Guillotine straight razor?
- Thread starter q345
- Start date
Interesting question. If I keep trying to hone I may end up making one some day by accident sheer skill.
Hmmm. That's a new one for me. I have seen some serious hone wear on some vintage razors that result in a taper. I've never shaved with one. And the slicing motion you mention takes me outside my comfort zone.
Looking at the pic below, Figure A shows a representation of the idea, and in order to get some "slicing" action, the spine would have to remain parallel to the floor.
When I shave, the blade is more in the position of Figure B, as I'm trying to keep my focus on the edge, not the spine.
In any case, I don't personally believe that any slicing would occur, as the slope of the angle is so small when compared to the cross section of any given hair and where it is coming into contact with the blade.
We are cutting a bunch of individual hairs over a large area rather than a single really large hair, so each hair is being cut rather straight.
Essentially, the blade is cutting individual hairs in their own plane at such a low angle as to be the same as a straight blade, and you don't have to worry about watching the spine and cutting your nose off.
I imagine that if it did have some miniscule benefit, just rotating the blade off of horizontal would do the exact same thing as having an angled blade to begin with.
A guillotine type blade assumes that every single hair is positioned exactly the same, so that slicing can occur, but as we know that is seldom the case.
When I shave, the blade is more in the position of Figure B, as I'm trying to keep my focus on the edge, not the spine.
In any case, I don't personally believe that any slicing would occur, as the slope of the angle is so small when compared to the cross section of any given hair and where it is coming into contact with the blade.
We are cutting a bunch of individual hairs over a large area rather than a single really large hair, so each hair is being cut rather straight.
Essentially, the blade is cutting individual hairs in their own plane at such a low angle as to be the same as a straight blade, and you don't have to worry about watching the spine and cutting your nose off.
I imagine that if it did have some miniscule benefit, just rotating the blade off of horizontal would do the exact same thing as having an angled blade to begin with.
A guillotine type blade assumes that every single hair is positioned exactly the same, so that slicing can occur, but as we know that is seldom the case.
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when you're good enough with a perpendicular stroke and not slicing and dicing, just use a bias or scything cut (blade angled, generally 30-45 degrees off perpendicular while moving the blade perpendicular to the growth, heel leading in my case).
I only need to do it under my jawline during an ATG pass, to get as close to ATG as I can. it's not necessary for anyone that I can think of WTG/XTG. I don't see an improvement to the closeness of the pass where I can access the beard perpendicularly, but comes with a much greater risk of a serious, longer, and deeper cut if you're going to cut yourself.
I only need to do it under my jawline during an ATG pass, to get as close to ATG as I can. it's not necessary for anyone that I can think of WTG/XTG. I don't see an improvement to the closeness of the pass where I can access the beard perpendicularly, but comes with a much greater risk of a serious, longer, and deeper cut if you're going to cut yourself.
- Thread starter
- #6
Thanks a lot for all the reply. I started SR shaving about 4 months ago. I have quite decent shaves, but there is a problem : under the jaw line I need to go from East to West to achieve ATG, which is geometrically impossible with SR. In a thread I published about this problem, somebody recommended to incorporate a slicing motion when going SR XTG
But I am reluctant to do so ( concerning with getting really nasty cuts) , since I never needed slicing motion to achieve BBS with SE razors, using Feather AC blade ( where I can easily do East West ATG under the jaw line).
Recently here was an SE razor from Above the Tie which holds blade in angle. (It's not a real slant, since it doesn't twist the blade). So I thought, may be a guillotine version of SR can achieve the same effect.
But I am reluctant to do so ( concerning with getting really nasty cuts) , since I never needed slicing motion to achieve BBS with SE razors, using Feather AC blade ( where I can easily do East West ATG under the jaw line).
Recently here was an SE razor from Above the Tie which holds blade in angle. (It's not a real slant, since it doesn't twist the blade). So I thought, may be a guillotine version of SR can achieve the same effect.
Think the closest you will get to what your idea is about is a razor with a big smile.
I have seen razors from the same maker that have an even bigger smile. Must be a nightmare to hone!
