Thread: Angle Question

Well the last two days I have given myself the best str8 shaves so far. After almost two months I have been able to get a near-BBS shave two days in a row. That's the good news, but there is a problem: razor burn.

What I discovered that has given me a better shave is that I need to hold the blade at a much steeper angle than I expected. I find this angle by slowly increasing the angle until I can hear the blade make a sandpaper noise. At that point the whiskers start coming off. But I think this steep angle may be contributing to my razor burn.

Here is my question: Does the need for a steeper angle increase with duller blades? Is my real problem that the blade isn't sharp enough?

I may be wrong Bob, I was wrong once before, but I think that at too steep an angle the edge will be working kind of like a floor scraper ripping up tile. It will cut the whiskers but it will also be abrading the skin in the process.

I think a steeper angle would consequently cause there to be more pressure applied perpendicular to your face. i.e. you're applying the force at a steeper angle towards your face so more of the pressure is exerted on your skin and less parallel to your skin, towards the floor for example.

If you have to use such a steep angle I'm inclined to agree that the razor may not be sharp enough. But, just like Jimmy, I've been wrong once before too.

I've been wrong twice, but I've been with my third wife for ten years and am still thrilled to be with her every day. You've got to find someone special to be willing to try again after the mess I went through with the first two.

If you're getting razor burn, something is not right and BBS is pointless if it's at the price of razor burn. It's either your prep, your technique (your angle), or your razor. Do you have more than one razor? Are you having the same problem with more than one razor? How long has it been since your razor(s) was(were) honed? Are you stropping adequately? I think in general when the razor gets duller there is a tendency to press harder, which will also cause razor burn.

How steep of an angle are you talking about? In general the gap between your skin and the spine should be one to two spine widths. Is your shaving angle significantly steeper than that?

Every face is different, so what works for me, certainly won't work for everyone.

That said, I find that I get a nice clean but comfortable shave, if I keep the angle just on the shallow side of where it sound like sandpaper. Just the tiniest bit flatter than that.

Basically, I increase the angle until I hear sandpaper, then back off a degree. Works great for me.

Originally Posted by TexasBob

What I discovered that has given me a better shave is that I need to hold the blade at a much steeper angle than I expected.

A "better shave" except for the razor burn , right ? I discovered the same thing . It was shortly before my 16th shave , when I gave myself 2 nasty cuts about 3 seconds apart . A steep angle will give you razor burn and cuts .

Gee, I'm not sure I should take advice from people who admit to being wrong once or even twice in their lives. Don't we have any real experts?

Seriously -- all good points for me to consider. I did try a different razor tonight (I am an evening shaver) and there was less razor burn but that might be just because I was paying more attention.

I read most of the other posts just after my shave so will see about that tomorrow. I think the idea of backing off just a bit from the "sandpaper sound" might be a good idea. Patience is a virtue so a less aggressive angle is probably better. I have even given that advice myself with respect to shaving with a GEM 1912 SE! Somehow it simply did not occur to me with the straight! Too many things to think about, I guess.

I also think I learned that my beloved Tabac doesn't treat me as nicely as my other two favorites, Cella and MWF. I will be going back to one of them next time.

I was doing the same thing when I started using my straights. I thought the shave was better, so what can be bad? My face hurt though so I knew I wasn't doing something right. I now use my blade with a very low angle and on ATG the spine of the razor is flat on my face with the blade. With very light and short strokes things should shave well. I was also stropping pretty poorly, which I realize now, and I didn't even know it back then until someone on here told me that could be the problem as well as the angle.

Originally Posted by TexasBob

But I think this steep angle may be contributing to my razor burn.

I'm often wrong but this time I may not be right.
How steep we talking ? Too much might contribute to dulling your razor as well. Good idea to change on the soap. Could be more than one thing.

You may also try some shave creams, like Nancy Boy, it's great, or Castle Forbes. They should offer you more protection than a soap, which tend to be thinner and slicker. Try a pre shave like Proraso, that might help. How many passes are you doing?
Don't worry about BBS too much, get your technique down first, lay the blade flat on your face and raise it, as Utopian said, about two spine widths. If the blade is too high, it'll scrape the hell out of your face, too flat and it won't work.