Gamechanger SB vs. OC base

[awa54]

I've been revisiting my GC .68 OC baseplate and these last few shaves only reinforce my opinion that it has nothing useful to add to what the safety bar version does for my shave. I could see it having a benefit for those who don't shave as often, but the only thing that more blade exposure allows (all the other bases give more blade exposure than the .68 SB) that the "original" doesn't is higher blade angle of attack... in my shave, which is done at as low an angle of attack as possible, higher angles of incidence only give a scraped feeling and diminished per-pass closeness.

When I shave with the OC base and maintain good angle (any time I'm actually fully awake while shaving), the shave is identical to the SB version, if I'm half asleep, or tempt fate by experimenting with higher angles, the shave is always worse and the potential for irritation is much higher.

So, all of you who's mileage varies, what is it that you feel makes the OC/.84/jaws baseplates "more efficient" than the basic SB .68, when the blade angle, blade clamping and cap are identical on all variants of this razor head?

Also, for those who still rate the higher exposure heads as "mild" (which I assume means you're using them the same way I do, by essentially riding the cap for as low a cutting angle as possible), what benefit do you gain from the larger blade gap, which definitely makes the head less mild when utilized?

 

[Rob72]

Perhaps its entirely the feel, but I do prefer "blade feel", therefore, I don't ride the cap, but more allowing the blade to ride between cap and guard on the skin. Therefore, you can have more skin to blade, depending on the design of the comb, and it may or may not be effected by blade gap.

More blade feel is generally fairly exfoliating, and not everyone's skin needs, or can tolerate, that.

I enjoy the 84 SB, finding it incredibly efficient for being so "mild". I just got the Jaws, and its a bit more like what I normally use (Le Coq cage comb, Famex, Funken, RX, Rex above 5).

 

[awa54]

One of the things that I like so much about the GC heads is that they're very easy to read angle by blade feel, I shower shave, so sound is masked and all I have to go with is the feedback from my skin and whiskers. Truly mild razors also work in the shower, since their guards protect you from selecting a bad angle (some are capable of giving excellent results as well), but for me most aggressive heads are just too much work and so far none have yielded results that are worth the extra care required.

...I think optimal angle has a lot to do with the toughness of your whiskers and what angle they grow in at. I still get useful blade feel all the way up to the point where the blade stops cutting closely with the GCs. My best angle with most razors is closer to the cap side than the bar side.

 

[Gao]

I have 68oc and 84sb. 68oc is obviously milder than 84sb. I can't feel the blade with 68oc, but I can feel the blade with 84sb. I can shave according to the feel of the blade with the 84sb, which has a wide range of angles. Although 68oc is gentle, it has a small shaving angle, and I will cut my face if I am not careful.

 

[luv2shave]

A cases of ymmv i prefer my GC 68 OC and Jaws over the SB. The shave is smooth and efficient. The 68 variants give a close shaves whereas the 84 GC series give a much closer bbs shaves.

As with the posts above with the oc and jaws versions i get better attack angles as i follow the intuitive razor shave angle rather than just ride the cap or the guard. This varies with each razor.

I also use zero pressure allowing the razor head to do what it can with its geometry, I don't use pressure to get more out of a razor, instead will use another razor with zero pressure to deliver what I want

 

[awa54]

I guess the take away here is that some beards require a higher angle of incidence to get a close cut than others... and I'm on the low angle side of things, so the higher angles just add "scrape" without any benefit.

 

[FloppyJoe]

I got the OC for the 84P. I like the SB, but the OC was a bit too much for me. It took a chunk out of my top lip, so I put it away for a while. It is smooth, but maybe a bit too much blade exposure on the corners? Who knows, but it is something I am going to put away to revisit down the road.

Bottom line, I wouldn't recommend the OC, but I am a fan of the SB in the 84P.

 

[eaterofdog]

I have multiple GC plates and the 68 OC is the best one. 84 SB is too nippy to use daily and the 68 SB is basically a Feather ASD2.

 

[SCh5]

My daily razor used to be a GC 0.84-P sb.
But some “trouble” areas never got passed the cotton-ball BBS.In those areas stubble grows almost flat to the skin and not at a “upright” angle or perpendicular to the skin surface.Even with the steepest angle ,the GC was never able to give a smooth “finishing” .
Then along came the oc version .Maybe a tad better results regarding efficiency ,but still not
“there” .The GC 0.84 oc never felt hot and never gave the slightest nick or irritation .
My impression is that it’s blade
rigidity is higher of the sb version.A close look on both baseplates will easily reveal that
the oc has more blade clamp surface being continuous along the blade’s length,whereas at the sb the blade edge is held in three points (mainly) .
Last week I got the Lupo 95 which has become my absolute favourite daily razor .
Loaded with Nacets ,Bic Chrome
Platinum,black ninjas ,Rubies and SharpEdges it delivers true
AAA BBS shaves .

