I use to have a brass Blackbird with an open comb. Loved the design of the razor but never could get a good shave from it. I continued to use it over and over trying to get an irritation free shave. Thought maybe it was my technique that was to blame but never had this issue with any of my other razors. Ended up selling it. This weekend a friend gave me a stainless closed comb. Said give it a try before buying another Blackbird. I am happy to report 4 irritation free shaves. Used two different blades that I had tried many times in the brass OC. I will definitely be picking up another Blackbird in the near future and will be very happy to have one back in my collection. The aesthetics and design of the razor is one of my favorites. Was sad to sell the first one but I couldn't justify keeping it just to fondle and look at. The sale helped fund a Timeless so my sadness ended fairly quickly lol.
Blackbird Closed Comb Big Difference
- Thread starter Mr00classic
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I've not used a Blackbird OC but most say it's quite a bit more aggressive than the SB. My stainless steel Blackbird SB holds the top spot in my collection. As you said, it wins the beauty contest and it wins the shaving contest. Some say the only thing better is the titanium Blackbird.
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- #3
My brain tries to wrap around how the titanium can shave different than the stainless. Maybe someone can chime in an enlighten me.
I have a blackbird with an OC and SB plate. Had one in stainless and now i have one in brass. The OC definitely needs a steep angle to take out the harshness. It is super smooth when it's used with a steep angle. Used the OC last week and had a perfect shave.
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- #5
I could not be more excited today. The friend that let me try the polished SB Blackbird offered it to me for a insane price. Needless to say it is permanently in the den. I had to share my new acquisition with people who will understand.
Very nice. The Bird is an excellent razor. Never tried the OC and have no real desire as the SB treats me just right. Glad you have one back in your den.
SHALLOW please? I think it might be more how you and people in general refer to the angle, I have the handle almost in an right angle to the face, but the blade then rather has a shallow angle. I think you mean what I just said.
That's a notable difference to the Blackbird SB indeed, which doesn't want or require that nearly as much.
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I think Brad means the opposite — handle practically parallel to the face. That’s how I ride the Bird as well — steep, baby!
+1 to what Dan just said
Steep is riding the bar or comb. Shallow is riding the cap. That is the terminology used by most people here. When you ride the cap, the blade is presented to the skin at a shallow angle. When you ride the bar, the blade is at a steep angle to the skin. I get better results going as steep as a razor will allow.
OK, so it is rather than I couldn't believe that Brad shaves steep with the OC!
I prefer to shave steep as well, but not with the Blackbird OC. For the SB it doesn't matter, but for the OC I must, against my habit, shave shallow. Why?
I feel the blade a lot and harsh, and the teeth as well, when shaving steep with the Blackbird OC. I got better results when going for a very shallow angle.
I prefer to shave steep as well, but not with the Blackbird OC. For the SB it doesn't matter, but for the OC I must, against my habit, shave shallow. Why?
I feel the blade a lot and harsh, and the teeth as well, when shaving steep with the Blackbird OC. I got better results when going for a very shallow angle.
I shave steep with a Feather Artist Club shavette too.
No worries. We each should shave however works best for us.
Quite a daring feat!I shave steep with a Feather Artist Club shavette too.
I have to use the Blackbird OC shallow, it doesn't work steep for me. Both the blade and the teeth are biting me a lot when going steep, but I will give it another go. You noticed that I was almost shocked when you said "steep". And I tend to go steep by default and also love aggressive razors. I like the Timeless Slim OC, the R41 was my only razor for years, etc... and you possibly noticed me gushing about the Lupo .95 OC a lot lately. Italian Barber claims its their most aggressive head, but I can't help, the Blackbird OC seems much more aggressive to me. I got the impression most people talking about the Blackbird refer to the SB and few to the OC. Blackland doesn't state much difference between SB and OC, for me it is more pronounced than for most other razors I have. Will revisit it in a while... this is irritating me.
