Ikon B1 Slant vs Maggard Slant for Scalp

My first metal slant bar safety razor purchase was a Maggard brand.  They modelled their head off of a model that the Ikon B1 was modelled from, as well.  I wanted to compare the two, so I purchased the Ikon B1 slant head & Ikon OSS handle from eBay.  The reason I did from eBay is because of the escrutiating price otherwise, since they normally are $120+.  On eBay I was able to get both with “cosmetic imperfections” that weren’t visible to me at all, for more than half price.

Coming into slant bar razors as a noobie, I researched them and how to properly cut with them.  Everywhere I researched said that with slant bar the pressure should be minimal, however for scalp hair I found this to be relative.  I began first using a bakelite style slant before purchasing the Maggard for this reason.  The weight of the Maggard slant head works nicely when there is minimal to remove on the scalp, however last night I was removing 5-days of hair growth and found out that weight is important when you are cutting that much hair.  I am not bald by any stretch of the imagination, so my head is a great test-bed for this.

I used the Maggard with thick shaving soap lather, and the head seemed to float over the hair and not want to push down through it as it passed over.  After 5-10 different passes, in frustration I grabbed the Ikon B1 slant and started using that.  The steel head gave it enough weight to drill right down through the hair and carve the hair off.  That was a huge litmus test in my eyes, and since I wasn’t putting my skin through undue scraping through multiple continuous runs over the same area I came away with very little redness.  I’m going to see if attaching the Ikon OSS handle to the Maggard next time will make any weight difference, or if the head weight is a major player.  So far, the Ikon B1 slant is a winner in my book.