Greetings Knotheads
This post is a bit off the wall, but I’m so satisfied at beating someone’s marketing (rip-off) system, that I’ve just gotta share.
First, a bit of a long story. Bear with me for a bit. About 9 mo. ago, I had to replace my electric foil shaver (Braun). Reason being that I couldn’t find replacement blades/foils in any local store.
I decided on a rotary this time around. I was astonished at what one can spend on one of these things. Being a thrifty (cheap!) sort, I ignored the $175 bling machines, and bought a Remington for about $30. Before plopping down my hard earned $30, I made sure that the replacement parts for that model were available in the same display.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to replace the heads. Went back to where I had bought the original. Guess what? No replacement heads. There were “titanium” replacement heads that would have fit my model, but, again, guess what? They were more expensive than a whole new shaver, which was right there on display – same as the one I own. Thoroughly disgusted, I proceeded to trek from store to store, exhausting all possibilities I could conceive of, getting madder by the minute, by the mile, by the gallon of gas. No dice, nowhere, nohow. I resigned myself to paying shipping and finding what I wanted on-line. I am nothing if not stubborn, but I refuse to kowtow to these jerks.
Came home and with murder in my heart, took off one of the heads. The little cutter fell into the sink. I picked it up, looked at it and had a sudden epiphany. This thing could be honed! Took it and its two brothers into the shop, and gave each a half dozen light strokes across my 8000 grit Norton waterstone. IT WORKS!! Smooth shaves again.
Now, just how many times I’ll be able to get away with this remains to be seen, but I’m feeling quite smug at the moment. A small blow against the all pervasive planned obsolescence mentality and mousetrap marketing schemes of this world.
Replies
Good Man ! Way to go ! That's show'in them !
Of course I bet you wouldn't hesitate to spend $175 on a hand plane that you wouldn't use near as often as your shaver.
Oops I was doing OK until I went there.
: )
Still . . . you have reminded me why I come to this discussion over all the others in the world. Intelligent, resourceful, people brimming with creativity.
Can't wait for the guys to chime in who consider 8000 to be over kill and 250 grit is all ya need.
: )
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Edited 9/16/2009 10:57 pm by roc
Are you gonna start to sharpen your razor at 54 degrees now?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Yep - considered a caveat containing the word "infomercial" in the original post. It sure felt like I was "mercializing"!Anyone would have to be truly insane to try and touch each beveled face on each individual cutter. I just gave each "wheel" a few upside down dry strokes over a recently flattened stone. Figured it couldn't hurt none.....or even if it did (literally), it was still worth a shot. And yes, I wonder about the repeatability of this considering the close tolerances that have to exist between cutters and foil heads. You can bet your britches, however, that I'll continue this practice until such time as it proves to be no longer effective.Just what I'll do then, I'm not sure. Gave up wet shaving years ago. I even used a mug and brush for quite some time in the beginning (!) Gave up shaving entirely for some time....but hated trimming the beard almost as much as I hate shaving. I know!!! I need one of those handy dandy, never needs resharpening, looks like a Lambourghini on steroids $175 electric BEARD trimmers! Or maybe a good straight razor and strop. The learning curve on the latter, especially as my still taut facial skin begins to sag and wrinkle, couldn't be all that painful, could it? Maybe a depilatory agent?Decisions, decisions.
For what it's worth, the Oster TEQie is the cats pajamas...about $55 new off the web and easily hones on my waterstone (only needed ONCE in the two years I've owned it). It is small and detailed enough to shape and trim my beard, but rugged enough to plow through my noggin in less time than it takes to shave. I still use a razor on my neck but only after a few dirty looks from the DW or BOSS. If you like your baby-face stick with the pharmacy disposables, I'd get about 3 shaves apiece from them...
Hey can I send you my old Mach 3 razor blades for honing ?
"Now, just how many times I'll be able to get away with this remains to be seen, but I'm feeling quite smug at the moment."
Do let us know.....
Considering that each one of those cutting faces needs to be at the same angle and exactly the same height as the next , in order to rotate smoothly against the screen, I am wondering .....many things.....
Nice Work.
I hope to see you on infomercials in the middle of the night. You could make zillions of dollars with this.
Go for it.
