I used my new Merkur 37C slant for the first time this morning. Last night, I read several old threads about it on B&B and watched a couple of videos demonstrating it. I'd been feeling a little intimidated, but the videos reassured me. They explained that there is no special technique needed. Just caution, carefulness. True, when Mantic tried the third pass against the grain, he ended up with several bloody nicks on his neck. No ATG for me, then. But I'd already been deciding that anyway, no matter what razor I use. For me, that third pass ATG always produces irritation. So, instead, I've usually been making the third pass XTG in the direction opposite to that of the second pass. The final question was, "What blade?" One line of reasoning would say, "Start off with a relatively mild, dull blade, a Merkur or Derby. Pair an aggressive razor with a timid blade." But another line of reasoning would say that you can get the most efficient shave with the sharpest blade. I didn't go up to a Feather, but I did go with my favorite blade, the Polsilver Super Iridium. Turns out there was no reason to be exceptionally anxious. Just ordinary caution, letting the blade do the work, and forgoing ATG, and the result was a smooth, comfortable shave.
There had been some B&B debate in earlier years about the correct placement and alignment of the blade in the slant. The word from Merkur was that the blade edge should be parallel with the edge of the cap, not parallel with the edge of the base plate. I put the cap upside down on the counter, dropped the blade into the cap, and then (holding the cap by either end) screwed the handle down onto the cap, firmly. That seemed to do the trick, and produced no alignment problems.
Over at the shave nook, there was an extraordinarily well-researched and informative account of "The Slant Concept," giving the history and engineering logic of slant razors, fully illustrated with the diagrams of the originators, and supplemented with pictures of guillotines:
http://shavenook.com/thread-the-slant-concept
The two videos were by Mantic and Paul Shillito:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfb22jUXLLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfb22jUXLLs
Shillito takes the razor apart and patiently examines its construction.
I'm looking forward to many more good shaves with this razor. I'll put it into regular rotation with the Mergress, a Gillette Slim, and a couple of open combs (the Gillette NEW and a Razorock Little Bastone). The Merkur 34C I started out with is now facing a lot of competition, but it's still a very good razor, and I'll take it out occasionally for a spin. I'm wondering if somewhere not too far down the line there's a Muhle R41 with my name on it. Not to get reckless, though. Cockiness precedes a cut.
View attachment 350253
Joe
There had been some B&B debate in earlier years about the correct placement and alignment of the blade in the slant. The word from Merkur was that the blade edge should be parallel with the edge of the cap, not parallel with the edge of the base plate. I put the cap upside down on the counter, dropped the blade into the cap, and then (holding the cap by either end) screwed the handle down onto the cap, firmly. That seemed to do the trick, and produced no alignment problems.
Over at the shave nook, there was an extraordinarily well-researched and informative account of "The Slant Concept," giving the history and engineering logic of slant razors, fully illustrated with the diagrams of the originators, and supplemented with pictures of guillotines:
http://shavenook.com/thread-the-slant-concept
The two videos were by Mantic and Paul Shillito:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfb22jUXLLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfb22jUXLLs
Shillito takes the razor apart and patiently examines its construction.
I'm looking forward to many more good shaves with this razor. I'll put it into regular rotation with the Mergress, a Gillette Slim, and a couple of open combs (the Gillette NEW and a Razorock Little Bastone). The Merkur 34C I started out with is now facing a lot of competition, but it's still a very good razor, and I'll take it out occasionally for a spin. I'm wondering if somewhere not too far down the line there's a Muhle R41 with my name on it. Not to get reckless, though. Cockiness precedes a cut.
View attachment 350253
Joe
