TI Quality ?

Hi All,

I've just received a 7/8" TI from a member to re-scale. It is dreadful.

The blade is not centred at all. One edge touches the scales.

The 3rd pin is way to high and not centred so the blade does not close correctly. Had the pin been in-line with the butt and pivot pins the scales would not have been deep enough and the blades edge would have protruded from the scales making it a very dangerous object.

The scales are way to long. A huge gap between the toe and wedge.

The finish of the red stamina scales look like they have been dipped in varnish..yuk.

Considering how much these razors cost I would rather buy a NOS vintage straight that are offered by a few respected ebay sellers.

Alternately if you only want the blade, send the thing for a decent set of scales to any one of many members that offer this service.

Pic attached (borrowed) with annotations.

The member in question will be pleasantly surprised when he gets it back :D

Gary

Thanks for posting this Gary - it's not the first time I've heard about poor detailing on current TI razors but it's the most specific. I guess the lesson here if you want a TI blade is that your best bet is to buy the blade you want with the least expensive scales available since you'll likely need to have them replaced anyway. What a shame.

I have that exact same TI and mine was perfect except for the gold on the blade....that was pitifull...but the scales are perfect...although they do have a lot of varnish on them.

Stuff like this drives me nuts! People pay good money for their razors and yet it seems it's too much to expect good quality.

My first razor came from Joe Chandler. It was inexpensive (35) but there were no issues with it whatsoever... My next purchase from mr. barence (Dirk) was a shock - right off the bat I found 5-6 issues on a NOS $100 + razor. And, what do you know, the resident experts told me this is nothing unusual... hm. I am used to getting good quality on the things I purchase, regardless of the price.

Until shavers start demanding quality / call customer service and bitch, I don't see TI (and others) changing its attitude and providing top quality...

EDIT: I am not flaming Dirk here, he gave me a partial refund - just using this as an example.

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Originally Posted by izlat

My first razor came from Joe Chandler. It was inexpensive (35) but there were no issues with it whatsoever...

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I'll second that.

Big up on Joe Chandler.

I have about a dozen TI's of various types all bought new and probably half of them have issues as was pointed out here. My attitude about this is if you want a pretty razor with excellent finishing buy a Dovo if you want the best quality blade buy a TI. Fit and finish is an after thought with them. sad but true.

Yep! That's TI's quality control for you! They make great blades, but when it comes to pinning those scales on, it's a crap shoot!

That raised middle pin was off center on purpose. The guy that pinned it realized the scales were too thin so he offset the middle spacer so the blade would not stick out. Imagine if instead he actually found a set of scales that would have fit the blade? I guess when it comes to effort or common sense you can not rely on others.....

Wouldn't it be great if we had the option of JUST buying the blades so that we could take care of the scales ourselves?!

Would save on cost of the razor, and the cost of shipping the damn crap-pin job back!

C utz

Man I will say that my Dovos and TIs are both great shavers. The Quality of the one TI I have is great all around. My Dovos are my favorites of my new razors. But you are right with the cost of new razors in the middle range (100-200) you would think there would be good quality. You should not have to buy a razor and replace the scales to make it a good razor. I recommend specific feed back to TI and a shared response. As a community SRP should carry a little weight. Nothing in anger only specific comments toward quality should work.

I only own one TI razor, this one http://straightrazorpalace.com/compo...1/key,0/hit,1/ and it is flawless. I bought it about 8-10 years ago. Above reproach in every respect.

Jeff

I guess it depends when your got the razor and what day it was made on.

I have just fitted the scales, one side of the tang is flat the other tapered, a machine press no doubt. I fixed it by clever pinning and washers which is why in the first instance the blade was never centre.

Looks better now though...:w

Gary

Now everybody knows why I prefer vintage...:y

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Originally Posted by garythepenman

Looks better now though...:w

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I'll say she does. Good job. Not so bad after all. :)

X

It /does/ look a lot better now!

I wonder if this quality issue changes depending on how expensive the razor is. If I were to purchase an expensive razor, and find shoddy workmanship, I would just about hit the ceiling.

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Originally Posted by JerseyLawyer

It /does/ look a lot better now!

I wonder if this quality issue changes depending on how expensive the razor is. If I were to purchase an expensive razor, and find shoddy workmanship, I would just about hit the ceiling.

