Thread: Thieres-Issard Quality Control!!!!!!!

I've never had a Razor -fresh from the factory give a really good shave. Regardless of manufacturer and cost. I recently got my first TI: an Evide Sonnant Extra. It wasn't shave ready-although the documentation said it was-but the overall QC was near perfect. It honed easily and gave a great shave.

Even if you opt for a "pre sharpened" blade from the various honemeisters, although sharp, it may not be to your liking. Or to your FACE'S liking.If you take the time and learn how to hone,you'll be able to tailor the edge to YOUR liking. PS: just because a blade won't pass the HHT doesn't mean it isn't shave ready and I've had blades that do pass the HHT and gave me a very "hard" and irritating shave.

Good luck, I hope you can work it out.

My girlfriend bought me a TI from Art of Shaving this past christmas. I didn't know anything about straights at the time. When I began lurking razor forums to learn about shaving and honing I finally realized the blade came warped. Unfortunately, I lost the receipt when I moved apartments.

I've picked up a couple straights since then and don't really bother with that TI all that much. I'm sure i'll give it another chance sometime down the road.

Don't feel bad about a 190 euro razor not being shave ready. When I got my TI Damascus it was an $800 razor that would have better served as a butter knife than a razor and my TI Pierre Thiers LE is so badly pinned the pin just barely clears the edge of the razor. TI has definite QC problems however the smiling blade is probably supposed to be that way. Many are by design. If you have issues just return it to the retailer.

Okay the problem with both razors is the blades are certainly both warped, if you place the blade on the honing stone you can see daylight through the middle of the blade. However if you flip the blade over it is the reverse the ends of the blade leave the stone. You can tell by the factory bevel that the blades were never straigtht as the ends of the blade show a ground bevel but the centre of the blade has none at all, however on the other side of the blade it is the opposite.

I would love to show a picture to show this but my camera is just not up to the job, however there is no question in my mind this is a fault that will spoil the performance of the blade not to mention making the honing process a right pain in the backside as it will be necessary to apply pressure on the middle of the blade to sit flat on the stone.

Anyway the retailer is contacting the Thiers-Issard agent to arrange the razors to be replaced direct from the factory. I realised these razors would not shave out of the box even though the Theirs-Issard instructions inside the box stated they would. Honing the blade was never an issue with me but the s shaped blade is. As for the price it was £190 for each razor which is around 400$ not the most expensive but certainly not the cheapest by a long shot.

When I mention the blade was smiling I meant from a horizontal view looking directly at the blade edge indicating the blade was warped, not from the side. My mistake I never realised you could get smiling blades rather than straight. Anyway I will give Theirs-Issard a chance to put right their mistake, but to be honest given the cost of these things when you pay a reasonable price you should not have such quality issues. They must be prepared to scrap blades that are warped, surely this is what you are paying for in the first place. If I paid £40 for a new razor I would have felt less inclined to complain, you get what you pay for in this world, sadly in my opinion this was not the case with my 2 Ti razors.

Thx for all your help and I will keep you updated with what happens. My friend is a little better at taking pictures than me so I will get him to send me some to post up showing the warped blades.

This is very similar to the Historic razors I bought, the only difference is the design etched on the blade is a little different. I love the scalloped edge on the spine. I am not going to knock TI's in general as it appears most people are more than happy with them, it's just a case of me being a little unlucky with my first purchase.

I was also curious about the fact that my razors have exactly the same shape blade and markings as non historical razors currently on sale. I have been informed Theirs-Issard do not mark historical blades differently from newly manufactured ones.

I find this quite odd, surely if it is historical blade the factory would identify it as so, otherwise I have no proof that the razor is not infact a recently manufactured one. My razors are the Bison Snakewood historical made from at least 70 year old blanks, however the Bison ebony that is a new forging is exactly the same in all respects shape, design,etching and with the Thiers-Issard logo on the tang the only difference being it has a ebony handle and not snakewood one.

I find this most odd, surely the manufacturer has to make some sort of distiction on the blades so as to avoid confusion and leaving the customer soley trusting that it is indeed a historical blade made from an old blank rather than a new blade still widely available that is much cheaper. I am having a engineeers report on the blades made myself so as to show how curved both blades are, and if possible have a sample of the steel tested for non critical and critical content. I would imagine the steel content of an old forging will be radically different from a modern one as steels and materials have changed over the years and the amount of scrap in todays steel is much higher than previously was ever the case.This is largely down to the price of steel and scrap is used a lot more today to reduce production costs and temperature control.

I again thank those who have offered their help and have now been told to send the razors direct to the factory for replacements that are yet to be made. Of course I will be sending my engineers report with the razors, and put to them why do they not mark the blades as historical forgings on the blade via the etched picture. Instead of producing what are physically identical blades with identical etchings yet some are and some are not historical. I have no way to prove if I was to sell my razor that it is indeed a historical forging rather they would just have to take my word for it.

Originally Posted by Almax9633

I have no way to prove if I was to sell my razor that it is indeed a historical forging rather they would just have to take my word for it.

So, you're saying that TI is forging their forgings?

Well it does seem odd that both the non historical Bison Ebony and the historical bladed Bison Snakewood are identical in everyway possible except the scales and price.

Originally Posted by Almax9633

Is it reasonable to expect a user to hone away from taking it out of the box, had the blade been flat then I might have considered a light honing but this puppy is going to take a lot of honing to correct if it all.

Hmm? Puppies are tricky to get an edge on and no mistake.

By way of intro, I'm the other guy with a bent Thiers Issard, similar problem to Almax, a bend and a twist. I laid it in a sheet of glass today and have guesstimated that the tip of the blade would have to lose about 5mm before it lays flat. Looking carefully at it, I'd say it's not a twist along the spine, more of a distortion towards the end of the blade. The bend is definitely a bend though.

I'm currently shredding my face with a Kropp so at least I won't develop a nasty build up of blood in my head. Would be nice to try a straight vintage blade though.

10/10 for the forum though, it's a fantastic resource for the new straight blader.

Ok, got some photos. Would be interested in what you guys think. First picture displays the warp (note the gap on the left while the blade is flat on the right), the second is just a picture from the end, not showing anything in partucular, and the third is of the laser etching on the historical blank.

JimmyH, the bend is along the other axis, imagine trying to bend a plastic rule, along one axis it would be impossible, along the other (like the bend you make when flicking stuff) it's easy, the bend on this razor is the second one.

More knowledgeable guys than me can chip in with what could be done to correct that blade but my inclination would be to return it. That second picture is a horrible warp and simply wrong. Must admit that I first thought you were being a bit picky wanting shave ready from the box but for a new razor, you're not being picky, that's just not on. Contact the vendor.

edit That's not on for any razor, new, vintage or otherwise edit