On Blades, Coatings, etc.

Initially it won't be illustrated. Two reasons. The main one being I'm trying to write it for everyone, and a blind person cannot see. The second reason is that I want to make it into an audiobook.

Yes, I would love to have it be illustrated, and in a physical hardcover format. Someday. I'd also like to be finished with it, again, someday.

Writing a book about shaving is really quite easy. It's the "and make it interesting" that is the hard part.

Normal people are not interested in the effects of hard vs soft water in lather production, and I've got a whole chapter marked out to be devoted to the subject. ...besides, if it is it's own chapter, then people can skip it. That's important too.
Edit: the art style I would want to have is a 1930's-40's technical drawing style. There's probably a proper term for it.

The late Charles Hayward was a master of this type of illustration. You also see it a lot in old manuals that came with razors.

I could do it, with a camera and some photo editing software, and then a final polish in Photoshop, but I'm slow at that sort of thing. I'd rather have someone else do it. Preferably a real artist that physically draws stuff.

 

YouTube is a wonderful medium. A video can show a concept in 5 seconds that would take me 5 minutes to explain.

On the flip side, If you've ever suffered though a five minute description of a product's scent, you will also understand that the video format has limitations as well.

Heh. We probably have many of the same woodworking books. Ideally, my preference would be to be physically published through Lost Art Press or other high quality publisher. The only thing is, a book on wet shaving isn't exactly in their wheelhouse. But it isn't exactly outside it either.

 

Fact, for sure. Most hair gets cut at an angle anyways, to keep the blade riding on the surface of the skin. So much depends on the angle of the edge as it's presented to the hair, and that application seems suited for a cartridge razor design.

 

There's been all kinds of research done on shaving. Long lasting, semi-permanent ceramic blades are probably the most interesting thing that was ever developed. Tests showed that they were 'too' sharp, and no one was able to get comfortable shaves with them.

Sapphire blades seem to be a better alternative, but the $200(ish) price tag per blade tends to discourage casual testing. If I knew it would work in a Tedalus Essence, I'd be tempted to give one a go.

If you look at facial hair under microscope images, it tends to come out of the skin in multiple directions, so changing one's shaving style based on that alone is probably not going to achieve much. You've got (rarely) people who use blades hundreds of times before disposing of them. I've stretched out blade use for a month or two, and it's just easier to dispose of the blade after a few shaves or to switch to a blade system that can be and is designed to be re-sharpened, like a Rolls Razor or a straight razor.