Congratulations.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
I suspect there is a market for carbide cutters polished on a 1200-grit diamond plate! Personally, I would have honed the cutters on a leather strop using LV green rouge but that's just me. I would spend no more than $100 building the jig to hold the heads at the proper angle while allowing the necessary rotation. :<))
Regards,
Ron
I'm completely out of this discussion. When I started shaving I used an electric shaver. After going through a similar experience to change cutters - they were a litle bit less expensive than the shaver - I switched to wet shaving.I can be shaved smooth and my face dry almost before somebody else has plugged in his shaver. AND my 5 o'clock shadow appears much later.PS: I use the disposable cartridge dual blades - VERY rarely cut myself. Now, can I sharpen those? :-)
Hi: RonI loved your post (#6 of 15) I so see myself spending $100 to build a jig for to repair a $30 part. Hopefully sanity would step in before I bought a $300 stone that could make it a little sharper (but probably not).I think I'm going to hang you post in my shop to make me think about what I'm doing and if its the best use of my time and money. (Now to build a $50 stand to hold the post).Anyway thank you for the chuckle.Dennis
Edited 9/20/2009 2:51 am ET by dennis2
This post is a bit off the wall.. I love them!
You sound like a man that need to spend money on a good straight razor and a strop.
Both will out live you about 100 years!
RDNZL,
When you honed your cutter wheel, you preformed the functional equivalent of "jointing" the knives in a jointer by running them against a fine stone laid flat on the table against a clamped backstop of wood to keep the stone from being thrown. This puts a micro bevel on the edges that will work so long as it stays very small. As it grows larger there is a problem because there is no clearance angle to the micro bevel.
Skin is soft compared to wood, so the need for a clearance angle is less; the skin can deform to allow the cut to happen. If I were you, I'd keep doing the hone when needed and let us know how much more life you get out of the heads. It could be years!
Hi BillWhile I'm not certain that your analysis is accurate - it seems to me that I'm simply honing the flat (equivalent to the back of a chisel or plane iron) of the cutters - I'll certainly continue to do what I have done, until it no longer proves effective.I guess a close examination of a cutter would show whether or not all the flats are coplanar, which would support my position, or whether they are not, which would support yours. It's really beside the point - the real point is that one can extend the life of these things, at least for a time.I'd take years!I'll be happy to let you all know how things progress, but I expect it will be many months before I do this again. It took 9 - 10 months for the original edge to get uncomfortable. In the meantime, anyone looking to replace their cutters might want to give it a try - what have you got to lose?
I was assuming something when I replied, based on looking at the photograph and on my experience, which is mostly with tooling for wood. If you *are* honing the flats, that is fabulous! If I ever use one of those razors, I'll have to try your trick.I share your disdain for the throw-away culture. Fixing stuff is fun, saves money, and... it's even "green"!
I don't mean to burst your bubble; but I have been honing the rotary blades in my Norelco for many years, using my surgical black Arkansas stone. You should be able to do this for a long long time. I have had to lube the motor and gears a few times over the years and I replaced the NiCad battery at a Batteries Plus store about a year back. Cost all of about $5 for those, complete with welded tabs to match the originals.
This shaver was new in 1989.
Hey!Not bursting my bubble at all - great to hear that I'm not the only one to figure this out. The fact that you've been doing this for many years is further encouragement.Still on the original set of cutters? Your post indicates same. Excellent!
It would be easy enough to see , with a magnifier at least, if the "teeth" were originally ground with any clearance- by marking the faces with engineers dye or a sharpie.
But there is one problem the makers of these elcetric razors have never overcome-the fact that not all stubble comes out of the skin at a near perpendicular angle. When that danged stubble lies almost flat no electric razor can get at it because the hair won't go through the mesh- so what is your answer for that one??Philip Marcou
Storm Warning!!!!Here comes a hand vs power tool debate. :-) :-) :-)
I almost hesitate to respond to this one - no offense intended. Getting even further away from woodworking than my original post.I have always used a regular wet razor (used dry) to clean up those difficult spots after an electric shave. Still beats wet shaving, for me.And the next time I go to touch up the cutters on the electric, I do intend to color the flats with a sharpie, just to see exactly what it is that I'm accomplishing. In the meantime - if it ain't broke, I ain't gonna fix it
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