Adjustable Clarification...

[rusirius]

I've seen a few posts here and there and it struck me that there seems to be some confusion with some about what exactly it is that adjusting an "adjustable" razor does. I've heard it refered to as "blade exposure." I've seen comparisions to lawn mowers and not dropping the deck all the way down, etc...

So in the interest of helping to clarify this, I'll try to give a good description of WHAT exactly the adjustment does.

In an ideal world, where your technique is flawless, your hand is steady, and you can factor trigonomic values with eyesight alone like the 6 million dollar man, the adjustment does ABSOLUTELY nothing.

Why? Because the safety guard will never be touching your face anyway. It won't matter if you set it for the lowest or highest setting, or remove it completely, the results will be exactly the same...

Now for the rest of us that aren't bionic, our hands are far from that accurate. That means the safety guard is going to come into contact with your face. That is after all what it's there for.

Let's take an adjustable razor like the Vision by Merkur. When you adjust it, it does not change how much blade is "exposed". It does not bring the blade any CLOSER to or FARTHER from your face...

I'll say it now... The blade will ALWAYS be in contact with your face, not close to, but IN CONTACT WITH.

What the adjustment WILL do however, is RAISE the head of the razor in relation to the safety bar. In other words, the "Gap" between the blade and safety bar get's larger.

This changes the ANGLE at which the blade is contacting the face (Assuming the safety bar is in contact with your face.)

Let's take a look at this with pictures. (Excuse my poor photoshop skills.. ;)

Here's a picture of a razor with the adjustment set at the "least" agressive setting. Dialed "down" in other words.
razor1.jpg
The vertical line on the left represents your face. The "red" is the razor blade itself. In the close up on the right, you can see the yellow angle that represents the angle of the blade to the face.

Now as we open the razor up, to a more "agressive" setting, the head will "raise" giving more gap between the safety bar and razor. This will force you to have to have LESS angle in order to keep both the blade and safety bar in contact with your face. (For demonstrative purposes I've exagerated the amount of opening of the head) This is a razor in it's fully open or dialed "up".
razor2.jpg
Now you can see to keep both blade and safety bar in contact with the face we've had to lower the angle of the handle. This in turn increases the "angle of attack" of the blade itself, again represented by the yellow angle.

If we superimpose those angles on top of each other (and change the color of one to keep clarity)
razorangles.jpg
We now see that at the "less" agressive setting we've ended up with a fairly shallow angle, while the "more" agressive setting resulted in a much larger angle.

Now as stated above, if your the 6 million dollar man and have the razor at the most agressive setting, you can still keep the handle at the same angle as previous, that in turn will keep the angle of the blade exactly the same as well. The safety bar in that case would be lifted completely off the face and would be serving no purpose at all. (might as well be using a cutthroat).

You'll notice that in NO WAY does adjusting it change the "amount" of blade that's exposed. Nor does it ever "prevent" the blade from contacting the face. Your not setting how CLOSE of a shave you want, rather your setting how "Agressive" of an angle the blade can potentially be in reference to your face.

That's about all I have to say about that...

[castlecraver]

Thanks for this very thorough clarification -- I was curious about exactly this. Great work!!

[Larry C in Texas]

I got tired-head about half way through this and skipped the rest. I hope I still remember which end of the razor to shave with tonight.

This is a good analysis, but not for the weak-minded among us (including myself).

YMMV.

[Gatorade]

I think the Gillette adjustment is different. There are bars along the floor of the compartment raise and lower changing the angle of the blade. When the angle changes it actually pulls away from the skin.

[jduffy]

So is that how we determine the correct angle of the razor by setting the safety bar against our skin?

[mparker762]

The head does not raise on either the Gillette thin adjustable, the Gillette Fatboy, or the Merkur Vision, rather, the guard lowers. It is an optical illusion that makes the head appear to raise.

You should not shave with the safety bar against your face except incidentally; the head should be against your face with the blade skimming your skin and the safety bar hovering just above the skin in front of the blade. The safety bar is like training wheels on a bike, they keep you from hurting yourself if your angle is off, but with sufficient technique should never come into play. Mind you, sufficient technique is more rare and difficult with the razor than a bike, so the safety bar comes into play a *lot*. But it should not be your intention to shave with the safety bar against your face.

