Thread: Hone and Stroke: Solved!!!?

My 1950 edition of "The Standardized Textbook of Barbering" arrived today. Best $12.50 I ever spent.

I bought it because I read the excerpt in the archive. Well, the excerpt is missing some stuff.

It is actually a very logical system. When cutting down, the stroke is forward and down. Forward means moving the razor forward, point first. If you are shaving your cheek with the razor parallel to the floor and pointing down, then you will move it down 2" and forward 1/2" in a typical stroke (I am estimating these measurements to give you a sense of the motion).

UP is the same, just foward and up. You can get sideways from this. The point is always advancing.

Why?

Because of the way you HONE the razor. The razor is honed in a short diagonal stroke starting with the heel on the stone and the point hanging over the back, and then you make a short diagonal stroke, pulling the blade toward you. then you flip it, and as you flip, you slide it up and tilt it. Now you slide it in a diagonal stroke down. You also angle the blade backward, so that the heel is further along in the honing stroke than the point.

This creates a saw tooth edge (I tried it, it really does!!). Because the razor is tilted back when you slide it forward and down (diagonal), it creates DIAGONAL lines and teeth on the razor. These lines start at the edge and move toward the back, and as they do, they get closer and closer to the point end (as opposed to the handle end).

As a result, the teeth formed on the edge of the razor are almost vertical on the back side (the side of the tooth facing the handle or scales) and have a much more gentle slope on the front side (the side of the tooth facing the point of the razor).

So, when you slide the razor edge slightly forward, you are sliding the gentle sloping teeth along the hair, slicing it off nicely. If you have honed and stropped the blade properly, sliding it backward toward the handle, will pull and hurt and will be hard to manipulate.

I spend 1/2 hour RE-HONING my razor using this careful diagonal technique, and could feel the teeth with my thumbnail.

I tried pulling the razor backward as I shaved my cheek, and the pulling and tearing were quite easy to feel (ouch!).

The I tried pushing it forward slightly as I moved the razor down, and got the first REAL HONEST TO GOD SHAVE SO FAR.

I was able to shave my tough chin beard this way, and shaved one side of my chin completely clean--WITHOUT ANY PREP--that's right, dry, no lather, no prep, nothing. And it didn't hurt.

This was all laid out simply and clearly in the barbering book.

So, with a properly honed blade, the stroke is slightly forward--if you want the teeth to cut the hair. And when you hone, the diagonal stroke moving the razor in the opposite direction from the shaving stroke.

Note: I am a newbie, and have yet to get a complete shave, but this was the first reasonable and logical explanation I have seen, and the first time I got decent, painless shaving results.

Amazon.com had multiple copies of this book available. I highly recommend it if you really want to shave with a straight razor. Be sure to get a pre 1970 edition if you can. Mine is from 1950, and it emphasizes the straight razor shave.

Paul

P.S. It also indicates the shape of the cutting edge, which should NOT be straight.

Originally Posted by toolarts

My 1950 edition of "The Standardized Textbook of Barbering" arrived today. Best $12.50 I ever spent.

As a result, the teeth formed on the edge of the razor are almost vertical on the back side (the side of the tooth facing the handle or scales) and have a much more gentle slope on the front side (the side of the tooth facing the point of the razor).

Thats right! Very good! With the exception of this part I have quoted above, which either I am misunderstanding or your misquoting perhaps?

Could you provide an actual quote from the book on this or elaborate?

The teeth shouldn't be so big that you can feel them with the thumbnail though. They cut just fine and are smoother to the skin when they are much smaller.

This highlights the importance of what we call the "x-pattern" in honing. That is why we are so emphatic about the correct honing stroke and method.

In reality, the teeth your describing become an interlocking series of opposing diagonals.

BTW, I think its the 1962 Barbers Manual in the Archives, so there may be some slight differences in our texts.

Here are the pictures of what I am talking about:

The magnification is only 100X so it should be possible to feel the slight difference on your thumbnail, depending on which way you move the edge. If it makes a difference on your face, it should make a difference to your thumbnail.

However, it is much more pronounced if you move your thumbnail at an angle to the blade. It is barely detectable after stropping.

Okay, I just did a nearly complete shave. For the first time, cutting beard is not a problem, though I do believe I could have a finer edge. I was able to shave all areas including mustache and beard, though I don't have the courage to go close up under my nose yet.

I also noticed in the barbering book that they do NOT use lather for the second pass on the close shave. Just water.

I tried this, and it worked OK. I was able to shave against the grain with just the water, though I would love to be able to apply a steam towel and strop down the razor again before going ATG. If I could only see through the steam towel.

One thing this book made me want to do is go to a REAL barbershop and get a REAL shave with steam towels and everything.

Perfect! I went to amazon and got one of the last low price 1950 editions. Thanks for bringing this book to our attention, and that it's availble right around the virtual corner.

I just tried this - works a treat - thanks!

Sounds good. Could you give some more info on the book.
Who is the author, publisher, etc

thank you,

regards,
Ro

Yes, thats right but the striations should be too small to feel on your thumbnail, honest.

I got the impression from your original post that you thought there was some kind of curve in the striation pattern. There isn't.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Yes, thats right but the striations should be too small to feel on your thumbnail, honest.

Only too right!!! If an edge of mine looked like the diagrams you showed I would consider my honing hardly begun.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I got the impression from your original post that you thought there was some kind of curve in the striation pattern. There isn't.

Me too.

No curve in the striations. The edge itself is curved, i.e., slightly crowned so that the middle of the edge is proud of the heel and point. This is the way Tony shaped mine, by the way (nice job, Tony). This is depicted in the book and in my first Picture.

The book information:


"The Standardized Textbook of Barbering"

Published by
Associated Master Barbers and Beauticians of America

Price $6.00

General Office
537 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, 5, Illinois (zip code hadn't been invented)

Mine is the Fifth Edition, Second Printing.

That is all the information there is.

"This Textbook was compiled and is published by the Associated Master Barbers and Beauticians of America, so that the barber may improve his position in the business world, and to help him appreciate the higher ideals essential to the recognition of barbering as a professional calling."

Actually, the one I got the pictures from is copyrighted in 1961. I ordered two, one from 1962 (probably this one) and one from 1950, which I now see probably hasn't arrived yet.

If you like history, this book is quite interesting and fun, like a snapshot from the end of the 1950's. For instance, on the page facing Chapter 3 "Honing and Sropping." is the following little homily:

"How to Study"

"It's a lot of fun to study, if you do it right. But it's not much fun if you are whining and grouchy, and have the idea of getting it over as quickly as possible."

"Books are interesting things--and just because they are school-books doesn't mean they're less interesting. History is exciting to read. English--putting words together to form different meanings--is a game you can play every day for the rest of your life without ever becoming tired. Numbers are amazing--with them men analyze the stars, the sea, and build bridges, roadways, and great buildings."

"Every study is mysteriously romantic under its cold surface. When you do your lesson, forget about getting a set amount finished in the shortest possible time. Ask your instructor about something you don't quite understand, and get below that cold surface to find the exciting mystery. It's there in every subject, if you have the curiosity to dig it out."

"When curiosity arouses real interest, you'll find yourself eager to get to your studies, rather than hate them."




I believe those of us who are interested in shaving with a straight razor are ACTUALLY interested in participating in an age now past...re-enacting history ourselves, in the mirror every morning.

Paul