Recently purchased a Merkur 39C. I prefer some heft in my DE's and the barber pole handle is very nice looking. I've read a lot about the slant and admittedly it does appear to be rather menacing. I had my first shave today. Same shower set up, wash with Mr. Glo and bowl lathered QCS Irish Tweed. I'm a new cold water shave convert so followed that protocol. I started with some hesitation out of respect but quickly began shaving as I would any other DE. Paid no special attention to the blade. I immediately knew this was something special. After the first pass I saw what a great job it was doing. I decided to do my usual XTG and ATG and forego any touch up to see what it left behind. I think it did an amazing job and what was missed was minimal. It really is a mild razor. I think the stigma is is undeserved. But I will no doubt capitalize on it's rep and shark like look and grin with an... "Oh that thing? Yeah...I shave with that"
Don't fear the Slant
- Thread starter PDman
- Start date
+ 1. The 39C (aka the Sledgehammer) is great.
Hi PDMan: Glad that you are loving your slant. I love mine. I always get incredible face & dome shaves. If you are interested join the B.O.S.S.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...S-Brotherhood-of-Slant-Shavers?highlight=BOSS
WARHAWK
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...S-Brotherhood-of-Slant-Shavers?highlight=BOSS
WARHAWK
I have the baby brother to your razor ... the 37C ...
... and I have to disagree with you calling The Slant a mild razor; at least, give it a medium rating!
For my beard, no mild razor is ever gonna get me a BBS shave - my slant does. (Yes, I own a EJ DE89, Lord L6 and Gillette SuperSpeed + other mild razors...)
The only problem with The Slant is .... it can easily become your go to razor at the expense of your other razors - your rotation slows down or even stops!!!
Dang, it is one fine shaving tool!
... and I have to disagree with you calling The Slant a mild razor; at least, give it a medium rating!
For my beard, no mild razor is ever gonna get me a BBS shave - my slant does. (Yes, I own a EJ DE89, Lord L6 and Gillette SuperSpeed + other mild razors...)
The only problem with The Slant is .... it can easily become your go to razor at the expense of your other razors - your rotation slows down or even stops!!!
Dang, it is one fine shaving tool!
Right now I either shave with my 37C or R41... I'm new to the R41 but it seems to get a tad closer than the Slant and the learning curve has had a little more 'gore' to it. 
Of course... YMMV.
Of course... YMMV.- Thread starter
- #9
Right now I either shave with my 37C or R41... I'm new to the R41 but it seems to get a tad closer than the Slant and the learning curve has had a little more 'gore' to it.
The R41. Another razor to be tried one day.
I love my 37c. I'm waiting for a new slant to be available, then thats it for me!
- Thread starter
- #13
I still have to go with it being mild but as always, it's a YMMV thing. I guess it could be one way or the other and then found this which kind of indicates its both.I believe the slant in the photo (2) is the Merkur. The link for the whole thing is at the end. A pretty interesting read.
"The greater the blade exposure, angle and gap the more aggressive the razor will behave. Each head combines these three factors to give a unique shave. For example, a razor like the one in the image combines a large gap with negative exposure. The large gap makes it aggressive while the negative expssure makes it mild ... both factors tend to cancell each other, and with a middleground cutting angle, the resulting razor is mild and tolerant to pressure. Give the same gap a big blade expossure and a greater cutting angle and you'll get something similar to an R41.
The essence of the slant (take the modern Merkur) lies in the way it combines these three factors. Detailed observation of the head easily reveals what happens. Along the length od the head we can see the interplay between gap and cutting angle. From left to right we find a large cutting angle (aggressive) with a small aperture or gap (mild) ... the agressiveness of the cutting angle is tunned down by the small gap. Continuing towards the right side we can see that as the gap increases the cutting angle of the blade proportionately decreases. That is, as the gap gets wild the effective cutting angle gets bening ... again one tends to cancel the other.
The end result of the slant's variable geometry head is a very good equilibrium between cutting ability and mildness. Naturally, we can find aggressive and mild slants, as with any other razor, and in the slant the unit of measure here is very small. Small changes make for a big shaving experience difference. We can get a good visual idea of the slant helicoidal geometry from Wild's own drawings (although his slant did not have a gap)."
http://shavenook.com/thread-the-slant-concept
"The greater the blade exposure, angle and gap the more aggressive the razor will behave. Each head combines these three factors to give a unique shave. For example, a razor like the one in the image combines a large gap with negative exposure. The large gap makes it aggressive while the negative expssure makes it mild ... both factors tend to cancell each other, and with a middleground cutting angle, the resulting razor is mild and tolerant to pressure. Give the same gap a big blade expossure and a greater cutting angle and you'll get something similar to an R41.
The essence of the slant (take the modern Merkur) lies in the way it combines these three factors. Detailed observation of the head easily reveals what happens. Along the length od the head we can see the interplay between gap and cutting angle. From left to right we find a large cutting angle (aggressive) with a small aperture or gap (mild) ... the agressiveness of the cutting angle is tunned down by the small gap. Continuing towards the right side we can see that as the gap increases the cutting angle of the blade proportionately decreases. That is, as the gap gets wild the effective cutting angle gets bening ... again one tends to cancel the other.
The end result of the slant's variable geometry head is a very good equilibrium between cutting ability and mildness. Naturally, we can find aggressive and mild slants, as with any other razor, and in the slant the unit of measure here is very small. Small changes make for a big shaving experience difference. We can get a good visual idea of the slant helicoidal geometry from Wild's own drawings (although his slant did not have a gap)."
http://shavenook.com/thread-the-slant-concept
Using the R41 2011 head for a week and it is just curious how I get faster and well used to it. It felt just over the top aggressive a week ago like skinning a cat but now has become a normal speedy and enjoyable procedure. This must be subconcious subconcious but works great. I cant even image what it would feel like going back to the super mild 23c and I am not going to try. I have a 39c on order and will be interested to see. It may feel rather mild after all but will report back.
The slant and I sparred. I lost. The slant is too much for me.
Nothing at all to fear from the slant. Mine has become my go to DE.
I've always thought of my slants as being passive/aggressive lol. The Merkur 37c was one of my first safety razors and now I use the 37c and 39c about 99% of the time. With a Feather blade too. Sometimes I'll mix it up with a straight bar DE but I'm always disappointed with the results. Slants are very smooth cutting but will cut you if your not carefull. Now that I think about it, I think I've knicked myself more with straight bars.
I have a Hoffritz slant (=vintage Merkur 37C) and just used it this morning (w. Cella and Personna Plat Chrome blade). Very smooth. One of those shaves that makes you say "why don't I just use this and throw out everything else."
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