[Scotto]

This is an interesting analysis, but has one flaw. Your face is not an unyielding straight line. It is a fleshy, multi-angled contour. When the razor rests against your face, it is indenting (for lack of a better word) your skin. How far the blade can bite into that yielding surface is determined by the safety bar. So it is a "safety" bar in that unlike a str8, there is a stop before the blade can bite into your skin and cut you.

I would agree with your angle analysis to a point, but there is another factor related to the pressure, if you will, that the blade puts on your face. More aggressive settings will let the blade push more into your skin, allowing for a closer shave and (potentially) more razor burn.

[rusirius]

You should not shave with the safety bar against your face except incidentally; the head should be against your face with the blade skimming your skin and the safety bar hovering just above the skin in front of the blade. The safety bar is like training wheels on a bike, they keep you from hurting yourself if your angle is off, but with sufficient technique should never come into play. Mind you, sufficient technique is more rare and difficult with the razor than a bike, so the safety bar comes into play a *lot*. But it should not be your intention to shave with the safety bar against your face.

The only reason I would disagree with this statement is that it would then seem to make the adjustment completely worthless. In other words, think of it this way...

If you ALWAYS should have the bar hovering above the skin, and it's like training wheels on a bike, then it would kind of seem silly to have an adjustable razor wouldn't it? The "adjustment" would serve nothing more then a "How badly do I want to hurt myself when I screw up." If I set it for 1 and keep it there, then if I screw up the "safety" bar will help me and keep me from hurting myself too bad.. If I set it for 9, then it's largely out of play and I'm likely to lose a nose.

I'll agree that if you set the angle from the head you'll take the safety bar out of the equation, but then if it was never inteded to contact the face and is there only to keep you from cutting too deep when you do screw up, then again, I just don't see the point of adjusting it.

[rusirius]

This is an interesting analysis, but has one flaw. Your face is not an unyielding straight line. It is a fleshy, multi-angled contour. When the razor rests against your face, it is indenting (for lack of a better word) your skin. How far the blade can bite into that yielding surface is determined by the safety bar. So it is a "safety" bar in that unlike a str8, there is a stop before the blade can bite into your skin and cut you.

That's true, it is yielding and I can see your point about how this would affect it, but if that's it's only purpose, to keep the blade from biting in "too deep", then I just can't see the point of having it adjustable.

I would agree with your angle analysis to a point, but there is another factor related to the pressure, if you will, that the blade puts on your face. More aggressive settings will let the blade push more into your skin, allowing for a closer shave and (potentially) more razor burn.

Now I can see your point here, that adjusting the safety bar could allow the blade to push further into the skin... BUT... If the safety bar is NOT supposed to be in contact with your skin, then HOW would setting it more agressive let the blade push more into your skin? This would ONLY seem to hold true IF the intent of the bar was in fact to pass ALONG the skin.

Also, I'm not sure how letting it push more into your skin would result in a closer shave. If the blade is in contact with the skin anyway, it should be loping the hair off at the skin level. Pushing more into your skin really shouldn't change that.

Last but not least, one more thing to ponder. If the safety bar is not supposed to be in contact with your skin, then why for example are there open and closed comb razors? Why does my Merkur HD and Gillette have "groves" cut into the bar?

[Scotto]

I think I have a headache. I'll have to take a look at some razors tonight and see whether I can buy into the notion that the safety bar is not supposed to touch your face.

[moses]

Well, having recently tried both ways with a Futur, I wholehearted agree with mparker. Just trying to keep the angle right, like I normally shave, I can get a great shave on 1 or on 6. Or even tweeked to 12. If I keep the bar on my face, and let that set the angle, it tears me up at 4.

As for what the bar does:

I can get a great shave on 1 or 6, but it is easier on 1, but takes a little more doing. I think basically the safety bar does a couple of things. One good, one bad.

On the good side, we aren't all cheeks (flat, smooth). Where the surface is uneven, or going into convex curves, a dialed down safety bar will push against the skin, keeping the angle closer to what it is supposed to be. This makes it a lot easier to avoid irritation and burn. Of course, the same effect, more or less, protects from excess pressure. The pressure is partly born by the the bar, and in the process, it pushes the skin down, keeping the angle right, and the blade from digging as much.

