My 7-day Set

[radrick96]

favorite oil that I use most frequently.

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camo

I guess I’ve missed any info on oiling my SRs. How often do you do it? Once a month? Once a year? Or like a gun, every use?

 

[rbscebu]

I guess I’ve missed any info on oiling my SRs. How often do you do it? Once a month? Once a year? Or like a gun, every use?

It depends on the environment the blade is kept in, the blade material and how long the blade is being "rested".

I live on a tropical island. My M7DS is of high carbon alloy steel blades. Each blades rests 7 days between use. Each blade is oiled after each use.

 

[camoloc]

I guess I’ve missed any info on oiling my SRs. How often do you do it? Once a month? Once a year? Or like a gun, every use?

its probably a personal choice but I oil mine after use.

dont like unprotected metal.

camo

 

[Bevel]

Great to see the set finally put together.
I use Wahl hair clipper oil which is very cheap for a 4 Oz/118ml bottle. Think it was about 2.50 for the bottle.
I don't tend to oil razors unless I know I won't be using it for a while but I don't leave them in the bathroom either.
Where you live I'd probably throw in one or two of those little desiccant satchels you get with electronic equipment.

I mentioned before I have a VG10-HZ lying around. I've never used it so it's essentially brand new but I must revisit it at some stage. I can't remember how much I paid for it but at the time I think I got it as the steel is supposed to be extra hard and I usually only use Sheffield or Solingen type steels so I just wanted to try it.

 

[rbscebu]

....
I mentioned before I have a VG10-HZ lying around. I've never used it so it's essentially brand new but I must revisit it at some stage. I can't remember how much I paid for it but at the time I think I got it as the steel is supposed to be extra hard and I usually only use Sheffield or Solingen type steels so I just wanted to try it.

The VG10-HZ blades are harder than the normal high carbon steel (HCS) used in most of the Sheffield and Solingen SR's. Not by a lot, but you will notice while honing. The VG10-HZ does however hold it's edge longer and is more corrosion resistant.

The Sheffield and Solingen HCS blades generally have a RHC in the late 50's. VG10-HZ comes in in the early 60's. Titan's hardest blades are their ACRO T.H. 70 that has a RHC in the late 60's. It takes about twice as much work to prepare the edge on an ACRO T.H. 70 as it does with a normal HCS blade, but once done I find the effort worth it for very long edge retention.

 

[Tomo]

How do you gents feel about stainless steel blades? I’m working on a few collector sets which will include some rare unobtainium scales. Stainless steel seems like a good choice to keep them in heirloom condition. I would like them to last a hundred and fifty years of possible and I suspect that when I’m gone there will be long periods were people forget to oil them regularly.

 

[rbscebu]

How do you gents feel about stainless steel blades? I’m working on a few collector sets which will include some rare unobtainium scales. Stainless steel seems like a good choice to keep them in heirloom condition. I would like them to last a hundred and fifty years of possible and I suspect that when I’m gone there will be long periods were people forget to oil them regularly.

SS blades are good for long-term keeping but it depends a lot of the type of SS. I only have two sets of SS SR's, both Titan because for me they are relatively easy to obtain. They are the Titan VG10-HZ T.H. 63 and their ACRO T.H. 70.

The VG10-HZ T.H. 63 is good but heavy. Being a type of SS, it should last if properly looked after. The ACRO T.H. 70 is a much harder and (dare I say better) SS that should last just as well, if not better, with little to no maintenance. Mind you, the ACRO T.H. 70 is about 3 to 4 times the price of the VG10-HZ.

 

[rbscebu]

I am now working my way through my M7DS. So far it has been Lunae, Martis and Mercurii blades. I am learning about using a M7DS and will start a new thread about the lessons learned on Sunday.

 

[rbscebu]

I shaved with my Satur SR this morning for the first time. This blade had previously been given a Method edge. I stropped the blade as normal. Checked the edge and all looked good. The shave went well, not perfect but very good.

After the shave I was wiping the blade clean when I noticed that it was cracked!

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This can happen with any heat treated SR from any supplier and normally occurs during early use. The crack was not there after stropping and I didn't feel it while shaving. The crack must have occurred while either shaving or wiping clean.

I contacted the supplier and they immediately offered a free replacement, even though their 7-day return policy had expired.

For my subsequent Satur shaves, I will substitute my Vesperum SR. The Vesperum SR passes the FPT with easy so it will be a good benchmark to compare the other SR's in my M7DS.

 

[LJS]

Isn’t that 2 of these titans that have cracked on you?

That is not exactly normal. I’ve never had that happen in 20 something years personally.

Glad you weren’t hurt. That could have been horrible.

 

[rbscebu]

Isn’t that 2 of these titans that have cracked on you?

That is not exactly normal. I’ve never had that happen in 20 something years personally.

Glad you weren’t hurt. That could have been horrible.

