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I was just looking at a video under the links section of this site--Great razor info--"Sharpening a Straight Razor 11/05". The person there simply moves the razor straight down the hone without any angle to the blade. At one point he does lead with the heel first but most of his work is done with a 90 degree push-pull motion.
What do you folks know about this technique. It must work for him since he is demonstrating it. But don't know if it is worth trying.
What do you think?
jmsbcknr
If I am remembering the video you are referring to correctly he is creating a bevel on a razor he has no intention of shaving with. He will be selling that razor as new and you'll be stuck trying to shave with it. You'll ofcourse be a little perplexed by the fact that they are selling razors that don't actually shave anything but . . . what they heck right? Its the level of quality we have come to expect. Honing a razor that will shave is prohibitively expensive, so I'm told. I would think, honestly, that someone with say, half of Lynns expertise honing razors all day would be a very high salaried employee.
If I've said it once I'll say it a hundred times the old X pattern we all love came about because the old razor hones were small and you had to use it. The newer larger hones don't require it. If I on rare occassion use a barbers hone I use the X pattern but most of the time I use either a 3 inch coticule or the Norton and I use a straight push pattern with the heel leading. It works fine for me so X fans put that in your pipe and smoke it!
I will, every time I sharpen my 'smiling' W&B.Quote:
Originally Posted by thebigspendur
X
Its not worth trying . . . absolutely either use a heal leading stroke or use the X pattern. Ofcourse most on here will tell you as long as you really don't believe in the cutting effect of striations it won't matter. Click your heels together too when you miss home.
Hey bigspender, I am on your team. I use the larger stones, I only push the blade as in slicing the hone. I keep the blade relatively in a 90 degree angle to the edge of the hone. It works for me. My razors like it, I like it and my face likes it. The final test is the shave and I pass the test everytime.
Now that I have one of Tony's 3" stropps, I stropp the same way. I pull and stay at 90 degrees.
I say hone as you like, but dont get caught up in hype. When shaved, the face is the judge and jury.
Most guys use either the classic X pattern or the heal leading stroke. It really depends on the size of your hone, the shape of your blade's edge and your personal preference.
The 90 degree straight across push is the least popular of the strokes.
But... try it and see how it works for you.
You got it backwards. The smaller stones were made to force X pattern on all blades, giving them slight curve on the blade, or "smile" which is more desired than straight edge for comortable shaving. You cannot maintain a, let's say nice old W&B meatchopper, or that purty TI Pierres hand forged, just pushing it straight along the 3" wide Norton... Just think, there was no problem for old barber's hones manufacturers to just add another inch lenght and width wise, and up the price for 1/3rd.Quote:
Originally Posted by thebigspendur
Nenad
Hi Nenad,Quote:
Originally Posted by superfly
I don't know if this is just a case of semantics, but rather than saying "they were made to force the X pattern" I would be inclined to say that barber hones were made small simply because it wasn't necessary to make them any larger. Their size is adequate to the task; besides they are easier to hold in the palm of the hand when honing which would be convenient for a barber who might not have workbench space in his small shop. Larger hones are no better or worse, but we should keep in mind that the modern 3" Nortons weren't designed originally with razors solely in mind; they were made for heavier and larger tools.
Hal
I'm with Hal on this one. Since the correct stroke was common knowledge the barber hones were made as small, light, and inexpensive as practical, IMO. I'd like to know how it goes with a 90 degree angle on the hone. I'd be even more pleased if someone else was the one to try it out...let us know how it goes.
Just to clarify the discussion here is not about the x pattern or heel leading, this is about a 90 degree angle.
BTW, Randy, nice to see you back . . .
I spent over a year practicing and learning to hone. I concluded that the x pattern works best, heal leading works pretty well, and a 90 degree angle works ok until you try to shave with it and then its more mediocre. But then I realize that it makes more sense to follow the guidance in books, even my little year means squat. Then I think, you know, I don't really know the true effect of any of this stuff that well. You could have a blade that needs 10 more passes to get sharp and decide at that moment to try an x pattern and BLAM its sharp and conclude that the x pattern (or whatever) is the best. And although I know that the heal leading approach works I find it doesn't work as well unless you work harder at lapping the stone more often. I have found you can sharpen a blade using the x pattern on a wicked bowled unlapped Norton because you run the blade over the edges of the bowled section (which we all know is higher).