Downside is that I find the razor misses a little more, especially if not very careful. The pushing down on the skin effect of the bar and lead to the blade not quite making contact at certain points. Thus, potentially more passes or touchup. Also, with a thick beard (several days growth), I find that the bar is pushed up by the stubble on the first pass, keeping me from getting all that much on that cut.

Based on this, I am liking a midrange exposure (1.5-3 on the Futur, depending on my mood), for giving me the combination of not having the bar in the way, but also having the protection to move pretty fast without irritation.

Of course, my theory differs somehow (not sure how, exactly), from Mr. Lerch's theory that very high exposure is needed for closeness. And he is way more experienced than me, so..... At the same time, to my mind, as long as the blade is touching the skin, more blade /= any closer shave.

PS - Yes, dialed down also keeps the slice from being as deep if you really screw up, but I'm less worried about that.

EDIT: One other thing. I'd think that on milder fixed blades, Like the Gillettes, for example, the bar is going to be touching the skin much of the time.

[moses]

Last but not least, one more thing to ponder. If the safety bar is not supposed to be in contact with your skin, then why for example are there open and closed comb razors? Why does my Merkur HD and Gillette have "groves" cut into the bar?

My theory on that is that it is related to the stubble issue. With an open comb, or to a lesser extent the deep grooves in a Merkur bar, the stubble will lift up the razor less.

Another thing - If the bar is touching the face, it is going to scrape off most of the lather before the blades ever get there. Open combs would not.

[rusirius]

I think I have a headache.

You sound like my wife...

I'll have to take a look at some razors tonight and see whether I can buy into the notion that the safety bar is not supposed to touch your face.

LOL, I'm going to have to have another look too. On the bright side, I love a good debate!

[With The Grain]

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[rusirius]

the key to finding angle can be kept simple, just put the cap on your face and pull down until the blade engages, on a fully opened razor this is going to be before the safety bar touches your face, possibly way before and that's why it takes more experience to shave wide open. the safety bar is more an instrument to keep you from rolling the blade over into your face (safety), not one of finding proper angle, that's the job of the cap/head.

But then you must admit, if this is the case, an "adjustable" has absolutely NO use compared to a fixed razor. If the safety bar doesn't touch your face, then why make it adjustable? Why should it matter if it's .5 mm away from your face or 6 mm away?

[With The Grain]

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[With The Grain]

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[With The Grain]

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[jduffy]

Wow, a lot of food for thought here.

I would love to look at the engineering records of Gillette and to see the history of their thought process in creating new razors from their beginnings to today.

In fact a television show that would cover the history of shaving might be in order as well. Has anyone seen a show like this on TV or cable?

[mparker762]

The only reason I would disagree with this statement is that it would then seem to make the adjustment completely worthless. In other words, think of it this way...

If you ALWAYS should have the bar hovering above the skin, and it's like training wheels on a bike, then it would kind of seem silly to have an adjustable razor wouldn't it? The "adjustment" would serve nothing more then a "How badly do I want to hurt myself when I screw up." If I set it for 1 and keep it there, then if I screw up the "safety" bar will help me and keep me from hurting myself too bad.. If I set it for 9, then it's largely out of play and I'm likely to lose a nose.

I'll agree that if you set the angle from the head you'll take the safety bar out of the equation, but then if it was never inteded to contact the face and is there only to keep you from cutting too deep when you do screw up, then again, I just don't see the point of adjusting it.

Adjusting the razor is indeed primarily a matter of telling it "this is how much pressure I can use before you stop me". I use the adjustments on my Gillette fatboy heavily, with different settings for different blades, for different passes, and depending on how many shaves I've got on that blade. If the head is gliding on your face like its supposed to, then opening up the razor doesn't make it more aggressive (that's built in to the head geometry), it allows you to usefully apply more pressure without the safety bar stopping you.

Some guys modify their razors so they can open them up much more than the factory designed, these are using the DE like a T-handled straight razor, using different shaving angles for different parts of the face. But under normal circumstances with a normal razor that's not what the adjustments are for, they simply don't have enough range to be useful in that role.