Thread: Analysis of the Scythe and Guillotine Cuts. Spoiler: they are the same thing.

Originally Posted by Utopian

OK, go ahead and do that, but the analysis can also be done with a knife and a tomato. Around here people call the scything motion a rotational motion. I don't agree with that definition as it does not match the motion of a scythe blade's motion relative to the grass it is cutting. For the guillotine motion, which I consider to be the same as a scything motion, the horizontal blade is moved down in a toe or heel leading North West to South East motion with the blade held horizontal. In other parts of the Wiki the guillotine is when the blade is held in a NW to SE orientation and then is moved straight down.

Regardless of any semantics or mathematical analyses, everyone knows that a tomato is better cut with a slicing motion rather than a straight down motion. Shaving works the same way.

Tomayto
Tomahto

Ah my friend, once again your White Whale has reared it's ugly head - I'm just sayin.

OMG! This is going to get ugly!


I am not being a wise ass when I say I really love this thread. It is going to be a good learning experience for me.


Take Care,
Richard

Originally Posted by riooso

OMG! This is going to get ugly!

No, it won't.

I apologize to the OP (I'm not going to try to spell out your username!). I work in a scientific field (and also I'm a bit of an @ss) and I have a habit of being confrontational with insufficient tact. I usually don't intend anything personal by it and certainly didn't this time. As Alembic mentioned, I've "discussed" the scythe issue before. Apparently, I'm one of the few on here that has used an actual scythe, so I seem to be one of the few who grasps the actual cutting stroke of a scythe. For that reason, I have continued to disagree with the idea of the shaving stroke being rotational.

Einstein worked out many of his greatest achievements with thought experiments that he later elaborated upon with mathematical explanations. I'll stick with my tomatos but I'd be glad to see your mathematical analyses!

Originally Posted by Utopian

No, it won't.

I apologize to the OP (I'm not going to try to spell out your username!). I work in a scientific field (and also I'm a bit of an @ss) and I have a habit of being confrontational with insufficient tact. I usually don't intend anything personal by it and certainly didn't this time.
analyses!

Gotta love Utopian's honesty.........

It's great that we have so many Scientists, Chemists, Engineer's, Wordsmith's, etc...on here..definitely makes things interesting. I've seen Manifesto's on treating strops for cryin out loud.....

Anyway, what it all boils down to for me, is what works best for you, if you find tips here along the way, cool....
I know when the day is done, I get kick ass shaves.
What I do, works for me, Tomaote, Tomato......

check this one out and may help .

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-6589063...0_2091_8715077

Originally Posted by Alembic

Ah my friend, once again your White Whale has reared it's ugly head - I'm just sayin.

Are you calling him a Moby Dick?

Originally Posted by Shoki

Are you calling him a Moby Dick?

More Ahab I think ...... I'd rather be Ishmael.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I apologize to the OP

Your apology is not necessary in the least (although I certainly accept it in the spirit it was offered). We were hammering out some terms more than anything else, I think. And in any event, critical discussions are the hallmark of science!

I think the most important message from my first post is to not get caught up in semantics - if one way or another you are carving out a parallelogram shape in your cream, you are using a slicing stroke, and that is good.

The rotational scything stroke is a whole 'nother ball of wax. What advantages it brings is a much more sophisticated question, and I am not yet ready to offer conclusions. I do think that calling the rotational stroke a scything stroke creates all kinds of problems psychologically, in that the mechanics of shaving are radically different than that of cutting grass. But again, I will have to return to that at a later date.

Then for real fun, I'll tackle smiling blades...

Originally Posted by ixtapalapaquetl

I think the most important message from my first post is to not get caught up in semantics - if one way or another you are carving out a parallelogram shape in your cream, you are using a slicing stroke, and that is good.

Exactly right. It took me a considerable period of time to figure the strokes out. I posted a thread on it and called it the scything stroke. I was told that I was mistaken, it was the guillotine stroke. Whatever a person wants to call it, the stroke is very effective. Still, it would be a good thing to come to a conclusion on nomenclature to avoid confusion within the forum and the SRP Wiki.

I find the guillotine stroke particularly effect when there is no fetch of skin with which to get a straight or slicing stroke started. For instance, shaving the bottom lip.

The scything motion works well for me in tight spots where you need precise cutting on thin skin- such as the lower neck near the Adam's apple. It allows me to use one of my razor holding fingers as an anchor and fulcrum point, thereby employing a rotary action which is again, more precise. At least that is my understanding of the sycthing motion.

Thanks for the posts. It's good to see a discourse like this to remind me this is an art and not a science.