School me on "agressive" DE safety razors

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by Frank Shaves, Dec 17, 2020.

  1. Frank Shaves

    Frank Shaves Well-Known Member

    Ok this makes a lot of sense to me and yes I certainly work on my technique and try to stick with my daily razor using the same blade type and shaving cream/soap for the next month or so and see how I get along. Thanks for the very concise reply and very helpful answer!
     
  2. Frank Shaves

    Frank Shaves Well-Known Member

    Thanks to all who suggested such great affordable razors! I think I have narrowed down my selection for future references if I ever decide to get another new more aggressive razor after actually getting used to my new Wilkinson for at least 30 shaves. The razor works nice and smooth although a tad long and heavy but I really need to work on my technique. Right now I am getting better at it. :)
     
  3. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    Technique will only help to a point. If the razor can't work correctly because of the way it is designed no technique will fix that and there are mild razors that just do not allow the blade to get close enough to the skin to get a BBS shave no matter how much pressure, angle or passes you do. Only way to determine that is to either trust that whoever is giving you advice about a particular razor actually knows what they are doing and not just sloganeering or more importantly trust but verify by testing yourself if you already have said razor.

    Work on your technique but vary angle and pressure every few shaves until you build up your own sensory feedback library of what the blade is doing and when it is doing it best to dial in technique that works best for any razor later on. Test the extremes, first angle at most shallow (blade almost parallel to the face) then the most steep (blade almost perpendicular to the face), keep everything else constant i.e. prep pre and post shave, brush, cream, amount of passes, pressure, no skin stretching. Next vary pressure extremes at the extreme angles from light to heavy. Then after that skin stretching doing the same ruling out the prior extremes that didn't produce the expected results. Then finally amount of passes because at some point technique won't matter if you do enough passes, the razor is going to eventually hit it's max hair reduction ability with enough passes no matter what. If you can't get the expected results by that point then you won't get them period with that razor. If you do and it was too little or too much on the extremes you know which way to angle in and adjust pressure and when and if you need to skin stretch for the amount of passes you know will get you to the finish line.

    Once you dial in your first razor this way if it still isn't satisfactory try a sharper blade. Try it if it is and see if it improves on what did by being able to use less pressure to get the same result than with the original blade. The sensory feedback and practice will make it that much easier and quicker to dial in another razor as you progress.

    One other thing to point out if you decide to try other blade formats like SE bladed razors. They are designed to work differently than a DE razor and as such the technique will be different. If you do go that route this place is a good forum to ask about those razors.
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2020
  4. johnnyflake

    johnnyflake Well-Known Member

    I have been through many, many DE Razors, from $15 razors to $300 razors and I have finally settled on a $50 give or take a few bucks, as my go to razor. I highly recommend the Merkur Progress, adjustable razor, the one with the short handle. With a simple twist or two, of the handle, you can set it from very mild, to very aggressive. With the short handle, it's very easy to control and shaves like a dream. Buy one and try it. You can thank me later!
     
  5. ischiapp

    ischiapp New Product Bloodhound

    Except some stupid cheap chinese things, never seen a decent one with this issue.

    For example?
     
    Edison Carter and Primotenore like this.
  6. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    Good and valid questions, Pierpaolo.
     
    Edison Carter and ischiapp like this.
  7. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    Feather Popular razor. Gillette Blue Tip Super Speed.
     
  8. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    When technique is dialed in a Gillette Tech or a Schick Krona shaves great.

    I've done the 30 days with several of my razors ..... it makes them like old friends ..... always a joy to have around for a shave.

    :)
     
  9. ischiapp

    ischiapp New Product Bloodhound

    I've to disagree.
    I know all the three as good mild shavers.
     
    Edison Carter likes this.
  10. romsitsa

    romsitsa Well-Known Member

    LeCoq "safety bar", it looks like a DE but is actually a shavette (sorry for the dirty blade).
    131058615_2865514817104011_2861016899553062577_o.jpg 131048042_2865621310426695_845725469944191047_o.jpg
     
    Edison Carter, Frank Shaves and BigD like this.
  11. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    2 razors not 3. That is a blue tip super speed not a blue tip and super speed.
     
