Thread: New Le Grelot from Rasoir Sabre

Originally Posted by jeffus

I think he may have been talking about, forgive me if I read him wrong, the BOG Tactical razor that they are now selling. Here again I am assuming that Classic Shaving is trying to be the sales outlet for razor manufacturers. Through trial and error they will eventually learn who to do business with, and who to avoid. A work in progress. As long as they continue to give good customer service, I'm good.

I have no idea how BOG razors got dragged into this thread. The only thing they have in common with Rasoir Sabre is that both are sold by Classic Shaving which is part of The Grooming Network. Some of the other TGN web sites also advertise BOG razors. I know nothing at all about them.

No matter which TGN company you order from, however, it is my understanding that all shipments come from the TGN fulfillment center in Sandpoint, ID. While some of these companies had stellar reputations as independents, only time will tell what happens with customer service under TGN. All I can tell you is that the TGN fullfillment center is efficient at getting product out the door.

The Razoir Sabre Le Grelot razor I purchased on sale from Classic Shaving was flawless and shave ready. The Hart Steel razor I purchased on sale from Classic Shaving was a disaster. I should have returned it, but instead spent several hours on the hones to get it shave ready. It still is not quite there, but one more sequence and it will shave well. Since I did not try to return the razor to Classic Shaving, I cannot rate the customer service aspect.

When the earlier poster suggested that CS was selling Gold Dollars, you assumed he was saying that the Sabre was a Gold Dollar. I couldn't imagine anyone mistaking a 7/8th half-hollow as being a GD, so I assumed he was talking about other blades for sale on their site. Thus my "forgive me if I'm mistaken" clause.

Got email from Dave yesterday. He went through the remaining stock and chose a good one for me, and honed it without tape.

I bought two Hart Steel razors from them during the sale, and they were both excellent. I am a very happy customer.

Originally Posted by jeffus

When the earlier poster suggested that CS was selling Gold Dollars, you assumed he was saying that the Sabre was a Gold Dollar. I couldn't imagine anyone mistaking a 7/8th half-hollow as being a GD, so I assumed he was talking about other blades for sale on their site. Thus my "forgive me if I'm mistaken" clause.

Got email from Dave yesterday. He went through the remaining stock and chose a good one for me, and honed it without tape.

I bought two Hart Steel razors from them during the sale, and they were both excellent. I am a very happy customer.

It sounds like Classic Shaving is still supporting customers, even though they are now part of TGN. That is great!

I am glad you now have an acceptable Le Grelot and I am glad you got a couple of good Harts. I was not so lucky. The Hart I ordered on sale from Classic Shaving had a poor grind (deep scratches); I got several nasty cuts when I first tried it. After several hours of honing to take out most of the scratches, I finally got it to shave reasonably well. I should have sent it back, but decided to "restore" it.

The comment about GD blanks certainly seemed to apply to the Rasoir Sabre Le Grelot thread, but it may be that he was referring to BOG razors mentioned in a later comment. Since the BOG razor are priced at $39 shave ready, they may well be produced from GD blanks, or something similar. My first straight was a Gold Dollar honed by WSP. It was priced similarly.

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:




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.

This is ridiculous. I feel for you! Your stone is obviously flat...
Yep, once the shareholders take over watch out!

Oh that's fantastic.

Originally Posted by jeffus

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:




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.

Wow, bummer. I do not know any way you could have made a blade look like that without intentional abuse.

Did Dave at Classic Shaving really tell you to contact TI or was that a misprint on your part???

While TI did make some blades sold under the Le Grelot brand, I believe most of the were 5/8 and 6/8". The 7/8" Le Grelot Wings razor was supposed to be produced by Ertan Suer while he was working for Razoir Sabre in Thiers, France. According to another post in this thread, Ertan has now returned to his home in Turkey.

If your second razor shipped from the TGN distribution warehouse in Sandpoint, ID, I doubt that Dave ever saw the razor, much less honed, inspected, and tested the razor. I wonder if Dave was even the one who corresponded with you; it might have been someone assuming Dave's identity.

Does the stamp on the shank of the blade state the year in which the blade was made? Mine states Le Grelot 2015. If it does not have a date, it may be that your razor is a TI razor and not from Ertan Suer. From what I know about Ertan, I doubt he would sully his reputation by sending out a razor like that.

I am still getting close, comfortable shaves with my razor with nothing but light stropping. Mine is one of my favorite razors.

Since Classic Shaving is now part of the TGN, it sounds like the customer service Dave used to provide as an independent is no longer available.
I may be entirely wrong, but my suspecion that TGN is trying to recoup their investment by selling off distressed inventory, perhaps including defective razors returned by earlier customers.

I ordered a Hart Steel razor on sale from CS. Although the blade was straight, there were some deep scratches in the grind. I made the mistake of shaving with the "shave ready" edge without examining it under a loupe. The result was some nasty nicks and cuts. There were some microchips along the edge that did the damage.

Since purchased the razor at half-price, I did not even attempt to contact CS. After several attempts at honing the blade, I can get an OK shave, but I still have not yet found the right combination of honing, pasting and stropping to get a close, comfortable shave with the razor. I have not given up on it, but I am less than thrilled when it comes up in my rotation. My next effort will be to try a double bevel on the razor, setting the bevel without tape to get rid of deep scratches near the edge and then using two layers of tape for the remainder of the honing process to increase the angle of the edge itself. Hart recommends honing with one layer of tape, but that did not seem to work.

Between the experience I had with the Hart and the experience Jeffus had with the Le Grelot, I will no longer have any dealings with The Grooming Network and their subsidiaries. Buyer Beware.

The fact of the matter is, this is great advertisement for Ralf Aust and Revisor......and Boker. I'm very happy with the one new production Boker that I have.

So I finally got an edge on the Le Grelot that Dave said I messed up. I must have really messed it up, because just look at how much metal I had to remove:

Originally Posted by jeffus

So I finally got an edge on the Le Grelot that Dave said I messed up. I must have really messed it up, because just look at how much metal I had to remove:

Did you hone that flat on the hone without using a rolling X stroke?

Bob