I believe firmly in the effect of striations too, so I think that biases me against a 90 degree angle.
But I've also experimented (alot) and been told that back honing sucks and is only good at removing a burr, which I have concluded is crap. You do need to learn how to do it, what grit to use, when and most importantly why. Takes a lot of time to learn and then you get an incredible shave and your like "Hey, what a sec". That isn't supposed to work. But for me it sometimes works great, but more importantly, taught me two things (ok maybe three), one: it works and works well if you know what your doing and you know why, two: it does remove a burr, but later it does more than that, and three: were all just opinions here biased by our experiences of what worked for us at a given moment for a given razor.
Now I'm still not too worried about a video with a guy honing a razor in a factory. I've seen the product that comes out of the factory and it makes sense to me that the purchasor should be the one to apply the final bevel, grit choice, and striations based on his preference.
I guess I'm curious about two things: one, can we as a group agree on one preferred methodology of honing and stropping (and make it a sticky maybe?), two, should we as a group consider opening up an experimentation section and open threads like "HONING WITH A 90 DEGREE ANGLE" or "MAKING THE SMALLEST STRIATIONS POSSIBLE" and have guys post into them with their research? And allow others to open threads or reply based on their attempts at trying the idea?
Whether we agree or not, I hope we can all enjoy a good shave!Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
Hal
You bet . . . I spent a long time enjoying a bad shave too.
very true...Quote:
Originally Posted by halwilson
Nenad
This is exactly what I'm atarting to find as well in my eighth month of straight shaving.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
I sure hope not. It's the dissent, the difference of opinion that keeps me on my toes, keeps me learning new things and thinking about others.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
Isn't this what happens now?Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
X
First...
Randy... it's good to see you here again. Hope you are feeling better.
Okay... Without espousing a right or wrong way to do things, I will throw in maybe something else to ponder. I use a variety of methods. Maybe only cause I keep forgetting the right way to do it, and I'm hoping it'll come back to me by trying a different approach.
When I am making a knife, I change sanding directions with each succession of grit changes to make the steel polished. Changing directions with the smoother higher grit allows me to see if the previous rougher grit has been completely eliminated. I keep doing that until I get close to a mirror finish.
With that in mind, my little pea brain says that it should also work for honing. So, that's what I do. If I decide to just use hones instead of my machine, I may start with 800 grit in a 90 degree push that traverses the blade as I move down the stone. When I am satisfied that the edge is repaired, I will go to an X pattern with maybe a 1,000 grit.
When it's time for the 4,000 grit, I may lead the tip instead of the heel for both sides. Then on the subsequent 8,000 I will usually lead the heel first. This, theoretically, puts all the finer striations parallel to one another on each edge that angle from heel to tip at whatever angle the blade made the trip across the stone.
To really muddy the waters, here is something else. Unless the blade is a true "straight" with a square point, I will use a combo X / scythe stroke trying to insure all parts of the blade edge get the same amount of time on the stone.
If you think about it, pulling the blade straight across the stone in the X pattern puts the center of the blade in contact with the stone more than the heel or tip of the blade. Eventually, I'm thinkin' that could put a belly in the center. ???? Only if it is a true straight blade will the entire blade sit on the stone if it is placed heel to tip and drawn in an X pattern. That doesn't happen with a blade that has a smile.
My own goofy theory is that is one of the reasons the square point came about... it was easier to hone. The guys back in the early 1900's didn't have a forum like this in which to learn. And judging from all the razors I restore, most guys did not know how to hone a razor. I'd even guess that only 2 or 3 out of 10 knew how to hone properly
Something else for the striation defenders. In order for that very plausible theory to be absolute, wouldn't you have to strop the same way? That is... wouldn't you push the blade away from you on a strop with the tip leading, but then have to rotate the blade so the tip is still leading on the pull stroke?
Otherwise, if you strop tip away on the push and heel to you on the pull stroke, you have created the change in the direction of the striations between the stone and the strop on one side of the blade. Maybe the rounding of the striations slightly by the opposing stropping action is what gives us that good shave.
??????????? :D
When you take sandpaper to the blade in the direction of the grind the sandpaper scratches. When you sand the length of the blade it polishes. So wouldn’t make sense that the X pattern is used instead of going with the grind to polish the edge?
