shaving stroke

end of week 2 with one of these. tried shaving with a different stroke last night, drew some blood, but the shave was bbs, something i havent had yet. instead of just going against the grain and with the grain, i went against pulling the razor down, but also drawing it back in a slicing motion at the same time. is that the correct stroke, or just dangerous. should probably get lynns cd, but i like doing things the hard ways sometimes. ive seen some posts with angling the blade, but not sliding it back during the stroke, other than this, i havent seen a way to get the stroke direction correct under tha beard for smoothness. am i seeing the light, or just slitting my throat

I've been shaving with str8s for 6 months , and am still a noob so I could be wrong , but this doesn't seem like something I would do . I think "sliceing motion" are the key words :eek: .

I would avoid any motions that slide the blade parallel across your skin; that's how cuts happen. It's more than easily possible to attain a bbs shave going perpendicular, but it takes time to get the motions right. Some hair is just plain stubborn when it comes to shaving with a straight, but those are the hairs you need to learn. The neck hair is really notorious for growing oddly on some people. Maybe if you describe how this hair grows (sideways, down, swirls, etc.) someone can give you feedback on how to best shave it.

Are you getting a bbs shave on your cheeks without the "slicing motions"?

the neck hair grows somewhat up, but at an angle from the adams apple toward the ears. if i start at the beard line and cut down its against the grain, but at 45 degrees against the grain. pulling down and slicing as close to the 45 degrees as i can get gave me the bbs, seems impossible to get the blade into that contour going from the ear lobe to the adams apple following the lower beard line. pretty hard to explain. cheeks above beard bbs, top of mustache edge not and im leaving that for everyother day right now, that area seems to be sensitive to a little razor burn if done too often.

If it grows like how I'm picturing, up from the center of your neck to your ear, or if your neck were a clock it would grow like a 2:00 or 10:00. Right? Have you tried turning your head to the side (enough to where you can still look in the mirror) and shaving it against the grain that way?

A slight curve in the stroke motion may be dangerous but is used by some advanced shavers, in some spots - with good results. Sure - if you are not careful you may slice yourself

I think it's the same as J-hook or whatever it's called in DE advanced technique, but I am not a DE guy so may be wrong

Cheers
Ivo

A scything motion is how I think it was described. Imagine a ) stroke [instead of a straight | stroke], where the razor pivots at the heel , the toe sweeping across the neck.

ill try that curving motion this weekend, atleast it will give me some time to heal before going back to work on monday if things dont work.

As long as the speed of the blade perpendicular to the edge is quicker than the lateral speed you're in little danger of slicing yourself with a scything motion.

James.

I think what you are referring to is the scything motion, and it really helps achieve a close shave without going against the grain.
Go the library, and then permanent archive, and then shaving, and then scything motion for a demo.
Ron

I don't see the scything motion as dangerous. I see it as a way of getting a closer, more comfortable shave than one gets with a straight stroke. I use it as a matter of course.

scything motion works good, tried it this morning. actually i thought it easier to do this than a straight stroke, easy to pin the bottom knuckle of my thumb to the chin/jaw line for better balance and control while making a curved sweep, staring up higher up the jaw and moving down past the chin with each stroke. thanks everyone:y much less scary than the stroke with the slicing motion

I'm a complete newbie, but I did get a very close shave on my cheeks the last couple of days using both the scything motion, and I also tried a slight sliding motion with my vertical stroke--and shaved atg for the first time.

Neither seemed dangerous, and I got no obvious cuts, but I did end up with some 3 or 4 spots that were very sore the next day.

When I posted to this forum that I thought my razor was dull, I was told it was my technique. It is very puzzling.

So, technique-wise, what do we have control over?

1. Angle of blade to face. 10 degrees, 20 degrees 40 degrees, etc.
2. Angle of blade to beard hair growth angle. (moving up down right left diagnonal etc.).
3. Speed of attack (one long very slow stroke, lots of short quick strokes?)
4. Shape of motion (both toe and heel of razor move at same speed, or scything, etc).,
5. To slide (heel and toe move at same speed on two parallel lines, but blade is NOT at right angle to lines)
6. or Not to Slide...(Heel and toe move at same speed on two parallel lines and at right angles to lines).

I think I got best results by sliding as described in 5. Not really moving the blade sideways, but if the heel and toe move on two parallel lines, the edge is not perpendicular to the direction of movement. This is essentially a controlled slicing motion, and it really seems to cut pretty good--but I also got some razor burn from this.

My other theory is that after 2 months of cutting the crap out of your face, it toughens up and you will be able to shave with a Porter Cable belt sander.

Best regards...

I like the scythe or "J" stroke. Start at burns and rotate down to neck on both sides. This takes away considerable amounts of neck hair and leaves an easy neck "mohawk" to shave. I have yet to cut myself with it, and I'm kinda shaky too:)

Quote:

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My other theory is that after 2 months of cutting the crap out of your face, it toughens up and you will be able to shave with a Porter Cable belt sander.

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:roflmao

Well this was the case when I started to use a cut throat, especially on either side of my neck. I think your skin does get used to it, but also the more you shave the better your technique becomes.

Stretching you skin properly too seems to help get a smoother shave, as does well made lather.

A variation on that 'slice' and a bit more safe is to just angle the tip slightly down. So, instead of the blade going down the face, perpendicular to the hair, the blade slightly angled down so the edge slices the hair.

Sort of like cutting bread. If you push the blade down perpendicular to the bread, you'll cut the bread, but mash it a little too. However, if you angle the tip of the knife down a little, and then push down the knife, you'll slice the bread.

For shaving don't move the edge back and forth horizontally in a slicing fashion...yes, this will draw blood :eek:

C utz