Does speed matter?

[peacefrog]

We hear lots of advice about blade angle, pressure, and length of strokes, but I've never heard anyone mention the speed of the stroke. It seems to me that the blade would cut more easily if the stroke is swift rather than slow. As a woodworker, I think about using a hand plane. It takes a certain amount of speed to get a good cut or the plane sort of chatters its way down the board. Do you suppose the same thing might apply to shaving? Should we be advising short, swift strokes?

[Mottern Man]

I like to use a quick stroke.

I feel if I go too slow that the hair gets tugged or doesn't cut at all.

[Baron]

That's a tough one. I find that a really slow stroke makes it harder to keep the angle correct, cause I concentrate too much on it, plus the blade starts to tug.

But on the other hand, too fast when starting and you're likely to mess up just as much.

I guess I'd describe the best speed for me as "a little slower than freefall" any faster and I'm forcing it, slower and I start to get tugs

[SSLSTudio...]

excellent ideas Bob, it so happend that today after a long time I got that BBS faceturbating shave again.. everything just fell in place. the right amount of lather versus right speed I went pretty swift on the cheeks , around the chin I slower with speed due to the curves. but I got an amazing shave today and part of it is due to probably right speed versus great lather...

[qhsdoitall]

It depends on good my technique is and how awake I am at the time. I'm not ready to do laps araound the speedway unless I feel like replacing the turf with a skin graft.

[xChris]

Yeah speed matters. I use "confident" quick strokes, and get good shaves. My wife shaved me herself for the first time. She was a little nervous (she'd never shaved a face before! :D ), so her speed was slower; I had to ask her to speed up to get better cutting action & less tugging at the whiskers.

[madmedic]

A lot depends on the razor as well. In most hands......speed does not mix well with a Futur or a Slant.

[Baron]

A lot depends on the razor as well. In most hands......speed does not mix well with a Futur or a Slant.

I actually use a slant everyday!

Although I have at times nicked myself when I'm not paying attention and going too quickly.

[fuerein]

Personally it depends on where on my face I am shaving. The cheeks - yeah speed through them no problem. However, the neck near on either side of my esophagus/windpipe/whatever it is called, I have to slow down alot to avoid nicks.

[Scorpio]

Personally it depends on where on my face I am shaving. The cheeks - yeah speed through them no problem. However, the neck near on either side of my esophagus/windpipe/whatever it is called, I have to slow down alot to avoid nicks.

I agree. That specific area of the neck is tricky so I go slow and easy. On the other hand if I am pressed for time I rather not shave. I try to maintain the same tempo otherwise not too fast not too slow. I believe this is important in developing consistency in your shaves. Each of us is going to have a different tempo is just a matter finding that comfortable rhythm that gives great shave after great shave.

Raf

[Leisureguy]

Interesting idea. There probably is an optimum speed, and shavers reach it by experience without pondering it too much. But I think there probably is a "too slow" and "too fast" in shaving, just as in courting.

[peacefrog]

I experimented with this yesterday and the day before with mixed results. I made a conscious effort to make my strokes quicker and perhaps a bit shorter. While I got marginally closer shaves, I paid the price in increased irritation. I reckon that I inadvertently increased pressure while increasing speed...a bad tradeoff in my estimation. So I'm going back to a more moderate, though certainly not slow, stroke.

[timc]

Slow and steady is fine in my books, as long as you have a steady hand. :cool:

[PalmettoB]

I never really thought about the speed of my shave strokes, though it makes sense that on the wider, flat "plane" of your cheeks and below the sideburns you could go faster, and then slower around the Adam's apple. I guess I do go a little slower on my neck. Hmmm...something to experiment with anyway.