Thread: Does it get this sharp?

Originally Posted by bill3152

You can also use a slight slicing stroke. Don't try it on the stache area until you do it on an easier part of the face. BE careful though and don't slice too much, just like a slight left or right motion. It really maginifies the sharpness of the razor on tough whiskers. On my cheeks and face I use a guillotine stroke, slight angle to the stroke.

I tried that a little bit this morning and can see where it has possibility. But man o man..it certainly inspires 'caution'.

Yes, everything in small steps. The first guilottine stroke I did led to a small cut. I adjusted the angle as you will learn the technique to do your own face. I found this stroke eliminated one pass on the face anyway. The neck I do it but much less of an angle to the stroke as it gets a little scary down there. Lol.

A word of caution if I may! When using the scything motion one has to make sure that the razor is honed to perfection. It must have a very smooth bevel and absolutely no imperfections on the cutting edge. I have also found, for me, that a diamond edge honed above O.1 micron sliced the holy crap out of me more than even a couple of times......dare I say about five times.

Yea but mabe it way this, or mabe it was that.....don't laugh please........five times!!!

Take Care,
Richard

I mean no offence to some of the more experienced user but I think no matter how sharp a blade is, some beards will be more tough to cut than others and harder on the blade because of this. As an example I will use a regular disposable razor. I know this may be blasphemy but they are where my experience lies. Being just out of my twenties I recently lived in many bro pads and in these was forced to share many bathrooms. If there was anything I noticed it was how long disposable razors last for different folks. I am not and have never been a everyday shaver so shaving two to three times a week my razor lasted a bit less then a month before it needed to be replaced. I have had a roommate that shaved everyday and he bragged about not changing his blade for a year. Granted this is an extreme and he was lacking facial hair mostly. In general most of my roommates blades lasted three to four times as long as mine. I know straights are a different animal all together but a blade is a blade and every blade is subject to entropy. What we really need is a standardized beard thickness scale. I propose we grow out our beards to a designated length and see how many forks will stay stuck in said beard.

As far as ‘beards made of steel’ YES! They do exist!!! And I can prove it and provide a witness!!

I’d undertaken an apprentice who had complained that his DOVO that he’d purchased from SRD wouldn’t shave and had used up his free rehoning. I had him send it to pinklather for a look and a honing. p‘lather said that the edge looked like the teeth on a hack saw!!

So I loaned the man with a beard of steel a very nice vintage razor with a fresh hone on it to try for a week and send back to me for evaluation. He’d stropped before every shave. When I got it back and had rinsed the protective oil off and dried the blade, Hell I didn’t need ‘magnification’ to see the damage!! You could see the divots with your bare eye!!

Yes Virgil there is a Razor Grinch!

Sounds like there might be good reason to hone with about three layers of tape on the spine right there. Give the equivalent of a knife edge sharpened at a 30 degree angle, except in razor sized proportions. I've heard that men's whiskers are the same toughness of copper wire...


Mick

Originally Posted by aboarder4life

I mean no offence to some of the more experienced user but I think no matter how sharp a blade is, some beards will be more tough to cut than others and harder on the blade because of this. As an example I will use a regular disposable razor. I know this may be blasphemy but they are where my experience lies. Being just out of my twenties I recently lived in many bro pads and in these was forced to share many bathrooms. If there was anything I noticed it was how long disposable razors last for different folks. I am not and have never been a everyday shaver so shaving two to three times a week my razor lasted a bit less then a month before it needed to be replaced. I have had a roommate that shaved everyday and he bragged about not changing his blade for a year. Granted this is an extreme and he was lacking facial hair mostly. In general most of my roommates blades lasted three to four times as long as mine. I know straights are a different animal all together but a blade is a blade and every blade is subject to entropy. What we really need is a standardized beard thickness scale. I propose we grow out our beards to a designated length and see how many forks will stay stuck in said beard.

Perhaps the guys who's razors lasted longer than yours either had lower standards or tougher skin.
The idea of a standard hair has been floated a few times here, but feel free to go about with forks in your beard if you wish, you would be handy on an impromptu picnic.

Originally Posted by ace

The "manlier" the whisker is, the more resistance it provides to the edge. A truly shave ready blade will find no whisker that is a match for it. A well-honed blade doesn't give a damn what lies in its path. Anything standing in front of a well-honed blade is essentially "dead meat".

I think this absolutely true; however, some of us have whiskers that will reduce that well-honed blade to dull in short order.

I only shave S>N on my neck - everything else is WTG. No matter who hones the razor I've never been able to go ATG on the upper lip - my skin just can't tolerate it. I could go ATG on the cheeks but I'm happy with the closeness I get WTG.

-john

Originally Posted by fuzzychops

I think this absolutely true; however, some of us have whiskers that will reduce that well-honed blade to dull in short order.

+1 to this. For me, it's my head hair (though it is thinning in terms of population, my head hairs are thick, straight and wire-tough). I've learned quickly that if I don't shave my head every day, it will murder a straight (it probably murders my DE blades as well, but I'm not so concerned about those.) It doesn't totally wreck the edge, just makes it noticeably duller.

And yes, I'm careful about angles and stretching.