Merkur 42C (Closed Comb) About To Use For The First Time

I am going to use my brand new Merkur 42C closed comb safety razor for the first time tonight. I have a blade sampler pack; so, I have not decided which blade I will use with it. I have used Shark razors, SE, with Dovo Shavette. Now I have only used my shavette twice, and this is going to be my first safety razor shave. I apologize if I did not use the search feature properly, but is there any advice I should take to heart before shaving tonight? I was thinking of starting with the feather DE blades.

Feather is the sharpest out there. You might want to start out with another.

Just watch your angle and don't apply pressure and stretch and you should be OK.

Opps hit the wrong button and sent a PM to ya, sorry.

How do I find the right angle? I know every face is different, but I know that there is a method for finding these things.

I will save the feather for when I know what I am doing, thanks.

Start flat with the handle parallel to your face, and move the handle away only as you need to....more angle = more blade contact (to a point) and more blood. And tighten the head firmly on the handle first.

Alright so I go in flat and move slow and gentle with no pressure down to my skin and then let the razor do all the work?

I just got done shaving. I must be doing something wrong. It would barely remove hair. I did not try applying tons of pressure to see if that was what I was doing wrong. I ended up grabbing my Dovo Shavette to finish shaving.

Any ideas what I did wrong? I put the safety razor to my skin. I titled down til the razor would touch. I then would shave.

I used the Merkur DE razor that came with the 42C.

You just did not get the angle right I guess. Go about 2:30 minutes into this video Traditional Shaving: Proper Blade Angle (DE/Safety Razor and /Straight Razor) - YouTube .

Bob

Yeah my angles were all wrong. I will have to practice holding the safety razor properly. I bet my angle drifted as I was shaving causing it to work for a moment and than to fail the next.

Thanks for the help!

That's exactly the opposite of what I do...and what I was taught to do 55 years ago. Whatever works for a person is what works! I wind up at some of the same angles. But work from the guard resting flat on my cheek, handle straight down, and then move it away until I feel the blade grab beard. :shrug:

Many ways to skin a cat Haroldg48?