What's new

Talk me out of a slant razor

don't get a slant - they are dangerous, difficult to use, prone to nicking/cutting/slashing, they won't load a blade properly, you are inviting trouble.

Thank goodness we have a voice of reason here. I ompletely agree with Mr chillimam64. So much so that I have put my 39C on sale on BST only after 3 shaves. Its an overated gimmick and who needs a lawn mower to shave with!!! Buy the Merkur HD and it does the job.
 
$DSCN8735.JPG

Why would you want a slant ??? - :001_tt1:
 
My iKon Slant feels more mild than 34c, Futur, R41, ATT R1, & '34 Aristocrat. Those are all the razors I've tried and the slant does the best job imo.
 
[FONT=&quot]The Slant head actually induces a 'twist' to the blade with the effect that the edge ends up having a constantly varying radius, where the instantaneous radius of curvature at each point on the blade edge is unique. This effect cannot be duplicated by simply taking a linear edge, and making an angular, sliding type stroke. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The blade is twisted; it twists when you tighten down the head, that's how a regular razor blade gets "slanted". That's part of the genius of the design. The blade rest is lower on the right side than on the left and when you tighten the head, this results in the blade being torqued or twisted and that creates the "slant". The edge of the blade has exactly the same exposure all along its length. You need to look at the razor from the top down to see this. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This twist results in a cutting condition that machinists would call a 'negative radial rake' and it sets up a 'shearing' cutting condition versus 'plowing' for a positive rake. This shearing condition cannot be duplicated by simply using a conventional DE and manually applying a slanting stroke. The underlying geometric relationships of the slant simply do not exist in the conventional DE razor.[/FONT]
 
This twist results in a cutting condition that machinists would call a 'negative radial rake' and it sets up a 'shearing' cutting condition versus 'plowing' for a positive rake. This shearing condition cannot be duplicated by simply using a conventional DE and manually applying a slanting stroke. The underlying geometric relationships of the slant simply do not exist in the conventional DE razor.

You went off the rails here. The angle of the edge relative to its direction of travel is what enhances the slicing action of the cut, not the twisting of the body of the blade. The twisting is a means to two ends: the primary goal of slanting the blade edge, and the secondary goal of further stiffening the blade. While the second is unique to the torsion slant, the first is exactly the same as slanting the blade yourself, whether taking an angled stroke with the razor, or angling the razor itself and taking straight strokes. It's how the blade comes into contact with and moves through the whisker that matters, not how the blade edge angle was achieved.

I am glad that you at least didn't say that the twist changes the blade exposure across its width, because that's normally what people say when they raise the magical twist of the slant, which makes utterly no sense.
 
don't get a slant - they are dangerous, difficult to use, prone to nicking/cutting/slashing, they won't load a blade properly, you are inviting trouble.

Interesting for a member of BOSS to say....:sneaky2:\

I'll go a different route here. Don't get a slant, learn to shave the "proper" Gillette way and you get the main benefits of a slant out of any razor.

View attachment 401732

While this is a good technique, a slant makes it easier, and usable everywhere. It is nearly impossible to do the Gillette Slide on the trickier parts of ones face, especially if one has a more defined/sharp chin and neck area. A slant provides the slide's benefit everywhere and requires less skill
 
While this is a good technique, a slant makes it easier, and usable everywhere. It is nearly impossible to do the Gillette Slide on the trickier parts of ones face, especially if one has a more defined/sharp chin and neck area.

In areas like that you just do the Modified Slide, and hold the razor itself at an angle rather than try to stroke on an angle.

I'm really not trying to dog the slant. I still own a few of them, though I don't find myself going back to them all that often. For me, I like that I can apply the techniques with any razor I own rather than being tied to a relatively small handful of options.
 
[FONT=&amp]The Slant head actually induces a 'twist' to the blade with the effect that the edge ends up having a constantly varying radius, where the instantaneous radius of curvature at each point on the blade edge is unique. This effect cannot be duplicated by simply taking a linear edge, and making an angular, sliding type stroke. [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]The blade is twisted; it twists when you tighten down the head, that's how a regular razor blade gets "slanted". That's part of the genius of the design. The blade rest is lower on the right side than on the left and when you tighten the head, this results in the blade being torqued or twisted and that creates the "slant". The edge of the blade has exactly the same exposure all along its length. You need to look at the razor from the top down to see this. [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]This twist results in a cutting condition that machinists would call a 'negative radial rake' and it sets up a 'shearing' cutting condition versus 'plowing' for a positive rake. This shearing condition cannot be duplicated by simply using a conventional DE and manually applying a slanting stroke. The underlying geometric relationships of the slant simply do not exist in the conventional DE razor.[/FONT]

You went off the rails here. The angle of the edge relative to its direction of travel is what enhances the slicing action of the cut, not the twisting of the body of the blade. The twisting is a means to two ends: the primary goal of slanting the blade edge, and the secondary goal of further stiffening the blade. While the second is unique to the torsion slant, the first is exactly the same as slanting the blade yourself, whether taking an angled stroke with the razor, or angling the razor itself and taking straight strokes. It's how the blade comes into contact with and moves through the whisker that matters, not how the blade edge angle was achieved.

I am glad that you at least didn't say that the twist changes the blade exposure across its width, because that's normally what people say when they raise the magical twist of the slant, which makes utterly no sense.

with a slant the blade cuts with a scything/slicing motion, a regular DE chops (or more correctly, crushes).

think of it in terms of a guillotine being the DE and the slant being the scottish maiden - two totally different blade/cutting angles regardless of the position of the neck (or whiskers). the scottish maiden (slant) being the most efficient.
 
Last edited:
with a slant the blade cuts with a scything/slicing motion, a regular DE chops (or more correctly, crushes).

think of it in terms of a guillotine being the DE and the slant being the scottish maiden - two totally different blade/cutting angles regardless of the position of the neck (or whiskers). the scottish maiden (slant) being the most efficient.

Scottish maiden:
9k=


9k=

9k=

proxy.php


Guillotine:

proxy.php



Looks like the Guillotine is more like a slant. Did I miss something?
 
Last edited:
You went off the rails here. The angle of the edge relative to its direction of travel is what enhances the slicing action of the cut, not the twisting of the body of the blade. The twisting is a means to two ends: the primary goal of slanting the blade edge, and the secondary goal of further stiffening the blade. While the second is unique to the torsion slant, the first is exactly the same as slanting the blade yourself, whether taking an angled stroke with the razor, or angling the razor itself and taking straight strokes. It's how the blade comes into contact with and moves through the whisker that matters, not how the blade edge angle was achieved.

I have to disagree. I believe the radial rake would make it that much smoother. It does affect the cutting movement. IMO
 
I have to disagree. I believe the radial rake would make it that much smoother. It does affect the cutting movement. IMO

"Radial rake" refers to the relation of a cutting edge to the radius of a spinning tool like a cutting head in a milling machine, as opposed to "axial rake," which would be the relation of that edge to the axis of the tool. A razor is operating in a plane. The relevant angle is the angle of the cutting edge to the direction of travel.

The only other angle that a torsion slant introduces at all is the minor variation in the angle of the blade body itself over the width of the blade. But the effect from that would be miniscule to non-existent since any one whisker would only see that change across its own width -- literally the width of a human hair.
 
Top Bottom