Steeper than 30 degrees?

I've watched a couple of videos recently where the shaver held his blade at what appeared to be more than a 30 degree angle (45, maybe even a little more). No visible carnage ensued, so I thought I would venture beyond the conventional limit (out to about 40), WTG, XTG, ATG.

Pluses: Closer shave. Less skipping and tugging in the difficult areas. Little, if any, touch-up required

Minuses: None I can detect. If anything, fewer weepers (in fact, I don't think I've gotten any over the past week). No increase in irritation.

I'm not recommending this! It may be a bad idea for some, if not most. I know there are guys who can't do ATG even with shallow angles. JUst wondering how many others find this an effective technique.

I seem to do better with 30 degrees or less depending on the area and direction of attack.

I think you have good observation skills. I've been shaving with a straight for a long time and I often find myself using an angle greater than 30°. I think that it's one of those rules that's made to be broken after you are comfortable with the razor and know what you're doing. For new shavers, 30° isn't bad advice and is certainly a good place to start.

I have no idea what angles I really use, muscle memory took over age ago.

If a steeper angle works, great stuff, be careful taking angle from videos though - Personally I think they're quite misleading. I have tried to replicate stokes or grips, but never the angle because of this.

I have to use a steeper angle to shave my chin closely ATG. Just have to be careful.

I'm still learning the whys and wherefores of using a straight razor, but I find that the moustache area pretty much necessitates a steep angle. I too have found that using an angle greater than 30 degrees works well around the chin and cheeks. On the neck, though, even going WTG less than 30 degrees seems to work better. The ability to adjust the angle continuously seems to be a big advantage of the straight razor.

I think, as others have already said, that the 30 degrees thing is a good initial guide only. As you gain more experience you will vary the angle (often unconsciously) on different areas of your face to suit your needs. This is one of the reasons that straights can potentially give such good shaves.

James.

depends what part of the face you are shaving and are you wtg or atg.Sometimes you could end up using 90 degree. location you will find out

Funny that this was posted because I had been having some issues with irritation lately. Nothing major just more than I would expect. So yesterday I shaved like normal and noticed that I was naturally hitting 45 degrees +. So this morning as an experiment I was super careful to not go over 30 degrees on the first pass and I was never over that on the second and third passes. Here are my observations.

First Pass
The shave was not smoother with either angle at all. It "felt" the same on my skin for the most part.

Second pass
Way smoother feel and no irritation.

Third pass
The spine was just barely lifted. Smooth as silk and the blade felt way sharper on the third pass than it ever has before.

Summary
I feel that the higher angle takes the edge down too quick. I am not talking dulling here because a stop bounces it right back but it definitely takes something away. Not if the higher angle was causing irritation or the blade not retaining that laser edge for the third pass was doing it, I don't know. Today was the best shave I have had in the 2 months that I have been doing this. I think I need to keep a protractor in the bathroom >.<

I don't see anything wrong with using a steeper angle. The only problem I can foresee is it causing irritation, but only if you're not careful about the amount of pressure being used. But hey, if you're finding that using a steeper angle works with no drawbacks, congrats on finding something that works for you!

This is the beauty of using a straight razor, you can truly adapt almost everything to your personal preferrence, i.e. what type of razor you use (size, grind, type of point, etc.), how it was honed, how much you want to strop it, lathering technique, shaving technique...the list goes on and on! Shaving with a straight is a beautiful thing and allows for a lot of variation, which is why you'll see so many different opinions and techniques being used. But when it comes down to what works for you, no one can argue with that! :tu

I end up using a pretty steep angle when I'm cleaning up my goatee line. The last "pass" I do is to shave away from my goateee, and I need to lift up the blade a bit to get the edge where I want it, and then flatten it as I shave away. Works fine,

-Chief

I've been trying to keep my blade lower when I go ATG. I've found it leaves less irritation. I never noticed the angle WTG... Something to think about for my next shave which will be Sat or Sun. I'm all excited now! :idea:

I use different angles for different areas. I really don't think about it too much. Much of this should come naturaly, over analysis will lead to poor quality shaves and possible injury.

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Originally Posted by gregs656

I have no idea what angles I really use, muscle memory took over age ago.

If a steeper angle works, great stuff, be careful taking angle from videos though - Personally I think they're quite misleading. I have tried to replicate stokes or grips, but never the angle because of this.

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I agree! - also, I have found that it sometimes depends on the grind of the razor I'm using at the time. I let the razor dictate the angle (whatever that is) - and, of course it will vary when I am doing WTG or ATG. I notice that wedges want to do a larger angle when going WTG on the first pass, and then less as I do the next pass, and so forth! Full hollows will require a steeper (less) angle on the first pass.

Just MHO!

Steve