Thread: Most recent attempt

Use the spine thickness as a guide. The spine of the razor is about 15 degrees thick for any razor in decent shape, regardless of size or grind. So keep the spine about 1.5-2 spine thicknesses off your face and you'll be about the right angle.

Having a lot of hair left after the N-S pass isn't terribly unusual, this pass really just shortens the whiskers so the later passes can deal with the remaining stubble easier. I would avoid against-the-grain passes completely at this stage, you have to have very good prep and lather and be very careful in order to do this safely. A cross-grain pass is a lot safer and gets you 80% of the way there, and since you usually need to do a cross-grain pass before an against-the-grain pass anyway...