New Razor Meisturwerk Machinen

Hello everyone, I am new at this forum as well as to the use of straight razors and now I have just received my first straight razor from meisturwerkmachinen.com
I choose this razor for what I think is a unique appearance and hopefully a quality razor, and because it was 70% off at the time ;)

Now that I have received it I was hoping to get a second opinion about it, because there is a few things I have noticed about it.

* When I look at it from the point it seems that the cutting edge is a little warped. I am trying to show it in some pictures.
* There is a crack in the snakewood handle by the rivet where the tang and handle meet.
* The blade is not centered in the handle and "cuts" into the handle.
* And the handle is made of two pieces instead of one. I don´t know if that is a bad
thing or not.
* Also the rivets seem a litle simple.
*How do I know it is authentic Damascus steel?

Is all this something I should expect from a 375$ razor?


Her is some information given on their site:

Meisturwerk Machinen SR-4 Straight Razor
SPECIFICATIONS :
*Tempered and Hardened & Fluted Damascus Steel Blade
*Blade Hardened to HRC59
*Meisturwerk Machinen Logo Engraved Blade
*Hand Sewn Genuine Leather Sheath Included
$375 USD


Attachment 178894You can barely see that the blade is a little curved
Attachment 178895
Attachment 178896You can see a small crack by the rivet.
Attachment 178898
Attachment 178897Real damaskus steel?
Attachment 178899
Attachment 178900Not centered at all.

Welcome to SRP. I have not heard of this company before. The razor does not look like it is a quality item. If you paid with paypal or a credit card, perhaps you can return it for a refund. I would suggest an entry level Dovo or something like that. Here is the SRP beginner's guide. Please note the razors to avoid list. Perhaps that company should be added ?

Straight Razor Place Library:Books/Beginners Guide - Straight Razor Place Library

Welcome to the forum. Have to say I am no expert and have never heard of this manufacturer before.

Yes, the blade does look like it has a warp, perhaps from poor grinding? The crack at the pivot pin (rivet) may be caused by too much tightening of the pin? The peening of the pin looks poorly done to me too. The blade should definitely close dead center and not be off center like it is. Two piece scales (handle) are normal. Can't tell you anything about whether or not the blade is Damascus steel but more knowledgable members will know.

Personally, even for the discounted price I would have expected much better level of quality. With all those flaws I would return it for a refund if at all possible.

Bob

Hi there, and welcome to SRP from a fellow Norwegian.

As Jimmy I'm unfamiliar with that brand.
But from your pictures I have a sneaking suspicion that what you have bought is a razor shaped object.
I.e. something not suitable for shaving.

We could both be wrong though.
Seeing as you are a Norwegian I'd be happy to welcome you over for a honing session at my home.
Or you could send it to me via mail.
That way I could assess it and give you my opinion as an experienced shaver and honer of razors.

Should it prove to be a dud I'm sure I have something laying around to get you started with a proper tool until you can get yourself something functionable.
Either way, the best of luck with your journey into the wonderful world of straight razor shaving:)

That's a travesty! I sure hope that you can get your money back

Good luck!

Not quite sure what you have here but I will guess this razor was made by someone else and rebranded. This company is selling everything from watches to razors to clothing to Ducatis!!!...they seem to have their base in Boston. CEO is some guy named Mitchell Button (of whom I have never heard). Their razor collection vaguely reminds me of a product being made out west...no idea if there is a connection though.

Good luck with this one.

Birnando is a truth speaker. For the price could have been close to a custom razor. Take him up on honing or a lender. Great knowledge at your fingertips from him.

I am not so PC as everyone else :)

GET YOUR MONEY BACK !!!!

Use whatever means you have to

:p

ps: Welcome to SRP hopefully B will get you all squared away on shaving with a real SR

Gssixgun. Said it best , no bull get your money back. Finding this site first and asking would have saved the trouble , but your not the first one. Good luck and let Birnardo help you out , fine gentleman who will steer you straight , pun intended. Tc

yeh certainly looks like rubbish for a $20 box cutter let alone a $375 str8
which would buy you almost any new razor you want
Gotta agree get you your money back no mater what this is a non-usable warped blade

Collection ? Meisturwerk Machinen ? Legedary Instruments

This may take hustle to a new level.

