Thread: Barbers notch

Our story continues, as "Lefty" McKensington became a source of much razor misinformation that is with us to this day. Let's take a look, shall we?

Before his "barber's notch bottle opener incedent" he had actualy been a quite skilled barber capable of a BBS shave for even the most wire-bearded of customers, with nary a nick or irritation.

He did invent bay rum aftershave, but was so inebriated at the time, he failed to patent the special blend, and soon enough other establishments began copying his olfactory innovation.

As has been seen, old Lefty had fallen from grace, and had started hitting the sauce pretty hard. He also began putting in a bit too much of the rum in his bay rum aftershave! The stuff was close to 100proof. He did this to alleviate having to keep track of which bottles were for drinking, and which were for aftershave. He wanted to have swig close at hand, so he made them all high-alcohol content. It was like a giant mojito, except with bay leaves and spices instead of mint. Lefty wasn't too particular by that time...

Well, after a particularly close shave, he was dashing some of his newfangled bay rum on his client, and the fellow about jumped out of his chair. "Gosh-Dangit, Lefty! That stuff about set my face afire!"

"Keep yer shhirt on, young feller....*hic*, it washn't the aftershhhhhhave that gave ya that burning shenshation.. *hic* , take a lookey here....see? That there is a canvas strop, and when I commence to stropping my razooooor on there, it heats the edge, ya see? Friction, my boy, friction....kids today, they jusht don't pay attention.....what was I saying? *hic* Anyhows, that canvas strop heats up the blade so as I can shave ya like a hot knife through buttah, I guess I shoulda let it cool off a touch afore giving you a shave, as you apparently are one of those 'thin skinned' gentlemen, and I musta scalded ya..."

"Did I just see you drink some of my aftershave?" the customer replied, aghast...



So, there you have it, that's where the lie of the canvas strop heating the edge came from originally. Other barbers began to use the excuse as well when they had a customer complain of burning or irritation,and thus it became legend...



You just go and try to find THAT kind of real world info on the Wiki, or search function!

Originally Posted by Quick

Nahhh, it's a self correcting/balancing thing. As long as you have an influx of newbies there will always be someone willing/wanting to impart information that they have just acquired. It gives everyone a chance to contribute. If almost all the population has moved past it and skip it then the poster will probably revert to putting more time and effort into a more extensive search. As long as older members continue to deal with more advanced/new issues and topics they remain for that. You know, like waiting on... who was it? ... to post further results and observations on something like a ceramic razor

Well I'm in phase #2 of the ceramic razor testing...


I'm letting it sit on my desk, unoiled, to see how long it will take to rust.

Ya know, I was thinking if you can get a ceramic razor edge to 1 micron (way too sharp?) is it just beyond resonalbe capability to get it to 2 or 3 or 4 or whatever microns or round it to something ideal for shaving? The edge would last almost forever wouldn't it?

Originally Posted by Quick

Ya know, I was thinking if you can get a ceramic razor edge to 1 micron (way too sharp?) is it just beyond resonalbe capability to get it to 2 or 3 or 4 or whatever microns or round it to something ideal for shaving? The edge would last almost forever wouldn't it?

The idea of the "too sharp" ceramic razor is a lie concocted by Kyocera because they didn't want to make razors (perhaps a descendant on "Lefty' McKensington works there now). I think it is because they perhaps made one, not knowing how to use a straight in the first place, they cut themselves, and then figured it was because the razor was "too sharp".

My razor is honed to 0.1um, and yet it did not cleave through my face, nor did it do such a good job at cutting whiskers. Although upon further reflection I may need to re-adjust my shave angle (steeper)...

And to keep the discussion on-topic, ny ceramic razor does not have abarber's notch, although perhaps that's what is keeping it from greatness!

Originally Posted by Joed

Thanks Quick. I know for a fact that when I only had a few months in the group I was very happy to reply to threads just as this one and came to the same realization after pondering my post above. Maybe it's the winter fatigue setting in that is making me so grouchy. Lately some of the posts have just been setting me off like "Can you suggest a good Tony Miller Strop?" when there has just been a lot of new threads in the past few weeks addressing just that topic. Not saying the person asking is wrong for asking, just lazy or lost any my feeling is why should I spend my time on this if he isn't willing to spend the time to look. Like I say, probably just the winter fatigue, but from a lot of the replies in this post and others, it looks like the 'fatigue' is spreading.

lol, turning into an old grump I see. If I hadn't posted the repeat (which I was sure at the time was a repeat) I would have missed this.


(see below)

Originally Posted by Seraphim

The idea of the "too sharp" ceramic razor is a lie concocted by Kyocera because they didn't want to make razors (perhaps a descendant on "Lefty' McKensington works there now). I think it is because they perhaps made one, not knowing how to use a straight in the first place, they cut themselves, and then figured it was because the razor was "too sharp".

My razor is honed to 0.1um, and yet it did not cleave through my face, nor did it do such a good job at cutting whiskers. Although upon further reflection I may need to re-adjust my shave angle (steeper)...

And to keep the discussion on-topic, ny ceramic razor does not have abarber's notch, although perhaps that's what is keeping it from greatness!

lol

Originally Posted by stdreb27

lol, turning into an old grump I see. If I hadn't posted the repeat (which I was sure at the time was a repeat) I would have missed this.


(see below)





lol

I'm an old grump on a good day. Ya don't want to see me when I really have something to complain about.

Thing is most never see it coming and usually can't trace it back to me.

Originally Posted by Stuggi

The problem with most forum software is that the search function is so terribly bad at bringing you relevant information (since it just searches for a word and doesn't rank the information that much). One way around this is to use Google to search this site, which works quite well, or we should get all important info up on the wiki!

This one was added to the Wiki's FAQ article a couple of days ago

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

This one was added to the Wiki's FAQ article a couple of days ago

Whoa...WHOA NOW, Matey!

You are stating as fact in the Wiki that the barber's notch is there for opening the razor, and yet there is no certainty as to that actually being the reason why it is there!

I think that it should read as:

I is commonly believed that the barber's notch is there to assist in the opening of the razor.

However, there may be other explanations as to it's origins and use, as the original intent may be lost in antiquity, and it may in fact be only a stylistic addition to the razor.

A razor can just as easily be opened with one hand by flipping a finger on the monkey tail.

C'mon, I need to hear more! Does "Lefty" move from bay rum onto the hard stuff - Barbicide?

Originally Posted by Joed

I'm an old grump on a good day. Ya don't want to see me when I really have something to complain about.

Thing is most never see it coming and usually can't trace it back to me.

You should go watch Grand Turino. I aspire to be that good of a grumpy old man...