True, real, un-deniable, perfect blade angle?

[Warlockdlx69]

Anyone have a picture that would present the perfect angle for a DE? i think i might be having issues due to not using the proper angle. Thanks :)

[OldSchoolYoungin]

From the advice of I forget who, forgive me, tilt the razor so that the blade wants to naturally slide smoothly down the beard. This is excellent and very simple advice, and will solve your angle problems.

No, I haven't put a protractor on my face along with my razor yet, but I'd guess it's somewhere in the neighborhood of a 35 degree angle maybe? But it's most important to follow the steps above to achieve the correct angle.

-Allen

[Warlockdlx69]

35 degrees from what start? handle flush with cheek, or perpendicular?

[gse123]

The thing is, different razors present the blade edge at different angles. So you may need a shallower angle with one razor vs. quite a steep angle with another, to achieve the same BLADE angle to your face.

[Warlockdlx69]

i have a futur... so the idea being what? blade itself almost parallel to skin? or more of an in-between parallel and straight up and down?

[SirAdrian]

Put it up against your face (straight up) and start to tilt it until you feel it cut.

Once you get the right angle, you'll be able to hear it cutting. I used to run water, but now I stopped because I can't hear the cutting that way.

[Patrick D]

This a somewhat hard question for me to answer because it's a matter of "Feel" rather than degrees of angle.

If, let's say, you start out on your cheeks, put the head of the razor against your skin and slowly lower the handle down, moving the razor in very, very short strokes, until you feel the edge of the blade make contact with the stubble, but not with your skin. Thats your angle!

At least that's the angle for that cheek. When you move to a different area, start out the same way, keeping the blade edge from coming into contact with your skin and just cutting through the hairs.

Anytime you use too extreme an angle, or, you apply too much pressure and drag that edge across your skin, you've just scraped yourself.

Try this. Take a piece of paper, (like a Post-It), and put the edge of the paper against the top of your cheek.

Now play around with it so you can move it against your beard and not feel the edge of the paper pressing down on your skin. Now imagine the edge of the blade floating on top of your super rich lather, protecting your skin and just slicing through the stubble. That's the angle your looking for.

As you practice and get better, you'll find yourself automatically starting out with that angle everytime and your shaves will go faster, just be patient, it will happen.

That angle may change with whatever razor you rotate to and different blades may produce a subtle difference too.

Do not, do not ever run that razor over un-lathered skin, your going to remove your stubble along with a few layers of skin with it. Nothing there for the blade to glide along and it will hurt you. Evidence of this will be the application of an alum bar or an alcohol based AS,,,hmmmm, feel the burn!

Take your time and get the feel for the angle you need,,,best wishes and great shaves.

[Warlockdlx69]

very interesting way of putting it... although, i cant think of a single possible way to get it BBS without it contacting the skin... i might be able to "trim" it.. but not cut it flesh level... im assuming you mean let the blade glide across the lather just enough to put a think barrier between? thats DEFINITELY going to take some getting used to... but ill give it a try in about a week... i think im going to let my face rest... i think i lacerated it in a few thousand spots... when i just got in the shower, i soaped up my face, and every stroke up my cheeks or across my neck felt like i had sliced a bunch of "fish gills" into my skin, and were pulling them apart... i think what i did was, pulled the hair so hard it damn near tore it out of the follicle... thereby tearing the skin AROUND the follicle... cuz it only happened on areas where i still had a little bit of stubble... so im going to wait till at least sunday, and see how my face feels... but im definitely not shaving again tomorrow lol

[SirAdrian]

Which level do you have your Futur set to? (1-6)

[gse123]

Put it up against your face (straight up) and start to tilt it until you feel it cut.

Once you get the right angle, you'll be able to hear it cutting. I used to run water, but now I stopped because I can't hear the cutting that way.

I am still baffled by this. I can never near a crisp cutting sound with any of my DE razors when I shave. Just a normal 'shaving' sound.

[Suzuki]

Anyone have a picture that would present the perfect angle for a DE? i think i might be having issues due to not using the proper angle. Thanks :)

Watch Mantic's videos:

http://youtube.com/user/mantic59

Fantastic source of information - better than any picture - if they can't help you, nothing can

[Furex]

+1 for the two replies from Patrick D and Suzuki

Just a normal 'shaving' sound.

