Thread: What's your opinion on thiers issard

I'm not a fan of TI's. I don't know why, it's just something about the way they feel to me.
I do think they make good razors though. The steel is hard and it will eat a soft hone for lunch. The chosora 1k and Norton 4k/8k hones seem to do a better job of sharpening them.

I love my TI's & i have several of them. They seem to hold an excellent edge & shave very well! They leave my skin feeling like a baby's butt!

I have been collecting Vintage Thiers Issard for years, especially the Spartacus. The vintage Spartacus razors are beautiful, take and hold an edge exceptionally well.

I also hone for 2 AOS stores, locally and have honed a lot of TI’s in their line. Some do have issues and can take some extra time, but all have taken an edge and are great shavers, once sorted out.

The quality between Vintage and new is not what it was, but what is these days? Most issues are cosmetic.

Thiers Issard still produces a fine razor. You can buy a nice, Vintage Spartacus for about the same price as a new mid-line TI, if you shop around, either way it will be a lifetime purchase.

Once properly honed, they can be maintained with linen, leather and perhaps a Chrome Oxide strop, nothing different from any other razor.

The one TI I do not recommend is the Stainless Steel scaled model. The scales are heavy and the extra weight throws the balance of the razor off when stropping and shaving, in my opinion. But even those hone and shave, just fine.

There is a good seller with a very nice selection , here :
COUPE-CHOU TH-ISSARD :: Coutellerie Pitelet

My first 3 were TIs that I bought 2 years ago.
The 1st was the OakWing Limited Edition, a beautiful piece of work. I still don't have the courage/confidence to hone it.
The 2nd was a singing 6/8. I should have gotten the 5/8 or another model; the heel on that 6/8 model is just weird looking because they didn't extend the stabilizer all the way down the last 1/8.
The 3rd was the special coiffeur 5/8. Came in with a slight smile on half the edge and a slight frown on the other half. I originally got that one to learn honing with so I didn't mind the imperfection and didn't send it back. I ended up getting cheaper vintages blades from the classifieds to learn honing one.

All in all, great blades and lots of model to choose from, but the C135 steel makes it a bit harder for a novice honer like me. Also quality control is obviously a crapshoot, but maybe they fixed that since I last looked at the community's comments.

I say go for it, but make sure you get it from a reputable vendor that will provide it shave-ready, or send it to a pro once you get it.
Yes, from what I've read here, The Invisible Edge (Home) is a reputable vendor; also they have the biggest TI selection that I know of. IIRC, I think they provide it shave ready.
SRD also has a limited selection of TIs, but is currently sold out on all of them. SRD (Lynn) will provide shave ready.
You can also check at classicedge.ca, also a limited selection that is mostly sold out at the moment. Phil will provide shave ready if requested.

One last thing, you said you wanted a Spartacus, but which one? "Spartacus" is just an etching that they put on which ever blade profile / scales combination that they fancy (look here at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th pictures: TI straight razors). Also, you can probably find the same profile/scales combination with a different etching or no etching at all.

Cheers.

This is the one I want so bad

I got my TI from classic edge: The Classic Edge Shaving Store Your Straight Razor & Knife Specialists.
and I can tell you phil will not ship it out until the bevel is immaculate!!

I have a TI Spartacus for near a year now. This is my favorite razor hands down nothing comes close except my Dovo La Forme and a custom, that was 3x the price. I have literally kept this razor shave ready from day one with a strop and a 12k Naniwa stone. Just now I may SEND IT out for a professional hone out of sheer respect for the blade and a honemeister to look over but I disagree strongly that all TI razors will or, have problems. That would be like saying all fords have problems specifically the Mustang...... Sure some did over the years but more than not were great ! Get one I don't think you'll be let down.

Originally Posted by lucky414

This is the one I want so bad

I own the same style razor with ironwood scales. Bought it from Invisible Edge (Steve Dempster) a few months ago. I think you will be pleased with your choice.

Originally Posted by CaySea

I own the same style razor with ironwood scales. Bought it from Invisible Edge (Steve Dempster) a few months ago. I think you will be pleased with your choice.

I love rams horn scales. I bought some rams horn blanks on eBay but have not made any scales with them yet!