A New Angle

While considering yet another bloody noob at the forum the other day, I visualized the angle of attack in a new way, as a downward-slope from the cutting point on one hair, to the cutting point on the next. It appeared in my mind's eye as a simple triangle, an angle of descent. Though my lexical module intended to suggest a more horizontal mowing, the carnage before me showed that the edge was more like a plane crashing through the treetops of a facial jungle. I often imagine myself in the cockpit of such a plane, attacking the cutting point, so that wasn't new. But my attempt at communicating showed that I was actually confounding pitch and trajectory.

A light googling reveals that the input angle of a trajectory is called the "inclination." Why I find it relevant is, I've lately been shaving primarily with a razor that doesn't even have a single, integral pitch angle. Yet my Razorock Torsionshobel, newly dubbed "Eve," shaves very precisely, locking on to a definite "sweet spot" as far as how the handle is pitched. And, it doesn't seem to matter which point along the edge length, representing a particular angle of pitch, is being used on a particular spot. Though she may feel like an axe, with a smooth Racer blade, that's not at all how axes work. The pitch and direction would have to align perfectly.

If the trajectory were flat, would we not then have a plane, and a razor only as functional as a disposable? No, I think inclination is a true control, but under conditions of successful shaving, it functions to match the edge's descent to the pull of the hair, like a spacecraft maintains orbit against the pull of gravity. It is a better match to the "angle" of forum parlance than blade pitch, so that suddenly sounds a lot less stupid, to my ear.