Steep Angle Shavers Alliance

[Old Hippie]

Well. That was a revelation!

Lathered up with a nice hot thick lather, cranked my "Razor Fu" up to "Warrior Level" and started in.

I decided a couple of things beforehand: 1) that I would quit for the day if irritation happened, and 2) that I would ONLY do WTG passes today. The backstory on that is that I have an old Gem Junior Bar that has the instructions. They indicate that razor was designed to be used WTG. The instructions say that if the first pass isn't close enough, simply do another WTG pass.

Since the SE2 has been so prone to let blood, but never more so than on the ATG pass, I decided to try a couple of WTG passes and call 'er a day. Besides, today is Canadian Thanksgiving and I didn't have to be shipshape and Bristol style so a little stubble would be fine.

Felt weird, man. Really, really weird. And going over the curve of my skull it was cutting with the handle very near parallel to the surface plane! But the first WTG pass went off smoothly. So I lathered up and did another one. I was amused that it took off even more hair the second time. I considered the relative tenderness of my skin and decided to do a little cleanup, also WTG. No blood, lots of blade feel, no especial roughness.

The blade did not chatter or dig in. Blood did not flow. I actually did one small area XTG after all that. It was a little too far, but left a very smooth surface behind. I'll let things rest until Wednesday and try a WTG+XTG shave, and then maybe on Friday I'll make it the Full Mahooha with WTG+XTG+ATG.

Amazing. Even with all the extra care, prep and attention I was still done the shave a few minutes earlier than my average.

O.H.

 

[Useless shaver]

@Old Hippie

Big congrats, sir... now you're hooked!

 

[Old Hippie]

Big congrats, sir... now you're hooked!

Seems like! Thanks. Because I did rather abuse my skin yesterday, even with the Nivea, things felt rather "toned" even into yesterday evening. It's pretty calm this morning, so being a little more orderly tomorrow will probably give me a good shave.

O.H.

 

[Useless shaver]

Seems like! Thanks. Because I did rather abuse my skin yesterday, even with the Nivea, things felt rather "toned" even into yesterday evening. It's pretty calm this morning, so being a little more orderly tomorrow will probably give me a good shave.

O.H.

Aaaand of course... NO pressure. At all!

 

[FireDragon76]

Is this "riding the cap" or "riding the bar"?

 

[Raven Koenes]

Is this "riding the cap" or "riding the bar"?

It's riding the bar.

 

[Old Hippie]

Worked out pretty well. As noted in the OCtober thread, it's turned an unusable razor into a usable razor. It comes with a little more commotion than less aggressive styles, but perfectly usable this way.

O.H.

 

[Saxonbowman]

As a long time shallow angle shaver who is new to steep angle I’m starting to suspect my blades are wearing faster. Do others find this to be the case, or am I just noticing the feedback?

 

[Old Hippie]

As a long time shallow angle shaver who is new to steep angle I’m starting to suspect my blades are wearing faster. Do others find this to be the case, or am I just noticing the feedback?

It seems logical to me. I'm fresh to this as well. While I'm fine with a blade wearing out a little faster if it doesn't carve me up in the process, I'm also reflecting that the blades I'm using (AC format, Feather Professional) are the most expensive of the blades I buy for my razors. Getting three or four good shaves out of an Astra at 15 cents a shave is different from getting three or four shaves out of a Feather Pro at 35 or 40 cents a shave.

But that's the cheap Scot in me talking. It's worth it for the hobby...

O.H.

 

[Saxonbowman]

It seems logical to me. I'm fresh to this as well. While I'm fine with a blade wearing out a little faster if it doesn't carve me up in the process, I'm also reflecting that the blades I'm using (AC format, Feather Professional) are the most expensive of the blades I buy for my razors. Getting three or four good shaves out of an Astra at 15 cents a shave is different from getting three or four shaves out of a Feather Pro at 35 or 40 cents a shave.

But that's the cheap Scot in me talking. It's worth it for the hobby...

O.H.

