Thread: Shorter Blade?

This might sound like a bad thing to do to a blade,but what do you think of the idea of shortening a blade so that it fits better when doing a xtg pass on the neck area? I ask because I remember seing a little blade on a video about Mastro Livi.

I think my favorite shaver might be one that was shortened. it is just over 2" if I remember right, a hair under 2.25 maybe. but the shorter length makes it really manuevrable. I'm very happy with it every time I use it, even the times I cut myself (incredibly sharp and has a spike point).

On that livi IMHO those scales don't do that price justice. 1.5 is really short, I'd have to handle one that size before I were to pay out any money. might be too small for my hand.

Red

On second thoughts It would be fiddly to handle being so small it was just a thought.

my first razor was a 5/8 with an edge of 1.75 inch
made me feel safer in use
now i use a longer blade 2.75 longe and bigger 6/8 or 7/8

I believe that was exactly a purpose for this blade

I think if you skew the blade enough it would serve your purpose without having to shorten the blade. For me the best blade for side attack in the neck area is a smiley shape and the length has never been a limiting factor. Very straight blades make this type of pass difficult for my face. There have been lots of mention as to the scything motion or as I call it skewing the blade that allows for a long blade to pass over a narrow footprint IMHO.
Naurally, what works well on one person to the next is so subjective as we are all different in our facial features your idea could be excellent for you.
Mike

This is the wrong idea. I have a similar problem and thought this way, but let me confess that my 2" Traveler razor doesn't work as well as my 3"+ Wm. Greaves & Sons. Why? The Traveler has a dead flat edge and the Greaves has a smiling edge. Getting in the tight corners is all in the smile.

X

[edit] I see Kingfish agrees with me.

I think length is an issue of preference. I do agree that a smiler makes getting into tighter areas much easier, and I tend to prefer larger blades myself. That said, I recently picked up a bunch of razors that had been slightly shortened and had their toes shaped somewhere between square and round (I call them oval points). I found that I quite liked the way these blades shaved. They felt very nimble (due to their size and full hollow grind), and were quite easy to manuver around my face. Too bad they didn't also have smiles...

I have a The Mab razor. 4/8" wide and 2,5" long. I thought it would be easier on the neck but I was wrong. During my first shave I discovered why almost all razors are 3". A smiling blade does make a difference. It shaves fine and it's great for some other spots (unibrow for example), but it's not really a daily shaver.

The thing about the ones which seem to be made for the purpose of trimming is that they usually have small handles as well. Shortening one which was previously of a standard length would give you scales which are easier to handle.
I probably just need to practice and improve my shaving technique. After all, it wasn't that long ago that I couldn't for the life of me, get a smooth chin even after scraping it red raw.