Shaves body hair but not beard?

[enduraguy]

Why is it that I can get my knives "shaving" sharp but they won't shave my face? What Jedi secret must I know?

[Sht]

Arm hair is much thinner than facial. It gives it more of a chance to pull the hair.

[MachSchnell]

Yea, also consider that cutting hair is about equivalent to cutting copper wire of the same diameter.
To shave facial hair the edge needs to have an extremely refined polished edge.

[mikerestivo]

Ask Chuck Roxas to chime in - somehere on the forum he posted a vid in which he shaved his face with his Gayle Bradley. He lost some blood doing it but it worked sort-of o.k. After watching that, it cured me of my desire to try shaving with a knife.

[Cliff Stamp]

If you can shave your arm you can shave your face, however you generally don't use the exact motion. Just take the knife to your arm to the exact same way you do to your face and watch what happens.

[Blerv]

I'll only shave with a Spyderco if Sal decides to make an electric razor. Spiders and live blades...in that order. :p

[Evil D]

Ask Murray Carter about shaving with knives (and axes, and scissors, and swords etc). He's shaved his face with every blade you can think of. The difference is that he's a Japanese sword smith and you're not. Plus i suspect that years of shaving his face with blades has made his skin tougher and his skill greater. If you've never shaved with a blade, then even shaving with a straight razor designed for the job is going to be a challenge.

[VashHash]

I shave with my Chinook 2, pink native, cf stretch, and M390 Millie and I only sharpen those with my coarse dmt stone aka the Blue one

[JD Spydo]

Even in John Juranitch's Razor Edge video where he shaves his face with an axe blade that he sharpened with his "Razor Edge Sharpening System" he still used a shave cream. When you are shearing something as tough as a human beard you do need some lubricity to make it a safer operation.

Now I'm not saying that it can't be done dry but it is a lot more difficult and it takes a much sharper edge than most people have the skill to do. I have shaved my beard dry but like I said it takes a super sharp edge on a blade to do it.

You want to consider a few things>> first of all shaving a beard is a shearing action versus a slicing action. Even most straight razors ( and I'm talking about the good high quality razors) have a very thin, double hollow ground edge with the actual cutting edge so thin that most people roll them for lack of knowledge of how to hone and properly sharpen and strop them.

You can have a knife edge that's very operational and will do most of your everyday cutting chores without it having to be sharp enough to shave a guy's beard dry ( or wet or well lubed for that matter). An edge that can perform like a Barber's Straight Razor really takes a great deal of skill to obtain.

[chuck_roxas45]

ask chuck roxas to chime in - somehere on the forum he posted a vid in which he shaved his face with his gayle bradley. He lost some blood doing it but it worked sort-of o.k. After watching that, it cured me of my desire to try shaving with a knife.

lol. I'll never live that down.

[Evil D]

lol. I'll never live that down.

Honestly dude, the way so many people come and go on forums these days, i probably wouldn't have remembered your screen name and subsequently followed/pay attention to your posts if not for that one pic.

Don't sweat it man, it's a pretty cool thing to be remembered for lol.

[Evil D]

Japanese Machete
[video=youtube;7PNEAhDA7D4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PNEAhDA7D4[/video]

[Evil D]

21" short sword
[video=youtube;Fiz9E9Iu3ak]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiz9E9Iu3ak[/video]

[Evil D]

Camp knife
[video=youtube;KsUw4CmDwfA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsUw4CmDwfA[/video]

[Evil D]

Scissors
[video=youtube;-d5NmT77Fi0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d5NmT77Fi0[/video]

[Evil D]

And if that's not enough, a spoon
[video=youtube;c4oHzFNclzQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4oHzFNclzQ[/video]

[Joshua J.]

Don't forget that moistening the hair makes it softer. Someone who works in a hot and dry environment every day would have a beard like steel.

[Evil D]

Don't forget that moistening the hair makes it softer. Someone who works in a hot and dry environment every day would have a beard like steel.

People in general have different hair types and facial hair types. I've known guys who's hair grows so thick they only use disposable razors once before they're trashed, and then guys who use them for a month everyday with no problem. Skin type is also an issue, as one guy can shave with a dull axe and not get razor burn while the next guy uses the best of everything and gets tore up.

I think the Murray videos are proof that it's more the person than the instrument being used. I'm sure he's an absolute badass at sharpening, but i think his shaving skill and beard/skin type play a bigger part in shaving than anything else since the edges he's using are obviously not as thin as a straight razor. There's no reason you couldn't shave with your 30 inclusive pocket knife if it's sharpened well enough and more importantly your skin can handle and you have the skill to do it.

[jackknifeh]

Ask Chuck Roxas to chime in - somehere on the forum he posted a vid in which he shaved his face with his Gayle Bradley. He lost some blood doing it but it worked sort-of o.k. After watching that, it cured me of my desire to try shaving with a knife.

lol. I'll never live that down.

It's easy to get the hair off your face when your face is removed as well. :)

[Sithus1966]

You could with a Nilaka with the original factory edge. :)