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Slantbar + Feather Combination

I have been back to wetshaving for 2 ~ 3 weeks and started with Merkur HD + feather... Good results but not what I was after...I wanted to try NWC injector and ordered. Close shave but no spirit no fun. Finally I got my SLANTBAR 2 hours ago. I put the feather in it, lathered NOMAD soap, did 3 passes and finished with proraso a/s balm.. I have a babybutt on my face:001_tt2:

Slantbar might be one of the best shaving razor in the world ( this is my opinion).
Slant + CADE will be the next shave
 
I also like the slantbar, however I find that lately it is almost impossible for me to use it on my neck, and is only really managable if I go a sole N-S pass on my neck, and finish up with my Futur on a low setting.
 
This is probably a stupid question but are there right and left handed slantbars?

I'm a lefty and wouldn't want to get one only to find out after the first bloody shave that it's a right handed only razor.

Eric
 
By way of preamble, shaving, like any other human endeavor, is a different experience for each of us. Each major way of shaving has its adherents. Those who favor electrics point out that their instruments of choice are convenient and unlike blades do not scrape off a layer of skin. The straight razor enthusiasts report a feeling not unlike meditation during their morning shave and claim that the closeness of the shave is unequaled by any other method. The DE supporters prefer a close shave that can be completed in a reasonable amount of time and without the possibility of performing unanesthetized surgery on their throats. The final word will never be written. The unchallenged opinion will never be rendered. The words below reflect my own experience. Your mileage may vary.

I bought a gold Merkur slant bar in the '70s. The first shave was incredibly gentle and incredibly close. The second shave left me hollering "Medic!!" Sometime during the intervening decades I began using electrics for the convenience. Try shaving with a DE while driving to the office, and you'll see what I mean.

Recently I began shaving with straight razors after I discovered classicshaving.com and through them was able to get my razor sharpened. However, when the razors get dull and need to be sent to Lynn, the honemeister, I resort to shaving with a DE razor. A straight razor, in my opinion, provides the ultimate in shaving. With a razor in perfect condition and using the proper technique, I get a shave that's not so much a close shave as a feeling that there was never a beard growing there in the first place. A shave at 5:30 A.M. is still remarkably close at 10:00 P.M. The next best, in my experience, is a shave with a good DE razor and blade combo.

What I learned by shaving with a straight razor has helped me to better handle the DE blade.

Recently, curious about exactly how the slant bar razor works, I examined it very closely. Here's how I think it works. First, I used to think that it was designed so that the blade would move at an angle through the beard so that it would give a slicing rather than a chopping motion to the blade. I don't think this is how it works at all.

Looking at the loaded razor very closely, you'll notice immediately that the head appears twisted. Looking at the head from directly above, you'll notice that the blade is slightly exposed at one end and progressively more exposed towards the opposite end. This does not give a slicing motion since the edge of the blade will, in spite of the twist or slant, still move in a direction perpendicular to the edge rather than at an angle to the edge which would be required for a slicing motion. However, if you hold the razor in such a way that the edge of the blade is aimed right at your eye so that you can see the entire edge, you'll see the secret. The blade is closer to the blade guard at one end and progressively further away from it as you look along the edge to the opposite end.

So what do we have? We have a blade that is, in effect, already adjusted from one extreme to the other, that is, as you drag it across your face, one end of the blade is cutting as though you had it set at the most aggressive setting while the other end of the blade is cutting as though it were adjusted to the gentlest setting. Hmm. Now what?

Well, for one thing, I think we have an explanation for the slant bar's reputation as an agressive razor. Without knowing this, the razor is full of surprises as would be an adjustable razor which automatically but unbeknownst to the user adjusted itself between passes. But this feature can be put to use to great advantage. For example, as you shave on the diagonal southwest-to-northeast pass on your upper lip, a tender area for the experienced and a danger zone for the novice, you can use the gentle end of the slanted head. When you get to the sideburns, you can shave as though you were using an unslanted razor. When you get to an area like the chin, an area that's not terribly tender but tends to be a dense thicket of whiskers, you can use the more aggressive end of the slanted head. Obviously, using a razor in this fashion is going to take some practice.

It's useful to remember that however innocent the razor itself looks, and however lulling the name "safety razor" is, you are moving a blade as sharp as modern technology can make it across your tender skin. So pay attention. Don't use pressure to whack those hairs off. Instead of thinking in terms of rooting out those whiskers, think of using a scythe across the tops of tall grass. You wouldn't want to imbed a scythe in your face, but if all you're doing is trimming the tops off the whiskers, you won't damage your skin. And before you know it, the tops you've trimmed off are the last miniscule fragment of stubble that was protruding a few microns above your skin, and you've now got a shave that's so close you can gently carress your wife's face with your cheek, and, who knows, maybe you'll be a little bit late for work that day.

Of course, your mileage may vary.
 
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