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I take it you haven't bought many new razors lately? And I suspect it's not only TI... Comparing TI scales to Bill Ellis scales is quite educational, and I am sure TI can at least try to do a better job

Having said this, my SRP TI is an absolutely fabulous shaver.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by izlat

I take it you haven't bought many new razors lately? And I suspect it's not only TI... Comparing TI scales to Bill Ellis scales is quite educational, and I am sure TI can at least try to do a better job

Having said this, my SRP TI is an absolutely fabulous shaver.

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Actually, the look of the scales on the SRP razor is what's thusfar kept me from buying one. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but looking at the picture on classichaving, I like the blade a lot, but hate the look of the scales.

Keith, I think the scales are worse in person than the pic on CS :roflmao

seriously, though

Quote:

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Originally Posted by izlat

Keith, I think the scales are worse in person than the pic on CS :roflmao

seriously, though

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I wonder if having custom scales put on would defeat the whole purpose of a collectable razor. Or make Lynn mad at me. :)

I have two of the SRPs and personally I think they were trying to keep the price point as low as possible and still have a quality TI blade and the scales were, lets just say the place where they had to do the skimping. I agree they're not the sharpest looking but its a fantastic shaver. And if you think you'd be P.O d when you spent $200 o so for a TI and got a razor with poor quality control just think how I felt when I spent over $700 for one of their damascus razors and got exactly the same QC. I actually had to get my dremmel out to polish up the horn scales because they were dull dull dull. I won't even comment on the pinning job.

I think you now know why I only sell Dovos.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I have two of the SRPs and personally I think they were trying to keep the price point as low as possible and still have a quality TI blade and the scales were, lets just say the place where they had to do the skimping. I agree they're not the sharpest looking but its a fantastic shaver. And if you think you'd be P.O d when you spent $200 o so for a TI and got a razor with poor quality control just think how I felt when I spent over $700 for one of their damascus razors and got exactly the same QC. I actually had to get my dremmel out to polish up the horn scales because they were dull dull dull. I won't even comment on the pinning job.

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I should apologize for semi-hijacking this thread from what Gary originally intended, though I think that my tangent isn't completely tangiential. Is TIs problem, then, that they put a good blade on crappy scales for all their razors?

I don't think the problem is the quality of the scales they use its mostly the fit and finish of the scales. I think the quality of the horn scales I have is top notch just that the polish job sucks. Also the pinning is hit and miss. Some are fine and others not so fine. The wood scales I have from them are OK nothing to write home about just good serviceable material. I think the scales on the SRPs are a different case like I said before because of the price point they were trying to meet. Maybe if Lynn chimmed in on this subject he might be able to shed more light on the SRP razors and scale selection.

I have had many conversations with a gentleman at TI and they are very aware of the quality issues. The gold leaf and the scales are always issues but we are dealing with a very small company (the razor portion anyway) and a demand that is far more than can be handled. With limited resources and personnel only so much time can be spent on each piece. In many operations there are no jigs and fixtures, just working by eye which will vary.
I own 14 TI razors, 5 vintage meatchoppers and a single Filarmonica. I see the small issues in each piece but to me it simply shows an individual, craftsman made variation.

I am surprised they do as well as they are considering the circumstances. While Dovo does use a good amount of hand work as well I think you will find far more fixturing to ensure consistancy from piece to piece. Hey....start measuring my strops and you will find that no two are alike either. No jigs, no machines, etc....just a busy frazzled guy with a knife, hammer and punch <g>

Tony (a dedicated TI user) Miller

Although one would think that the high demand that they face might indicate the accumulation of the resources necessary to improve their quality control. It would hardly be a poor investment.

Hi Guys,

Both Dovo and TI are trying to meet the demands of the current market. I have seen some very poor ginding coming from both Dovo and TI. I have seen more poor construction from TI. Personally there are a couple of Dovo's I like to shave with. There are a bunch of TI's that I have that I really like shaving with including the SRP razor and a couple Pierre Historics. The SRP is a limited edition blade on a fairly plain handle. We were trying to keep the costs down as well as put something out that the majority would agree on and as you know from reading this forum, that is pretty hard to do. I have no problem with anyone having one re-scaled if they choose.

Have fun.

Lynn