Razor

“ Indeed there is something restful and soothing to the average male adult in the feel of a sharp razor being guided over a bristly jowl by a deft and skillful hand, to the accompaniment of a gentle grating sound and followed by a sensation of transient silken smoothness. ”

“ By what means though, can he judge of the temper of a razor without using it? The unassisted eye is not sufficient. Its power extends no further than to the discovery of defects the most striking and injurious. The irregularities in a razor's edge, which arise from improper tempering and lack of skill in working, are usually so minute, that they may remain undistinguished until the razor is used. They will nevertheless very sensibly add to the friction the razor produces on the skin and particularly if it happens to be thin and tender. ”

“ For with her left hand she was plucking out one by one the long hairs of the Michaelis’s beard, while with the razor in her right she was slicing them to the floor!
I must have gasped, made some noise, for she heard me; and, turning on me and brandishing the dripping razor, she snarled like an animal and leapt towards me. But I am young and quick, and managed just in time to reach the street-door and slam it against her enraged pursuit. ”

“ Now, I would just remark, that I had lately become less expert at shaving myself than I used to be. My hand had a habit of shaking; and occasionally a slip of the razor and a slight cut had made me start, so as to cause me a degree of trepidation at attacking my beard, which was as unpleasant as it was new to me. ”

“ The most common cause of irritation is undoubtedly a dull razor. If the razor is keen and sharp, the hairs will yield readily to the blade and no irritation will be produced. But if the blade is dull, instead of cutting the hairs easily, it passes over some, slices other lengthwise, and pulls and strains at the roots [Pg 79] of all. This necessitates scraping the face over and over again, in order to get a clean shave, and the result is an irritation that perhaps continues until you are ready to shave again. Thus the tender parts of the skin are kept in a state of continual irritation. ”

“ TO MASTER MOODY, THE RAZOR-SETTER. Newcastle on Tyne, May Twenty-nine.
Good Master Moody,
My beard being cloudy,
My cheeks, chin, and lips
Like moon i’ the ’clipse,
For want of a wipe:
I’ve sent you a razor,
If you’ll be at leisure
To grind her, and set her,
And make her cut better,
You’ll e’en light my pipe. [49]
Dear sir, you know little
The case of poor Whittle—
I’m courting Tantivie,
If you will believe me,
Pray mark what I say: [189]
I’m frank in my proffers,
And when I make offers,
To kiss the sweet creature,
My lips cannot meet her.
My beard stops the way. ”

“ But for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, to arrange his hair at the looking-glass, to shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them, how womanly! ”

“ But whatever the position, endeavor to have the razor at all times under perfect control. The position here indicated, is the one we should certainly advise the beginner to adopt, but if a man, from long continued use has formed the habit of holding the razor in a different way, any change will prove difficult and may not be advisable. ”

“ It is hard to think of any place where a razor-blade, indestructible and horribly sharp as it is,—for all purposes except shaving,—can be thrown away without some worry over possible consequences. A baby may find and swallow it ”

“ The object of honing the razor, as has been explained, is to abraid and wear away the edge of the blade so that it becomes as thin as possible. But when this is done, the process of sharpening the razor is still incomplete, for the edge, when taken from the hone, is left rough and unfit to put on the face. ”

“ All razors are feminine, and things of moods. The razor you sharpen to-day may not be sharp, though manipulated upon hone or strap with all persistence and all skill. The razor you sharpen to-morrow may be far more tractable. ”

“ If you take a razor in one hand and hit the palm of the other hand a smart blow with the edge, no harm will be done; but if you vary this hit, by making it lighter and putting the slightest possible draw into it, a cut will be the result, and blood will flow freely. That is to say, anything like drawing the edge along the skin will produce a cut. ”

“ To make a lather, put a few drops into a wine-glass of tepid water; dip your brush in the mixture, and, when rubbed on the face, a fine lather will appear. 2. Dissolve any quantity of fine soap in alcohol, either with or without perfume. Use it according to the preceding directions.
624. An Easy Shave.—The operation of shaving may be robbed of its unpleasant sensations by rubbing the chin over with grease, or a sweet oil, before the application of the razor. The best razor-strop in the world is one's own hand, moistened with its own natural oil or perspiration. ”

“ The part of the skin, from which the hair is to be cleared, should then be gently stretched with the fingers of the left hand, while the razor is applied in a flat position, and with a considerable degree of pressure forwards: being at the same time drawn obliquely downwards. ”

“ Notwithstanding the boasts of cold water shavers, depend upon it in rigorous weather most people prefer hot to cold water, which renders them slaves to their servants; next, razors, as we know from puff advertisements and our own experience, are the most uncertain of articles; then there is the state of the nerves, that even the strongest cannot always control, causing the unsteady hand to gash and hack the chin, or cover it with blood from the beheading of those pimply eruptions of which the razor has been ofttimes the originator. ”

“ Razor-setting cannot well be taught—it must, (like tuning a violin) —be acquired. Some persons are unable to set a razor with any degree of certainty, while others become recognised as clever in that branch of the business. The quality of the hone is an important consideration in razor-setting; it should neither be too hard nor too soft. The razor has to be rubbed from heel to point in the usual way, and always turned on the back. The edge should be tried from time to time upon the thumb or finger-nail, until it feels quite smooth and keen, it is then to be fixed or “set.” ”

“ Management of Razor Strops.—Most razor strops are spoiled by being left too dry; a drop or two of sweet oil, frequently added to the strop, would remedy this; and, after using the strop, passing the razor on the inside of a warm hand, gives the smoothest and finest edge; putting the razor in warm water makes it cut very keen, and perhaps nothing makes a better razor strop than crocus martis, with a little sweet oil, rubbed well on leather with a glass bottle. ”

