Thread: To Scythe or not to scythe...

I'm in the scything camp. There are some strokes I need to make that just would not be possible without it. I don't think I have ever tried had the goal of using scything to reduce my shave to one pass. I will give that some experimentation. But I can tell you if you have the dexterity to comfortably and safely pull it off, scything is a great tool to have in your bag of tricks - JMHO also.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

the article is describing the straight-down stroke there to contrast with the forthcoming description of the scything stroke. I think it's a little confusing. Since we don't use the wiki-talk pages, I suppose a rewrite could be discussed here

Sorry, I mis-read (mis-thought) that and didn't notice that is was a contrast not a comparison.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I've never seen that part before. The analogy is flawed in that an axe stroke cuts straight into a tree and it does not correspond with the cutting angle of a scything stroke.

Hmmm - I don't think I, or anybody I have seen, chop straight into a tree. It is always at an angle to create a wedge shaped cut.

Jimmy; That's exactly how I got my nick, blade angle and not paying attention. Everything going along smooth, zap. Got a little scar to remind me now. Oh well, it adds character. I'll make up some macho story about how I got it.

Originally Posted by Alembic

Hmmm - I don't think I, or anybody I have seen, chop straight into a tree. It is always at an angle to create a wedge shaped cut.

This is the problem with describing the scything stroke. It's difficult to make clear which axis of the 3D plane is being described. Yes the axe hit is at alternating angles to produce a wedge cut, but no slicing motion is done. That was the "straight" chop that I meant.

I have yet 2 c how this works exactly

There is a very good video on youtube somewhere where a barber is showing a student how to shave a client with a person in the chair. He goes on to explain how to stroke the razor on their face explaining the scything motion and how the razor was designed to use this stroke. He goes on to explain that you should slice with the razor moving downward (Wtg) while moving the razor forward with the toe leading.

Been working for me since and it gives a better shave than just moving straight through the hair.