Thread: How to Scythe?

Utopian...I, personally, have sliced that shit out of myself using this stroke! OH......am I allowed to use s..t?


LOL


Take Care,
Richard

Originally Posted by riooso

If your posting dates denotes your actual time using a straight....your a big boy

Oh no no, I've been shaving with a straight for about a month now.

I agree that the guillotine stroke works better with a straight razor than a scythe stroke. The razor is flat, unlike a scythe. I like to use the guillotine stroke on my throat, between the middle and the sides of my neck. This seems to be the best way to reduce the hair to smoothness in that area, it even works better than shaving ATG in that spot. Everyone's beard grows in different directions though, so this may not work good for everybody.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I guess I don't understand the concern about the safety of this stroke. To my mind, because it cuts better, this will result in a cleaner smoother stroke and for that reason is more safe, not more dangerous. I would never slice a tomato by pushing the blade straight down and I would never shave that way either.

I feel the same. As long as you aren't sliding the blade completely parallel to the edge, you aren't going to be cutting yourself. This motion prevents pulling, is easier on the blade increasing longevity of the sharp edge, and gives me a better shave. No reason not to do it on any pass.

Of course, if you are new to shaving or new to the stroke you want to be careful but it isn't exactly brain surgery.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I guess I don't understand the concern about the safety of this stroke. To my mind, because it cuts better, this will result in a cleaner smoother stroke and for that reason is more safe, not more dangerous. I would never slice a tomato by pushing the blade straight down and I would never shave that way either.

Safety is from the slices some folk give themselves.
Shaving is a balance between cutting whiskers but no flesh.
I think of shaving as spaghetti, celery or carrot sticks sticking
out of jello.

Looking at a clock the line of the razor is 9 to 3 and
the stroke is Noon to 6.

If you tilt the razor 9:15 to 3:15 or slightly more extremely
tilt the razor 9:30 to 3:30 i.e. just a bit of an angle
then shave again noon to 6 some whiskers slice better.

There will be crazy people that go further and hold the blade
closer to 10:30 and 4:30. But that is asking to get sliced
in my opinion. Anyone that does this is CRAZY.

Surf the web and look at some of the slant DE razors
images out there. With a slant the blade is tilted just
a bit and catches the whiskers at an angle. That
small angle that a slant DE has when translated to
a str8 is about right, IMO.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

+1 ..... the guillotine is the way to go.

This is the best stroke at slicing hair close to the skin.

Just for yuks, I decided to settle this for myself, with an
experiment:

1) using my "worst" razor (one I honed myself ), and
2) right side, scythe; left side, guillotine
3) single WTG pass
4) all else, normal (prep, etc).

Result? Right side is noticably closer to BBS.

Scythe wins....but, as others have said, this is not a
stroke for rookies!

Be very careful!

Originally Posted by PaulKidd

1) using my "worst" razor (one I honed myself ), and
2) right side, scythe; left side, guillotine
3) single WTG pass
4) all else, normal (prep, etc).

OK, what do you consider to be a scything stroke?

Utopian....As I understand it, and as I performed it:

Guillotine = N-S stroke, heel leading

Scythe = N-S + slight E-W, heel leading

+1 on Scything!

Excellent description of Scything.

Later,
Richard