Thats not a $375 razor, that's a $5 razor shaped object which somebody claims to be worth $375, but they are so nice to give you a 70% discount on that price. That scheme has been around for some time, and makes pretty good money.
That's one of the reasons the design is 'unique', and the brand is 'new' (often focus-group tested), sometimes there is even no brand markings. The purpose of these is to prevent (price) comparisons and tracing the items to the source where it can be discovered what they really are.

Get back your money and visit Birnando for the real deal on straight razor shaving.

Even if you assumed it was a quality piece the ergonomics for shaving are terrible. I'd get my money back.

wow, that's a poor example of a razor. Good luck

That Blade is Crap,wellcome to SRP,you have mentors here that can help in the future,use them.

agree with everyone above....get your money back!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

I am not so PC as everyone else :)

GET YOUR MONEY BACK !!!!

Use whatever means you have to

:p

ps: Welcome to SRP hopefully B will get you all squared away on shaving with a real SR

---

First of all, welcome to SRP, we are like family.
$375 USD??????
That is awful quality of what is supposed to be a straight razor but I don't even consider it to be one. I just went to their website & there is a contact by email only but after that, I tried to view their straight razors & my computer froze up!!! When I tried to go back it was all pixelated to the point that I just had to close it out because it is infected with a virus or something. I have a Macbook Pro so it may not have been compatible. Write to them & tell them you are a very unsatisfied customer & that you want a full refund no matter what! Get your money back & get with Birnando. That place gives the appearance of some exclusive company when they are really hiding behind that screen & have nothing but things that aren't worth what they are supposed to be. Just get your money back & forget them forever!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lz6

Collection ? Meisturwerk Machinen ? Legedary Instruments

This may take hustle to a new level.

---

I tried that link & it had my computer so screwed up I won't go back to it. It was all pixelated to the point that something was terribly wrong!!! My Macbook rejected it!

When I read the "Meisturwerk Machinen" in the title, I first thought it was a double typing error, but then I saw that it actually said that on the blade.

As many good straight razors come from there; it alludes to being German (Meister = Master, Werk = works, Maschinen = machines), but as you can see, they couldn't even get the spelling right.

But then again, they couldn't well put "Certifiable Rubbish Damascus Steel Straight Razor Wannabe" on the blade, could they?
It would have been too long, might have challenged their spelling even more, and impeded their chances to make a fast buck.


I hope you'll succeed in getting your money back; otherwise sorry for your loss, you may have to book it in that case under "Lessons Learned".

Stick around here a bit, after a while you may get the feel of what's a good razor, where to buy it, and you will find that good straight razors don't need to be expensive.




B.

Wow, thanks for the quick response.

I appreciate everyones opinion, but I have a hard time believing that the razor is that bad.
Clearly they don´t have much experience making razors. But is it not worth the 150$ if I get a new one which edge is straight and centered, and of quality steel that can hold an lasting edge?

I also found a site about razor sharpening and even warped blades can be sharpened.

It might be I am a ignorant fool that just like the looks of the razor and not ready to give it all up yet.

I have been following this brand on instagram and such sites for a while, and they seem very talented and innovative in many areas.
I run their website with chrome on macbook pro and works fine.

As I see it I need to figure out if this steel is any good before making a decision on a refund or new razor. Any idea how to do that?

Why fool around and order another from a vendor that would send one out that bad in the first place? If you can get a refund, do it and chalk it up to experience. You can do so much better for that amount of $$

Quote:

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Originally Posted by engine46

I tried that link & it had my computer so screwed up I won't go back to it. It was all pixelated to the point that something was terribly wrong!!! My Macbook rejected it!

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The link opens just fine but perhaps not on your macbook. The link is their "razor" order area. It's just as well you could not open the link because a look at their "straight razors" could cause a lifetime of nightmares!

snorro,
I respect your willingness to give that vendor the benefit of the doubt. But I think that you're missing a couple of very important facts:

• here you have the benefit of a lot of straight razor experience (not including myself), and it's almost unanimously taken the position that there are MAJOR issues with your razor, and that the vendor is questionable at best.
• no one here has a vested interest in convincing you that your razor is bad...or good. In my experience, that should count for something!

You came here soliciting advice, and it's too bad that you aren't pleased with the advice that's been given. Ultimately, you'll get to choose whether you'll accept that advice. If there's one thing that I've learned about this forum, it's thateveryone here will be wishing you their best, regardless of vwhat you choose.

