Gillette slide with a straight ?

[LordTyranus]

Sorry if this topic has been discussed already, I saw this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWk4XUkDI90

this guy finishes his shave with some kind of a Gillette slide with his straight razor. One must be very confident with his technique to attempt such a pass.

Do some of you do this kind of pass too ?

 

[shavewithbigelow]

I do a pass like that, but rather than coming down and sliding I go up and slide towards my chin.

 

[mparker762]

this guy finishes his shave with some kind of a Gillette slide with his straight razor. One must be very confident with his technique to attempt such a pass.

Do some of you do this kind of pass too ?

Sure. It was a standard shaving technique in the barber manuals, back when King Gillette was but a twinkle in his Dad's eye. Gillette happened to discover that it works with DE's and put it in his instructions, but that doesn't make it his...

Edit: Along with blade buffing, J-hooking, scything, etc. Nihil sub sole novum, &c.

 

[CloseShave]

He has good blade technique but does not stretch his skin much with the opposite hand. I find the shave is much closer when doing so. My passes are very similiar.

 

[bluefoxicy]

Sorry if this topic has been discussed already, I saw this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWk4XUkDI90

this guy finishes his shave with some kind of a Gillette slide with his straight razor. One must be very confident with his technique to attempt such a pass.

Do some of you do this kind of pass too ?

In the extreme. My closest shaves come from a difficult maneuver where I draw the blade almost across the skin, but do give some minimal movement. Maybe an inch down and 3 inches movement of the blade horizontal.

This encourages pressure, unfortunately. If the blade catches at all, the feel in your hand will encourage you to move it into the cut; it's easy to surgically separate the skin in this manner and I've done so popping arm hairs. If you keep the blade at absolutely no pressure and an extremely shallow angle it'll work; but it's best to not try.

It's actually the same motion I use to hack through meat cleanly.

 

[mparker762]

The safest way to do that type of diagonal stroke is with the tip leading. That way if the blade catches on something then the blade will tend to rotate so it's more perpendicular to the direction of travel so its harder to slice yourself. Whereas if you do it with the heel leading then if it snags it will tend to rotate so its more parallel with the direction of travel, which means it's very prone to a nasty slice.

 

[Bertilak]

Sure. It was a standard shaving technique in the barber manuals, back when King Gillette was but a twinkle in his Dad's eye. Gillette happened to discover that it works with DE's and put it in his instructions, but that doesn't make it his...

Edit: Along with blade buffing, J-hooking, scything, etc. Nihil sub sole novum, &c.

Ditto.

A slicing action cuts better and results in smoother motion because of that. A delicate touch is important. I expect that if a newbie just dives in and tries this "There Will Be Blood".

Best to learn the maneuver on an easy place (WTG cheek) before doing it somewhere with lots of soft skin and compound curves (ATG neck).

 

[bluefoxicy]

A slicing action cuts better and results in smoother motion because of that. A delicate touch is important. I expect that if a newbie just dives in and tries this "There Will Be Blood".

Best to learn the maneuver on an easy place (WTG cheek) before doing it somewhere with lots of soft skin and compound curves (ATG neck).

I'm a nightmare because of this. I figured this out on my own, on my neck, when I still couldn't shave with the Feather without cutting myself in 3 places.

 

[Bertilak]

The safest way to do that type of diagonal stroke is with the tip leading. That way if the blade catches on something then the blade will tend to rotate so it's more perpendicular to the direction of travel so its harder to slice yourself. Whereas if you do it with the heel leading then if it snags it will tend to rotate so its more parallel with the direction of travel, which means it's very prone to a nasty slice.

Speaking of barber's manuals. Here is something from a 1911 barber's manual, revised as late as 1928 (first image) and something similar from 1797 (no typo -- 1797) (second image). Note the quaint and condescending language of the 1797 manual. That also recommends the X-stroke in stropping, although perhaps it is some weird variation of the X-stroke if I am not reading too much into "from the point to the shoulder".

NOTE: Both of these refer to straight razor shaving.

 

[bluefoxicy]

Amusingly the edge is never perfectly straight; but when you've honed it on a very high grit stone to a very fine edge with very fine steel, the "saw teeth" become less like "teeth" and more like just edge distortion. At earlier stages of honing you can see the teeth under a microscope though.

 

[joto]

I will use it sometimes XTG on the difficult patches, but it's fairly subtle for me. On my neck I might as will forget it, lest I imitate the elevator scene from 'The Shining.' It still has its place for me, and as my technique improves, perhaps its role will expand.