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

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.

Originally Posted by bran

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.

Hi bran-
First, I must point out that I never said that Hart Steel Razors were inferior. I apologize if the post led anyone to this impression as it was carefully worded to specifically not make this implication. It simply makes them less attractive to me by the nature of the business model.

I guess I had kind of a romantic notion of 10 people or so in a common shop facility, located in the good ol' US of A (where we haven't had any large manufacturer of straights in this country since Genco by my best guess) walking over to a barrel, pulling out a length of steel, and using common tooling, making a blank and finally, producing a finished razor, as opposed to a business entity announcing a marque, and soliciting privateers to sail under their flag.

Like I said, I love mine, simply because it's a well made razor that delivers a great shave and behaves itself on the hones. But personally, if I want a razor not made in a single facility with employees who show up for work in the morning in a common location, talk about razor stuff together at lunch, have W-2's instead of 1099's, and communally take pride in working together for their company's standing in the world of straight razor manufacturers, I'd prefer to seek out somebody who is working for their own marque.

And yes, RW is giving us all a price break on the SRP Custom. I should use a different example, though the RW SRP Custom is still I believe a pertinent example. How about Koraat blades? I've owned one. A damned fine blade. Maybe 75 or 100 bucks more than the Hart, but a hell of a lot of razor for that 100 bucks. Or our own Bruno's Snail Forge Razors? There are a host of others.

When I purchased mine, I didn't much care about the details of Harts businesses model, and if I didn't already own one, I would without hesitation add one to my stable. But, having one, I won't be buying any more. I'm not going chasing down Harts with individual artisan's initials on the tang.

I hope your week gets better. I'm sure HSR will make sure your blade is soon looking the cat's pajamas and giving you great shaves. I know mine does, and it looks great doing it.

I have never tried a Koraat and Snail Forge is next on my list to pick up. I like your choice of soap in your Hart pick (nice scales too). I used my Martin de Candre this morning. I am sorry if I came across harsh. I did not mean to (guess I should not post at 4:00 AM when I haven't slept in two days). It seems like this thread is descending into one bashing the vendor and artisan. I didn't mean for it to do that. I guess I should have known better. I simply wanted more experienced shavers to give me a, "yeah, that needs improving" or "no, get real and use it."

I have not seen any vendor bashing in this thread,would you buy a new expensive car with scratches in the paint?
I for one would not settle for a repair on that blade,insist on a new blade from an artisan that knows what he is doing, JMO

Originally Posted by bran

I have never tried a Koraat and Snail Forge is next on my list to pick up. I like your choice of soap in your Hart pick (nice scales too). I used my Martin de Candre this morning. I am sorry if I came across harsh. I did not mean to (guess I should not post at 4:00 AM when I haven't slept in two days). It seems like this thread is descending into one bashing the vendor and artisan. I didn't mean for it to do that. I guess I should have known better. I simply wanted more experienced shavers to give me a, "yeah, that needs improving" or "no, get real and use it."

You;ll love either, but I'd try Bruno's blade first. If your game, get one of his "finish it yourself blades". I had an awesome time doing mine.



And MdC is a guilty pleasure. An extravagance I'm willing to pay for, in spite of the price. Love all three flavors!

And I too have had a hell of a week or two. My dad and father in law both currently hospitalized, dad with a heart attack last week and my father in law (who I actually really, really like) yesterday morning with a stroke. Looks bad for both of them. Plus my tamahagane Iwasaki Western style razor hit the floor and broke a couple days ago when the attachment point of the display case I'd just put it in failed.



So it's just been a helluva couple of weeks.

You've done the right thing in my opinion, and I am quite sure Hart will do the right thing by you.

Here's hoping for a better week next week! <group manhug>

If the quality of the grind is in question, it follows that we should wonder about the quality of the temper. Just saying........because my one and only Hart arrived sans bevel set. For real.....l was compensated for honing it myself. For real!