Morning all. Having read so many posts on here regarding certain blades in certain razors, i have a couple of questions.
What is it that makes one blade more or less aggressive than another. i can understand that some blades are sharper than others, But i would have thought that the sharpest blade would naturally give the smoothest and most comfortable shave as it is not having to work hard to cut the beard. This appears not to be the case though. some not quite so sharp blades give a smoother shave in the same razor than some very sharp blades. Why is it that some sharp blades appear to snag and jump on their first outing and then improve as they begin to blunt slightly.
Secondly i have read many posts regarding the 1950 American super speeds being very mild and may need a more aggressive blade to give a good shave,or do the shim mod to change the blade geometry to something nearer the design geometry using the thicker carbon steel blades. I currently use red Personna's in a merkur 38. I have recently purchased a 1956 FT SS and was wondering what sort of blade to use in it to give a similar result. I previously tried a 7 o clock yellow in the 38R and found it to give more irritation and not as close shave as the Personna. i was told this may have been due to the yellow being a bit too aggressive for my skill level at the moment. Would you expect to be able to use a more aggressive blade in the FT SS and the razor then reduce it's aggression.
This is all black magic to me. I had previously thought a blade is a blade is a blade. How wrong i was.
What is it that makes one blade more or less aggressive than another. i can understand that some blades are sharper than others, But i would have thought that the sharpest blade would naturally give the smoothest and most comfortable shave as it is not having to work hard to cut the beard. This appears not to be the case though. some not quite so sharp blades give a smoother shave in the same razor than some very sharp blades. Why is it that some sharp blades appear to snag and jump on their first outing and then improve as they begin to blunt slightly.
Secondly i have read many posts regarding the 1950 American super speeds being very mild and may need a more aggressive blade to give a good shave,or do the shim mod to change the blade geometry to something nearer the design geometry using the thicker carbon steel blades. I currently use red Personna's in a merkur 38. I have recently purchased a 1956 FT SS and was wondering what sort of blade to use in it to give a similar result. I previously tried a 7 o clock yellow in the 38R and found it to give more irritation and not as close shave as the Personna. i was told this may have been due to the yellow being a bit too aggressive for my skill level at the moment. Would you expect to be able to use a more aggressive blade in the FT SS and the razor then reduce it's aggression.
This is all black magic to me. I had previously thought a blade is a blade is a blade. How wrong i was.