for all the input. As I said, it was just a thought I had, to which I had no answers myself. Also, as I mentioned, I was wondering if it was a contributing factor, not a main one. There were many other factors involved as well, as have been eloquently pointed out by everyone.

Thanks for all the input, and for giving me more to think about!

[george wilson]

I always kept (still keep) an old straight razor in the Musical Instrument Maker's Shop (before the toolmaker's Shop) to cut wool broadcloth for harpsichord dampers,without fuzz.

I did have the occasion to shave a young man who was in a film we were making. He had been shaven a few says before in a scene where he was turning the great wheel lathe. Then,he was needed again to finish the scene. He had come in unshaven. There was no other way go shave him in the shop ! No,I didn't cut him!!

[Dave Anderson NH]

The statute of limitations has probably expired so there's no problem about you practicing the tonsorial art without a license George.:D