I have seen razors from the same maker that have an even bigger smile. Must be a nightmare to hone!
IIRC, i have seen this. Just need a wider spine towards the point than the heel.
but the effect can be mimic’d with a slide.
Any bevel angle advantage will be really minimal of a tapered spine.
but the effect can be mimic’d with a slide.
Any bevel angle advantage will be really minimal of a tapered spine.
- Thread starter
- #9
I've tried to find review for att se slant razor. It doesn't twist the AC blade, but simply put it approximately at 3 degrees angle. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any actual reviews, let alone some comparisson with regular SE. Most likely, the effect is indeed minimal, as many people suggested in this thread.
Slicing will get you into trouble.
You can do east-west under the jawline. Having a razor that has a rounded heel and is a little short helps. I do it all the time. You can also change the grip on the razor to a pinch grip to get the scales out the way. Do a search and there is a post by Portland Razor Co. about the grip.
Here you go, happy reading
The Tilted Picnic Slant Circus, Year 2
The Tilted Picnic, Year 2. Round Six, Shaves Three and Four: iKon Shavecraft 102 Tilted Slant Better and better. I'm truly impressed. I've decided to promote the iKon 102 into "Darn Few" class -- that is, there are darn few razors that shave this nicely. Oh, I've got razors that shave better...
www.badgerandblade.com
There were straight razors ground this way. Ironically, many guys that got them off auction sites honed the variance out only to find they had goofed. Someone had posted an original advertisement showing the 'offset' grind. There are a few posts about this honing blunder on B&B and a couple of other forums - I can't remember the blade makers name at the moment though. It was an interesting shape but I am not convinced it performed any better than any other shape, or even a traditional smiler.
I use a scything stroke on my neck, works with any blade and no, it's not dangerous. A blade that was 5/8 at the heel and 7/8 at the toe would emulate it, maybe enhance it. Smilers seem to do this on their own too, I scythe with them also. Those whiskers on my neck grow in crop circles and this is how I deal with them. ATG scything seems tricky but I haven't found it to be much of an issue to deal with.
I use a scything stroke on my neck, works with any blade and no, it's not dangerous. A blade that was 5/8 at the heel and 7/8 at the toe would emulate it, maybe enhance it. Smilers seem to do this on their own too, I scythe with them also. Those whiskers on my neck grow in crop circles and this is how I deal with them. ATG scything seems tricky but I haven't found it to be much of an issue to deal with.
A slant safety razor is actually very effective vice standard safety razor configurations, but I don't think that advantage would be as apparent with an open-blade razor since SRs and shavettes are already much more efficient than safety razors and the shaver has much more control over the shave.
- Thread starter
- #14
You shouldn't have any issue with the slide, I do it naturally on my neck and have never had an issue, just make sure you are moving more down than across, as long as you don't slide the blade too quickly you'll be fine.
As for evidence, I haven't seen any evidence, other than my own experience, that would make me accept that it wasn't more effective. Especially when I have a few days of growth the slant will really outperform a similar DE razor for efficiency. Remember that the blade gap and exposure on these razors aren't very large. I just don't see a slanted open blade having any advantage.
- Thread starter
- #16
Slanted/twisted DE most lkely is complerely different story. I do have one slant DE, but I can't judge since I completely stopped using any DEs many years ago, switching to SE ( Cobra Classic was the first as soon as it appeared) and about 4-5 month ago to SR.
P.S To tell the truth, I can't understand why people still use DEs, especailly now when many good modern SE razors in all price ranges which can use Feather ACs are available. I recall I got my first shave with Cobra / AC pro and never touched DE again.
SE is certainly better than DE for efficiency. I think the main reason why is that DE razors and blades are much easier to find.
The whiskers at the cutting edge have no idea of the orientation at the spine. Tilt the razor toe-up or toe-down compared to your stroke direction and you have a guillotine.
Combine that with a very, very, slight slide and you have a very effective technique.
Combine that with a very, very, slight slide and you have a very effective technique.
If you keep your skin and blade angle properly tight, the slicing motion is neither difficult nor dangerous. No need for a special razor
