Thread: TI Crownwing Opinions Wanted

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

some of the previous posts here on the subject refer to someone who spoke to some bigwig at TI who supposedly told them there were changes made after the initial Silverwings came out.

Tony Miller sold one a few years ago stamped, or etched "prototype" IIRC. He said that TI had issued a couple of alloys and tempering processes before finalizing the alloy and temper of the Silverwing.

Gosh, this really is getting confusing. I thought Theirs' had enough on its hands to design, create, grind, temper, market and distribute new product. I did not realize that Thiers engaged in the metallic sciences involving the physics of allotropy, atom exchange and the fluid interstitial mechanisms thereby creating a new alloy. I erroneously thought that this work was done for them, and others, in Sheffield, England, by a supplier. But what do I know!!!

Originally Posted by BanjoTom

Gosh, this really is getting confusing. I thought Theirs' had enough on its hands to design, create, grind, temper, market and distribute new product. I did not realize that Thiers engaged in the metallic sciences involving the physics of allotropy, atom exchange and the fluid interstitial mechanisms thereby creating a new alloy. I erroneously thought that this work was done for them, and others, in Sheffield, England, by a supplier. But what do I know!!!

So what does all that have to do with the price of tea in China?

What some of us here are saying is that the earlier Silverwings had a slightly different mix to the alloy and earlier posts referenced someone who spoke to someone at the factory who confirmed that. if that is all poppy**** and you know that for a fact state your source and that be the end of it.

Originally Posted by BanjoTom

Gosh, this really is getting confusing. I thought Theirs' had enough on its hands to design, create, grind, temper, market and distribute new product. I did not realize that Thiers engaged in the metallic sciences involving the physics of allotropy, atom exchange and the fluid interstitial mechanisms thereby creating a new alloy. I erroneously thought that this work was done for them, and others, in Sheffield, England, by a supplier. But what do I know!!!

Well, there is a lot of marketing that makes things confusing. What we know is that few years ago TI switched steels and suppliers. Before selling a single razor they experimented for a while with the heat treatment of the new steel. They even sent around a bunch of prototype razors to various people.
Eventually they started selling production razors with the new steel and said that the original test run will be made into a special edition called the Silverwing. And then they may have kept changing the heat treatment, because they stamped different letters on the shanks (which they said was used to keep track of that).
And then contrary to the original promise for exclusivity they made another limited edition also called Silverwing.
And then they made another limited edition called Crownwing which supposedly has a new heat treatment as well.

And most of this comes either from their marketing, or second hand from people who supposedly talked to TI....

The only clear thing is that TI makes razors from high carbon steel and they shave rather well.

[QUOTE=thebigspendur;749095]So what does all that have to do with the price of tea in China?

Honi soit qui mal y pense.



I'm just a banjo player with a day job. Like I wrote:" What do I know."

[QUOTE=BanjoTom;749349]

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

So what does all that have to do with the price of tea in China?

Honi soit qui mal y pense.



I'm just a banjo player with a day job. Like I wrote:" What do I know."

If you know Foggy Mountain Breakdown I'll take my hat off to you.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown is one of my favorites! Particularly the upper break.

Originally Posted by BanjoTom

Foggy Mountain Breakdown is one of my favorites! Particularly the upper break.

Oh - that's one of them 'modern hits'. I go for the old standards myself....

I own a Crown wing and I have to say that it is one of my favorite razors. While the scales appear "plain", they are beautifully aged. It is a light razor and gives a very nice shave.

When I travel I have a hard time choosing between my Crown wing and my Tadisha Machida Damascus. The Crown usually wins since it is more portable.

For those of you who were wondering about my new TI's, I have an update.

Considering what has happened here in Japan, I haven't been able to 'enjoy' these two razors as much as I would have, had things been normal.

BUT, they did arrive before the disaster hit and I spent the evening before the earthquake dialing them in on the hones.

The initial edge was very good though. On the Grelot style one the edge pulled more than the full hollow ironwood eagle. The eagle was nearly there but not as good as I knew it could be.

So I just did some finishing strokes to see how the bevel would change. Neither of the razors had any improvement. So I was going to have to reset the bevel.

In doing so I found some of the imperfections that I was expecting to pop up at some point. The polished spine and edge really hides any imperfections in the grind. My hones were dead flat, but the bevel and hone wear on the spine was not even, nor is it now that the edge is dialed in. The center has more hone wear than the toe and heel. This was only on the Grelot style one.

The Eagle wasn't near as fussy in re-setting the bevel, and is near perfect.

The Grelot one is said to be a half hollow. I would place it in the 1/2 ~ 3/4 hollow category. It isn't as quiet as a more wedge-like grind. Perhaps the 1/4 hollow will provide that quiet shave over the noisy sound of a full hollow.

Handling of the razors is excellent. The tang jimps on the top and bottom are just what I like and are nicely done. The thumb notch on the Grelot style one is nice but not my favourite style. It is definitely a short razor though. About a full centimeter shorter than the eagle.

The edge feel is dreamy. I have mine honed the same as all of my others and tried nothing new. Chosera 1K, 2K, 3K, 5K, Gokumyo 10K, J-nat 36K. And done. Excellent feel. Absolutely no harshness, and the stiff steel has no flex. My preference.

The scales are some of the nicest I have ever had. The horn is streaked with grey, and the desert ironwood has book matched swirls. The grelot style is shorter and the scales do not compensate for that but the void it is not overly large. The eagle closes in the scales with less than a millimeter of clearance at the wedge. If the wood ever shrinks there will need to be some wedge modification.

Overall I think these two are keepers in my ever changing rotation. I know that I wouldn't mind a seven day set of these carbonsong 135 razors. But I would get all full hollow. Not that the grelot style is bad, it is just shorter than I am used to and the thumb notch is also not my preferred grip.

Excellent razors. But I am pretty sure I will never order the Crown Silverwing now that I have the similar grelot style in horn. The steel is the tops though, in my estimation.

Thats all gents.