Adjustable Razor Theory

[Tone deaf]

I shave with my adjustables starting with the higher settings and dialing down with each pass. I understand we are aiming for beard reduction but why would it work the other way round for some people when starting on the lowest settings and moving up with each pass. Surely once your'e on the second or third pass dialing up to the higher levels is just overkill. What am I not getting here?

Edit: Just to add my usual routine is normally 2 X WTG at 5/6 then 2/3 for finishing, I would not want to be doing a final pass at 5 or above.

 

[Bushranger]

TD. I am as perplexed as you are. It makes no sense to me either. For daily I use setting 4 Wtg, 3 XTG 2ATG if I want BBS. For DFS, it is two passes.

I understand people starting on setting 9 and such, but dialling up when bristles are down is bizzare to my reasoning

 

[Shaving Galoot]

+1

~Jeff

 

[mmack66]

OMG, some people even leave their adjustables on one setting throughout their shave!

 

[K9DVM]

I have a Mergress and I find that for the final pass around my chin I have to dial up to get those stubborn whiskers that were otherwise not cut on the lower setting. This may be a technique problem on my part but it works for me. If I start on a higher setting then I get a lot of irritation especially on my neck.

 

[pablo_h]

Because when you are doing a reduction pass, it doesn't need to be so aggressive.
The more aggressive it is, the more chance of skin irritation.
So you go easy to start off, risking less irritation while cutting the easiest to get beard.

Then only adjust it more aggressive to get rid of the remaining stubble that couldn't be cut on on the gentle setting.

Do you expect BBS on your first pass?
No, so why set the razor to a high setting expecting BBS?
Aggressiveness is only need for the finish, not the reduction passes.
Using an adjustable at '9', is like not doing any reduction passes.

 

[thirdeye]

Because when you are doing a reduction pass, it doesn't need to be so aggressive.
The more aggressive it is, the more chance of skin irritation.
So you go easy to start off, risking less irritation while cutting the easiest to get beard.

Then only adjust it more aggressive to get rid of the remaining stubble that couldn't be cut on on the gentle setting.

Do you expect BBS on your first pass?
No, so why set the razor to a high setting expecting BBS?
Aggressiveness is only need for the finish, not the reduction passes.
Using an adjustable at '9', is like not doing any reduction passes.

This is basically my process as well when using an adjustable.

5 WTG-7 XTG-3 ATG...no irritation and a nice clean shave.

 

[PaulX608]

I rarely use an adjustable DE anymore, but for years I used my '59 FatBoy. Always on 9. 1st pass N-S, second pass S-N. DFS. I've kinda moved away from TTOs since I got to collecting and trying different things.

 

[Tone deaf]

I'm not aiming at BBS after first pass but I'm willing to give it a go to see if there is an improvement to my results.

Third eye (Ray's) routine makes sense to me...reduction on the first pass, dialing up on the second pass and low setting for touch up or ATG.
I would not want to ATG on a high setting.

 

[uberculture]

I crank up my adjustable for the first pass, then down for subsequent passes. My thought is this: it is easier to keep the blade angle reasonable for cutting at a high setting, so as I'm skipping over the big whiskers, getting the first pass done, I want it high. For later passes, I find it easier to maintain a good angle, so I don't need it dialed up so high.

 

[sfmickey]

You guys are doing 15 pass shaves ? I wouldn't have a face left if I did that !

I just 'set it and forget it' at 6 (1962 Gillette).

 

[Tone deaf]

Well that went better than I expected, I used third eyes settings, 5 then 7 WTG and 3 for ATG/XTG for a little touch up. Proved much easier to get good results.

I suppose the lawn cutting analogy is the one....faced with 6" of grass you don't set the mower on the most aggressive setting and do it in one hit, you leave that for last.

 

[kzoo1]

OMG, some people even leave their adjustables on one setting throughout their shave!

Yeah, what he said...

(I haven't used an adjustable in weeks...)

 

[pablo_h]

I suppose the lawn cutting analogy is the one....faced with 6" of grass you don't set the mower on the most aggressive setting and do it in one hit, you leave that for last.

That's what I was trying to describe

 

[dpm802]

I shave with my adjustables starting with the higher settings and dialing down with each pass. I understand we are aiming for beard reduction but why would it work the other way round for some people when starting on the lowest settings and moving up with each pass. Surely once your'e on the second or third pass dialing up to the higher levels is just overkill. What am I not getting here?

Thanks for the clarification ... I was also "missing something" about Adjustable Theory.

I recently purchased a Progress (unmodified) ... but it often sits unused next to my 34G and 39C. The adjustable razor just didn't seem to shave well for me. Now I realize that its not the razor, but how I've been using it.

I'll give the Progress more attention over the next few weeks ... now that I understand how it works, it should (hopefully) give me better results.

 

[uberculture]

You guys are doing 15 pass shaves ? I wouldn't have a face left if I did that !

I just 'set it and forget it' at 6 (1962 Gillette).

It took me a day to get this joke, but I started laughing maniacally when I did.

 

[Haiku]

The fact is that dialing up an adjustable is counter-intuitive but many guys find that it works really well. My theory is that it works because the edge of the blade is shaving at different locations depending on where the razor is adjusted to. I tried to explain my thinking in a previous post a while back. It's based on the idea that skin does not just sit flat when you shave with a DE; it in fact bulges just a tiny bit. Here's how you test this idea: put your left hand in front of your face, palm toward you. Lay your thumb on your palm with the tip of your thumb at the bottom of your index finger. Put a razor down on the bulge on the top of your hand. You'll immediately see that the weight of the razor makes the razor sort of sink into your skin. Look really closely where the blade touches the skin. The weight of the razor causes a very tiny bulge just in front of the leading edge of the blade. Depending on where on that bulge the blade lands, you'll be getting a more or a less aggressive shave. The flatter part of the bulge results in a more gentle shave, if the blade lands on the more "curved" part of the bulge you'll be shaving more aggressively because the curve makes the hair stand up straighter. I got that idea from an old time barber who pinches skin to make it bulge when he does a straight shave. First he pulls the skin to make it lie flat, then on the second pass he pushes or pinches it to get the hair to stand up. I believe that's what happens when you dial up an adjustable during a shave.

That to me at least is why dialing up during a shave works.

I tried to explain my thinking about this a bit more clearly in this post:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27914&highlight=dialing+adjustable

As you can see, not everyone agrees with this thinking, but it makes sense to me.

 

[Fnord5]

The Ultimate Adjustable:

 

[Haiku]

The Ultimate Adjustable:

Absolutely right - that's what all DE razor designers try to emulate. Few with any real success.

 

[Tone deaf]

Very pretty....so where's the dial?