Glen
Interesting. I hope no one is of the impression that I'm trying to limit anyones fun or ability to do as they please. Come on now, I'm pretty open minded about anything that works. Now keep in mind that if I am a striation defender that I still believe that a razor can be sharpened up like crazy and give great shaves, even without striations being emphasized. But, I think you only have to shave with a properly striated, yet dull blade, once to realize how important striations are. But your experience with a super sharp blade should not discount striations, even if say they are more effective cutting long whiskers over short, or whatever.
Bill,
You are correct, the X pattern does create a belly. I refer to the 1961 barbers manual which specifically points this out. It also discusses the criticality of striations at length too (it is in our files section for anyone here who wishes to review it). So don't read too far into it, because it dispells alot of our unclear notions very quickly.
So, stropping is a good example. You suggest, I think that, well honestly I'm not sure what you were suggesting. Let me try and say this.
No.
Honing to create 45 degree angled striations does not mean you have to strop in an x pattern. I think this is just another one of the many falacious logic arguments we develop on here. My experience is that stropping straight works just fine. I have found no evidence that stropping needs to be done in an X pattern. We are not trying to straighten striation with stropping. All your doing is aligning the blade. Perhaps we are aligning the striated edge? An x pattern keeps the razor on the strop nicely but in my experience doesn't draw the blade well. I would think that the striations combined with a sharp blade is what creates the draw of the blade as we try to push it down the strop against the striations. After all, you can't eliminate them, right? There always there, despite everyone trying to eliminate them.
Secondly Bill, you say you put all the striations on the blade in wildy differing patterns. Some this way and some that way. Well your helping to prove the point, not discount it. Your striations still exist, and they are still at opposing angles to each other on each side of the blade. You've created, the ultimately striated blade. A bride of Soligen! :-) The point, clearly identified again in the barbers manual is that as you push the razor into a beard the striations on the top of the edge work against the striations at the bottom side of the blade and shear the whiskers as the blade moves through the beard. The variances in angle on a hone, although neat (as in tidy) are described to ensure the striations are not emplaced parallel to each other. Thats all that is required. If you create them in vastly differing directions your using striations to shave, perhaps even more than I am. Your blades shave well?
So, lets say for a minute that you do need to run the razor on the strop in an X pattern. So what? Does that ruin somebody's day? If thats the case then I'd like to know it, and I'd like to discuss why? I just wanna know . . .
And Mr. X, to you I wanna say ....
NO! We aren't!
LOL, sorry, I"m on a roll here.
If we were experimenting we'd all decide to try and create striations on the blade, any blade, all together and run atleast one razor that shaves well now and run it at a 90 degree angle down the hone and see, after say 40 laps, whether it still shaves well. Or, on your next Ebay purchase one of you would hone on 4K a little, striating at opposing angles, run to 8K for a few passes at opposing angles and continue until you get a razor that shaves. Or try this, just washboard the edge back and forth on the 8K hone at an angle to create good opposing striations. You'all who think that backhoning is so destructive to an edge would have to say that the blade won't shave well at all right? You'd be good candidates for this experiment, we could kill two birds with one stone. Don't forget to striate the other side now....no fair! Then, try and shave with it and see what you think. Does it suddenly stop shaving? What happens now if you run it a few passes forward to replace the edge? What happens when you mix the power of striations and the power of a sharp blade together? WoW!
OK, I'm just playing with you guys. Those of you who say you don't use striations are simply kidding yourself. There still on the blade doing yoemans duty on your whiskers, you just don't know it. Should they be as small as possible? Probably! But I find they work great when reapplied. Once, you understand whats happening on the blade I think it helps explain phenomenom like this better . . . why does a blade draw on a strop? Why shouldn't you use a 90 degree angle honing? Why does a completly sharp razor, having been run over .5 paste over and over again suddenly require a few passes on 4K to get it shaving again? You don't think .5 paste was removing metal all those months? Sure it does, and polishes down those striations too I should think!....
HA! Wheres that damn pipe now .... oh sorry, I gave up smoking 30 years ago.
OK, so if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Lets take down the barbers manual out of the files then, we don't need the darn thing. What do professionals know about their own tools anyway. We know better because . . . well, because . . .
because we say so! Yea! :-)
Oh, ranting is so much fun . . . hope your guys don't get mad, I'm just having fun here.
