Way off topic -- Double Edged Safety Razors

[DDGator]

No pressure is key.  Also, remember the goal is not necessarily to remove all the beard in one pass.  The closeness will come -- it took me a while to get it right and still not every time.

I would stick with the same blade for a few days and concentrate on the technique.  Don't judge the blade on just one shave.  Then you have a better comparison when you do switch and do a few shaves with the new blade.

I am finding a "4" on the Fatboy to be good for me.  3 passes today and while not baby bottom smooth everywhere, it was pretty good and no irritation.

[garymass]

Are you using a pre-oil before shaving?

[DDGator]

No.  I shave immediately after a hot shower.  I wet my face again with hot water and apply the shaving cream (Prorasso Red).

[Craigt]

I am a little late to the discussion but I decided to add my experience.

For many years I have used a razor with multi-blades.  Most recently 5 blades.  Seems sort of advertising hype-ish but it provided a close, mostly cut free shave.  It also would hold a sufficiently sharp edge for a month of shaving.  I would say that I have a medium rough beard. 

When I started shaving (4 decades ago or so) I quickly found that any canned shaving cream would irritate my face.  So I quickly started using a brush and cake shaving soap.  Always worked well for me.

I inherited some shaving supplies from my father-in-law some years ago.  A straight razor, several double edge safety razor handles, some several decade old blades, a brush.

One of the DE handles is a Fatboy.  (Didn't know that is what it is called until this thread started.)  It is in nearly new condition.  A few years ago I decided to give it a try.  At first I had a few cuts but quickly developed the technique.  Setting 5 seems to work well.

When I was growing up my father always used a DE razor.  When he was preparing to shave each time, he would open the razor, then flip over the blade, close it and shave.  He said it made the edge wear evenly to alternate this way.

Have any of you folk heard of that blade flipping technique?

Craig T.

[DDGator]

I haven't heard of that.  So he would use both sides each time, but also flip it?  Interesting.  I guess that is a little like rotating a tire, but I'm not sure if the analogy holds with regard to a blade edge.

My preferred blades are less than 10 cents each, and last 5 shaves, so I wouldn't worry about it too much if it was just a way to slightly pro-long the life.

I am curious though...

[garymass]

I have not seen anything about that in my research, so you mentioned using a new 5 blade style razor and also an old fatboy, which style of shaving are you doing presently and what do you prefer.

Gary

I am a little late to the discussion but I decided to add my experience.

For many years I have used a razor with multi-blades.  Most recently 5 blades.  Seems sort of advertising hype-ish but it provided a close, mostly cut free shave.  It also would hold a sufficiently sharp edge for a month of shaving.  I would say that I have a medium rough beard. 

When I started shaving (4 decades ago or so) I quickly found that any canned shaving cream would irritate my face.  So I quickly started using a brush and cake shaving soap.  Always worked well for me.

I inherited some shaving supplies from my father-in-law some years ago.  A straight razor, several double edge safety razor handles, some several decade old blades, a brush.

One of the DE handles is a Fatboy.  (Didn't know that is what it is called until this thread started.)  It is in nearly new condition.  A few years ago I decided to give it a try.  At first I had a few cuts but quickly developed the technique.  Setting 5 seems to work well.

When I was growing up my father always used a DE razor.  When he was preparing to shave each time, he would open the razor, then flip over the blade, close it and shave.  He said it made the edge wear evenly to alternate this way.

Have any of you folk heard of that blade flipping technique?

Craig T.

[Craigt]

Gary,

I have been using the double edge safety razor for a few years now.  Before that many years of the 5 blade.  For quick, smooth and minimum nicks I would have to say the 5 blade is better. 

I am not need or especially want a super smooth, baby bottom smooth shave.  It grows out in a few hours anyway so why put all the effort and nicks into a super smooth shave?

I also use the DE safety razor for nostalgia reasons.  Maybe a little anti-technology thrown in as well?  (I am an engineer too, working at a large aero-space company so I am not anti-technology per se.)  I am hoping that once I choose a brand of blade that I can purchase in a large quantity to reduce the price per blade.

I bought a sample pack of blades that includes Gillette 7 O'Clock, Wilkinson Sword, Feather, Shark, Astra and no-names from Israel.

The Feathers are very sharp and provide an aggressive shave.  Too aggressive for me.  Frequent nicks.

The Sharks are also very sharp but a bit less aggressive.  They work ok for me. Some nicks.

The no-names from Israel work well for me, sharp but not too aggressive.  In fact all the others seem to give a fine shave.  They all seem to give me 7 shaves, getting noticeably duller by the end but still providing a reasonably close and nick free shave.

As far as the blade-flipping-over-each-shave technique, my dad is an Aeronautical Engineer...might explain it.  A funny story he tells about when he was packing to report to the Army near the end of WWII.  He went to the local pharmacy and purchased a box of 100 razor blades.  He doesn't know what he was thinking.  The sales lady jokingly asked if he was going to Antarctica for a few years.

Craig T.

[garymass]

I am personally still in the learning mode and just started on my second brand of blade the feather to see how that works on my face. It definitely is not a hurry up and get ready type of shaving but the face does feel better as it is getting use to it.

[DDGator]

My first try with a Feather blade wasn't pretty.  I tried one again in a very mild Gillette Super Speed and it was much better.  You have to use light pressure.