Odd experience with the slant bar this morning...

[awa54]

For this morning's shave I loaded up a fresh Feather in my Merkur 37c and lathered up fully expecting a *very close* shave in comparison to the razors I have been rotating through (R89, 60's flare and prewar tech). What happened though was that I got really lousy closeness to the point that after my usual 2.5 passes I did a final pass with the Tech in order to go from barely SAS to a solid DFS... The previous shaves I have had with the slant bar were all using Astras which usually present as less sharp than Feathers and yet the results were better by far in the slant (though more irritating, which is the opposite of what I find in other razors). I have also seen many others here rave about the results of the slant/feather combo, go figure?!?

Dang that variable mileage thing anyway!

 

[Krona Kruiser]

Give it some time. Make sure your angle is right and with the slant, it's recommended that you use longer strokes when you do each pass to benefit from the scything action. It can be a little tricky but this should help. I've also noticed that the characteristic of each brand of blade "shine" with the slant so you may want to try another blade as well.

 

[elmerwood]

I just picked this little guy up yesterday and was going to ask if anyone had any recommendations on blades or techniques.

 

[Chester]

How much time have you had with the slant? Usually, if you've been shaving with other tools for awhile, your muscle memory fades for a razor you used a long time ago. I think you need to give it time and re-learn the slant.
My $.02,
-- Chet

 

[Krona Kruiser]

Here's a really cool article of the Slant: http://shavenook.com/thread-the-slant-concept

 

[Chester]

I just picked this little guy up yesterday and was going to ask if anyone had any recommendations on blades or techniques.

Just load up your favorite blade and go for it.
The Hoffritz has always given me great shaves, even with mediocre blades.
-- Chet

 

[awa54]

How much time have you had with the slant? Usually, if you've been shaving with other tools for awhile, your muscle memory fades for a razor you used a long time ago. I think you need to give it time and re-learn the slant.
My $.02,
-- Chet

I have only used the slant for somewhere between 12 and 15 shaves in total. My first blade worth of shaves were close but harsh, the second blade (probably starting at the fourth shave) yielded less unwanted "exfoliation" but even closer shaves, the third and fourth blades (I was getting four shaves per blade before trashing them) were similar to the second with what I would rate as very close, but slightly abrasive results, DFS+ for sure but with noticeably more irritation than I would expect from my Muhle R89 for the same final result. When I say "irritation" I'm not saying razor burn, just a slightly scraped feeling after the shave...the sort of differences that the alum will reveal on application with a tell-tale sting or lack thereof.

I have taken a break from the slant for over a month, but it felt pretty much like I had remembered from my last use, aside from the final result.

 

[Chester]

I have taken a break from the slant for over a month, but it felt pretty much like I had remembered from my last use, aside from the final result.

Interesting. Off the top, it sounds like the angle is not quite right... like you're too steep. Yet, if you're getting good results (DFS/DFS+ sounds good to me), maybe it's not angle. Perhaps a variation in prep, like cold water face rinse before shaving, might help get more comfort when you're using the slant. I've found (and here we go with YMMV) that the slant gives me appreciably less likelihood of irritation and a very close shave. It seems like I can use blades that are not especially sharp, like derbys or red IPs, and still get great results. I'd not give up on it, if I were you. There are some razors that take months to grow accustomed to. Just for grins, try the slant with something like a derby and see what you get. Perhaps the comfort you seek will come in a "less sharp" piece of steel.
-- Chet

 

[vitalMyth]

it seems to me that the slant is less forgiving of a too-steep blade angle, and it doesn't force you to use a shallow angle the way that some of the mild gilettes do either. so make sure you're working on your angle deliberately with the slant, it can be easy to stop thinking about it if you've been using a really mild shaver like a flaretip or something.

 

[awa54]

Thanks for the council on slant angles, I think once I'm done with my Personna 74* odyssey I'll devote a section of time to every other day shaves with the slant to really dial it in. For now though I want to concentrate on the mystical sharpness powers of the 74* until it finally sputters out and goes dull on me some time in the distant future

 

[elmerwood]

Just load up your favorite blade and go for it.
The Hoffritz has always given me great shaves, even with mediocre blades.
-- Chet

I will try it as soon as my hair grows back, thats a promise. As for tonight...I picked up my President and Toggle I lent to a friend, so I had to clean one off and use one of them.

 

[global_dev]

i think a refresher on correct slant blade loading is appropriate. and i while i think i was using the correct way for a quite a bit of time, i have very recently tried it 2 ways and neither cut me to shreds, whereas many have written it tore them up because they think they loaded it incorrectly. loading one way gave me very different exposure of the edges, kind of straight edge (no perceived twist IIRC) and was very noticeable during the shave, neither was blood thirsty, but one was more mild than the other.

loading the second way gave me even exposure and that's what i use last night. i loaded the blade so that the edges aligned with the teeth not the cap. coincidentally, i was really examining the blade what i noticed was a slight hump to the edge in the middle likely caused by torsion. it might be optical issues for me, but that's what it looked like

i used one with a feather last night and it was a pretty tight, irritation free shave...

from http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/17662-On-the-Slant

i am pretty sure last night was with the way the picture was..