is it a straight razor or not

Use a straight. You know it makes sense.
Post Reply
shavedhead
Posts: 222
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 2:10 am

is it a straight razor or not

Post by shavedhead »

I have been using the kind of straight razor that you split a DE blade down the middle and insert one half into the slot and shave. Is this considered a straight razor or what?
Have a wonderful shaving day
User avatar
drmoss_ca
Admin
Posts: 10731
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 4:39 pm

Post by drmoss_ca »

Yes, but not a real one!

Chris
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
User avatar
Blue As A Jewel
Posts: 3834
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:14 am
Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Post by Blue As A Jewel »

drmoss_ca wrote:Yes, but not a real one!

Chris
Which would make it an "or what"!
- Ravi -

You can mistrust me less than you can mistrust him. Trust me.
User avatar
matt321
Posts: 510
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:03 pm
Location: Texas Piney Woods

Post by matt321 »

You are avoiding the fun of learning to strop and hone. Come on in... the water is fine! :twisted:
Last edited by matt321 on Fri Sep 24, 2010 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
notthesharpest
Assistant Dean SMFU
Posts: 9449
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:32 am
Location: Vancouver, BC

Post by notthesharpest »

"Straight razor" is an odd kind of term, but we're stuck with it.

Broadly, it means a razor that has just an exposed blade, with no safety guards to protect you while shaving.

More narrowly, it also usually means a razor where the blade and the handle (in that case called a "tang") are forged as one piece of steel, and the "scales" (those pivoting cover pieces made of plastic or other material) are riveted on afterwards.
jbc
Posts: 765
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:01 am
Location: Washington, DC - Rockville, MD

Post by jbc »

Where I went to undergraduate we learned questions like this are answered by definitions. The question is does the razor you are talking of fit the definition of a straight and Miriam and Webster are the generally excepted arbiter of definitions, in other words what ever the latest edition of the dictionary says the definition is that's what the definition is. According to Miriam and Webster a straight razor is:

a razor with a rigid steel cutting blade hinged to a case that forms a handle when the razor is open for use

If it fits then its a straight.
JBC
Nuts about wet shaving
User avatar
drmoss_ca
Admin
Posts: 10731
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 4:39 pm

Post by drmoss_ca »

But not if it doesn't match the general understanding of a straight razor! Anyway, even by your argument, a snapped DE blade is far from rigid so it must not count. :?

Chris
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
notthesharpest
Assistant Dean SMFU
Posts: 9449
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:32 am
Location: Vancouver, BC

Post by notthesharpest »

And Japanese-style straight razors are generally accepted as straight razors, yet they don't fit the definition from that dictionary.
JohnP
Hookahman
Posts: 1549
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 9:53 pm
Contact:

Post by JohnP »

It's a straight......sort of.

A paraglider is an airplane.....right?





John P.
CMur12
Posts: 7461
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:41 pm
Location: Moses Lake, Washington, USA

Post by CMur12 »

I have nothing to offer about straight razors, but I don't accept jbc's concept of a dictionary.

In my mind (and that of many linguists) a dictionary or a grammar is an attempted description of a given language and its usage (and they are often out of date by the time they are published). I don't accept them as prescriptive references, however, though under certain circumstances I will bow to formal grammar and set aside what I consider more historically accurate.

I think the original poster's question was to get the perspective of straight razor experts, who ideally would be those to determine the definition in a dictionary.

- Murray
User avatar
Hawkeye5
Posts: 374
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2007 8:17 pm
Location: Nashville, TN

Post by Hawkeye5 »

Its a shavette, not a straight.
John
michiganlover
Posts: 72
Joined: Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:56 am
Location: Michigan's Thumb

Post by michiganlover »

Hawkeye5 wrote:Its a shavette, not a straight.
I agree.

If you describe a straight by function, and shave quality, than a Shavette is not a straight, because the it shaves entirely differently than a straight, doesn't require stropping, or honing, and also looks quite a bit different than an actual straight.

I would say it is a razor in a class unto itself. A class that is not shared by the Feather Artist Club/ Kai Captain Excelia, as those razors are vastly superior to a Shavette.
~JOHN~

Wet Shaver's Mantra:

Go Slow. Proper Angle. No Pressure.
Post Reply