Thread: HART Razor

Minor nits with the razor.

There are two areas where I think the lines of the razor are awkward looking. This is really only a cosmetic issue, but it makes the Hart look a bit underdesigned. One is the tail, which needs to have about another 30% ground out of the inside of the curve. The other is the tip which has a kind of half-teardrop shape that just looks odd - at the spine it looks like a square point, in the middle a shallow round point, and at the edge it resembles a spike. Again neither of these are functional issues, and maybe everybody else will love them, but to me that tail looks ungainly and the tip is just a puzzler.

Both are pretty quick fixes with some sandpaper (tip) and a dremel (tail) though.

Could you post some pic's so we may be able to see what your talking about? Could it be that the blades in each case of the ones here are different?
Thanks,
Bill W

Here's a picture of the tail from the Hart website:

Image

You can see that it would look much nicer if the inside (upper) curve were ground out a little more to make it a little thinner and give it a more graceful look instead of that 2x4 look.

Unfortunately I reprofiled the toe of mine at lunch so it matches the top of the point a little better, and none of the razors on their website have quite the same tip as mine (one of them looks like a square point, the rest look like round points )

Originally Posted by mparker762

Here's a picture of the tail from the Hart website:

Image

You can see that it would look much nicer if the inside (upper) curve were ground out a little more to make it a little thinner and give it a more graceful look instead of that 2x4 look.

Unfortunately I reprofiled the toe of mine at lunch so it matches the top of the point a little better, and none of the razors on their website have quite the same tip as mine (one of them looks like a square point, the rest look like round points )

To me nuances of grinding are in the eye of the beholder. Like you I prefer a more artistic, for lack of a better word, style in a razor.

That isn't the deal breaker for me, it is the geometry issue that you raised in your review. I noticed in Hart's writeup that they say the razor is ground before and after heat treating. Maybe there is some variation in the width of the spines depending on the artisan doing the grinding ?

I know little or nothing about razor construction and design but what you posted on the optimal angle for honing and that being determined by the thickness of the spine relative to the depth of the blade makes sense to me. You would think that if they knew what they were about they would have paid attention to that minor detail.

If it were me I'm not sure I'd bother grinding the sides of the spines at all. You should be able to take a sheet of 1/5" flat stock and cut out a razor shape, then use a surface grinder to turn the blade into a wedge leaving a bit of a square section where the spine will be. Then grind out your quarter hollow on the grinding wheel and round the back of the spine on a slack belt, and nothing has to touch the sides of the spine at all. 1/5" plate is just about perfect for a 6/8 razor, giving you a 15.32 degree angle.

i laughed when I read your nubak story. I had the same experience - I always thought my nubak's message was silly, and then an old geneva scraped up my strop. I went at it with one of those sponge sandpapers and got the spine smooth so it never happened again, but boy it ****ed me off. strop is fine though.

Originally Posted by loueedacat

i laughed when I read your nubak story. I had the same experience - I always thought my nubak's message was silly, and then an old geneva scraped up my strop. I went at it with one of those sponge sandpapers and got the spine smooth so it never happened again, but boy it ****ed me off. strop is fine though.

That's my next step. I picked up some more 600 and 1000 grit wet/dry at lunch and will see if I can fix the scratches. I've calmed down quite a bit since this morning as people have been regaling me with stories of other razors scratching their strops.

Plus I got an email from Rasage Poulin that they've shipped my Kanoyama 90000. If I can't fix this scratched one then I can always turn the unscratched lower half into a cordovan paddle strop.

I think the strop will be ok after all. I figured it was dead since I was sure that the pumice stone was way too aggressive for that strop. But I took some 600 grit sandpaper and sanded down the gouges, finishing up with 1000 grit, then buffed it carefully and applied some Bick leather cream. It seems ok now, it's still pretty smooth and not terribly sueded in the affected area.

I also decided to take the razor to the hone and try to clean up the toe. Since Hart says it they hone with one layer of electrical tape on the spine I did the same. After a few laps on the S30k and some inspection under the radio shack microscope it became apparent that what had happened is that the bevel hadn't been set quite right on the backside of the toe - the shapton wasn't reaching all the way to the edge on the back side of the toe. Once that was corrected and the S30k brought to bear then it sharpened right up, and whereas the original edge wouldn't pass my hair test at the toe (and this was born out in the shave) it now topples and fillets the finest armhairs with ease.

Shave test part 2 tomorrow, using the Dovo strop this time.

Originally Posted by mparker762

I think the strop will be ok after all. I figured it was dead since I was sure that the pumice stone was way too aggressive for that strop. But I took some 600 grit sandpaper and sanded down the gouges, finishing up with 1000 grit, then buffed it carefully and applied some Bick leather cream. It seems ok now, it's still pretty smooth and not terribly sueded in the affected area.

I also decided to take the razor to the hone and try to clean up the toe. Since Hart says it they hone with one layer of electrical tape on the spine I did the same. After a few laps on the S30k and some inspection under the radio shack microscope it became apparent that what had happened is that the bevel hadn't been set quite right on the backside of the toe - the shapton wasn't reaching all the way to the edge on the back side of the toe. Once that was corrected and the S30k brought to bear then it sharpened right up, and whereas the original edge wouldn't pass my hair test at the toe (and this was born out in the shave) it now topples and fillets the finest armhairs with ease.

Shave test part 2 tomorrow, using the Dovo strop this time.

Whew, that makes me feel better. I hate the thought of a good strop biting the dust. Brings to mind my own mortality...

Originally Posted by mparker762

I took some 600 grit sandpaper and sanded down the gouges, finishing up with 1000 grit, then buffed it carefully and applied some Bick leather cream.

I'm glad to hear you and your strop are recovering. I'd like to know what method you used to buff your strop.

Mike