Thread: Impressions of the AOS TI

I've been wanting a TI for a while and pulled the trigger on the basic TI from AOS. Felt this was a decent deal ($135.00) and heard that it was a new forging (C135 steel).

I've had the razor for several weeks and have put it through the paces. When received, the box said C135 on it, confirming the steel. The scales were decent black plastic, although there is a lot of space between the toe and scales when the blade is closed. In addition, there were some plastic flakes on the edge of one scale that had not been polished away after the scale was cut. This was not a big deal as the flakes polished right off with a rag, but you'd think that could have been done during manufacture.

The blade showed light hone wear and was nicely polished. The instructions stated the razor was shave ready from the factory. I tried the hanging hair test and, surprisingly, it passed. I'd planned on honing it myself, but just gave it a good strop before the first shave. The shave went well. The blade was shave ready and pretty sharp. As far as grind, the blade says full hollow on it, and appears to be, but I'll say it shaves very stiff, which I like, especially on my tough beard on the chin.

After several good shaves, I decided to touch it up on my hones. All I did was hit it with a simple naniwa progression of 25 laps on the 8k, 20 laps on the 10k, 15 laps on the 12k, 10 laps on chromium oxide (balsa), and finally 5 laps on .25 diamond spray on felt. Stropped it up and gave it a go. The shave was excellent. While the factory edge was good, this edge was even better, possibly the best edge in my mug.

I have found that some TI give serviceable edges straight from the factory, I don't have experience with AOS but I would assume it is the same. In fact one of my TIs straight from the factory has one of the best edges in my collection but my other new TI needed to be sent to Lynn as it was about as sharp as a butterknife, I think it's very much hit or miss but every factory edge can always be improved. Good luck and many happy shaves!

Thanks for the response. I must have gotten lucky. The factory edge was quite acceptable. The touch up really brought the edge to the next level, though.

I really like this razor a lot, and hope to add more TI's to the collection down the road.

I also really like the plain black AOS TI. Their quality control doesn't seem as good as Dovo, in that there are often very clear visual differences from one TI to another, but I love how they shave.

I've heard nothing but good things about the C135 steel. It's supposed to be alot harder (Rockwell) than previous carbon blades, further instilling your feeling of the blade being stiffer than the average hollow. Are all TI's now being made with C135? If so, I can't wait to get one, that's for sure. It'll probably be Christmas before that happens, though. Perfect reason to start shopping for it now! I've got my eyes on their Celebrated French-Point in Ram or Buffalo horn. Beautiful razors from them, though.

I've heard the C135 is really hard, too. I went with the AOS because of the price point, being a lot cheaper for a new forging. I really like that stiffness, and man this steel takes a wicked edge.

Originally Posted by bytor

I've heard the C135 is really hard, too. I went with the AOS because of the price point, being a lot cheaper for a new forging. I really like that stiffness, and man this steel takes a wicked edge.

It's funny you say that, considering AOS has everything else marked up higher than needed. I'd say 95% of that price is in the blade itself.

Originally Posted by bytor

I've heard the C135 is really hard, too. I went with the AOS because of the price point

If I'm not mistaken, they actually used to be cheaper. I think $110 or $115.

It does seem AOS is higher price wise on most things. However, I'm not familiar with another place that sells C135 TI razors for the AOS price. During my research I saw some others, but they were is the $170 -- $200 range for basic, plastic scales TI.