Bill,Quote:
Originally Posted by urleebird
Some very astute observations. Thanks. I can follow you about the X pattern, particularly when using a wider stone (i.e. where the whole blade is in contact with the hone at beginning of the stroke), but insofar as you know what your doing, don't you think there would be less of a tendency to put a belly in the centre of a blade using the X stroke on narrower barber hones? (Actually, on ebay, I tend to see more blades way over-honed toward the tip, than bowed in the centre).
I don't use the X stroke exclusively with my classic barber hones. The stroke I use depends on the blade's geometry, its degree of keenness and whether or not I'm at the sharpening or finishing stage. Sometimes, I need a "windshield wiper" pattern, a scythe pattern, "washboard style" strokes, back-honing strokes, circular and oval patterns, long strokes with the heel leading etc.. but I never use a blade at 90 degrees.
Hal
Alan,Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
I will definitely check this file out. Thanks. This is a terrific thread with lots of lively and informative discussion. I'd offer you a pipe Alan, but I too gave up the habit long ago.
Hal
Here it is Alan!Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
http://membres.lycos.fr/reno3000/lat...ndesimages.JPG
Cheers, Hal
If someone mention stirations again, I am comming there and slash you with your own favorite razor.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/image...Stirations.jpg
http://straightrazorpalace.com/image...irations_3.jpg
pics from pdf file, experiments on knife sharpening, by John D. Verhoeven
Emeritus Professor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Iowa State University
Ames, IA
Just cause I make a decent knife doesn't mean my word is gospel. I was only trying to add something else to the mix. I actually like everyone's theories. There's always room in my garage for improvement.
I think my only point in regards to the striation theory on the hone was that they don't match the typical stropping pattern. On one side of the blade the strop would form about a 60 degree crosshatch to the stiations being formed... no?
hey, no hard feelings, I was only teasing the stiration master, Alan ;) :):)
Now, being serious, the stirations on the blades sides are clearly visible, but on the very edge there are no stirations or fins... the magnification levels are prety descent, at 2000 and 3000x and the very edge width measures ~0.35- 0.4 microns (the same as your favorite comercial blade, if there is one:) ). I have tryed to upload bigger pics, but there are forum limitations...
I think the strop don't do else but straighten the possibly bent edge, like the one on your Pakistani experiment, and maybe act like scyte man?, hitting the very edge on the scyte with hammer, thus extending it and compressing the metal... There is also some silica in the leather, but I doubt that takes much metal at all...
Nenad
Hello Bill, thanks for the welcome back.:)
Just want to add my two cents to this thread.
I feel that by using either linen or leather ( pasted or not) with an edge trailing/heel leading motion results in the smoothing of the tops of the striation's. Wether(sp?) this is a result of just the abrasion or also from the heat generated I do not know. Many people have noticed that a razor feels better after have been stropped and shaved with a couple of times. I know that I certainly have.
Now, to your idea of alternating heal/toe leading strokes. I know with certainty that a toe leading stroke is awkward as hell ( I tried it some time ago). The major hesitation I have with this is that it may put to much stress on the edge of the razor and weaken it, thus making it more likely to develop a microchip. The reason I say this is that I have observed that by using either a 1000 grit hone to remove nicks or by using a 4000 grit hone and using a circular honing motion that I almost always have developed microchips on the edge when I move to a pyramid sequence.
Since I have stopped using the 1000 grit hone and have stopped using the circular honing motion( to remove chips in the blade) the incidence of microchips has been substantially reduced. My theory is that they just stress the steel to much.
I will go back into my cubbyhole now,:)
Quote:
Originally Posted by urleebird
Wow! All that excitement and not once did you guys pound on me. Well except for Nenad threatening to slice me up...but watch out buddy, I carry a 1911 daily...LOL.
I'm having trouble understanding the complexity of thought over striations and the relationship to honing/stropping. Are we in agreement that the strop lessens the striations at the edge and aligns the edge of the blade? I'm asking here, not stating any opinion, I honestly am not sure. In my opinion, in a classical honing sense (and I think most guys on here prefer a more modern, techno, sharpen till it can slice a knats wing honing) that the striations at the edge become almost tooth like and that these teeth become misaligned with each shave. The teeth are realigned with each stropping. I keep my razor so striated now that I think I can actually feel these teeth, so this makes sense to me.