In order to reduce micro chipping* of the blade’s edge and for the shave to be smooth ,the blade has to
cut the hair strand as perpendicularly as possible.
If facial hair grows perpendicular or upright relative to skin surface ,the angle of attack has to be shallow (riding the cap) .
If the facial hair grows almost flat /parallel to skin surface ,
for the blade to cut as perpendicularly as possible ,
the angle of attack should be steep.

In the real world ,men have both of these stubble growth
patterns in their faces.
Some men have more of that,while others have more of this .

*

Why shaving dulls even the sharpest of razors

A new study by MIT engineers shows how shaving can damage blades. Human hair, 50 times softer than steel, can chip away a razor’s edge, the engineers found.

news.mit.edu

 

[HabanaRon]

My daily razor used to be a GC 0.84-P sb.
But some “trouble” areas never got passed the cotton-ball BBS.In those areas stubble grows almost flat to the skin and not at a “upright” angle or perpendicular to the skin surface.Even with the steepest angle ,the GC was never able to give a smooth “finishing” .
Then along came the oc version .Maybe a tad better results regarding efficiency ,but still not
“there” .The GC 0.84 oc never felt hot and never gave the slightest nick or irritation .
My impression is that it’s blade
rigidity is higher of the sb version.A close look on both baseplates will easily reveal that
the oc has more blade clamp surface being continuous along the blade’s length,whereas at the sb the blade edge is held in three points (mainly) .
Last week I got the Lupo 95 which has become my absolute favourite daily razor .
Loaded with Nacets ,Bic Chrome
Platinum,black ninjas ,Rubies and SharpEdges it delivers true
AAA BBS shaves .

In order to reduce micro chipping* of the blade’s edge and for the shave to be smooth ,the blade has to
cut the hair strand as perpendicularly as possible.
If facial hair grows perpendicular or upright relative to skin surface ,the angle of attack has to be shallow (

My daily razor used to be a GC 0.84-P sb.
But some “trouble” areas never got passed the cotton-ball BBS.In those areas stubble grows almost flat to the skin and not at a “upright” angle or perpendicular to the skin surface.Even with the steepest angle ,the GC was never able to give a smooth “finishing” .
Then along came the oc version .Maybe a tad better results regarding efficiency ,but still not
“there” .The GC 0.84 oc never felt hot and never gave the slightest nick or irritation .
My impression is that it’s blade
rigidity is higher of the sb version.A close look on both baseplates will easily reveal that
the oc has more blade clamp surface being continuous along the blade’s length,whereas at the sb the blade edge is held in three points (mainly) .
Last week I got the Lupo 95 which has become my absolute favourite daily razor .
Loaded with Nacets ,Bic Chrome
Platinum,black ninjas ,Rubies and SharpEdges it delivers true
AAA BBS shaves .

In order to reduce micro chipping* of the blade’s edge and for the shave to be smooth ,the blade has to
cut the hair strand as perpendicularly as possible.
If facial hair grows perpendicular or upright relative to skin surface ,the angle of attack has to be shallow (riding the cap) .
If the facial hair grows almost flat /parallel to skin surface ,
for the blade to cut as perpendicularly as possible ,
the angle of attack should be steep.

In the real world ,men have both of these stubble growth
patterns in their faces.
Some men have more of that,while others have more of this .

*

Why shaving dulls even the sharpest of razors

A new study by MIT engineers shows how shaving can damage blades. Human hair, 50 times softer than steel, can chip away a razor’s edge, the engineers found.

news.mit.edu

which gap did you get in the Lupo?

 

[SCh5]

0.95

 

[HabanaRon]

0.95

By all reports it’s an excellent razor!

 

[molon_labe]

I have multiple GC plates and the 68 OC is the best one. 84 SB is too nippy to use daily and the 68 SB is basically a Feather ASD2.

I agree with this 100%. I've spent a lot of time with all GC plates including both JAWs versions. The .68OC is best for me as someone who shaves daily. The 2 SB variations are me least favorite of the whole GC line up. I typically like more aggressive razors, but the .68OC gives me the perfect balance of close shaves without sacrificing comfort in the least bit. Such a smooth shaver.

 

[bdehne]

I have found that using a lighter handle helps the .68 to be a bit more effective. I use a UFO on the .68. For the OC plates I use a heavier handle to move the balance point down making the head lighter. This works for me but YMMV.

 

[awa54]

As a follow-up to my previously stated opinion of the GC 0.68 OC head, I'm now finding that the OC *does* beat the SB version out for closeness. This is both on a per-pass basis and in the absolute. This change came about after a month and a half of using only the 0.68 SB and OC, both mounted on identical RR HD handles and using the same type of blade in each.

My take on this is that while the extra blade exposure of the OC forces me to pay closer attention to blade angle, there also has to be something to the theory that the OC base provides better mechanical grounding than the SB does, as I was never able to get quite as close per pass, with the SB, even when I gave my full attention to the shave.

