The Safety Bar

[Mr. Shavington]

No, I’m not opening a bar. Sorry if the thread title misled some of you.

I have the sense that the safety bar design on a razor has a big effect on how comfortably and smoothly the razor shaves. I’ve used a lot of razors and certain ones stand out as exceptionally smooth feeling considering the aggressiveness of the head design. I think something those razors have in common is a safety bar design and finish that feels smooth and gentle. I even wonder if safety bar design might be the biggest factor in determining how a razor feels.

Wolfman safety bars are very comfortable for me, as an example - they are polished, rounded edges, scalloped so that less of the material touches your face, and the positioning of the safety bar seems ideal. The Atelier Durdan La Faulx SE razor (which I don’t have) gets a lot of positive comments and what is most striking about the design is the rounded, sloping, extended safety bar - I don’t know what it feels like but it just looks like it would be very comfortable.

I don’t think safety bars are discussed very often when we talk about different razors, and there are plenty of razors with safety bars that look rudimentary, as if very little thought has gone into the design. I’m feeling like the importance of safety bar design is underestimated generally. Do any of you think there’s something to this? Do you have razors with safety bars that you think have a big effect on the shave, one way or the other?

I guess those of you who always shave with a shallow angle won’t know what I’m talking about. But you could still chime in about top cap designs instead.

What say you good people?

 

[Phoenixkh]

We sort of just touched on this topic a few weeks ago. I have my top 6 razors, along with my Claymore Evo all sitting in a row on the vanity top, to the right of my sink. When I look down that little gathering, I noticed all the safety bars have some sort a scalloping on the safety bar.

Oh, I just remembered, not being home at the moment, my Wolfman and Athena are in the bedroom on top of my dresser and they too have scalloping on the safely bars.

I did notice the RR SuperSlant’s safety bar is smooth, at least the two base plates I have are. I’ve been struggling with that razor. Coincidence??? I’m not sure. I do notice with all my razors with some version of scalloping, varying amounts of lather remain after a razor stroke. This seems to be significant enough so I’ve noticed it throughout many shaves.

This design feature isn’t new, as it shows up on the Vintage Gillette razors I’ve used and/or had. The Vintage Gillette people here would be better suited to comment vs. me.

 

[Iridian]

When riding the bar, rounded teeth or a rounded safety bar are much preferred to designs that drag or bite indeed.

Examples, Timeless with their inward bent OC. That works nicely. For the Blackbird I prefer the SB, for the OC riding the cap is almost a must as the teeth are pointy.

The R41, despite being renowned for being a beast, regularly disputed here, hehe, has very nicely rounded teeth, too.

I am struggling to find a razor with an annoying safety bar.

Hmm, maybe the safety bar of the Yates razors is part of the reason why "Errol" from Australia doesn't get along with this design? Yates had a very small safety bar.

 

[Guido75]

I believe design of the safety bar is really important to the effectiveness of the shave and something I definitely look at when deciding to buy a razor or not.

One of the reasons being that the safety bar (together with the cap obviously) influences the exposure of the blade - like is the case with the Swedish Swing where the safety bar actually curves down presenting a lot of blade gap and exposure. Don’t have measured this to be more than the Ti95 I have for example.

The safety bar on my Matador Deluxe is slightly off on one side and I always have the impression that that side provides a rougher shave. Or at least with more blade feel.

I think there is something to say for the interaction with the cap as my Razorine Flatboy has a straight forward safety bar, but it provides me no particular guidance during the shave. I even think the blade touches my skin before the bar does!

I have not felt particular differences between bars that are scalloped versus straight - although I am inclined to think it makes a difference on my Ti95, but as I only have the scalloped bar I cannot really judge. I do know that the more hybrid bars like the R41 and Eclipse Red Ring have the best of both worlds and as soon as I have or my Athena to use I am sure that will feel the same. The scalloping on the KCG razor appears to have only aesthetic value as it is the mildest razor in my small collection.

As for vintage Gillettes the safety bar design made them milder as time went by. It is the interaction with the cap there that makes the razor stand out for me. For example my Tech gives a great shave, but my Aristocrat is more comfortable. The Tech bar has ridges, the Aristocrat is smooth. The gap of the latter is larger so maybe that is a contributing factor.

The safety bar design combined with the cap provides the range of angle one can have with a razor. I think I am generally speaking a more steep shaver, but I have found that it heavily depends on the safety bar design / head design. In my view not every razor is equally comfortable at different angles. And as there is only so much one can do with the cap, a lot comes down to the design of the safety bar.

But what do I know - I haven’t been in this game that long.

Cheers,

Guido

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I do think there are some observable aspects of safety bars that generally seem to correlate with the razors I find surprisingly smooth feeling. These are polishing, radiused edges, and scalloping.

The Wolfman bar seems the most inviting to use out of all my razors because it is highly polished, radiused, scalloped, and even the scallops are radiused. So I think Wolfman got their safety bars pretty perfect and a lot of attention has gone into this part of the razor. And it’s a widely held view that Wolfmans are exceptionally smooth-feeling for any given level of gap and exposure.

Taking a brief random walk through some of my razors I notice that the Haircut & Shaves, Rocnels all have pronounced radiusing on their bars. The Lambdas are radiused and highly polished, and slotted akin to scalloping. Blutt is scalloped and kinda softly bevelled rather than radiused, but it still looks comfy. My Merkur Progress is mirror smooth because of the chrome coating and it is effectively ‘scalloped’ in a different way. I’d say these are all razors I find smoother than expected.