  12. gwsmallwood

    gwsmallwood Well-Known Member

    Some good ideas in this thread. While the 34c and the Red Tip are both great options, I would second the adjustable recommendations. I don't know anything about that Ming Shi you mentioned. If I had to recommend one in production adjustable, I would go with the Merkur Progress. It's a really underrated razor. Before you go there, I saw you have a Tech coming. Search the forum (or YouTube) for shims. You can make some shims by cutting off the edges of a few DE blades. Try using 1, 2, even 3 shims in the Tech. It will increase the aggressiveness so you can get an idea of whether you might like something more aggressive before you spend the money on a new razor. That being said, I don't think you would regret picking up a Progress.
     
    Edison Carter and Frank Shaves like this.
  13. Frank Shaves

    Frank Shaves Well-Known Member

    Oh yes I have 3 vintage three piece Gillette Tech ball end razors coming in the mail! All were like 8-12 bucks a piece. One is gold plated that was $11 shipped. One is a 1951 (date code W2) that looks in almost new shape with the box and one from my birth year of 1962 (H2) so yeah I had to get it. I also have a 1955 Gillette speed razor coming but that needs a good cleaning and polishing before even sterilizing it. It's my restoration project.

    Even when they arrive I intend to continue shaving with the Wilkinson/Weishi for 30 shaves with the same brand blade and shave soap as been suggested. I think that's the best advice I've got on this forum. Then I will choose one of the old Tech razors and do the same and so on. Again for me part of the fun is not only trying to achieve the best comfortable shave I can but also experimenting with new equipment and soaps/creams/after shaves etc..

    I am sure you'll all agree! ;)
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2020
  14. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    :happy096:
     
  15. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    On the American made 3pc Techs they fall into 2 major categories for non military issue razors. Pre and Post war though that it is a little bit of a misnomer since what is called pre war actually was produced up until 1948. Either way unless you are collecting specific variations of each you only need 1 pre and post war to get all the different types of shaving American tech razors. Pre war Techs have triangular lather channels in the safety guard and post war versions have rectangular later channels instead.

    As mentioned above using a shim can definitely help with aggressiveness on a 3pc razor, it can also help with stiffening up a blade so it has less flex which allows for a better cut depending how the head is designed.

    To make a shim simply cut the ends of a used blade then load it shim first then blade to increase the blade gap between the blade and guard for more aggression or load it opposite to stiffen up the blade but keep the blade gap (distance between blade edge and guard) the same.
     
    Frank Shaves likes this.
  16. Frank Shaves

    Frank Shaves Well-Known Member

    All the ball end Tech's I am receiving are post war ones. The the one from 1951 was made in Canada with the 1932 Pat. number/year stamped on it. I believe that 1951 was the first year they reintroduced date codes after the war.

    Pics from the seller.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Ijustmissedthe50s, BigD, brit and 2 others like this.
  17. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    The 1932 Techs are a nice razor ..... I have 2-3 of them. Nearly 70 years old and ready to give a sweet shave!

    :eatdrink013:
     
  18. Frank Shaves

    Frank Shaves Well-Known Member

    Today's shave with the Wilkinson/Weishi Wilkinson blade combo was most excellent. My technique is getting better and figuring out which direction my facial hair grows has helped. No neck irritation which is one of my peeves. 28 more shaves with that combo!
     
  19. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    Congrats. Come poke your head in at the 30DC thread. Log your shaves there and get all the support you want...and some you'll probably not want. ;)
    https://theshaveden.com/forums/thre...us-pix-discussion.64938/page-318#post-1903193
     
  20. Sara-s

    Sara-s This Pun for Hire

    I have the Ming Shih. (I won it in a PIF here.) I like the fact that you can do intermediate adjustments- e.g. set it to 2.5.
     

Share This Page