“ It is written, in Isaiah vii. 20, “In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor, that is hired,” &c. Ezekiel began to prophecy, according to Calmet, 590 years before Christ: in the first verse of ch. v. he says—“take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard.” To cause a razor to pass upon the beard seems to mean something very different from shaving, in the common sense of that word. ”

“ Of razors and razor-sharpening much might be said, both as regards the instrument itself, as well as the proper mode of keeping it in order. Every hairdresser and barber knows when he is in possession of a good razor, and undoubtedly takes proper care of it. ”

“ Many of the members of this time-honored institution, from whom we ought to expect better things, not only do their own shaving, but actually make their own razors. But I must explain for the benefit of the uninitiated. A pun, in the elegant college dialect, is called a razor, while an attempt at a pun is styled a sick razor. The sick ones are by far the most numerous ”

“ Should the section be somewhat tough we may find the razor slip suddenly over its surface, an event which will impress itself upon us painfully if we have forgotten the injunction not to bend the thumb, for the certain result of the slip will be the loss of a goodly portion of skin upon one’s joint. A straight thumb will be out of the danger zone of a slipping razor. ”

“ A razor hone must be of the very finest quality. The natural stones are usually composed principally of silica, which is one of the sharpest cutting minerals known. It easily cuts the hardest steel and the fine grit imparts a very smooth edge to a razor. ”

“ The truth is, however, that anyone who has a good keen smooth-cutting razor, lathers the face thoroughly, and will learn—if he does not already know—how to handle the razor properly, will run almost no danger. Such a man will seldom cut himself. ”

“ Gentlemen who shave themselves, usually strop their own razors immediately after the operation, whilst the metal is yet warm, which is the best way: but if it be left to the valet to do, the razor must be dipped in warm water and wiped dry with a clean cloth or rag ”

“ Hold the razor properly. Lay it as flat as possible--the back of razor
nearly touching the skin. Have it under easy control. Don't grab it--an
easy position means an easy shave.
A poor strop will spoil the best razor ever made.
To buy a good razor and a cheap strop is pour economy.
If you prefer a swing strop, pull it as tightly as you can. Better use a
stiff strop--cushion or solid--if in doubt.
A serious mistake made by a number of self-shavers is to hold the strop
loose. This bends the invisible teeth and rounds the edge. ”

“ In the first place you should begin with a slow even stroke, gradually increasing it as you gain better control of the razor. Speed will develop naturally with practice.
Hold the razor quite flat upon the face. Do not pull the razor directly down against the beard, but hold it obliquely to the direction of movement. In general shave in the direction of the growth of the beard, like this:
Shaving against the growth pulls the hairs and thus irritates the skin, and if the beard is heavy and wiry the edge of the blade is quite liable to catch in the hairs and be deflected inward and cut the face. ”

“ He said the barber ought to be called, as soon, as the breath was out of the body, and a little before, if it was a clear case, and you wished the corpse “to look wholesome.” I think he was right. Pope’s Narcissa said—
“One need not sure be ugly, though one’s dead.”
There is considerable mystery, in shaving a living corpse. I find it so; and yet I have always shaved myself; for I have never been able to overcome a strong, hereditary prejudice, against being taken by the nose.
[Pg 582] My razor is very capricious; so, I suppose, is everybody’s razor. ”

“ When he sees that his razor has cut through the skin, and is entering the flesh, he stops right there, and calls your attention to the fact that he has stopped, and claims some credit for not carving off a half pound or more. ”

“ When the edge is in the usual condition—that is when it is free from nicks and has merely become thick in consequence of the injudicious use of the razor strop—it will need very little honing; eight or ten strokes in each direction will be quite sufficient. When, however, the edge has nicks: though so small as to be scarcely perceptible, the operation will require more time and attention. Should the nicks be large, it will be better to send the razor to a cutler to be ground. ”

“ Fifty years ago, shaving the beard, in Canada at all events, was universal. If a man were to go about as the original Designer of his person no doubt intended, a razor would never have touched his face. But men, like other animals, are subject to crotchets, and are wont to imitate superiors, so when some big-bug like Peter the Great introduced the shears and razor, men appeared soon after with cropped heads and clean chops. ”

“ Now in this natural oily condition, it is very difficult to cut the hair with a razor, and it becomes even more difficult if the beard be made still softer by the application of hot water. Many do this, and it is no wonder they find shaving difficult. ”

“ It will be readily admitted that the real excellence of a razor is in direct proportion to the firmness and unbroken regularity of its edge. When a razor is too brittle, in consequence of having been either to much heated in the process of hardening, or not sufficiently cooled in that of tempering, it cannot possibly take a good cutting edge, no matter how much skill may be employed in honing and stropping it. ”

“ Shave —but in comfort with a Durham-Duplex Razor Safety, the razor which enables you to shave with the barber's diagonal stroke without fear of cutting yourself. As a gift to a man friend nothing is more appreciated. ”

“ Beneath its conciliatory touch, as it prepares the skin for the sweeping course of the razor, and its gentle pressure, as it inclines the head to either side, to aid the operation of the scissors, a man may sit for hours, and feel no weariness. ”

“ The edge of a razor, when viewed under a powerful microscope, presents an appearance very different from that seen by the unaided eye. Unmagnified, the edge appears to be a continuous unbroken line. Such actually is not the case, for the microscope reveals the fact that, instead of being straight and unbroken, the edge is in reality composed of a great number of minute points much resembling the teeth of a saw.
These points or teeth follow each other throughout the entire length of the blade, and by their extreme minuteness [Pg 24] and unbroken regularity give the edge its exceeding keenness. ”