Forever Sharp

[Tom Bender]

How is it that my electric shaver stays sharp seemingly forever?

[Charles Bjorgen]

I can’t answer your question specifically although I would ask what brand of shaver you have. My Norelco shaver was less than perfect after using for a couple years and so I ordered and installed new rotary cutters for it. After that I learned that these cutters can be sharpened using something like diamond paste or other stropping abrasive on a machined iron or steel plate. Maybe you’re like me and don’t have a very tough beard.

[roger wiegand]

They must have improved in the decades since I last shaved, I tried electric razors and they were never sharp, even new out of the box. Much prefer my current solution.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I suspect that it is related to how the cutting action works. An electric razor will generally lift the hair from the follicle before cutting it.

The metal foil is touching the skin and the hair is generally poking through a screen (or similar).

I do not completely understand if this is then working like a scissors because those blades are skimming that metal screen, but I think that they do and I think that those are also sharp, so kind of like tiny scissors where it need not be as sharp as a straight razor to cut the whiskers.

This is also why you cannot just "shave your beard" with an electric razor, those long hairs will not just poke through that screen.

How sharp do scissors need to be to cut paper or hair? Sharp certainly helps, but, given that there are two blades closing and then it shears what you are cutting, sharp is not as important.

[Jim Koepke]

Sharp certainly helps, but, given that there are two blades closing and then it shears what you are cutting, sharp is not as important.

When the blades get a little rounded and start pulling hair instead of cutting, then you will know how important sharp is to the shearing action.

jtk

[mike stenson]

When the blades get a little rounded and start pulling hair instead of cutting, then you will know how important sharp is to the shearing action.

jtk

True, but they need be nowhere near as sharp as a razor blade does. Sharp, as always, is relative :)

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have never been able to shave my neck area effectively with an electric, sharp or not And yes, for sure they eventually dull, but not nearly as fast as a regular razor. I assume it is based on how well they work (or do not).