Time for an update to the story.
I received the new Razoir Sabre Le Grelot to replace the one I sent back. Looked at the edge through the loupe and it was ugly. No way that was touching my face. I had requested that they hone it without tape so that they could verify that it was acceptable before sending out, and I could tell there was a half-hearted attempt at a honing. I then took it to my finisher so that the edge could be smoothed out. After a very short time on the stone I looked again through the loupe and discover that there is a secondary bevel on this thing. Did someone hone this with tape before CS got a hold of it?
I then bring out the 1k Naniwa Pro and go for resetting the bevel. It didn't take long at all to discover the reason someone used tape: the thing has an awful concave/convex warp to it! Check out these pictures:
Attachment 255743
Attachment 255744
That middle third doesn't touch the stone at all. So I emailed Dave at CS to see what he thinks. He said that they are done helping me out, that one replacement blade was enough, that this razor was flat and honed just fine by them, and that I did something to warp the blade while honing it. He's blaming me for this warp. And that I should contact TI to see if they are willing to help a shaver out.
So there's another $200 lost on the purchase of a straight. I'm so done buying straights. No more. I've wasted so much money on warped blades, where the seller says things like "I never noticed because I always do a rolling X stroke" or "it was shave ready to my standards" or "yes it lies flat on the stone" when it so obviously never did. *sigh*. I'm ready to sell off several of my lesser straights and pare down to just a couple and be done with this hobby of chasing the best edge. I think that I will go learn how to play the bass guitar instead. Peace out.