Item Description
My impressions of the Hart Steel Razor won during the Carnival of Smiles raffle follow. First let me thank Classic Shaving for donating the razor. A tip of the hat to our moderators who worked hard promoting and running the Carnival. Lastly, I would like to congratulate B&B for choosing, and the membership for supporting, such a worth charity.
The Hart Steel Razor does not look impressive. It is rather plain and exclusive of ornamentation. No gold wash, no blade etch, no mirror polish, no fancy scale material or silver inlay. There are no pretentions, this is a utilitarian razor. It is made in the USA for shaving, not for artistic pleasure. A tool rather than a display piece.
The design of the razor reminds me of a 1880s Wade & Butcher. A slight smile and sway back accompanied by a heavy blade ending in a top rounded square point. If you like these design characteristics then the lines of this razor are pleasing, it will never win any beauty contests, but everything about this razor is focused on function.
While the (one) adjustable pin scales are uninspiring acrylic, they are solid, functional, and impervious to water. They also balance the heavy blade well. I personally have no preference regarding adjustable pins. I own and use razors with adjustable pins and have rarely experienced any difficulty. The heads of the pin are nicely counter sunk.
The razor is advertised as a 6/8ths quarter hollow. The one I received looks much more like a slightly concaved wedge compared with my other quarter hollow razors. I might concede eighth hollow. The satin blade finish was uniform and without flaw. Inspection of the edge revealed a narrow, even, and smooth bevel and edge.
The fit and finish are excellent and I discovered no flaw what-so-ever. TV was the artisan, and he did a fine job on this razor.
While advertised as shave ready, I don’t consider any blade shave ready straight off a hone. In preparation I gave the blade 50 laps on a Chrome Ox pasted paddle followed by 30 laps on TM cotton canvas, 30 laps on TM linen, 50 laps on TM latigo, and 50 laps on TM horse hide. This is the progression I’ve used on my freshly honed personal razors for some time, and it works for me.
My normal pre-shave stropping is 30 laps on linen and 50 laps on latigo. Through 10 shaves, 3 of which were two day growth, the edge has held up, the 10th shave just as good as the 1st. Absent a mishap of some type I expect the edge will hold up for many shaves.
The shaves were smooth and close with no irritation. My usual three pass shave provided great results not noticeably different from my other razors, mostly Solingen full hollow 13/16ths or 6/8ths blades from Puma, Double Duck, Weltmeister, Fritz Bracth era Dovos, pre Dovo Bismarck, and Filarmonica #13 Doble Temple razors. I continue to use some heaver grind razors, mostly half and quarter hollow Le Grelot, W&B, Frederick’s, Livi Regrinds, and Thiers-Issard. Pretty stiff competition.
The razor was prone to spotting at first. Not rust or water spots, but some small spots on the blade and spine. Fortunately they came out easily with a bit of MAAS. I wonder if their appearance was the result of some residual of the salt bath treatment process working its way to the surface of the steel. The spots appeared after shave 2 and 4 only so it turns out to be a non issue long term, but I’ve mentioned in the interests of full disclosure.
Bottom line, I’m impressed and pleased that a start-up, US based straight razor manufacturer using a cottage industry business model can produce such an excellent shaving razor. The designers have kept priorities in clear focus, concentrating on what a razor must do. I salute them.
The Hart Steel Razor does not look impressive. It is rather plain and exclusive of ornamentation. No gold wash, no blade etch, no mirror polish, no fancy scale material or silver inlay. There are no pretentions, this is a utilitarian razor. It is made in the USA for shaving, not for artistic pleasure. A tool rather than a display piece.
The design of the razor reminds me of a 1880s Wade & Butcher. A slight smile and sway back accompanied by a heavy blade ending in a top rounded square point. If you like these design characteristics then the lines of this razor are pleasing, it will never win any beauty contests, but everything about this razor is focused on function.
While the (one) adjustable pin scales are uninspiring acrylic, they are solid, functional, and impervious to water. They also balance the heavy blade well. I personally have no preference regarding adjustable pins. I own and use razors with adjustable pins and have rarely experienced any difficulty. The heads of the pin are nicely counter sunk.
The razor is advertised as a 6/8ths quarter hollow. The one I received looks much more like a slightly concaved wedge compared with my other quarter hollow razors. I might concede eighth hollow. The satin blade finish was uniform and without flaw. Inspection of the edge revealed a narrow, even, and smooth bevel and edge.
The fit and finish are excellent and I discovered no flaw what-so-ever. TV was the artisan, and he did a fine job on this razor.
While advertised as shave ready, I don’t consider any blade shave ready straight off a hone. In preparation I gave the blade 50 laps on a Chrome Ox pasted paddle followed by 30 laps on TM cotton canvas, 30 laps on TM linen, 50 laps on TM latigo, and 50 laps on TM horse hide. This is the progression I’ve used on my freshly honed personal razors for some time, and it works for me.
My normal pre-shave stropping is 30 laps on linen and 50 laps on latigo. Through 10 shaves, 3 of which were two day growth, the edge has held up, the 10th shave just as good as the 1st. Absent a mishap of some type I expect the edge will hold up for many shaves.
The shaves were smooth and close with no irritation. My usual three pass shave provided great results not noticeably different from my other razors, mostly Solingen full hollow 13/16ths or 6/8ths blades from Puma, Double Duck, Weltmeister, Fritz Bracth era Dovos, pre Dovo Bismarck, and Filarmonica #13 Doble Temple razors. I continue to use some heaver grind razors, mostly half and quarter hollow Le Grelot, W&B, Frederick’s, Livi Regrinds, and Thiers-Issard. Pretty stiff competition.
The razor was prone to spotting at first. Not rust or water spots, but some small spots on the blade and spine. Fortunately they came out easily with a bit of MAAS. I wonder if their appearance was the result of some residual of the salt bath treatment process working its way to the surface of the steel. The spots appeared after shave 2 and 4 only so it turns out to be a non issue long term, but I’ve mentioned in the interests of full disclosure.
Bottom line, I’m impressed and pleased that a start-up, US based straight razor manufacturer using a cottage industry business model can produce such an excellent shaving razor. The designers have kept priorities in clear focus, concentrating on what a razor must do. I salute them.