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

Hi, I am new to using a straight razor, but having a couple of quid decided to purchase 2 Thiers-Issard Historical razors (new) model Bison-snake wood. Very nice spine that has a scolloped edge to it. The second razor was a gift for a good friend (I am married by the way and strictly hetrosexual).

Okay, on opening them the instructions stated they should be ready to shave out of the box, I took this with a pinch of salt however and as they both failed the hair test. Now the interesting thing is that both blades will not sit flat, the cutting edge of both have a curvature that means on stopping you are only getting the middle of the blade sharpe on one side and the reverse on the other.

I am no rocket scientist but to me this means the blades have been incorrectly ground and to correct this would be difficult and possibly given the thickness of the blades almost impossible as the falt may get worse higher up the blade rather than better. I have contacted the seller and obviously complained and awaiting a respose, I can understand this is not his fault as they come sealed in a box. However would I be right in thinking these razors are unfit for the purpose they were intended for. They were not cheap coming in at round £190 a pop. I might also add my razor has gold spots along the spine , tip of the blade and also requires light pressure on the spine to guide it into the scales without touching the sides.

Have any other persons experieced quality control issues with Theires-Issard Historical range? Only they quote a very high failure rate on these blanks due to the stringent quality controls employed within the company. Sadly It appears to me that they are not so keen to reject a razor as they might have been in the past. They are not cheap razors when compaired to many other makes and I would have thought the extra price would have been reflected in the razors quality.

Does anyone know what I can expect from Thiers-Issard in the way of correcting this, as I am not going to except a repair that is likely to shorten the life of the razor by having a lot of my blade ground away. Would it be advisable to contact Thiers-Issard direct on this issue as at the end of day the fault is theirs not the retailers. Does anyone have contact details for Thiers-Issard so I can start the process of putting this right.

By the way this will not put me off buying a straight razor, it has just taken the edge off what should have been a pleasant introduction into the world of having a real shave.

Welcome to SRP. Sounds like you have some great razors to start with. Here is one thread that will help and another here that you ought to take the time to study. Enjoy your shave!

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

Welcome to SRP. Sounds like you have some great razors to start with. Here is one thread that will help and another here that you ought to take the time to study. Enjoy your shave!

Surely I should not have to hone a new razor costing £190, also the amount of honing required would be ridiculious to say the least as we are talking nearly a 1/4mm of curvature (smile) towards each end of the blade. I cannot see how this can be repaired with honing unless one is prepaired to remove a great deal of the blade. At the same time the blade may get worse as you travel up the blade. The Thiers Issard blade is like wafer thin almost all the way up to the spine as it is a singing blade.

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.

I'm not sure which historical models you are talking about . My Pierre Theirs LE has the smiling blade and has to be honed with the rolling X as do many of the blades that I have. One Theirs I received had a double bevel on one side and not the other. I had to hone that out to correct it. Many razors will not take an equal bevel on both sides but can still be sharpened and used with no problems. That is just the way it is. Not a perfect world.

I have bought four brand new Theirs razors and none were shave ready out of the box regardless of the vendor. I must add that I did not pay any extra to have that service preformed by the vendor. If you go to the linked threads in my previous post you will see the correct way to hone a razor that won't lay flat. That characteristic in a blade is not unusual at all.

As I learned on this forum I take a magic marker and mark the edge when I first begin to hone and see how the blade is hitting the hone for a few strokes by where the marker is removed. Then I adjust my stroke accordingly. Some blades hone flat and some do not but all can be sharpened.

I put the two threads together from both forums into the razor forum where it will be seen more.....


Thanks

Here are a couple of photos that may help. These are examples of smiling blades. The horn is a TI historical. If you post photos of what you have perhaps forum members with more then my limited knowledge can point you in the right direction.

Originally Posted by Almax9633

Surely I should not have to hone a new razor costing £190, also the amount of honing required would be ridiculious to say the least as we are talking nearly a 1/4mm of curvature (smile) towards each end of the blade.

It is pretty widely acknowledged that if a blade is straight from the factory, it never has the polish on the bevel that makes it shave as well as it can. You can probably shave with it, but it won't be the best shave that razor will give.

All this being said, it is also commonly said that TI has quality control problems (Dovo too) in that many razors that make their way into customer's hands have flaws and or problems. Your two razors may or may not be flawed, but without pictures or maybe a better description it is hard to tell. You could either have smiling blades which is perfectly normal and no cause for alarm OR warped blades where the edge could be wavy. Hard to tell just by what you said. The thing that I am not sure about is when you said "Now the interesting thing is that both blades will not sit flat, the cutting edge of both have a curvature that means on stopping you are only getting the middle of the blade sharpe on one side and the reverse on the other." Does this mean that on one side ONLY the tip and heel contact the flat surface? That sounds like a warped edge to me... i.e. a problem. If you do in the end contact the seller, make sure you haven't honed the razor yet!

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.

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.