I still consider the GC 0.68 SB to be a more forgiving razor (not that the OC is particularly harsh, but it does afford more opportunity to cause nicks or abrasion at higher angles), and the SB remains in rotation for those half-awake shaves that happen from time to time... the original Mamba also serves periodically in that capacity.

I also recently picked up a Lupo .72, it's certainly a great razor in it's own right, but I don't like the head design as much as the GC and I don't get any closer shaves than the 0.68 SB delivers. The clinching feature of the Lupo, that keeps it out of regular rotation, is the fact that the same performance comes with slightly more abrasion.

 

[ClumsyBull]

As a follow-up to my previously stated opinion of the GC 0.68 OC head, I'm now finding that the OC *does* beat the SB version out for closeness. This is both on a per-pass basis and in the absolute. This change came about after a month and a half of using only the 0.68 SB and OC, both mounted on identical RR HD handles and using the same type of blade in each.

My take on this is that while the extra blade exposure of the OC forces me to pay closer attention to blade angle, there also has to be something to the theory that the OC base provides better mechanical grounding than the SB does, as I was never able to get quite as close per pass, with the SB, even when I gave my full attention to the shave.

I still consider the GC 0.68 SB to be a more forgiving razor (not that the OC is particularly harsh, but it does afford more opportunity to cause nicks or abrasion at higher angles), and the SB remains in rotation for those half-awake shaves that happen from time to time... the original Mamba also serves periodically in that capacity.

I also recently picked up a Lupo .72, it's certainly a great razor in it's own right, but I don't like the head design as much as the GC and I don't get any closer shaves than the 0.68 SB delivers. The clinching feature of the Lupo, that keeps it out of regular rotation, is the fact that the same performance comes with slightly more abrasion.

I find that on the .84, the OC does much better than the SB in terms of sheer efficiency. There is no sacrifice in terms of comfort either.

 

[hugosf]

As a newbie I only tried a Merkur 34HD (smooth and mild), a 6C (smooth and get a DFS with the plate R4 in autopilot mode), 6S (I didn’t like because the weight of the razor lean to the handle) and GC 84 SB.

Right now I only have the GC 84 SB. I shave daily and with zero pressure and mapping my beard I can get a BBS. I’m also a steeper shaver, that’s is my favorite angle of attack. I’m looking for a razor more efficient then the CG. I like the amount of blade feel that I get from the GC 84 SB, and for me is smooth too. There are a trouble area next to the corner of my lip, if I don’t shave is a exact position I can’t get BBS.

For me, the GC works better riding to the guard. I’m thinking if the GC 84 OC was the solution or maybe is better to get another razor. I never use a OC, so I don’t know how much this style of razor will impact the shave.

 

[Cafebarian]

As a newbie I only tried a Merkur 34HD (smooth and mild), a 6C (smooth and get a DFS with the plate R4 in autopilot mode), 6S (I didn’t like because the weight of the razor lean to the handle) and GC 84 SB.

Right now I only have the GC 84 SB. I shave daily and with zero pressure and mapping my beard I can get a BBS. I’m also a steeper shaver, that’s is my favorite angle of attack. I’m looking for a razor more efficient then the CG. I like the amount of blade feel that I get from the GC 84 SB, and for me is smooth too. There are a trouble area next to the corner of my lip, if I don’t shave is a exact position I can’t get BBS.

For me, the GC works better riding to the guard. I’m thinking if the GC 84 OC was the solution or maybe is better to get another razor. I never use a OC, so I don’t know how much this style of razor will impact the shave.

A Future SASA (Steep Angle Shavers Alliance) member???

I would suggested either the GC OC/JAWS or the Lupo 72/95.

 

[hugosf]

A Future SASA (Steep Angle Shavers Alliance) member???

SASA for sure, Best way to shave

I sold all my razor and just keep the GC 84 SB. I’m looking for 2 new razor. One mild and efficient razor to use when my skin needs a rest and THE ONE (a razor to cure the RAD) =p

 

[awa54]

If there's a Low Angle Shavers Alliance, I'd be happy to join

If I shaved by riding the guard with the GC .68 OC, I'd literally get a bloody mess instead of a shave, mostly because the razor simply wouldn't cut my whiskers and would chatter, tug or dig in without some significant application of pressure to the head ...and yes, I prep, I'm a shower shaver and my shaves happen at the end of the shower after at least 20 minutes of my face being wet.

Directly under my nose, where I'm forced to scrape shave for the first (WTG) pass, the result is *not* close... I only get to my normal DFS+ after a second cross grain pass that allows a low angle of attack.

The only meaningful thing I can say to address the issue of how the SB compares to the OC when used with steep angles, is that neither one is better in this respect in my use, but then again *no* razor works for me when used at the angles you're talking about D: