I have some new stock pieces that have more of a straight across hairline. Is it okay to trim in the recession...what's the best way to do this. Thanks in advance.

Check the info link thread, there's a video in there on how to trim lace.

I use a triangular x-acto knife from the underside any time I cut into lace that has hair tied into it. As long as you hold the piece the right way (no tension on any of the hair in the cut area) you can slice through it like a hot knife through butter. I have this on video but it isn't edited or compressed yet or i would put up a clip. I literally lose ZERO hairs with this method. You can do it with scissors but it takes longer and it's much easier to chop some of the hair into stubble.

After I cut the base I pin the unit to a styro head with t-pins every inch or even less in the area where I cut.

Once it's pinned to the head I spray leave-in conditioner on the hair and use eyebrow tweezers to pluck individual hairs to stagger the hairline and make it look natural.

With my last piece the hair was pretty fragile so all I had to do was pluck the hair when it was dry and it would break cleanly at the knot, but the condition of the hair on my current unit is good and I discovered that a little leave-in conditioner will cause the hair to come untied easily and slip right out of the lace.