Softening the beard???

[IanM]

I would imagine that the blade is very close to, or even gliding across the surface of the skin. This will also position it close to the base of the hair. I would think that the where the hair exits the skin, and is supported by it, there isn't really anything to bend, as the cutting is done close to the base of the hair. If this is the case, then there is a definite advantage to the hair being soft, else the blade is going to pull it instead of cutting it.

Ian

Good point but if that is the case why do we do multiple passes to get a good shave?
Because if we were cutting that close to the base of the hair we would only need to do one pass.

Maybe, but shavers rarely repeat a pass, ie-they'll only do 1 WTG, 1 XTG 1 ATG. The need for the variation in the pass directions is owing to the variation of the beard growth patterns.

My initial theory is based on my mental picture of what happens during a shave. I could be completely wrong. All I know for definite is, the wetter and softer my beard is, the easier it is for me to get an acceptable shave.

Ian

 

[Big.Dave]

I would imagine that the blade is very close to, or even gliding across the surface of the skin. This will also position it close to the base of the hair. I would think that the where the hair exits the skin, and is supported by it, there isn't really anything to bend, as the cutting is done close to the base of the hair. If this is the case, then there is a definite advantage to the hair being soft, else the blade is going to pull it instead of cutting it.

Ian

Good point but if that is the case why do we do multiple passes to get a good shave?
Because if we were cutting that close to the base of the hair we would only need to do one pass.

Maybe, but shavers rarely repeat a pass, ie-they'll only do 1 WTG, 1 XTG 1 ATG. The need for the variation in the pass directions is owing to the variation of the beard growth patterns.

My initial theory is based on my mental picture of what happens during a shave. I could be completely wrong. All I know for definite is, the wetter and softer my beard is, the easier it is for me to get an acceptable shave.

Ian

When I mean multiple passes I'm thinking what you have discribed 1 WTG, 1 XTG and 1 ATG and each pass is covering the whole beard area and each pass will remove hair but its making the hair a bit shorter on each pass because if we were cutting the hair at the point where it exits the skin it would negate the need for multiple passes or be affected by direction of growth. You could cut the hair where it exits the skin with a DE razor but to do that you would have to press down on the skin not recommended because what I think happens is that the skin will be pushed in to the gap between the safety bar and the blade meaning the skin is being pushed against the blade edge which will cause cuts and irritation.

I did think about the soft things I cut up at work and cakes spring to mind you can cut a plain sponge with a straight knife but it has to be very sharp to get a nice slice off it but if you use a Serrated knife you will find it cuts nicely but if it was a cheese cake only a hot straight bladed knife will do. Now the thing is with chef knives is the blade should do the work if I have to put more effort in to cutting its time to resharpen the blade now with DE blades we all know you'll get on average YMMV 2-3 shaves then its time to change so after each shave the blade is becoming more blunt so how we prep the beard should compensate for that.