Thread: Missed (a perfect shave) by that much!

Excellent. Glad to hear it's going well, perhaps you should, in the name of science wind back the variables until you find out why. Or maybe not

In the name of Science, I wonder if there has been something of a blind taste test done with razors/hones, combinations? I would think the answer would be yes even though there are obstacles to shaving blind with a straight razor. But the possibilities of demythologizing are vast...but actually now that I am thinking of it, I like the myths.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

Excellent. Glad to hear it's going well, perhaps you should, in the name of science wind back the variables until you find out why. Or maybe not

Originally Posted by edhewitt

Excellent. Glad to hear it's going well, perhaps you should, in the name of science wind back the variables until you find out why. Or maybe not

All I do at work is test and retest in a world of imperfect and insufficient data. At home I am tickled to use intuition or just fly by the seat of my pants.

Jimbo nailed down my nemesis in this discussion. Whisker grain on my neck is east & west, growing outward from the windpipe. Up or down strokes are easy and do equally well but ATG on my neck is out of the question. It appears the best results on this curved, hard to reach landscape is (for me) all about:

1. a series of simultaneous heel-leading, inward, downward, diagonal guillotining strokes finishing with a touch of scythe near the collar; and
2. inward, upward, diagonal guillotining strokes finishing with a touch of scythe along the jawline and under the chin; while
3. minding the point doesn't bite me somewhere out there.

It's a lighthanded balancing act. Developing this coordinated movement was a gradual result of simpler skills building and everything else not working; I didn't decide, "OK. Gotta work on this move." Steering a razor, especially one with a point, in three dimensions (or four, if you include watching the time) has taken months of practice. I don't think someone could have shown or explained this to me a month ago with any benefit.

Anyhow, my shave skills suddenly took a jump-step much to my surprise. It is, indeed, the journey, not the destination. What a pleasant thing a shave can be.