Razor frustration

I have been buying razors for a few months now, first DE's and now straights. I am getting frustrated with the quality of the straights. Let me elaborate:

I bought a new Dovo stainless in ebony - prehoned from a well known vendor. The razor arrived with a cracked scale (small crack near the wedge). The vendor was kind enough to replace it with a Pearlex version also prehoned. That razor arrived with a loose pin such that it would fall open. I managed to tighten it using a hammer and anvil so I guess all is well.

Today I received a new prehoned TI super Gnome from a different vendor. The scales are severely misaligned. The razor functions OK but I am not happy with the appearance. This was after waiting for 2 1/2 weeks to get the razor. I suppose I should just send it back and put up with another long wait, but I am leaning toward just keeping it and living with the misalignment.

At this rate I may end up going back to DE's.

Lou
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Don't go back! Stay on the dark side! We need you!

Just bustin' yer balls man. It really does suck that you've had so many issues with the vendors thusfar though. Have you told the first vendor about the loose pin? Maybe he's having issues with his supplier that he doesn't know about and it might be beneficial to him for you to mention this.

And if you bought a nice TI and the scales came in bad, I would just box it up and ship it right back. A nice blade like that deserves quality scales, and you should settle for nothing less.

Of course, I do understand wanting to have the razors. I'm waiting for my first razor to get here, and I don't know how I'd handle it if it came in beat up or something.

It's just not new straight razors. I will probably re-drill 50% of the restorations I do just to align the blade to the scales. Pin play is one way the manufactures were able to slide razors by quality control of closing correctly. I currently have a TI in the return process as it will not hone to shaving sharp. I just received a Dovo Inox #41 that was pre-WWII that was the same way. I had cryogentically hardened as this process was not in use until after this blade was made. It fixed this one. I'm not excusing these folks and I believe if we hold the vendors and manufactures to their word about quality and guarantees of satisfaction, we should see fewer of these problems.

If it's crap send it back ! For the money these razors cost , I will not accept anything less than high quality .

I think you should send the razor back. TI's are by no means cheap razors so you deserve to get your money's worth. Moreover, vendors and ultimately TI should know about quality issues surrounding the stuff they sell.

Until now I found that most people involved with straight razor shaving have an old fashioned sense of ethics and pride in what they sell that is becoming rare these days.

The other day I bought a Carl Schlieper razor that I was very keen to have. It was advertised as mint but came with a broken pin. The vendor apologized and offered to take it back. I asked for and got a replacement pin at no extra cost.

I just received a Dovo Inox #41 that was pre-WWII that was the same way. I had cryogentically hardened as this process was not in use until after this blade was made. It fixed this one.




Did yopu do it yourself? If so how? Are most blades done this way?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by craig

I just received a Dovo Inox #41 that was pre-WWII that was the same way. I had cryogentically hardened as this process was not in use until after this blade was made. It fixed this one.




Did yopu do it yourself? If so how? Are most blades done this way?

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I did not do it myself. I sent it off to Texas Knife Makers Supply. From what I understand, only stainless steel can be cryogenically hardened. High carbon is quick quenched in a variety of ways.

Update - I sent an email to the TI vendor requesting an exchange - we will see what happens. The odds say I will get at least one good razor eventually. :(

Lou

I haven't purchased any "new" razors from vendors. For the same $- or even less, I've found restored vintage razors or slightly used NOS razors (esp. from members here) to be a great value. You also might just be having a spot of bad luck. Don't give up! :D

Jordan