Thread: To Smile or not to smile...

My take on the barber's manuals is this: there is nothing wrong with a flat edge for shaving but, over time, unless deliberate measures are taken, a concave (frown) edge will naturally develop. Especially with poor honing technique.
Obviously this type of edge will not shave well at all. Therefore the barber's manuals teach a specific honing method to develop the convex (smile) edge which shaves just as well, if not better than, a flat edge. Some razor manufacturers have helped to avoid this by just making a razor with a convex edge.

Scott