Thread: Praxis

I read the shave wiki; I read hundreds of posts; I watched the videos. But a lesson really took hold during this morning's shave.

From the Library: "The easiest way to move a razor over the skin, is to guide it in a direction, perpendicular to the edge. As a result the razor “chops” the hairs, much like an axe chops a young branch off a tree, with one blow. Out of a physical viewpoint this way of severing something requires the most force and is the hardest on the cutting edge. By adding a slight rotating motion to the blade, the cutting action becomes more effective. For ages, farmers have been harvesting wheat with this very effective style of cutting with a tool called scythe. Adding a little scything style to the razor will allow a smoother cut, helps the longevity of the edge, prevents pull, helps to prevent the blade form being stopped by stubborn whiskers, and might do more for your shaves’ closeness than boosting the actual keenness of the blade. A word of caution: scything in combination with a too steep cutting angle, is a perfect recipe for slicing into the skin."

I consciously focused on scything and what a difference it made. The passes felt smoother, cleaner, more fluid and efficient. The motion helped with some of my problem areas, around the Adam's apple, and under the chin. I didn't use too much lateral motion, but allowed just my thinking about it to ease the blade slightly. It even helped, though it was much trickier, ATG and XTG. I still have to do a little clean up with my cartridge razor, but this was my closest to complete shave yet.

Cheers,

Jack

P.S.: Razor: Mastro Livi New Grind, Bois de Rose scales (honed on Yaginoshima J-Nat, stropped on 2" wide steer hide); Prep: Hot Shower, Truefitt & Hill Pre-Shave Oil, Hot towel; Cream: Truefitt & Hill Sandalwood Shave Cream; Brush: Crowely & Toft Silver Tip Badger; After: L'Occitane Cade Juniper Shave Balm.

I'll focus on this scythe cutting action for tonight's shave. Thanks for the tip!

Originally Posted by Speedster

I'll focus on this scythe cutting action for tonight's shave. Thanks for the tip!

Two cents more: the scything motion made me appreciate the importance of my pre-shave oil, and the cushion of well-lathered cream. I might not have acted so confidently had it not felt like I had these two elements on my side.

Cheers,

Jack

I generally use pre-shave oil, and as for lather, I'm participating in a blind shaving cream test over at B&B with a shaving buddy of mine. Tonight it's sample #2, 4 or 6. I'm not sure what I'll be using, but he hasn't sent me any garbage so far. Heck, sample #1 was The Gentlemens Refinery Black Ice. Lovely stuff! I will be generous with tonight's sample to ensure a good shave.

/Mark

Scything is the technique that has helped me move to a straight exclusively. For the longest time I had to do against the grain and touch ups with a DE or my neck would wear the scars all day. It's really helped with my neck to get better shaves without the irritation. Makes sense. Chefs use a slicing motion because a blade cuts better when move in two directions at once. Same goes for shaving.

Charlie

I do a quasi scythe when I shave, as I bring the razor down the stroke, I "pivot" it slightly on the heel... Makes a difference but I still have problems doing it on my neck

For my neck I get a better result with a scything or guillotine stroke, as the hair grows from the center to the sides and slightly down. I can't do a comfortable exact ATG here, so learning to move the blade in different directions really helped. Of course, I'm still not perfect (far from!) but I'm definitely a lot further along than I was even a month or so ago (or so I like to tell myself...)

Good going!
Sounds like a great shave indeed!

I don't think I do a single straight stroke during my shaves.
Some kind of scything or guillotine motion are used on every single stroke to some extent.

That said, I would not necessary recommend it for novice shavers.
It is real easy to get cuts and nicks if one is not confident in the strokes, and proficient with the blade in hand.

I kinda eased into the whole guillotine and scything strokes over the course of a half a year or so.