Thread: Otto Fromm? Really?

Originally Posted by TrilliumLT

The Original razor is a 72. The new one is a 72R, R must stand for Rubbish or Reject

TrilliumLT, my dear friend, you are a poet.

This seems to be similar to the Timor, made by G&F, great vintage blades, and then the new Timor "Blue Steel" blades came out, I ended up with one as part of a deal for a Norton 4/8k, piece of garbage, another one with a blackened tang as well.

Looking at the Otto Fromm, I immediately thought of this Timor....they both strongly resemble, how do we say it en francais, garbage...

I normally won't hone these Obie.

I just box them up and send them back.

In my experience, they do not hone well or shave well.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by Lynn

I normally won't hone these Obie.

I just box them up and send them back.

In my experience, they do not hone well or shave well.

Have fun.

Right you are, my dear Lynn, as I discovered the hard way.

This is another great example of buyer beware
One of my own self assigned RAD limitations for buying is if any vintage brand str8 has the nail type pins and isn't a rescale I will pass on it,
unless it is a new Dovo or TI for the right price,
As I consider myself a novice at buying still, this theory is Based souly on this type of thread as I don't have the years of experience to back it up
And I repeatedly read that a lot of the new versions seam to be poor reproductions with grind or steel issues.

I really fail to understand the concept of manufacturing something that doesn't do what it was supposed to do. There must be literally thousands of these things lying around, glorified letter openers. Wouldn't it be better to produce a razor that actually takes a great edge, build a good reputation, and in turn increase sales and profit? There is someone down our way selling the Timor, and they are expensive. I have noticed a lot of new members buy these type of razors and kits, and then ask questions. Ask questions first would be my advice. This type of shaving is hard enough to learn, add a rubbish razor and there you have it, another non-believer, a potential member lost. Honestly, if you had produced razors like this 100 years ago, you wouldn't have lasted a month.

If I am right about them merely being assembled in Germany the company has no great investment in machinery/factory nor a highly skilled labour force. If that is the case they may be in it for a quick profit and should demand disappear they have not lost much and made a profit in the meantime. Not saying it is true just guessing at a possible explanation for Grazor.

Bob

Unfortunately the razor in question comes from Fromm's "learned experience". What I mean by that is, in other areas of the cutting tool industry Fromm and many others have discovered that a significant profit can be made selling tools that are "cheap" in every sense. Many folks today define value primarily by price tag. America's obsession/need with discount retailers and merchandise has drastically changed a few prime definitions, "quality" and "value" are among them IMO. It wasn't that long ago when most tool makers prided themselves in producing great products of good quality. However as new generations come to pass, fewer people are interested in quality (and paying for it), more buying decisions are based on price alone. Tool companies see this trend and respond by producing lower priced tools that sell very well. The Gold Dollar razor is a good example of this, so are many name brand tools that use to be of much better quality in the past than they are today. There is a remedy, public feedback and opinion. Direct contact to the tool company by the customer can often bring about positive change, though not guaranteed. Fromm makes a lot of money offering "economy priced" tools, they also still make some top of the line tools which carry a great reputation.
Thanks Obie for drawing attention to this model.

Same to be said on a thread Giessen & Forsthoff. They mirror the situation re Fromm, sold a trademark. G & F have solingen on the scales, but nothing on the blade. total falsehood
Sorry for dropping in.

Bobski

Thanks for the heads-up.