Across The Grain Reexamined

The simple test of good technique, I have posited, is sliding: when we are shaving right, there is no "across the grain." As a criticism of the neotraditional second pass, that may be true, but the conclusion does not stand categorically. I've found a very good use of crossgrain strokes, one that points to cultural degradation in the barber tradition.

Where Weishi failed the beginner market, their colleagues at the factory under the Baili brand succeeded, producing two of the best new razors available at any price. One is a TTO intelligently updating, rather than downgrading, the Super Speed design, discussed recently in "Kung Fu Stella." There was previously a pretty good, if materially cheap Tech clone, which I essentially learned to shave with; but I named their newer, more loosely Tech-inspired three-piece "Chaoying," in recognition of the ascendancy of Chinese manufacturing. You can find it under various names in the West: I'd recommend the Razorock DE1.

This is the cutting head that finally showed me what XTG is all about. It features very little blade reveal, bucking the modern trend, making it particularly safe for reformed cartridge shavers. A poor man's DE89. It's remained one of my cabinet razors, but not preferred, as I just find it difficult to get down to the BBS, and a little un-smooth in use. That's because the natural pitch is steep, and the edge strikes rather far from the root of the hair. If I stubbornly stick to my routine of sliding WTG, sliding ATG, and then loosening the blade for deeper strokes finishing square ATG, it feels like I have "missed hairs."

But that's the perfect set-up for a cross-grain finishing pass. Imagine the cut tips, after your best ATG stroke falls too high. The long point is still palpable on hairs that weren't exactly following grain. A square XTG stroke catches the hair sideways, which is "wrong," in terms of generating tension against the root;  but that allows the hair to pivot freely away from the edge as it bends over, until it comes into opposition to the steep blade with the long side of the cuticle perfectly facing. It's a square stroke with the functionality of sliding!

And what that feels like is an efficient, non-digging stroke, yet with good traction, as it catches a lot of hair. Much more than just the few that seem to be sticking out when you stroke with fingertips. Which, I suppose, is the magic of this particular barber trick, finally revealed.