Can someone explain the slant to me?

[tob1303]

Newbie here:

I acquired a slant because...well...I figured I would eventually want to try it. I understand that it is supposed to be an aggressive razor. I have not used it and don't plan to for a while. My question is less of a question and more of a statement......I don't get it. Why is it slanted? How does it work differently? Am I supposed to shave with it different than I do other razors? I don't understand how to use it and why it is made that way? What am I to do differently with it?

Can someone help?

[SiBurning]

No doubt you'll get all kinds of theories on how it works and why. Here's my theory.

Basically, the blade gap varies from one end to the other, and the blade is twisted to make the right angle along the edge. Seems to me they're made for arced movements, not moving the blade along a straight line. The body's mostly designed to move along an arc, not in straight lines, so this works out to be more natural. What actually happens depends on whether your arc is clockwise or counterclockwise. Clockwise, the gap is smaller along the outside where you also have a longer distance to travel. Counterclockwise, you have a larger blade gap on the outside of the arc. How you work this into your routine is a matter between you and your face.

Personally, I think they're all left handed, and want to find a right handed one.

[Shane]

The slant is bent at the head in order to facilitate a change in angle of the blade. In a straight-bar razor, such as the Merkur HD, the blade comes down straight and even; parallel to the ground. In a slant, the blade comes down just like that; in a slant. Imagine the blade of a guillotine, and that is somewhat the angle of a blade in a slant. This imparts a slicing motion rather than a chopping motion of a straight-bar razor, because the business side of the blade is meeting the hair at an angle, making for a closer cut.

[Blondie]

While it is a more aggressive razor, it is not the "beast" some make it out to be. Develop a good technique, and shave with it as you would any other DE razor. You will be rewarded with really close, gentle shaves.

[SiBurning]

Was waiting for someone else to say it...

You can get the same slicing effect by tilting a straight blade or moving it at an angle. I just can't imagine anyone being so precise as to move the blade forward perfectly perpendicular to the blade, nor to move it in a perfectly straight line. The minute difference in thickness also seems meaningless, as does any difference in angle that you get from twisting the blade, which just seems microscopic.

So I don't buy the idea that it slices rather than cuts. To me this seems more a matter of how people imagine and describe 3D geometry. But isn't most of shaving just like that?

[Blondie]

I should also add that you need to make sure your blade is straight in the razor when you load it. If it is not lined up properly, with even blade exposure, you will have a bad shave. Just think what the blade looks like loaded in the HD, but slanted, if viewing from above.

[moodymick]

Ah....so that's what they do, i had wondered - thanks for asking the question and far the answers. Want one!

[tob1303]

See, now this makes very little sense to me. This is the basis of my question....what do I have to do differently with it...so I don't destroy myself? I don't get the loading the blade differently thing.


I should also add that you need to make sure your blade is straight in the razor when you load it. If it is not lined up properly, with even blade exposure, you will have a bad shave. Just think what the blade looks like loaded in the HD, but slanted, if viewing from above.

[SiBurning]

When you tighten the head, the blade twists under a lot of force, so it often ends up with more of the blade exposed on one side or at one end. Just make sure it's set in the head evenly on both sides of the head, and at both ends of the blade, with the same amount of the blade sticking out evenly on both sides and ends.

As for what you do differently with it, I don't really do anything different, but I think other people are better qualified to help there. I kind of shave a little differently--mostly using arcs rather than straight lines--so other's advice would probably fit you better.

[mblakele]

I would recommend reading Kyle's review of the Merkur 37c/37g (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2525). He discusses some of these questions. There are some pictures too.

I don't have a 37, but I have a NOS Merkur (via Chessman). I don't find the blade alignment to be at all difficult. I just load up a blade as I normally would with the 34c, and then check to make sure that the blade edge is parallel to the safety bars. So far it always has been, so that's it.

[Charon2000]

There's a fair number of slant fans here on B&B, and about 6 months ago, after reading some of the discussions, I decided to buy one (Merkur 37c). I like the razor, but to be honest I don't notice much difference between it and any of my other razors during daily shaves. Where I do notice a difference is the odd time when I go a few days between shaves and have extra growth. It seemes to cut through the beard easier and provide a cleaner shave with less effort than, say, my Progress, under the same conditions. Of course, YMMV.

