Thread: "Feel" the angle

hi. first post here. i've been straight razor shaving for about a week now. two days in a row, no nicks. yea! i have yet to tackle upper and lower lip, and chin. but, it is going well.

i just thought i would mention something that seems to really help this newb. i have read the importance of the correct angle. it is hard for me to visually judge the correct angle. what seems to work for me is to lay the razor flat, basically zero degrees. then i start doing short strokes in the same spot, maybe 1/8" strokes, while slowly increasing the angle. as soon as i feel the blade catch and start to cut whiskers, i go with it. then i'm doing slightly longer strokes, until i run into areas where face angles are changing, then i start to "feel" test the angle again. it really helps to avoid nicks, until i become more proficient at this.

very nice forum, BTW!

That is excellent advice! Thank you for sharing it.

You can also rely on audio cues. As soon as the blade reaches the cutting angle you will be able to hear that "buttering toast" sound as the whiskers are literally wiped away.

thank you, Ryan82. this is good advice, also, and something i have definitely found to be helpful.

Welcome to SRP!

glad to here that you are getting the hang of things... feel free to ask questions and please read the wiki and watch some videos it will help with the learning curve.

Welcome to SRP.

Sound advice. Ryan's is also 'sound' advise. LOL Sorry for the groaner.

Jer

That's a great idea and it'll get you ahead of the curve much faster than my fumblings got me up to speed.

I'd be interested to hear where on your face you need to change the angle a lot. Is there anywhere where you think you get better results with a really high (closer to perpendicular) angle? I think there are good areas for that, but don't want to bias you. Keep on posting about this, it's interesting.

Best wishes.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

You can also rely on audio cues. As soon as the blade reaches the cutting angle you will be able to hear that "buttering toast" sound as the whiskers are literally wiped away.

Or if you're using a wedge you may hear the sound of 'no toast buttering'

Originally Posted by roughkype

That's a great idea and it'll get you ahead of the curve much faster than my fumblings got me up to speed.

I'd be interested to hear where on your face you need to change the angle a lot. Is there anywhere where you think you get better results with a really high (closer to perpendicular) angle? I think there are good areas for that, but don't want to bias you. Keep on posting about this, it's interesting.

Best wishes.

the changing face angles i'm referring to is the jawline, and as it transitions from the cheek area to the neck. i can round the corner ok, but i'm constantly finding the right angle as i go through it. i have read where other people have stretched the skin so as to avoid rounding the corner, but this seems to work for me. to answer your question, no, i haven't found anywhere that a high angle is helpful, except to seriously nick myself! but as i gain more experience, i will probably notice what you are referring to.

thanks for the reply.

I'm always recommend to start with razor flat on the face. But still I think that self learned experience always the best