Well to put things in perspective, the Nacet that I’ve been using in the OT is feeling a little rough after six shaves. I usually try to get 10-14 from a DE blade and 30 from an injector. I guess I have frugal genes in me. I actually haven’t gotten much life from a Feather AC pro blade but that’s in a straight handled Feather AC razor.

 

[rudyt]

As a long time shallow angle shaver who is new to steep angle I’m starting to suspect my blades are wearing faster. Do others find this to be the case, or am I just noticing the feedback?

I went from 40 years of shallow shaving to 3 or 4 years of steep and I still get 60+ shaves out of a DE blade shaving steep. I’ve gotten as high as about 95 shaving steep.

 

[Saxonbowman]

I went from 40 years of shallow shaving to 3 or 4 years of steep and I still get 60+ shaves out of a DE blade shaving steep. I’ve gotten as high as about 95 shaving steep.

Sounds like a new challenge then! I’ll have to try this out.

 

[rudyt]

Sounds like a new challenge then! I’ll have to try this out.

Go for it and don't give up if you fail at first. Remember, you need to use a tiny bit of pressure - enough so that the guard stretches the skin but not enough for the blade to dig in. Start with the handle pointing at your feet when shaving cheeks, then gradually raise the handle until the razor bites, then go maybe another 5-10 degrees.

 

[Useless shaver]

Go for it and don't give up if you fail at first. Remember, you need to use a tiny bit of pressure - enough so that the guard stretches the skin but not enough for the blade to dig in. Start with the handle pointing at your feet when shaving cheeks, then gradually raise the handle until the razor bites, then go maybe another 5-10 degrees.

Good advice indeed.

However, what I do is ride the bar until the blade actually mows my stubble... no extra pressure (even not that tiny bit).. Different ways, I suppose...

 

[Saxonbowman]

Go for it and don't give up if you fail at first. Remember, you need to use a tiny bit of pressure - enough so that the guard stretches the skin but not enough for the blade to dig in. Start with the handle pointing at your feet when shaving cheeks, then gradually raise the handle until the razor bites, then go maybe another 5-10 degrees.

I'll have to play with the angle a bit. Its definately dragging after eight shaves. I get a lot of blade chatter with the thin-cap old type. I can't complain about the shaves which are about as good as I've ever gotten in two passes. The thin-cap does seem more efficient than the later thick-cap, even when riding the bar.

 

[Schnitzel52]

I'm in.

I read some of the early posts on this forum this morning and decided to try it.
I used my Merkur 34HD with a Personna Red and it worked just fine.
It took a couple of short passes to find the angle using the cap; but once I did I enjoyed a two pass DFS with no nicks, weepers, or irritation.
I did miss a few under my jaw but, this will get better with practice.
At lunch I read more and saw that the technique seems to work best with open comb razors. Tomorrow I will try this with my Gillette New Type SC.
I used this razor 31 times during OCtober and had occasional weepers and irritation.
I look forward to seeing what the difference is.

 

[never-stop-learning]

I go steep on my Blacklands (Blackbird and Dart) for the best results.

 

[Raven Koenes]

I'm in.

I read some of the early posts on this forum this morning and decided to try it.
I used my Merkur 34HD with a Personna Red and it worked just fine.
It took a couple of short passes to find the angle using the cap; but once I did I enjoyed a two pass DFS with no nicks, weepers, or irritation.
I did miss a few under my jaw but, this will get better with practice.
At lunch I read more and saw that the technique seems to work best with open comb razors. Tomorrow I will try this with my Gillette New Type SC.
I used this razor 31 times during OCtober and had occasional weepers and irritation.
I look forward to seeing what the difference is.

Hey, I love the SASA in your signature line. Let us know how it goes with the New SC. Welcome to the steep side!

 

[Schnitzel52]

Hey, I love the SASA in your signature line. Let us know how it goes with the New SC. Welcome to the steep side!
View attachment 1034155

 

[Schnitzel52]

This morning I tried steep angle shaving with my Gillette New SC loaded with a Personna Red.
The shave went well; although a bit tuggy around the chin.
No nicks or weepers, but a bit of mild irritation, and basically a fine shave.
I think with a bit of practice i could get the hang of it.
Ed