Thread: Many questions with straight shaving?

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Instead of using straight razor as same axe to chop woods use it as saw. Edge will stress a lot less.

Sham, I don't think you're describing scything here. I think what you describe is closer to guillotining. The two are shown here.

Encouraging anyone to use a sawing action is dangerous. If you saw with a straight you're asking to lose parts of your face. I think we should rephrase it. It's more of an Oblique Stroke.

Originally Posted by ben.mid

Sham, I don't think you're describing scything here. I think what you describe is closer to guillotining. The two are shown here.

Encouraging anyone to use a sawing action is dangerous. If you saw with a straight you're asking to lose parts of your face. I think we should rephrase it. It's more of an Oblique Stroke.

Ben i was hoping i was clear.
Have you ever seen anyone use DE as axe and chop the hairs on their face?
Axe and saw was just example to make people understand easier.
I really thought everyone knows what i mean by scything motion.
saw will go forward and backward.
straight razor using scything motion will be just one side motion.(or you call it Oblique stroke)
it could be both ways.
forward if someone else shaves you or backward mostly if you are shaving yourself.
i thought it was clear when i mean scything motion.
hope this clear now.

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Ben i was hoping i was clear.
Have you ever seen anyone use DE as axe and chop the hairs on their face?
Axe and saw was just example to make people understand easier.
I really thought everyone knows what i mean by scything motion.
saw will go forward and backward.
straight razor using scything motion will be just one side motion.(or you call it Oblique stroke)
it could be both ways.
forward if someone else shaves you or backward mostly if you are shaving yourself.
i thought it was clear when i mean scything motion.
hope this clear now.

Sham,
I got what you mean, those of us that have seen a scythe in motion should know.
Even in the link provided the scything motion is illustrated in the animation there.

Originally Posted by ben.mid

Sham, I don't think you're describing scything here. I think what you describe is closer to guillotining. The two are shown here.

Encouraging anyone to use a sawing action is dangerous. If you saw with a straight you're asking to lose parts of your face. I think we should rephrase it. It's more of an Oblique Stroke.

I was always under the impression that the scything method was the guillotine method. Now I know that the two are different.

I always use the guillotine stroke, but I see that scything is almost slightly circular. Is this correct?

Originally Posted by Fbones24

I always use the guillotine stroke, but I see that scything is almost slightly circular. Is this correct?

To scythe, you are forming an arc with the tip of the razor, while the heel remains at the centre of what you're describing as a circle.

Originally Posted by ben.mid

To scythe, you are forming an arc with the tip of the razor, while the heel remains at the centre of what you're describing as a circle.

Thank you for that, I guess Arc would be a perfect word to describe that. I could not think of it at the time, so I went with circle.

I found that after several shaves I started to do both Scything and Guillotine strokes naturally.

My scything strokes aren't on a fixed pivot as what I believe Ben.Mid described... but are similar to the guillotine in that the heel moves at an angle across the stroke and the toe travels in an arc faster than the heel. I find I use these strokes on/under the chin and in the hollows next to my adam's apple.

I guillotine on my cheeks and the flats of my throat... angled strokes that heel and toe stay in the same plane... no rotation.

As Sham rightly pointed out... it's all about technique. As my technique improves, my shaves get better and better. Every shave improves my technique just so... I'm in this for the long haul, no questions.

Originally Posted by OiRogers

I found that after several shaves I started to do both Scything and Guillotine strokes naturally.

My scything strokes aren't on a fixed pivot as what I believe Ben.Mid described... but are similar to the guillotine in that the heel moves at an angle across the stroke and the toe travels in an arc faster than the heel. I find I use these strokes on/under the chin and in the hollows next to my adam's apple.

I guillotine on my cheeks and the flats of my throat... angled strokes that heel and toe stay in the same plane... no rotation.

As Sham rightly pointed out... it's all about technique. As my technique improves, my shaves get better and better. Every shave improves my technique just so... I'm in this for the long haul, no questions.

I did too, naturally that is...I think for everyone, when they learn there face, You do what works best...I was confused about the scything motions af first too, then I realized, I actually do it...

I don't know if this is good advice for guys just starting out. Newbies really need to learn the angle first, otherwise you can really slice the He** out of yourself...

The straight will cut you badly if you allow the blade to move in a direction parallel to the edge. This must be avoided. A scything motion that fixes one end of the blade so that the blade rotates in a circular arc will, by definition, prevent motion parallel to the edge, because either the heel or toe is fixed.

Think of a string with one end pinned to a piece of paper, moving the other end of the string cannot allow any motion towards or away from the pin. I think this scything motion is much less scary than an oblique stroke because it will protect you, provided you keep one end of the razor as a fixed pivot point.

Wake up thread,,, Wake Up !!!