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Little help with blade angle.

I know this might be hard to describe but here we go

When using a DE do you let the front bar touch the skin and then let the blade follow or do you try to have the top curved part touch the skin with the blade leading and not having the front bar touch the skin. On my DEs (edwin jagger, slim set to 4-5) if the curved part and the bar are both touching my skin I have to use pressure and the blade (which sticks out past) is pushed into my skin a bit and leaves irritation.

My guess is that the curved part is suposed to slide across your skin with the blade edge leading and the bar not quite touching your skin, this way all the lather dosent get scrapped off before you cut and that the bar is just there incase your angle gets too steep and you won't dig in and cut yourself.

Also if this is all true is it any different for an open comb, I just ordered one:biggrin1:
 
Hmmm. I guess I usually adjust on the fly from the bar touching the skin. I kinda go by the sound of the whiskers being cut by the blade. Even thinking about the curved part of the razor being the main guiding place seems not quite right to me. Open combs and slants I adjust on the fly the same way.
 
Ditto on going by the sound. Thats the key for me to know I'm getting it right. You can totally hear the cutting when things are going well. I never heard that sound with a Mach 3 :)
 
On a DE razor, the safety bar and the curved head are both supposed to be in contact with the skin. That positions the blade where it is supposed to be.
 
Hmmm. I guess I usually adjust on the fly from the bar touching the skin. I kinda go by the sound of the whiskers being cut by the blade. Even thinking about the curved part of the razor being the main guiding place seems not quite right to me. Open combs and slants I adjust on the fly the same way.

Yup, don't overanalyze, you'll get yourself all tied up in knots. Just go by feel and sound - it'll take a while to get the hang of it, but in short time muscle memory will kick in and your hand will just know what to do.
 
This from the Shave Wiki should help.

Codfish

This and the sound is what get's me a great shave.

I'm not a DE veteran but I am shaving more now than ever and I find the best way go get a great shave is to relax and enjoy the entire expirience and not to think to much about it, that's what help's me anyway.
 
I can only speak on the behalf of the EJ razor you own. Ive said in the past that IMO, the EJ89 has a small tight window of usable blade angle against the face. (which is why IMO many consider this a "mild" razor). But once you find the sweet spot, its really really hard to beat. Especially with a feather blade loaded in her. The angle is there, u just have to be patient with her and find it, it will become second nature eventually. :thumbup1:
 
I have been giving this a lot of thought lately - this is how I currently think about it. To use your terms, if you let the front bar touch your skin and then angle from there until you feel the blade, you get a more aggressive closer shave. If you let the curved part touch your skin and then angle from there, you get a gentle shave that will not be as close.

Or, if you lay a blade flat on your forearm, it won't cut your skin and won't cut the hair too close.
If you lay a blade at a 45 degree angle to your skin on your forearm, you will get a close shave but also a lot of razor burn.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
The bar should touch the skin, because the bar helps to stretch the skin ahead of the blade. The head should also touch the skin, because you want a low blade angle. On some very aggressive razors the blade might be out so far that both bar and head can't touch at the same time. In that case, let the bar touch, but just barely. A high angle will cause cuts, scrapes, dragging and skipping, and wear your blade out quicker.
 
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