Thread: is it incorrect to say "WIth SR shaving, I'm SCRAPPING the whiskers from my face?"

or, am i not doing that"?

Yes, I think that would be incorrect.

If you are in fact "scraping" then you need to get your razor honed. These razors are literally designed to cut so as for a literal meaning, your statement is incorrect IMO. But, as an expression, I believe in the old days (1700's) a shaved man was often described as having a scraped face if he were shaven.

Yes, that would be incorrect. What you would rather say is that you are reducing the length of the hair as much as possible. This takes place over the course of 2-4 passes, generally starting with the grain, then across the grain, then against the grain. You should never feel as though the razor is scraping your whiskers off, if it feels this way you either need to stop shaving dry (joke, to the left ), or get that razor honed!

Can I take this and put waaaaaaaaaaay too much thought into it? Okay, thanks.

First, I don't think we should describe it like that because (whether it's correct or not) it paints an inaccurate picture. The ideas associated with scrapping usually include force, labor, rough finishes, unpleasant sounds, and just a mess in general. None of those are accurate in describing a proper straight shave.

Now, is it correct? I'd have to say no, but only technically. If our hair was a solid layer of "film" on our skin, or if we were "shearing" the hair (think of holding the razor at a 90* angle to your skin) off our skin it would be different.


But then if your around a bunch of woodworkers who use handtools like finishing scrappers or planes.....................

If you are using proper technique you would indeed be incorrect to make such a statement. If not, then you have my condolences.

If you meant "scrapping" as to "Scrap" then yes we are scrapping the facial hair or "Scrapping the hair on our face" (but not necessarily "scrapping the hair from our face")

Yet if you meant "scraping" as to "Scrape" then I'd argue that scraping is more of an abrasion or abrasive action that removes an outer (sometimes superficial) layer from an object. I don't think that proper shaving would be considered abrasive nor is facial hair the outer layer of your skin.

I suppose if you held the razor at too high of an angle you would be scraping skin and lather off your face. I'm guessing any hair removal at this angle could be considered pulling or fraying the hair but not scraping.

The razor is actually cutting (or slicing) the hair, reducing the hair length with each pass, and scooping the lather. So I don't think scraping would be an accurate description, even as much as it causes a scraping sound.

I would say I started out scraping, then with lots of practice, finally have started shaving my face. If you are thinking you are scraping your face, I would suggest lowering your angle, atleast it worked for me. At first it was almost as if I were ripping the whiskers from my face, way too steep of an angle.