Yes, the second out of 11 new SR's. Thiers-Issard report that about 15% to 25% of their SR's crack during initial honing or early use. It is just accepted as part of the manufacturing process. Nothing can really be done economically to reduce this occurrence.

It is very rare for a vintage to crack as they have already been through the "mill".

 

[alex1921]

No. I have a lot of NOS vintage razors and none of them has cracked. Not sure where this is normal but if any of my Iwasaki's did this I would have a heart attack.

 

[rbscebu]

No. I have a lot of NOS vintage razors and none of them has cracked. Not sure where this is normal but if any of my Iwasaki's did this I would have a heart attack.

I agree about the heart attack. Fortunately all the razors in my M7DS cost well under USD 30 each new and are easily replaced if they crack. Buying Taiwanese made SR's has it's advantages.

 

[Bevel]

Titans are from Taiwan? I always assumed for some reason they were Japanese and I'm sure I read that somewhere.

 

[Clmwxx]

I have a Titan VG-10.

In addition to the 2 incidents of cracked blades that rbscebu had, I also feel that Titan VG-10 (that's the only Titan I played with) is not worth to buy.

During my honing the Titan, I discover that the blade wobbled, making the honing difficult. Detailed checkup shows that the spine is of uneven width along the spine. If I need a low-cost razor to practice honing, gold dollar is , much cheaper. To me, the Titan is just a better packaged GD. I think it is made in China, instead of Taiwan, though the brand is a Taiwan brand.

Hours of effort for honing my Titan, with synethetic progression up to 12000 and then with jnat progression, my Titan is very sharp, I would say, even laser sharp. It can shave with no no tugging, but it lacked the kind of comfortable feeling as I have with my other carbon steel SR (TI, Boker, Dovo). I think this may not be a quality problem with Titan, but maybe the hardness of VG-10 that cannot give me the kind of comfortable shave.

YMMV.

 

[rbscebu]

Titans are from Taiwan? I always assumed for some reason they were Japanese and I'm sure I read that somewhere.

Titan SR's are made in Taiwan from steel imported from Japan. After manufacturer, they are exported to China for sale (their main target market). Titan's administrative office is based in Hong Kong. When buying a Titan SR, it is shipped from China (PRC).

 

[rbscebu]

I have a Titan VG-10.

In addition to the 2 incidents of cracked blades that rbscebu had, I also feel that Titan VG-10 (that's the only Titan I played with) is not worth to buy.

During my honing the Titan, I discover that the blade wobbled, making the honing difficult. Detailed checkup shows that the spine is of uneven width along the spine. If I need a low-cost razor to practice honing, gold dollar is , much cheaper. To me, the Titan is just a better packaged GD. I think it is made in China, instead of Taiwan, though the brand is a Taiwan brand.

Hours of effort for honing my Titan, with synethetic progression up to 12000 and then with jnat progression, my Titan is very sharp, I would say, even laser sharp. It can shave with no no tugging, but it lacked the kind of comfortable feeling as I have with my other carbon steel SR (TI, Boker, Dovo). I think this may not be a quality problem with Titan, but maybe the hardness of VG-10 that cannot give me the kind of comfortable shave.

YMMV.

The Titan VG10-HZ is not a high carbon steel (HCS) blade. Yes, it is harder than your normal TI, Boker, Dovo blades. The VG10-HZ takes more work to develop the edge than a normal HCS blade, their ACRO T.H. 70 even more so.

Different steels provide different "feelings" while shaving. I personally prefer the Titan ACRM-2 steel over the VG10-HZ, however I am developing a better liking to their ACRO blades, just that I cannot justify their asking price.

 

[rbscebu]

Maybe I'm just unlucky. My Gold Dollars have a 50% cracking rate out of two. Not worth worrying about. Titan come in at 18% cracking rate out of 11 and every one has been replaced free of charge to me. TI come in at 100% cracking rate out of one. The best the TI vendor can offer me is that I pay return shipping and if they decide it was a manufacturing defect, they will replace it provided I pay the shipping again.

 

[lloydw]

Very surprising - I have bought about 4 or 5 TI blades new and never had any defects. I do hone them all myself.
ive never had a blade crack when honing, nevermind during initial use - sounds scary that a blade could crack when shaving

the other blades I’ve bought new are
boker - zero out of at least two defects
dovo - zero out of four Or five defects
artisan and custom blades - zero out of 25-30? blades defects
2nd hand blades - zero cracks out of maybe 100 razors over the years but as you say, these may have been through the mill.
ive even remodeled 6 or so and honed to acceptable use, about 10 gold dollars, never had a blade crack

Id be interested to know from some of those more versed in blacksmithing, I assumed that the blades once treated correctly and released through any quality control would not suddenly crack during a clients shave or even a honing session

good luck with the titans

 

[rbscebu]

Maybe I'm just harder on blades than I should be. After all, I've only been SR shaving for a little over 6 months.