Other razors that have pretty flat and/or bevelled bars without much radiusing include my Blacklands, Carbon, Standos, for example. I’ve always found the Blacklands and Carbon razors relatively less smooth-feeling when shaving steep.

My Karve Overlander is more in the second group with the less refined bars, but the bevel is a shallow angle and quite deep. Somehow the placement of the bar looks like it would not feel harsh, so maybe placement of the bar is another factor that’s a little harder to intuit. I find my Overlander very smooth feeling nevertheless.

Clearly, like with everything, there are many factors at play when it comes to razor feel and performance, and these aspects of safety bar design are just one piece of the puzzle. I’m sure you can’t totally judge a razor by its safety bar, but I do feel there is some persuasive, anecdotal indication that certain aspects of safety bar design can make a big contribution to how smoothly a razor shaves.

I don’t know why all the razor makers don’t radius and scallop their safety bars like Wolfman. I feel like the industry has overlooked this a bit and maybe that’s part of the reason Wolfman is still largely unmatched.

 

[Patrice]

+1 for the Progress, I think it's definitively an asset of this old razor, its bar is very original and comfy.

 

[Jay21]

The hair on my neck grows almost parallel to my skin. This makes the safety bar less efficient by default at cutting the hair. No change in angle or extreme sharpness can ever overcome the physical obstacle of the bar. Now that my technique has advanced enough to not bleed out, I’m going to explore open comb designs.

 

[Guido75]

I am about to learn something new here @Mr. Shavington so forgive me if this is an obvious question, but what is the difference between radiused and scalloped? Clearly not the same thing then.

Thanks,

Guido

 

[DesertIguana]

Every Razor designer is seeking to make the next holy grail razor.

This is tough task, as not 100% of population has same skin,or same beard, beard type, or beard growth pattern.

Only PERFECT RAZOR FPR EVERYONE WAS, the Razor Issued you by Uncle Sam.

I know this to be truth, as it was to me by a Marine Corp DI, in 1965.

Only a fool would argue that point with their DI.🫠

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I am about to learn something new here @Mr. Shavington so forgive me if this is an obvious question, but what is the difference between radiused and scalloped? Clearly not the same thing then.

Thanks,

Guido

By radiused I just mean rounded. Round edges not sharp.

 

[Patrice]

The progress and timeless, for instance are radiused and scalloped. Do you have an example of sharp scalloped edges?

 

[Mr. Shavington]

The progress and timeless, for instance are radiused and scalloped. Do you have an example of sharp scalloped edges?

The Blackbird would be one clear example. The Rocnel Elite too. I’d say also the Karve Christopher Bradley, though the scallops are much shallower on that so the edges of the scalloping aren’t as acute.

 

[Patrice]

Yes, or Yates precision, got it. Actually the rounded bars are more rare than the edgy one, right?

 

[xlri]

I use Merkur Futur in my rotation and found the top cap/baseplate combination is very efficient and irritation free. However Timeless Ti 0.95 SB gives a fantastic shave every time!

 

[Blackland Razors]

Other razors that have pretty flat and/or bevelled bars without much radiusing include my Blacklands, Carbon, Standos, for example. I’ve always found the Blacklands and Carbon razors relatively less smooth-feeling when shaving steep.

This is by design. Another purpose of the safety bar is to guide the user to the optimal shaving geometry. Deviating beyond the advised shaving range is punished to keep the user in the sweet spot.

Safety bar design is important because it's the primary component that touches your skin. It may be overlooked by some users, but I can confirm that razor designers focus a great deal of time here.

 

[Happy Jack]

I don't think the safety bar affects the quality of the shave unless you are shaving longish hair, in which case an open comb razor is more effective.

That said, I find a solid safety bar more comfortable than an open comb or hybrid, such as the R41.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

This is by design. Another purpose of the safety bar is to guide the user to the optimal shaving geometry. Deviating beyond the advised shaving range is punished to keep the user in the sweet spot.

Safety bar design is important because it's the primary component that touches your skin. It may be overlooked by some users, but I can confirm that razor designers focus a great deal of time here.

Thank you for the insight, Shane.

 

[Jay21]

I don't think the safety bar affects the quality of the shave unless you are shaving longish hair, in which case an open comb razor is more effective.

That said, I find a solid safety bar more comfortable than an open comb or hybrid, such as the R41.

The r41 is the opposite of comfortable. It's a murder weapon. Yet, I'm still compelled to keep using every so often in the hopes that I'll once day master it. What's the definition of insanity again???

 

[Eric_75]

This is by design. Another purpose of the safety bar is to guide the user to the optimal shaving geometry. Deviating beyond the advised shaving range is punished to keep the user in the sweet spot.

Safety bar design is important because it's the primary component that touches your skin. It may be overlooked by some users, but I can confirm that razor designers focus a great deal of time here.

Always appreciate your posts, Shane.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

The r41 is the opposite of comfortable. It's a murder weapon. Yet, I'm still compelled to keep using every so often in the hopes that I'll once day master it. What's the definition of insanity again???

I got one of the more recent R41s - the stainless steel version - and I find it quite a comfortable razor. There’s blade feel but not excessive, and the head feels pretty good over my skin.