BEWARE of Straight Razors.com I got my answer about the trashed Thiers Issard.

[Steve56]

And you guys talk bad about gds..... LOL. I agree 100% that the quality SUCKS on some of these razors. Im waiting for someone to make a machine that grinds them perfect. I think that is certainly possible. They profile stone counter tops that way by machine, But seems that the QC sucks obviously and the razors that should be scrapped are being sold as first quality. Ive seen some customs with bad tempers and obvious deficiencies also.

That's interesting, I've thought the same thing. Robots can manufacture much of a car, why can't they grind a razor?

I would actually not be surprised to see consistent machine-ground razors coming from the Chinese among the first, if that indeed comes to pass. That said, we have to remember the target audience of Gold Dollars is not western hobbyists but the many people in the third world that need to shave and have relatively little money by western standards.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Jarrod]

Im waiting for someone to make a machine that grinds them perfect.

I do feel in our lifetimes we'll eventually see this as a success, but thus far, many more than you'd think have tried, even within the Solingen/Wald guild zone which I know personally for a fact, but none have thus far gotten the edge characteristic of the hand ground style. It is gonna happen, though, and the industry looks to partially machine anything they can while hollow grinding skill remains at a dearth versus demand.

I've used one such prototype effort, partially produced in a machine shop here in the US specialized to the production of very small automobile engine parts and partially abroad. I believe (currently) the CNC efforts can make an edge which is incredibly thin and sharp, but - much like a scalpel - incapable of similar "signature of severing" comfort as is a 'real' straight. They don't trace and limbo, they go right where they're told without any deviations. The keenness in my opinion was far above a regular Solingen straight; the bevel plane clearly more acute, the edge line clearly thinner, refinement of bevel planes quite good versus the standards of a common no-name well produced Japanese waterstone. It just doesn't flex and it feels funny when you've only done the real straights all your life. If a GEM single edge blade could be made into a straight razor and its bevel planes polished finer, that's what it was like, and for me those "SE" razors always felt heavy-handed. By pure hair removal and ignoring skin pleasantry, I could not get good results on anywhere on my face with complex geometry, but I could do w/ the prototype in one pass on the easy/flat parts what a real straight would need 3 to achieve and usually wouldn't achieve at all.

In ten years, however? We shall see. And like paintings and photographs, likely both methodologies will soldier on to different markets, the automated clearly gaining the lion's share as its results improve and expenses decrease (the cost to make the one prototype I used would make you gasp, it was more than all of our custom razor batches!)

 

[MileMarker60]

Im waiting for someone to make a machine that grinds them perfect. I think that is certainly possible. They profile stone counter tops that way by machine,

That's interesting, I've thought the same thing. Robots can manufacture much of a car, why can't they grind a razor?

I would actually not be surprised to see consistent machine-ground razors coming from the Chinese among the first, if that indeed comes to pass. That said, we have to remember the target audience of Gold Dollars is not western hobbyists but the many people in the third world that need to shave and have relatively little money by western standards.

Cheers, Steve

I do feel in our lifetimes we'll eventually see this as a success, but thus far, many more than you'd think have tried, even within the Solingen/Wald guild zone which I know personally for a fact, but none have thus far gotten the edge characteristic of the hand ground style. It is gonna happen, though, and the industry looks to partially machine anything they can while hollow grinding skill remains at a dearth versus demand.

I personally don't think you will see that in our lifetime (if every). There just isn't a demand.Sure there is a demand within the small wet shaving community but overall the that is a very small %
As to the Chinese, They aren't having any trouble selling jacked up razors now so why would they "need" to change there process.

 

[Brianskeet]

Jarrod, you are handy to have around! That sounds very analogous to the firearms industry where cnc machines have actually increased accuracy, but the fit and finish and feel of the craftsman made firearms is largely gone unless you are willing to spend the money on custom. Maybe what we need is a modern computer based inspection process of hand ground razors. I am envisioning something like the coordinate measuring machines used in precise tolerance machining.

 

[Jarrod]

I personally don't think you will see that in our lifetime (if every). There just isn't a demand.

Well to be fair, much of the same people whom produce the current hand-made-in-the-EU pieces are actively exploring the possibility for a CNC edge that cuts and flexes like the hand-made. So professionals in the cutlery industry are 'voting with their dollars/time' that there IS such a demand, for if they did not believe such demand existed I do not believe, as a fellow professional associated to the industry, that they'd spend their time and/or capital exploring the possibility.

Whether they're right or not is unknown, but this reminds me of people's varied opinion of a points spread's "accuracy"; those actually laying down their money with the sportsbooks have the opinion that bears the most weight (but not necessarily the most accuracy).

What I tried would cut like the dickens, but would not flex and return to place when you pushed on it with your nail (like u can see in that video of the Stark razors and in many other vids). And therein lies the holy grail, and I don't even know for our shop which outcome I'd prefer!

 

[stoop]

It's interesting to me that accuracy is not the ball being chased here - there are submicron CNCs anyone with the money can buy now, for example - but some other property of the ground vs. machined blade. Very interesting.

 

[alpster]

If anyone is still following this saga. After a couple of emails and sending them pictures of the razor with new ones for comparison, I received and email that my $ will be refunded when I reply with the tracking # shipping the razor back. All's well that ends well. I'm off to the post office to ship the razor back and later I will order a new Revsor to replace it. Thanks for everyone's support and good advise. Glad this is over.

 

[JaredB]

Good for you. Hope you have better luck with your next, first new razor.