I have three Hart razors and like them. I sent to classic shaving today, who apparently has become the parent company of HART and all of the razors are either sold out or on sale for about half the price. Did something happen to the company?
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I have three Hart razors and like them. I sent to classic shaving today, who apparently has become the parent company of HART and all of the razors are either sold out or on sale for about half the price. Did something happen to the company?
I had a Hart razor, and sold it. I found it too brittle, too hard, and too labor intensive to hone. When I did finally get it to where I wanted it, it did shave nicely. But YMMV, and this is just MHO. I just prefer the vintage razors. No harm, no foul.
There is a closed thread re Classic Shaving here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...aving-com.html
Yikes! I have a Hart and it is a great shaver. Good luck and Caveat Emptor
They are in a league of their own in the keenness department ...
I purchased a Hart razor on sale in January. After honing it multiple times, I finally got it to shave. The steel in my Hart is brittle and chips easily if you are not really careful about the pressure during honing, especially on the higher grit hones..
The Hart is in my shave rotation; but I prefer shaving with my other razors, all of which give a better shave than my Hart. Even my Gold Dollar razors give a better shave.
I have read reports about Hart making some nice razors in the past, but mine was not one of them. I hope they get back to making quality razors.
my question wasn't about the quality of the Hart razors. it is about what is going on with the company. Why does classic shaving (who apparently now owns Hart) has dropped the prices by 1/2 did Hart go out of business or are they going out of business?
Classic Shaving was an independent vendor with a great reputation for both customer service and quality. They owned Hart Steel and were the primary, but not exclusive, outlet for those razors..
Last August, Classic shaving was purchased by The Grooming Network which is a consolidator of shaving websites. TGN also owns Grim Blades.
All of TGN companies now ship from a consolidated warehouse in Sandpoint, ID.
There are some Hart Steel custom razors that are still being sold at full price, but it appears the remaining stock of production Hart models is being sold at what appears to be clearance prices on the Classic Shaving website. They are priced at less than half of the previous price. You can speculate as to why the razors might be priced in this manner, but I have not seen any reliable information pertaining to the status of Hart Steel. We will just have to wait and see what happens.
I know your question was about the company, but I couldn't understand how these razors would not be marketable. I have three 7/8 Harts and love them, great consistent shavers, I tell you, any one who picks one up half price won't regret it, I'm going to classic shavings site right after posting this to check this laid out. Cheers Bob
We have had several posts on the site by some experienced honers reporting the later models simply are inferior to the early ones.
Maybe the worker who did the heat treating quit and no suitable replacement was found?
I have to admit it has been 18 months since I acquired my last of my three Harts, but can't fault the ones I have. In a co-incident I actually shaved with one thus morning. A three pass shave that was fine.
I had one and it was a nice shaver, but I lean more towards hollows now so I moved it to a better home. I hope they aren't going anywhere, there aren't many USA companies making razors out there.
It is my understanding that the older Hart's were made under contract with a number of bladesmiths. The older ones had the initials of the maker on them. No problem there as long as there is a central QC happening.
Yes mate that's right, all of mine have the artisans initials engraved into the tang.
139 dollars, wow, I nearly bought another 6/8ths square point. Could customise the scales and fit a wedge easily.
I came to my senses though. Stop buying what I don't need.
That and I'm scared to upset my girlfriend.
I'm tired of having to confess to her :(
Interesting developments when these businesses grow and change hands - i have a 7/8 square point that i purchased maybe 2.5 years ago. It was my first "non mass-production" razor if i could call it that and alot of money on a razor relative to the few i had at that time.
It is heavy and a good shave - however i found the scales poorly finished; rough and not a good seal inside and out. The tang also had smudged text where the 'made in usa' and initials? were stamped. It is a brushed razor, not mirror polished but the smudge was still enough to frustrate me when i looked at it. As a result - it has spent most of its time out of rotation. It alos lead to no more hart's in the dozens purchased since.
I saw this thread and have followed it - it got me to pull my hart razor out - i freshened up the edge with some pasted stropping and i had a really good shave today. Pleasantly surprised at first but then i had to remind myself that i never had an issue with the edge.
Lets hope that we can keep a positive view of this brand - i know they had a great reputation as an early US artisan
I ordered a 6/8 square point with black resin scales April 2nd, and it arrived here via USPS Priority today.Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesman7
The initials "RB" are stamped on the tang, so I gather that it may be an "older" one.
The blade is straight (not warped) and the bevel is thin and even both sides. The brochure says its shave-ready, and it's popping arm hair easily. It's a hefty razor, but it feels balanced.
First shave with it will be tomorrow. Never used a quarter hollow blade before, so this will be interesting.