Thread: Brand New Hart Custom Blade abnormalities...would you return?

Originally Posted by bran

Hi guys. I received a return postage certificate today. They are going to send the razor back to the artisan for repair...they said for a re-polish and hone. I really like the razor and would like to keep it. I just want it right. This was the first custom this artisan made. The only comment in the correspondence that worried me was we are "amazed at how far he has come" since that one. I'll post pictures when it gets back. They would not allow me to send it to the artisan directly (even though I have his address). So it has to go from NC to CA then back across the Mississippi to the artisan, repair, reverse trip and back to me. Then I should have my razor back in hand. Can't wait to use it! I definitely love my Hart's and am saving towards my next...making a Hart Custom Artisanal seven day set...should finish in two years.

I've had such excellent service from this vendor and have purchased several razors from them. I'm sure they want to check it out prior to sending it to the artisan, then check it out again to make sure he did his job. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Thats nutz,is hart sub contracting to so called artisans?? good luck

Your comment is "nutz." This is a vendor with a brick and mortor who is sending the razor back to the artisan for repair. There is no sub-contracting going on here. There are some excellent "so called artisans" making many of the Hard Steel blades, including Bruce Gregory and Terry VanNorman.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Thats nutz,is hart sub contracting to so called artisans?? good luck

Pixelfixed- Hart is a consortium of fine craftsman making razors under the Hart name. They have a standard line and every so often release a variety of custom razors, the design of which is up to the creativity of the specific artisan. I would not call it subcontracting. They are fine products. I own four out of the artisanal line and two out of the standard line. This specific razor was created in 2011 and was evidently the first for this artisan. I think it is quite an honor to own, and once I have it back am looking forward to many wonderful years of shaving, then passing it on to my son. Nothing nutz about it. I will be buying more in the future as I can afford it.

Originally Posted by bran

. This specific razor was created in 2011 and was evidently the first for this artisan. .

Huh

That simply needs some explanation, I was pretty much done with this thread once you said you had already contacted the Vendor, that was pretty much the end of the story..

But now I have some questions..

Razor has been sitting around 4 years and nobody saw that ???

Also a simple fact of life with "fixing razors" you cannot add back steel, you can only remove it, so that razor is going to be Buffed or Ground down to eliminate the evidence of the Scratches and the Pitting..

I would be looking really close with very well lit magnification at the steel to make sure that there was no other less visible pitting...

Being the OCD person that I am I would be mic'n the edge thickness on and around the damage comparing that to the good steel and making sure it was all even again after the work is done.. That is just how I roll

Rather than accepting a razor from an artisan who 'we are amazed at how far he has come', I would ask for a razor from an artisan who has 'been there and done that' for a considerable amount of time. Like Glen said, sitting around since 2011 ? I'm all for forgiveness, but it is like when someone gets a bad tattoo and then goes back to the same guy to 'fix' it. As if he can suddenly do a good job when he couldn't the first time around. IMHO.

I guess the impression I had was that Hart Steel Razors had a single manufacturing facility with a single employee "artisan" making each razor single-handedly, on this HSR site. It appears my perception is wrong, and Hart Steel Razors is basically a mail order shipping facility that sells razors made to HSR specifications by contractors...?

Don't get me wrong, I love my Hart Razor, but if this is actually the process, I'm think I'm pretty much out of the market for any more. It feels...I dunno...dirty. Too many guys out there making razors with their own names on them for the same money. I know when I spend my money on a comparably priced custom (say, the Robert Williams SRP Custom) I'm getting something the Artisan was proud enough to put his name on, and with it, his reputation.




But then again, I'm cranky and it's been a hell of a week...

Send it back. As much as they charge for their razors that & I were them, I would never et something like that leave my facility!

E1049...every Hart razor, standard or artisan line, has the makers stamp on it. As far as I know this has been common knowledge since Hart started. You said you like yours, I don't understand how knowing that different men make Hart razors makes it inferior. As I mentioned, they are stamped/etched with the makers mark.

I too have a Robert Williams SRP LE. It is a great razor for an amazing price compared to what you would pay for a RW elsewhere. Unless you buy another SRP LE, you will never find another priced anywhere close to a Hart.

As you said, it has been a week...and it has here as well. I just choose to give them the opportunity to make it right. It doesn't matter to me when it was produced. I like the razor and want it like it should be for new...the rest is just useless info that will not improve my shave.

It is totally unacceptable to me!

For me, the problem is not so much that they employ different people for the grinding in different locations. I mean, it's not my idea of how to do things, but it doesn't have to be a negative. However, what does raise some questions is that apparently, this razor has been around since 2011, and they say 'he has come a long way since then'. In other words, it seems to imply that they knew the first batches of razors were dodgy, but decided to sell them anyway. Especially if this was one of the first razors, you'd think that they would have inspected it carefully to make sure that the quality was consistent and of an acceptable level.

Everyone who learns to make razors understands that in the beginning, you have to throw away a lot of failures. It's a learning process. So if the first batches of razors from that person had 25% blades that had significant issues, those 25% should have been scrapped instead of finished and sold.

In Sheffield, smiths and grinders used to be paid by the dozen finished pieces, but they counted 14 to a dozen to make up for scrap and mistakes. Only when you became a master did they count 13 and eventually 12 to a dozen.