Good luck! And I hope that we'll be seeing you around.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dzanda

snorro,
I respect your willingness to give that vendor the benefit of the doubt. But I think that you're missing a couple of very important facts:

• here you have the benefit of a lot of straight razor experience (not including myself), and it's almost unanimously taken the position that there are MAJOR issues with your razor, and that the vendor is questionable at best.
• no one here has a vested interest in convincing you that your razor is bad...or good. In my experience, that should count for something!

You came here soliciting advice, and it's too bad that you aren't pleased with the advice that's been given. Ultimately, you'll get to choose whether you'll accept that advice. If there's one thing that I've learned about this forum, it's thateveryone here will be wishing you their best, regardless of vwhat you choose.

Good luck! And I hope that we'll be seeing you around.

---

I will second that in spades. Run do not walk away from those razors. Get a full refund and buy a razor from a known reputable maker.

Bob

@Dzanda
I guess you are right, why pay for a flawed product.
I was just looking for a last excuse to keep it. I find it annoying and a inconvenience to hassle about a refund.

I have now asked for a full refund, thank you all for your help.

One 'red flag', aside from the poor craftsmanship, is a track record on internet forums. Are there posts on shaving forums where members say this razor honed up and shaved great ? There are a lot of razor like cutting implements being made nowadays that are not really suitable for shaving. This looks like one of those.

You have made a good decision, one of the most informed and knowledgable people with razors has said run. Nuff said , now you have a fellow Norwegian who can help you and he's also on top of what is a razor, Heck the description of the razor told you it wasn't steel that is worthy of holding an edge, for a lot less than the money you spent you can have a nice vintage razor that shaves. So good for you ,, I hope that this disreputable company does indeed give you your money back and you get to shaving like this soon. Tc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by beluga

When I read the "Meisturwerk Machinen" in the title, I first thought it was a double typing error, but then I saw that it actually said that on the blade.

As many good straight razors come from there; it alludes to being German (Meister = Master, Werk = works, Maschinen = machines), but as you can see, they couldn't even get the spelling right.

But then again, they couldn't well put "Certifiable Rubbish Damascus Steel Straight Razor Wannabe" on the blade, could they?
It would have been too long, might have challenged their spelling even more, and impeded their chances to make a fast buck.


I hope you'll succeed in getting your money back; otherwise sorry for your loss, you may have to book it in that case under "Lessons Learned".

Stick around here a bit, after a while you may get the feel of what's a good razor, where to buy it, and you will find that good straight razors don't need to be expensive.




B.

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It is ashamed that they used a German seller to post their products on. They even had a good internet web page designer lay everything out & i went there. They do have an email address to wrote to them but no phone number thaI can see. I smell a rat! My Macbook Pro stayed on it for about two minutes, I was just getting ready to look at some razors when the page froze my computer up so I had to restart it. I went back & it was all screwed up, nothing but pixelated. I'm not going back to that sight in fear it could have some virus on it.All I know is they sold this person a piece of junk, not even had any quality workmanship in it. I feel bad for him & I hope he gets all his money back.He can then get with Birnando or SRD on here & get him a quality razor for the right price!!!!!!

Some good responses by some very knowledgable people here. There is no way that you could have gotten a quality Damascus steel straight razor for $150, that to me is already a red flag.

As already recommended, a refund is your best bet. Then, purchase a decent quality vintage razor that is shave ready. If you buy it from this or other quality forums like Badger and Blade your chances of getting a quality straight for a decent price that is shave ready is virtually guaranteed.

The advice you can get here and the aforementioned site would be priceless.

Best of luck to you.

Ahah...
10minutes after I sent the complaint I got a email reply with the return address.

And all this talking about razors, my mother dusted of an old razor probably was my fathers. It is pretty worn.
There is three crowns and underneath it says Lindner&Co with some more text underneath which is hard to read.
Maybe this can be used.

Thanks again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snorro

Ahah...
10minutes after I sent the complaint I got a email reply with the return address.

And all this talking about razors, my mother dusted of an old razor probably was my fathers. It is pretty worn.
There is three crowns and underneath it says Lindner&Co with some more text underneath which is hard to read.
Maybe this can be used.

Thanks again.

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If it is your fathers or grandfathers you are very fortunate indeed. I truly wish I had a razor that someone in my family owned. It may need to get honed. If so, I advise you to take up Birnando on his offer of honing. Learning from a mentor directly, in person is the absolute best way to learn. No question.

Good deal! I hope they send your complete refund w/o any restocking fees or any bs!