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

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Its the same story all over. Its costs money to have someone hand hone a razor to perfection and they will not spend the time to do that. maybe if people stopped buying their razors they would change but apparently they can't make em fast enough and that's another part of the problem. So from their perspective why should they change. Maybe everyone here should write them a letter.

It would probably also add a suprising ammount to the cost, as it would bump up the cost from the manufacturer and that would then bump up the cost from the sellers by even more.

So say it would cost them $20 to hone the razor to shaving sharp, well then that would be part of the price to the retailer who would then need to increase his sale price by even more.

I am not sure hand honeing all razors to a shaveable edge at the factory wouldn't add something approaching $50 to the final cost of the razor.

I have spoken with Thiers Issard and they have advised they will replace the razors and make some immuniration for the additional postage plus the inconvenience caused. Fair enough but it sounded also to me that this will not be a problem sorted out in the near future, it is also likely that a lot of stock on the shelves has the same problem. Apparently they are going flat out and have production spoken for till November which does not look good if quality is the name of the game. Apparently it has been very hard to get the workers to reject blades as they see it as a utter waste throwing a razor away. As I stated however, if your cheapest razor is still double that of say Dovo's cheapest then they should throw faulty stock to the scrap heap. Apparently they do not have the time to check properly all the time, or indeed the French worker see it as a mortal sin to throw blades out that have a slightly warped edged. This is being sorted out so they say, but to be honest the amount of stock that has been allowed to leave that may be subject to faults must be staggering, given they are flat out with little time to spend on thorough QC checks.

Boy! they better get a handle on the QC issue. Things like this can spread like wild fire and cause many problems. QC issues with scales is one thing, but the blade, not good!


R

There are videos of TI, Boker, and Dovo making razors here . I like the Dovo vid the best. I was talking with a vendor who told me that all blades are warped after coming out of heat treatment. Steel has a memory and the blades are hit with a dead blow hammer and spring back into the pre heat treatment shape. Apparently some have a better memory then others. You see a brief snippet of the workman preforming this task in the Dovo video.

Taking into consideration the general working conditions in factories production is the name of the game. Always was and always will be. Forty years ago I worked in a shoe factory for a short time. Too tough so I got a job doing ironwork. Anyhow in the factory they paid an hourly wage for the first two weeks to give you a chance to learn what you were doing and then they discontinued the hourly rate. They paid piece work. The workers are paid by the amount they produce.

I don't know if this is the way in France's factories but I wouldn't be surprised if it is. Of course there is quality control but the emphasis is on production whether the worker is paid hourly or by the piece. I'm not saying that the quality of the product shouldn't be maintained just pointing out that the working environment is such that it is not surprising that some slip through the cracks.

I recently bought a new TI razor from "The Art of Shaving" store here in Glendale. I paid about $200. The instructions with the razor said not to strop it until a few shaves had passed. I followed the instructions and shaved with it right out of the box. The razor gave me an excellent shave right from the start and I have no complaints about the quality of the razor. I am happy with my purchase.
In contrast, I recently got a new C-Mon Cadillac razor and it did not shave well out of the box. I've since honed and stropped and it now shaves very well.

Originally Posted by Labhoncho

I recently bought a new TI razor from "The Art of Shaving" store here in Glendale. I paid about $200. The instructions with the razor said not to strop it until a few shaves had passed. I followed the instructions and shaved with it right out of the box. The razor gave me an excellent shave right from the start and I have no complaints about the quality of the razor. I am happy with my purchase.
In contrast, I recently got a new C-Mon Cadillac razor and it did not shave well out of the box. I've since honed and stropped and it now shaves very well.

Glad to hear it, maybe yours isn't warped.

Almax

I take it you are from the UK. I bought a lovely TI I guess from the same vendor. All I can say is save your money and buy a Wapi from Steve at the invisible edge. It is quite the best razor I have ever used ( I have a pair!) I think TI's are exceptionally over rated, nice looking but I like a nice smooth shave and the TI grinds do not do it for me. I occasionally try a different blade but always come back to my cheapo wapis. Of course other people will find otherwise, perhaps they could buy my TI!!

Paul.

Originally Posted by Barbelus maximus

Almax

I take it you are from the UK. I bought a lovely TI I guess from the same vendor. All I can say is save your money and buy a Wapi from Steve at the invisible edge. It is quite the best razor I have ever used ( I have a pair!) I think TI's are exceptionally over rated, nice looking but I like a nice smooth shave and the TI grinds do not do it for me. I occasionally try a different blade but always come back to my cheapo wapis. Of course other people will find otherwise, perhaps they could buy my TI!!

Paul.

Done. For £30 it's not a massive risk. Maybe the semi wedge will slay my mighty beard with aplomb.

Oh, and yes, we are Englishers.

Originally Posted by Shredder

Done. For £30 it's not a massive risk. Maybe the semi wedge will slay my mighty beard with aplomb.

Oh, and yes, we are Englishers.

You won't regret it. Well, I haven't anyway.

That's a great razor!
I had that one once, until I returned it. Mine had a chip in the edge and a crack in the scales when it arrived. You are not the first to question TI's quality control.

The blade may be warped on your razor. However, I noticed that in your picture with the razor on the CD (to show the warp of the edge), you have the heel area near the tang on the CD too. See if the edge is warped when this is off the CD and only the edge of the blade is along the CD. The reason being, sometimes the heel area (where the tang meets the blade), or the shoulder area is a little wider causing the appearance of the heel of the blade to lift. If you were to hone this razor you would actually start with the blade flat, angled back slightly, with the shoulder area off the hone....this would leave the edge flat on the hone, as you brought the blade across the hone. Angling the blade back would bring the heel forward and the shoulder area back (and off the hone). If the blade was perpendicular to the hone, the shoulder would be on the hone and the heel of the blade lifted.

I'm not sure if that all made sense.

The short and skinny of it is, don't sweat just yet. Contact the seller and let them know your concerns. You may or may not have a warped blade...but this is a common issue with razors. They are hand made so they do come with some issues, sometimes.

However in TI's defense, their razors take an amazing edge....if/when it's straight

Good luck!

C utz