Sometimes it's hard or impossible to explain how to find the correct angle of a razor and I've seen that not only with the Blackbird, but with other razors as well. For instance, I've used my Blackbird SB only once at a very steep angle and the shave was decent, but I think too steep isn't the way to go and I need to adjust my angle a bit more.
Some folks even claim that shallow angle works for them in the Blackbird, especially the OC version and the more I read about the razor, the more confused I get with the different descriptions of either steep or shallow angle.
If I have to shave like I was told by Shane and follow the curvature of the top cap of the razor to guide me to the optimal angle, then I'm not sure if that can be called steep or too shallow. I'd say it's somewhere in between. The other theory that I have is that it's possible to use the razor or at least the SB version with both steep and shallow angles and it all comes down to personal preference and all I know for sure is that too steep feels a bit rough, since I can feel the very edge of the safety bar and since it's not rounded and smooth, it almost feels like a second blade on my face, but just dull.
Some folks even claim that shallow angle works for them in the Blackbird, especially the OC version and the more I read about the razor, the more confused I get with the different descriptions of either steep or shallow angle.
If I have to shave like I was told by Shane and follow the curvature of the top cap of the razor to guide me to the optimal angle, then I'm not sure if that can be called steep or too shallow. I'd say it's somewhere in between. The other theory that I have is that it's possible to use the razor or at least the SB version with both steep and shallow angles and it all comes down to personal preference and all I know for sure is that too steep feels a bit rough, since I can feel the very edge of the safety bar and since it's not rounded and smooth, it almost feels like a second blade on my face, but just dull.
Go by feeling. I often close my eyes. You have more or less leeway with curved caps how steep you want to go, the only quite restrictive razor I can think of in this regard right away is the Henson, that's its distinctive feature.
I would suggest drinking a cognac before shaving. I prefer Meukow XO Grande Champagne or Remy Martin, but maybe it will work with Hennessy or Hines, too.
Do a shaving stroke, and if you didn't find the right angle... drink... try again.
And if you don't find it again... drink...
If the bottle is empty and you still haven't found the correct angle,
1. give up, you are drunk
2. you have a serious problem
Maybe call for help first. I mean a medic, not shaving advice on B&B.
I would suggest drinking a cognac before shaving. I prefer Meukow XO Grande Champagne or Remy Martin, but maybe it will work with Hennessy or Hines, too.
Do a shaving stroke, and if you didn't find the right angle... drink... try again.
And if you don't find it again... drink...
If the bottle is empty and you still haven't found the correct angle,
1. give up, you are drunk
2. you have a serious problem
Maybe call for help first. I mean a medic, not shaving advice on B&B.
I think it is just something you have to try to understand.
I shave shallow with every razor in my den. I no longer have a Blackbird but when I did I shaved with a shallow angle. Steep angle shaving doesn't make any sense to me at all. I know some guys like it, but is completely counterintuitive to me and I don't enjoy it.
I have only tried one razor that really shared much, much better with a steep angle and that was the Yates.
I have only tried one razor that really shared much, much better with a steep angle and that was the Yates.
I got my SS Blackbird last week and at first I was getting a little bit frustraded to be honest. It was super efficient, but the blade feel was very uncormfortable. I tried several blades, i.e. Nacets, Astra, Personna lab blues, Silver Blues, etc.. but nothing was improving the feeling. That was until I started playing with the angle, and that transformed the Blackbird from to probably my best razor at the moment. I always use a shallow to neutral angle with all my razors, but that for some reason just didn't work for me this time. I even tried shimming to reduce the blade exposure, but nothing worked with a shallow angle. Now I'm using a very steep angle (the handle almost parallel to the face), and that just made me love this razor. I didn't know you such effective shaves with no irritation, until now...
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Congratulations on your acquisition! My BB is #1 in my den. And good on you playing with the angle to find the sweet spot. Enjoy your shaves!
