Advice on '73 "Black Beauty" adjustable, aggressiveness in general?

I'll admit, when using one of my Black Beauties, I apply "some" pressure on it.

 

Safety Bar....we don't need no stinkin' Safety Bar!

 

Strangely enough, I found that an OC OLD clone did better at clearing a week+ of beard than just about anything else I've used so far.

 

What was the clone?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

No name, no brand, no country. Probably a german copy.

Right hand razor. (the left hand razor is a three piece, but didn't come apart until after it'd been cleaned for a while, and was then being polished. )

 

Very well put.

Sounds awesome!

 

I like a more aggressive razor like that. Does not clog as easy.

 

What would you want to be different about a shave? If you change angles you will cause either a bad shave or irritation. What am I missing here?

 

I would think that riding the cap, whether it it is set at 1 or 9, would keep the same angle. Only the blade gap changes, which shouldn't really change the shave, just mild or aggressive. The only difference I can see is that the heads on the Gillette adjustables are slightly different from each other. The angles might be different on each razor, but once that is dialed in, the shaves would be about the same. Just my opinion.

 

That is more or less how I see it. I am not sure what change someone is looking for in the shave.

 

Training wheels...

At setting 1, there is only a small angle, so you either hit the mark or fail totally (but harmlessly). At setting 9, there is plenty of opportunity to miss the optimum angle and do things like scrape the blade down your face.

Now to throw a slight wrench into the discussion...

Back in September, @NCoxSTL and the 30DC went on an extended tangent of his blade tests when we realized that certain blades (OEM Israeli Personna, for one) performed horribly in a Slim at setting 2, but decently at setting 3. So where does that fit into this equation?

One thought- blade exposure. Going back to the diagram, at setting 1, we have a blade edge which is pointing almost directly at the safety bar with little gap while at 9, we have all that sharpness just hanging out there. If, however, we had a slightly narrower blade, then there is a definite potential for negative blade exposure at low settings. In that case, we can ride the cap all we want, but nothing is going to happen without additional pressure.

Hmm... perhaps that is the power of the Adjustable- to be able to customize the shaving experience to the skill level (or lack thereof) of the shaver and to the possible variances in the blade.

 

I will agree that a mild razor is better for newer shavers to learn on. But the shave angle is still the same. I mean the angle of the blade on the skin. That goes back to not having to buy all three styles. Start on low setting and move up as you learn. But on whatever setting if you ride the cap you find the best angle. Or that is how I see it,

As for the setting making something different for a certain blade I would have to check that out. I do not see how that can be. Unless the blade is narrower then others. But then it would shave bad on what ever setting as the amount of the blade sticking out of the razor does not change. There can not be that much difference in the width of the blade

 

No argument that riding the cap is the way to go.

As for width, it does vary. Someone over at B&B has started a project to definitively measure different blades along several parameters and has already had some interesting results. As for the effect of width, take a look at the diagrams again, specifically the line from the end of the cap to the safety bar and how it intersects the blade. We're talking small values here, but a minor difference in blade width could cause an exposure change that would require 1 or more steps to compensate for.

 

Ahhh there we go then. Thankyou. I understood the blade did not change that just the bar moved.

Thank you also for that information. That is were good technique will come into play to adjust to the setting.

 

First off i dont have the adjustable razor youve got but after doing some reading on another shaving forum ive been turning my razor up a notch or two with everypass.
Say first pass at 2 second at 3 and finish on 4 i find this gives me the best shave i can never get bbs shaves bottom of my left side jaw line always feels jaggy.