I've found out that some blades have more of a musical attitude than others IIRC, the Nacet and IP emitted a more marked metallic, defined and overall crisp sound.

[mozart]

very interesting way of putting it... although, i cant think of a single possible way to get it BBS without it contacting the skin... i might be able to "trim" it.. but not cut it flesh level... im assuming you mean let the blade glide across the lather just enough to put a think barrier between? thats DEFINITELY going to take some getting used to... but ill give it a try in about a week... i think im going to let my face rest... i think i lacerated it in a few thousand spots... when i just got in the shower, i soaped up my face, and every stroke up my cheeks or across my neck felt like i had sliced a bunch of "fish gills" into my skin, and were pulling them apart... i think what i did was, pulled the hair so hard it damn near tore it out of the follicle... thereby tearing the skin AROUND the follicle... cuz it only happened on areas where i still had a little bit of stubble... so im going to wait till at least sunday, and see how my face feels... but im definitely not shaving again tomorrow lol

That's why gradual beard reduction is so darn important. You may have tried to get too much too quickly. One way to go about it is to shave first with the grain (WTG) until it feels BBS in this direction. Take two or three passes if necessary. Then proceed to the next direction 45 degrees from the first one, and so on, until smooth all around. Keep in mind that many men never go against the grain (ATG) and rather live with some stubble in order to avoid excessive irritation. Also, with the number of passes, the amount of skin irritation usually increases, so you may have to find a balance here.

As to blade angle, indeed the blade in a DE will have to cut "into the skin" in order to achieve BBS, i.e. cutting of the hair at skin level. Using your Futur, the range of angles where the blade can actually touch the skin is smallest at the lowest setting and largest at the highest setting. So, at the beginning, start out with a low setting until you are more confident.

Keeping the blade parallel to the skin will not work with a DE. Because of the cap on top of the blade, there will likely be a large gap between the blade and the skin, unless you press into the flesh. That's obviously tricky and requires lots of practice. Straights are much better in this regard.

Finally, once you have mastered all this with a Futur, you can move on to a Slant, where "blade angle" takes on a whole new dimension

Best - MM

[Kenyth]

This a somewhat hard question for me to answer because it's a matter of "Feel" rather than degrees of angle.

If, let's say, you start out on your cheeks, put the head of the razor against your skin and slowly lower the handle down, moving the razor in very, very short strokes, until you feel the edge of the blade make contact with the stubble, but not with your skin. Thats your angle!

At least that's the angle for that cheek. When you move to a different area, start out the same way, keeping the blade edge from coming into contact with your skin and just cutting through the hairs.

Anytime you use too extreme an angle, or, you apply too much pressure and drag that edge across your skin, you've just scraped yourself.

Try this. Take a piece of paper, (like a Post-It), and put the edge of the paper against the top of your cheek.

Now play around with it so you can move it against your beard and not feel the edge of the paper pressing down on your skin. Now imagine the edge of the blade floating on top of your super rich lather, protecting your skin and just slicing through the stubble. That's the angle your looking for.

As you practice and get better, you'll find yourself automatically starting out with that angle everytime and your shaves will go faster, just be patient, it will happen.

That angle may change with whatever razor you rotate to and different blades may produce a subtle difference too.

Do not, do not ever run that razor over un-lathered skin, your going to remove your stubble along with a few layers of skin with it. Nothing there for the blade to glide along and it will hurt you. Evidence of this will be the application of an alum bar or an alcohol based AS,,,hmmmm, feel the burn!

Take your time and get the feel for the angle you need,,,best wishes and great shaves.

+1

I still have some problems on the jawline and neck. Some days are a perfect shave. Others, not so much.

[mantic]

This video may help:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fVg5PpWsUI[/YOUTUBE]

--Mark

[Warlockdlx69]

will have to check that video out when im at home (no sound at work lol)

but i use my futur on anywhere from 1.5 - 2.5... usually on the low side.

[SirAdrian]

Hm, I'm just speaking for myself here, but I had to set it to 3 to be able to get it to cut.

1-2.5 DID cut, but not nearly as much as I was hoping for.

I'm using the Merkur Super blades.

[Warlockdlx69]

im just afraid of going higher and mangling my face even more lol

[SirAdrian]

Try using the '3' setting on your cheek once. See if it works a lot better.

If not, then no damage done!