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Hart Steel razor's on great sale, could not resist

That is so reprehensible. But 'sabes que? It's like when you tragically lose a pet. It hurts. But....
Right now, go get on line, find a few bucks somewhere and go buy a nice new razor from one of the many very reputable vendors here. Superior Shave, Straight Razor Design, West Coast Shaving, Bullgoose, Griffith Shaving, Brown Razor Works, any of these guys and there are more. Find one you like. Buy it. Use it. Enjoy it. Forget the Classic "experience". There are better days ahead. Sorry you had such a crap experience with those guys.
 
maboroshi

I am so sorry you had such a poor experience with CS, but I kind of expected it based on what I had read and heard concerning others who have dealt with CS since their purcase by TGN.

They seem to be saying that the scales were shipped to you separately and then accused you of damaging the scales during the installation process. When I got my Hart, the scales had already been installed on the razor using their usual hex head screws.

I know that you are not planning to send the razor back to CS and I think this is the best idea. Hopefully, when you have the proper tools and skills you will be able to work through the problems with the razor and get a decent shave out of it. However, if yours is anything like mine (and the photos say it is), it is going to be a frustrating journey.

I just hope other read this post and learn to avoid the headaches of dealing with a vendor who refuses to stand behind their products. I am glad you quoted the vendor's response as people can see the type of customer service (or lack thereof) being offered. There is no way I would ever send a razor back to CS for sharpening and repair as it might be returned to you in even worse condition than you sent it. I do not trust their repair and sharpening capabilities any more than I trust their customer service.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
First of all, when a new razor REQUIRES the use of tape on the spine, and the manufacturer even says so, that immediately rings alarm bells. I can only speculate that they are trying to make too wide a blade out of too thin a piece of steel. Using thicker steel would take more work, using stock removal methods. It would reduce material costs, yes, but mostly it would reduce labor. The new razor's geometry should be such that honing normally is a viable method of getting a good edge.

Second, when a razor maker does not even make one full hollow razor, that to me indicates that they do not have any skilled grinders. Anybody can grind out a wedge. It takes a very skilled person to make a full hollow.

Third, while I have often said that we are talking about TOOLS and not JEWELRY, and that cosmetic perfection is irrelevant, those razors look absolutely HORRIBLE. That is not a satin finish. That is just a rough grind with essentially zero polish.

In my view, these razors never deserved a lot of praise, and now, they do not deserve to be seriously considered by someone shopping for a razor at all.

As for the steel alloy, there is nothing at all wrong with O1. In fact, it can be made a couple of points harder than say 1095. And therein lies a possible problem. It would be easy to do a great job HT and quenching an O1 blade, but not sufficiently temper it, leaving the blade too hard. IOW, too brittle. This might well make an edge that microchips easily. I could see this happening with a maker who is proudly crowing about how hard his steel is.
 
The Hart I bought about 4 years was worth the $$, imo. Not the scales, they got replaced. But the razor itself is a good quarter hollow blade. In fact, none of my other razors shave my chin nearly was well.
 
It appears that Harts made a few years ago (after the worked out the startup bugs), we decent. The problem lies with razors made recently. It appears the company no longer cares about either quality or customer service. That is tragic considering Classic Shaving and Hart Steel were once respected members of the shaving community.
 
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Tragic really. Hart made a rather decent razor 6-7 years ago. The decline in quality was not subtle at all. Pity. I can only wonder what other well regarded products will suffer at the hands of new management??
 
This genuinely hurts my feelings! I have three older Hart Steel razors that are uniformly excellent. A real shame that they are letting that slip.
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the pissing contest of steel hardness is something I'm thankful the German makers have universally eschewed in favor more pragmatic advantages
 
The ones that seem to have real problems are the recent "satin finish" razors that have deep scratches in the face that go all the way into the bevel. I suspect they so hard that there is no way they could polish them.

If the razor is fully polished, it probably is a good one.
 
Just a quick update. Reset the edge without tape on a DMT and then jnats. Blade honed up easily without fuss. Edge is HHT4 or 5. I'm looking forward to the shave tomorrow.
 
I bought two during the sale, one looks fine, the other is still NIB. If they don't sell soon, ill open the new one and try and get detailed pics of each, so we can add to the sample size of lemons, and know if it was a fluke or if Hart just doesn't care anymore.
 
I took advantage of the sale early on and was fortunate to receive a very nice edge. While I feel for those that don't share my experience, it is nice to know they aren't at a 100% failure rate (aesthetics aside).

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I took advantage of the sale early on and was fortunate to receive a very nice edge. While I feel for those that don't share my experience, it is nice to know they aren't at a 100% failure rate (aesthetics aside).

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From the look of the deep scratches in the grind near the edge, I would be quite surprised if your edge does not have chips. Even if it does not, it may well develop chips the first time you try to hone it. No self-respecting razor grinder would ever sell a razor looking like that, but apparently, Hart sold several of them.
 
From the look of the deep scratches in the grind near the edge, I would be quite surprised if your edge does not have chips. Even if it does not, it may well develop chips the first time you try to hone it. No self-respecting razor grinder would ever sell a razor looking like that, but apparently, Hart sold several of them.
Mine arrived with a similar finish and had a mirror edge that was chip free under a 100x scope
 
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