What I have witnessed via microscope to be honest, completely baffles me. What it looks to me like is that the strop doesn't align jack. It looks to me like the leather strop smooths striated lines all over the blade edge. Or perhaps smooths the edges by adding a mixed striation pattern.
So I suppose we need to agree on what the strop is actually doing.
Randy, if what your saying is true does that mean that a slight bowing of the strop (and I mean very slight) is in fact good for the edge? Or rather that the natural slight bowing of the very tip of the edge against the strop is the action that makes this buffing down of the edge? Might this be why say 50 passes works better for you guys than say 5? I usually use about 5 but based on what your saying 50 or even 30 would be better. I've always thought I was just aligning stuff up and the fact that it only too 5 passes to get it aligned was just fine by me. What keeps the rest of the razor edge from getting buffed out?
It wouldn't surprise me if re-honing was simply a process of reapplying the striations to the blade (sorry Nenad)...
And that stropping is simply an aligning of the edge and a smoothing out of the striations, this is important, because this is what it appears to do...could stropping simply be a smoothing out of the striations?
Oh, and while were on the subject. Guys, guys, guys . . . I don't think honing a straight edge is the same as honing a DE razor (and wicked different then say a knife). What if . . . lets just say, that honing a straight razor were done just like a DE razor with pasted leather strops, say .5, then .25, then .125 and then you shaved with it for say ohhhhhhh a week . . . and then it needs rehoning. Doesn't that seem so coincidental to shaving with a DE which is honed the same way, and then thrown out at exactly the same point? Doesn't it then make sense that a razor, properly striated, could shave for months on end without honing and just use the strop? Or lets turn the question around backwards . . . given that a barber shaved 10 people a day with the same blade without touch up honing for a week wouldn't you surmise that he is using some other characteristic to cut the whisker?
What if the primary purpose of a barber hone is to add striations to the blade and not remove lots of metal? Ever seen an advertisement for a barber hone that says "Can not overhone the razor". . . Now why is it that they say that?
Yea, btw, good thread, and I hope that no one gets pissed at me...but I really do think there is something to this striation thing (sorry again Nenad).
I honestly think that honing at a 90 degree angle, or trying to maintain an edge indefinetly on .25 paste are two ways to discredit my theory. So all you guys that have experience doing this chime in ... or any one else for that matter. One of you guys has got to be dying by now to take a sharp blade and work on adding striations (its not as easy as saying it) and then strop down the striations, and then test shave, and see how long the edge lasts and see if you think its effective. I will tell you this, in my opinion, an edge that is well honed probably has too much metal removed at the edge to do this really well so a dull razor is what I would recommend. Convienent though, why striate a sharp blade.
My 2c are that I fail to see the stirations (slicing my finger with my 7/8 Henkels) on the SEM pictures on honed straight razor AND on DE blade.
Also, I dont believe that they exist at all, and the talk about "stirations" fail only on grit size, and it's ability to bring the two sides of the bevel to smallest point possible (.35 microns). The smaller the grit (and, let's say particles) that protrude from the hone, the finer this edge would be. Imagine, if you run 8000 grit sharp razor on 4000 grit hone, you will actually hit the .35 micron edge with larger particle than .35, and make it duller...
I have no idea if the razor would shave off the 4000N, but I have no desire to try either. I have fairly coarse beard, and my razors last about the same as DE blade would do, that's about 5-7 shaves. But have in mind that DE blade has two sides, so actually it is getting duller twice as fast...
Now, I am curious to try my barber hones, and completely sharpen one razor on them, and try to get "old school" edge on them. I am not sure if barbers did 10 or more people without honing between... I believe they touched a razor every 5 or so shaves, also they stropped between passes, which is what I do my last 3-4 shaves, and get really smooth feel.
The professional sharpeners were using Belgian yellow stones too, so that brings the theory about coarser edge back to drawing board, I guess :hmmm: ...
Nenad
Interesting . . .
No not 4k, too much for that. Just 8k or perhaps a barber hone,which could be even higher. The blade will shave just fine. Its not so much that you get a better shave, its that you can accomplish the same thing with much less work.
Your description of the edge and the .35 thing is cool. I need to think about that. I would think in your example the blade would get overhoned, not dulled.
Oh, Nenad, also, why is .35m the thinnest you can hone a blade?
So, ummmm just out of curiousity.