I keep it around specifically for that purpose and I'm glad i have it.

As far as technique, I don't do anything a whole lot different with it; just straight strokes like I do with my other razors.

[trewornan]

Can someone explain the slant to me?

We'll - if you consider the surface of the top of a slant razor as a differentiable manifold, then the surface integral of the Gaussian Curvature over that surface is the "total curvature" and exceeds Pi and furthermore since we have chosen to use the Gaussian Curvature this is an intrinsic curvature independent of how the surface is embedded in ambient space.

It follows that all curves on this surface with the same tangent vector will have the same normal curvature, which is the same as the curvature of the curve obtained by intersecting the surface with the plane containing curve's tangent and the curve's surface normal.

Also, it is apparent that the surface is a minimal surface and therefore has a constant mean curvature however unlike the Gaussian curvature, the mean curvature is extrinsic and therefore depends on the embedding.

The important thing to note is that the curvature of the curve projected onto the plane containing the curve's tangent and the surface normal is the curvature of the curve projected onto the surface's tangent plane. Therefore any non-singular curve on the surface will have its tangent vector lying in the tangent plane of the surface orthogonal to the normal vector.

I hope this clears things up for you.

[tob1303]

Yup....alll set nowwww.....:confused1:huh:

[SiBurning]

We'll - if you consider the surface of the top of a slant razor as a differentiable manifold, then the surface integral of the Gaussian Curvature over that surface is the "total curvature" and exceeds Pi and furthermore since we have chosen to use the Gaussian Curvature this is an intrinsic curvature independent of how the surface is embedded in ambient space.

It follows that all curves on this surface with the same tangent vector will have the same normal curvature, which is the same as the curvature of the curve obtained by intersecting the surface with the plane containing curve's tangent and the curves surface normal.

Also, it is apparent that the surface is a minimal surface and therefore has a constant mean curvature however unlike the Gaussian curvature, the mean curvature is extrinsic and therefore depends on the embedding.

The important thing to note is that the the curvature of the curve projected onto the plane containing the curve's tangent and the surface normal is the curvature of the curve projected onto the surface's tangent plane. Therefore any non-singular curve on a the surface will have its tangent vector lying in the tangent plane of the surface orthogonal to the normal vector.

I hope this clears things up for you.
I don't see how that accounts for the noncommutativity of the Levi-Civita Lie bracket vis a vis the Riemennian curvature tensor. Specifically, given
http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/4/6/1/461317856ee33357e6bacdd676c3efd5.png
how does the endomorphism of the orthogonal group affect the second Bianchi identity?

[pelicano]

Yup....alll set nowwww.....:confused1:huh:

Just do it, man! Be extra gentle for the first few days until you get the hang of it. I'm a newbie as well, and it's my favorite razor.:biggrin1:

[Matt P]

I don't see how that accounts for the noncommutativity of the Levi-Civita Lie bracket vis a vis the Riemennian curvature tensor. Specifically, given
http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/4/6/1/461317856ee33357e6bacdd676c3efd5.png
how does the endomorphism of the orthogonal group affect the second Bianchi identity?

I don't know what any of that means, but you are killing me man!:biggrin1::lol:

[netsurfr]

I shave with a slant just like any other DE. I just seem to get a better shave. But, that is me...

[trewornan]

how does the endomorphism of the orthogonal group affect the second Bianchi identity?

To be honest, given the kind of scales that we are talking I think we can assume that Reimann Curvature of space will not have a significant effect and suggest that second Bianchi Identity can thus be ignored where only an approximate solution is required.

[SiBurning]

To be honest, given the kind of scales that we are talking I think we can assume that Reimann Curvature of space will not have a significant effect and suggest that second Bianchi Identity can thus be ignored where only an approximate solution is required.

I''m not sure all our B&B members would agree. That's like saying it's okay if the slant gives you just a little razor burn.