Quote Originally Posted by ace View Post
I'm getting confused here. An oblique angle is any angle that is not a right angle or a multiple of a right angle. An acute angle is an angle that measures less than 90 degrees. When you referred to your WTG pass as "slightly more oblique", at 40 degrees, did you mean that it was a more acute angle? It actually was less acute than the standard 30 degree angle.

Shaving is tough enough without getting mathematics involved in it, but I think the correct analysis would be that at 40 degrees you were utilizing an oblique angle that was less acute than the standard 30 degree angle. If you lay the blade flat on your face, then you have what is referred to as a straight angle (180 degrees). If you then lift up the spine to shave ATG with a very acute angle, then you have either an acute angle vis-a-vis the face as the relevant plane or an obtuse angle vis-a-vis the space above the face as the relevant plane.

I think the problem with the concept of "a net negative angle at the very end" is that it brings us all dangerously close to one of two very bad possibilities. One, a net negative angle may involve the blade actually being imbedded in one's face, and we are all pretty much in agreement that that is a net negative thing to have happen. Secondly, and even worse, a net negative angle brings us all perilously close to the creation of a black hole which would essentially create a gigantic vacuum that would consume all our soaps, creams, brushes, strops, hones, and razors and leave us with only cartridges and canned goo.
Wow, now you have me confused. That last comment sorta reminds me of the time I put instant coffee in the microwave and almost went back in time. I guess my terminology is faulty. Just to try to clear a couple of things up: When I said a 40 degree angle, I meant the spine of the razor is raised so that the angle between the edge and the skin relative to the direction of travel is 40 degrees. When I said 10 degrees on the ATG, I meant that I hold the razor at a flatter angle so that the edge forms a 10 degree angle to the skin relative to the direction of travel. You said a flat blade against the skin forms a 180 degree angle. From my perspective, this would be true if the razor was being moved in a stropping motion. It is my perception that a flat blade against the skin when shaving is in a 0 degree angle. When I reach the round of the chin in the ATG pass, I articluate the edge away from the skin. That is what I meant by flaring away to a net negative angle. In other words, at the very end of the stroke, the edge is actually lifted off the skin, leaving only the spine in contact. Sorry about the confusion. Now I am going back to ponder the relevance of the space time continuum in the spacio-temporal constraints of my shave den.