Thread: Wow, that didn't last long...

You must remember that razors are made by these strange creatures made of meat. Meat makes misteaks . While I don't know if your razor was defective, there is always the possibility. While a contaminant on the strop is possible I would think that you would have felt it. What strikes my interest is how the chip didn't appear during honing of the blade.
You did right by contacting the retailer and I wouldn't worry about Dovo, this doesn't seem to be a recurring issue.

Jes,

The Dovo Astrale is a very nice shaving razor I would think that the the Vendor will do the right thing by you; I have always found Classic Shaving to be very good to deal with

As an aside, such a chip could be honed out without any difficulty

Good luck !

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

I would guess this to be a common metal characteristic and not a defect in the razor as far as the manufacturing process and the metal used goes. I have a bunch of razors that may only get used once or twice a year. Usually on Father's day we go through the collection to inspect the razors for rust or other issues. Each time we inspect them there are a few that show chipping on the edge that I know wasn't there the last time I used it. This is more noticeable when finding vintage razors that have not been used in decades or more.

My educated guess is that the chipping is due to residual stress in the metal that is causing cracks along the edge (which is very thin) and eventually the metal chip falls away. There are ways to reduce the risk of this with a double draw of the metal after heat treatment. Cryogenic temping is also an option. These process added cost to the razor.

Stress in metal after heat treating is a known characteristic of the metals used. There is no way to guarantee the edge will not chip. Other conditions that cause stress in metals, just to mention a few, are sudden changes in temperature, cutting the metal in any manor including honing and external forces. The effects of the stress are noticed quicker if the stress is only placed on one side of the object like leaving the metal on a flat surface in direct sun light only on one side, machining only one side of the metal.

Get 'er honed again and see if the edge will last a bit longer this time. Good luck.

thanks for the replies, folks. I've sent Classic Shaving an e-mail with the photos. Maybe they can tell me what it looks like, at least. I'll let you guys know what happens.

There's another Possibility – do you have a wife and kids who may have touched it? Roommate?

I have a wife, but she won't go near it. Sometimes I ask her to shave the back of my neck with a straight just to see her go white. heh...

Sooo, apparently, there's no way it could have been a defect in the steel. It may be that I was pressing too hard when I was stropping or something, which I don't quite buy, but that's the explanation that CS thinks fits best. It may cost me $40 to get it honed out at Classic Shaving, though they're not sure from the photos.

Frustrating, but there it is. I find the price to fix it to be a little high. Though to be fair, it was made clear that that was a back-of-the-envelope guess based on very little knowledge of the nick size, and the customer service guy was nice about it.

I may see if someone on the forum will be willing to hone it instead of sending it back to CS, though.