How do you steep shavers get a smooth & satisfying shave?

[titanrazor]

 

[Halfbeard]

Gytche
Cloud (7)
Nivea cream
Yaqi badger
Bi-es Brossi
Nivea balm

 

[Halfbeard]

Gytche
Cloud (7)
Nivea cream
Yaqi badger
Bi-es Brossi
Nivea balm

View attachment 1892894

This post was ment for other thread.

 

[titanrazor]

In the early going many of us needed and wanted to understand all the basic mechanics and angles involved in our choice of blades and razors. Once favourites and kit combinations were established comfort became a stronger focus. My shaves use both shallow and steep angles. Once good technique and soft touch are established your finished shave comfort is now the judgement of your finished shave. Ultimately if I feel a bit of irritation on a particular skin area. I concentrate on lighting up on my touch rather than which shave angle I was using. It is easy to start chasing your tail when your thought process starts to over investigate problems. Most shave problems are resolved with a good review of the basic fundamentals of a wet shave.

Totally agree! ultimately, comfort; irritation free shave is the goal.

 

[gdawg55]

For me it depends on the razor. I like steep with certain razors and more shallow with others. I use whatever angle works best with the razor.

 

[titanrazor]

razor like PILS (flat blade) would be more comfortable riding the cap, and Rex Consult (torqued blade) would prefer riding the bar, just an example for me.

 

[Hopalong]

Gotta be honest, those technical diagrams are way over my head.
I can’t explain it, can’t describe it, can’t even see it, but I can feel it.
I suppose that once you settle on the kit you like, muscle memory takes you home.

 

[LRod]

Well, being the OP of the thread and asking for an explanation how
you all can get a smooth shave using a steep angle:

I had a weird experience yesterday with my Design94 Aviation94 aluminum razor.
I tried what I would consider a steeper angle than normal and actually got a better shave
that what that razor usually yields. It was smooth and more efficient!
So much so that I got a shave that lasted 10+ hours. An incredible result for a 2 pass WTG/XTG shave with a
razor that's got -0.05mm of blade exposure. Now that's got me questioning everything!
I typically need positive blade exposure since I shave daily and don't go ATG.
This razor (which I hadn't tried steep) is the only razor I've tried steep that has actually given me positive
results. I think I'm going to have to revisit all my other DE's and experiment again to see what comes out of
using a steeper angle.

What I've gathered thus far (with all your inputs):
Is that steep or shallow isn't totally defined!
If you say "ride the bar" or "ride the cap", it gives a clear picture of where you're at (angle wise) because the cap or safety bar is a definite marker on the razor.
But if you simply say "I shave steep" or "I shave shallow", there's no way to really know how far up or down you're going without any of us being able to visualize each others shaves.
So when I've heard: "I shave steep", my assumption is visualizing super steep, like almost parallel!!
But I'm seeing now that it's not actually that steep (I drew this conclusion with the shave I had that I described above). I didn't shave "steep", I shaved "steeper than normal".
Conclusion:
Steep for me might not be steep for you and the same thing applies with shallow!
That's my analysis so far!