Thread: Sharpening new Thiers Issards

My advise would be to get it honed from the beginning (bevel set) again. That way you know it's been done properly, it's truly shave ready and it will be easy to maintain.

Another vote for, LOOK AT IT. Get some magnification and look at the edge, then decide what to do, based on the condition of the bevel and edge.

New TI’s run the gamut just like any razor, but all can be honed, hard or not personally, I don’t find them “that” hard and I hone a fair amount of TI’s.

Whenever, I have an issue with a razor, (one of mine) or when I first get one in, I look at the bevel with magnification. Then decide what it needs.

Generally on a new razor, (no matter the maker) it will need to have a full bevel set, if it was honed at the factory, it was hone with the spine off the hone, so even if the edge is good the geometry is off a bit. If the edge is good, stropping may make it shaveable, but you will never be able to reproduce the handheld honed edge, so it will need a full bevel reset eventually. But they don’t all need to be completely reset, to shave.

A GS20 can easily refresh a properly honed edge, but a 12k Super Stone would be a better choice, it can actually set a bevel, may take a few laps, but is very doable.

Further to sharpening the Thiers Issard 7/8. I just wanted to let members know that I spent less time preparing this razor for the bathroom than I had imagined. It is a lovely piece of artwork, which did not resist as I had feared and is a lovely shave. I would mention however that I acquired 2 Dovo Grenadille 6/8 Stainless razors and both of them were like pulling teeth, regarding shave readiness. They were tough to get ready let me say.
Regards Bob

I own 5 TIs with 3 of them purchased new from Invisible Edge. While all of the new ones would shave when I received them, they all required a little work before becoming the awesome razors they are now. One of them had a slight chip that liked to filet a spot on my jaw. Breadknifed it and started over. It shaves great now. I am by no means a "hone meister" but getting a good edge on it did not seem that difficult.

I have had a very hard time with my Silverwing, managed to get it no better than sharpish, lasting 1 or 2 shaves. Until I started stropping it with a genuine flax linen strop and using 3 lbs pressure when stropping, pulling the strop really taut. Light pressure simply didn't work. 3 lbs worth of pressure isn't my idea, got it from Bill Ellis' CD on SR restoration. And it works for me. I wouldn't recommend it to newbs until they really know what they are doing.

Kees and others,

Just had my 2nd shave with the TI 7/8 Blonde Bijou de France. In all seriousness one of the better more comfortable shaves I've had. Formula. Tried shaving half a cheek, then as it goes I put it on a Tojiro 1k stone, used 400x magnification to see initially that it had no bevel to speak of. Then a Naniwa deluxe 4k, then Naniwa 8k SS, then Gokumyo Suehiro 10K,15k then no more than 20 strokes on the GS 20k. The microscope shows that the bevel is right, but no better or decisively different to many others I own that don't shave as well as the TI, only thing I missed was that on the 1k,4k, 8k I used slurry created by an Atoma 400. Water only on the Suehiro's. And finishing with 6 strokes edge trailing on the Suehiro. My TI must have great steel, what can I say, it's lovely. It's definitely a weddings , court, funeral razor!....lol.(Spine is decorative so 1 layer of tape. Take it or leave it)

Thanks, Bob

Originally Posted by prodigy

Here's my two. One honed by glen, one by me. Both are good now, but was not the case starting out. True, they don't have to touch, but it looks weird when they dont.

This was experience also. Two 6/8 TIs from two different sources both soliciting shave ready. One was terrible with a wonky bevel and the second one was marginal. I had to soften the heel & toe points a bit and then both properly honed (Glen) and they shave is great now.

A question to those that keep saying these are not hard to hone, are you referring to the newer model c135 steel razors? I'm just curious because mine took several hours on the chosera 1k until it was set properly. Glen also stated that the one he honed for me had a wonky bevel and took a lot of work on the 1k.

I also understand that the ss 12k is a fast cutter, but why recommend it as a bevel setter? Does it set a bevel faster than a chosera 1k? Or any 1k for that matter? Why spend so much extra time using a 12k just because "it can" when a 1k will do the job in a fraction of the time. I'm not trying to argue, maybe I should take a dinged up blade to the 12k and see it for myself.

I hear you, and I'm glad you got them right. I have heard so much now, mostly negative as far as quality control issues go, it seems. First thing I did with it was check it for warps and the perfect flatness of the edge of the cutting side of the razor. It was true and I cannot fault it. It had no set bevel under magnification. Anyway I went back to who I bought it from to try and get another one.....no luck sold out. After all these experiences I think it's dumb luck on my part as I'm no expert honer, Just do my own fairly large collection! RAD!

Cheers mate,
Bob

*Mine is a Carbonsong C135 and was brand new 2 weeks back

I have 4 TIs in my collection and all are great shavers. 3 TAoS "5/8" (actually 6/8) shoulderless LeGrelot style blades, and 1 7/8 "hooknose." The 7/8 came to me from Classic Edge and had a beautiful bevel and edge, so i can't speak to what it took to get that one shave ready, but the other 3 I honed myself. All are C135 blades.

Of the 3 TAoS blades, only one required any honing beyond a normal 1k + progression. It has a good bevel, but the bevel was uneven as the grind was slightly uneven at the spine (meaning one side of the bevel was "wider" to get them to meet in the middle). Functionally, this is not an issue, it is a fantastic shaver. Aesthetically, I don't "love" it because it looks a little wonky to me. I can say that as compared to my other 1/2 hollow blades, the TIs do take a bit more work to dial in. I don't say this because they need more work, I just find that the steel takes a bit more effort to grind away. My uneven bevel razor probably took about 90 mins to dial in (total progression), the others, an hour or less.

I don't see any major QA issues in my razors. Of course I don't discount that there are issues with some blades that make it out for resale, but I personally just haven't seen any systemic evidence in my experience that points to bad quality product.