Question on loading slant bar

[HerbalAbuse]

Sorry to bring this up again, I know it's been posted countless times but now I'm confused.

A lot of people have said load the blade so that it's straight with the teeth on the bottom bar, which is what I've been doing.

But I've just discovered this thread- http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=87841&highlight=slant+aggressive that says to have the blade straight with the razors head

Anyone know what method is correct?

My first shave with the 39c was the best shave I ever had, but I've had 2 shaves since then (1 a second shave with the same Merkur blade) and 1 more with a Tesco blade, and they were quite possibly the worst shaves I've ever had (lots of nicks and a load of burn)- not sure wether that's because my stubble was shorter than the first time, or if it's the blades, or if it's the loading of the blade.

Thanks for any help

 

[Beardo]

Whenever I load my Slant Bar:

1- I'm sure to tighten the head just enough so that the blade can still be moved with a little effort.
2- Once it is tightened to that point, I grab the blade by the ends that protrude from the sides of the head and align the blade so that it is parallel with the comb - the fixed portion of the head that doesn't move when you remove the blade.
3- Once this is done, I may or may not align the top of the head with the comb and blade, but doing so doesn't seem to have any appreciable effect on my shave.

That's the process that has worked consistently for me; I hope that was helpful.

 

[HerbalAbuse]

Ok thanks I think I may stick with aligning it with the teeth on the comb (bottom bar) this seems to me the obvious looking way.

I was confused about the other post saying the opposite, maybe different loading techniques work better for some than others.

I think maybe with my first shave I may have just had a perfect blade angle, as I'm only 3 shaves with the slant in I'll keep on with it, I hope it improves as I was quite annoyed actually that the other 2 shaves have been more uncomfortable and scratchy than even my £3 Wilko Classic DE, surely something's not right.

It took me around an hour last night of solid shaving just to get a BBS with the 39c, I definately should have stopped but seeing as it was SO easy and gave such a good shave first time round I just had to carry on. At the moment I seem to be blaming it on the Tesco blades I'm using, but the second shave with the Merkur blade was just as bad.

I really really hope I can get consistent shaves like the first one I had with the slant one day, it really was an amazing shave, not to mention quick

 

[BladeRunner001]

Whenever I load my Slant Bar:

1- I'm sure to tighten the head just enough so that the blade can still be moved with a little effort.
2- Once it is tightened to that point, I grab the blade by the ends that protrude from the sides of the head and align the blade so that it is parallel with the comb - the fixed portion of the head that doesn't move when you remove the blade.
3- Once this is done, I may or may not align the top of the head with the comb and blade, but doing so doesn't seem to have any appreciable effect on my shave.

That's the process that has worked consistently for me; I hope that was helpful.

BIG +1. That's the way

 

[Haiku]

BIG +1. That's the way

Absolutely. That is the way.

The way to do it is to look at the razor from the top down, ie a bird's eye view. That way you can see the blade edge against the comb. The "knobs" on the comb reflect light in a straight line and you'll very easily see that straight line by looking at the razor from the top down.

 

[jackmormon]

Great advice above. One thing I would add is to try some different blades. Get a sampler pack if you can. What I have found is that the sharper the blade the better it works in a Slant. I don't know why exactly. I mostly use Feathers in a Slant and can easily get a DFS in less than ten minutes with 2 passes. Feathers don't work well for me in any other razor. Merkur blades don't have a good rep and I would probably have a bunch of nicks if I tried to use one in a Slant. Just sayin....different blades seem to work better with different razors.

 

[DanOK]

+2 on Beardo's method, thats the way I load mine. +1 on Jackmormon's commit on sharp blades. I only use feathers in my slant razors.

 

[HerbalAbuse]

It could be the blades I suppose, but I'm still baffled as to why the first shave with a Merkur blade was amazing, but the 2nd shave with that same Merkur blade, and the 3rd shave with a brand new Tesco blade were both as terrible as each other.

Maybe the Merkur blade went dull quickly, and the Tesco ones aren't that sharp to begin with? I find that quite hard to believe. The first shave went very smoothly and was a very decent BBS, closest and longest lasting I've ever had in 10 years of shaving (yes I'm young lol)

But the other shaves have been scratchy, as if the blade is bouncing over the hairs or having trouble cutting through them with ease. This resulted in major razor burn.

What I'm going to try is leave my stubble to grow for a few days (like it was the first time I shaved with the slant) and see if it's any better.

From a lot of people I hear the slant isn't so good on every day BBS shaves and is better for plowing through thick stubble - maybe this is my problem - that the razor is too aggressive for use on very short stubble for a BBS without irritation.

I'm probably embarassing myself here as I clearly haven't been using the slant for long, the reason I'm asking is just because my technique doesn't differ between shaves, I always use no pressure with this razor, and I have tried varying blade angles yet i still can't get the shave I got the first time I used it.

I'm sort of worried I may have a dodgy batch of slant razor, I'm almost certain that one side of the razor is more aggressive than the other, as if the blade is off-centre in the holes and sticking out more on 1 side than the other by 1/4 of a mm or so, or maybe it's a dodgy batch of blades. 1 side seems to be too aggressive and the other not aggressive enough.
I haven't got a camera to take pictures so I'm not sure what to do.

I guess I'll just stick with it and see how it goes in the next couple of weeks

 

[HerbalAbuse]

Sorry to bump this but if anyone has a 39c could they check if their blade is perfectly centred or not for me please?

I don't mean in line with the teeth I mean if you look to the left of the blade (where it's the least aggressive) and compare it to how far it protrudes from the head compared to the other side (again the least aggressive end), does it stick out the same length?

On mine it comes out every so slightly more on 1 side than the other.

1 side of mine is definately slightly more aggressive than the other, it's as if 1 side of the blade is bent down slightly more than the other, and I can't solve it by playing around with it, it always ends up the same.

 

[bladeruner]

Sorry to bump this but if anyone has a 39c could they check if their blade is perfectly centred or not for me please?

I don't mean in line with the teeth I mean if you look to the left of the blade (where it's the least aggressive) and compare it to how far it protrudes from the head compared to the other side (again the least aggressive end), does it stick out the same length?

On mine it comes out every so slightly more on 1 side than the other.

1 side of mine is definately slightly more aggressive than the other, it's as if 1 side of the blade is bent down slightly more than the other, and I can't solve it by playing around with it, it always ends up the same.

I have the 37c and I have noticed this. And yes sometimes it seems like one side is more aggressive. Despite all that I use mine daily and recieve great results. Don't worry in may take a bit of getting use to.

 

[HerbalAbuse]

Thanks for that, I'm just a bit picky about these things and wondered if mine was faulty or something.

It's only a very minor (if not hardly noticeable) issue, I suppose I could even use it to my advantage.

I'll be trying some new blades soon and see how that goes.

I'm very short on cash and not sure whether to buy 30 Feathers (I heard they're the best blades for a slant in general) or a blade sampler pack, I might go with the sampler pack from Shaving Shack, no doubt I'll use them all even the ones I don't get on with well

 

[planto]

Only just red your post today so sorry if i am a bit late to the party,i have a 39c and use feathers with it cause they are absolutely the sharpest blade on the market IMHO, my slant has indeed got a more agressive side and i don't think its part of the design but it is quite useful because you can make your first pass with the less agressive side and then your second you turn around to the ugly side and mow that stubble right down.btw i get most of my stuff from the shaving shack and their service is excellent, also i would recommend that you try a derby blade in your slant as they are a much more forgiving blade, at least until you get your technique fine tuned.