What do you guys make of this comment from the 1961 Barbers Manual;
"The razor must be stroked edge-first diagonally across the hone. This is to produce teeth with a cutting edge, which is a very important factor in increasing its cutting ability. The angle should be equal on both strokes, to insure that the teeth will be set at the same angle on both sides of the blade." (pg 22)
I think this whole argument about striations is really when you think about it elementary. The hone is not a really homogenious object but a physical item made up of essentually either artificially "glued" grits in a ceramic home or naturally glued grits in a rock, like a coticule. Sooo as the edge passes over the hone striations have to be produced as a consequence of and result of these disparate grits each scratching the metal. Whether you can see them or not makes no difference they are there.
As far as what the strop does I think its been taken as a given that it realignes the edge and puts that final smoothing on the edge which is why razors seem to be more comfy after a few stroppings. Leather is a flexible material and even holding the strop as taught as is possible there will still be some flex as the razor traverses it. So is it the leather or this flexibility that allows the strop to work its magic eh?
And as to the x pattern or heel leading or all the other variants that exist in honing I think this discussion really demonstrates that there is no one way to hone and that each person developes his own way which works with each razor and each person will defend to the death his own way of doing it and claim it is the best way. Everybody uses varying amounts of pressure even though they may claim not to and everyone to a degree will allow that edge to lift off the hone and everone will use a differing angle no matter how much they try to keep it uniform and from day to day these will change for the same people so what I'm getting to here is that there is no magic bullet here. Everyone can read and practice and theorize but in the end each must find his own way. If your traveling from San Diego to L.A there are many routes to take and each one is the best for each person but in the end you make it to L.A.
So now you can all take you pipes out and start puffing away.
I take it as ancient wisdom and don't question it too much. Whatever the microscope says, I can still feel the differtence on the edge from coarse to fine to wire edge. I'm willing to consider a more detailed explanation, but I still puzzle over it all to be honest.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
AS for stropping ... it would be good to know if there is actually any smoothing away of the striations/fins/teeth. If it is so, then we want to strop more after the hone and less just before we are getting ready to go back. As an observation though, I always notice an improvement in the cutting action after stropping regardless of how long it's been since I've gone to the hone. Admittedly, that's never too long.
X
Excellent point Alan. Although there may be many ways to get from LA to San Diego, perhaps the method (as outlined in the 1961 Barber's manual) is the shortest route to obtaining a good shaving edge. I had completely forgotten about this manual which I did read a couple of years ago with interest. I followed the instructions carefully (using a shorter stroke while keeping the angle equal on both sides) and my honing skills improved enormously. Having enjoyed such great success, I never questioned this issue of str---ions. Although I use many other strokes when establishing a bevel, I regularly finish off with an X stroke. Now, thanks to Alan's, Bill's and Nenad's comments (and everyone else who posted here), I'm rethinking all this again. Thanks guys.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
Hal
Here's something else to think about. Among my collection of classic barber hones, I have at least one official "barber school" hone. It is single grit and surprisingly among one of my coarser grits (coarse-med). I wondered why a professional barber school would have used such a hone to train its barbers? Why not a combination hone with a finer grit? I think Alan's comments offer the answer.
Hal
Then, consider I have done this experiment, since I strop and shave directly from the 8K for this past year, and it goes smooooth...Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
True, it would get overhoned, I just think overhoning happens not if you spend too much time on the hone, but also if you add some pressure to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
as for the .35m, beats me... :shrug: that's the exact measure that SEM measured on the DE blade and professionally honed razor (coincidence? I don't think so.) I think the razor's cutting motion is not ripping parts of the hair shaft, like in hand cutting with the hacksaw, but getting the edge between the layers of hair cells and splitting them apart. Teeth, or stirations have no business there...
Also, the comment from the barber's manual (I have that printed and laying on my work table for 5-6 months now) is likely the author trying to explain cutting on the basic level, not knowing how it actually goes. If you remember the "microscope" pictures (drawings infact) you will see a saw edge, with teeth, which don't exist on the real SEMicroscope images even at 2-3000x magnificationm on both DE blade and straight razor...
Nenad
I think these medium grits produce an edge which is almost impossible to nick yourself (or anyone else) with and offer surprising whisker cutting characteristics. Interestingly, they are easy to scyth with too.Quote:
Originally Posted by halwilson