Thread: Art of Shaving - they found a loophole

AOS is is just passing on the exact same info as they get,, it is not some great conspiracy and their Lawyers are not out to get you

Shave Ready is a relative term at best, you cannot expect clerks in a chain store to be well informed about a hobby that is only known to a very select clientèle..

Helping people overcome these misconceptions is actually what SRP is all about


BTW, DOVO and TI have made huge strides in Factory edges compared to just a few short years ago, they used to be way way worse

AOS sells the razors and strops as is from the factory. Dovo and TI both will say that they are shave ready out of the box. I think dovo even voids the warranty if anyone hones the razor other than dovo.

I wouldn't blame a company for taking the manufacturer at their word and selling a product as is.

The aos near me recommends a barber shop in NYC that does honing. So I guess the guys in the shop have some idea that the blades aren't shave ready.

Check under the classifieds for honing services. If you are low on cash, I'd be happy to hone the razor for you for free.

Michael

That is why I am glad I found SRP after I butchered my face with the AOS DOVO.Of course, I could have had a razor honed to perfection by a honemeister and still done that. Anyway, AOS has a sales staff and I purchased a razor from a guy that did not even shave. Something should have told me to stop and run away. Anyway, grumble grumble, a year later I am shaving with some nice Sheffield steel and got other blades to boot.

This is actually an interesting thread.

AOS, owned by P&G have locations in larger higher end malls across the country. On one hand, this is very good as more of the mainstream public is getting exposed to wetshaving and straight razor shaving. On the other hand, the straight razors are still being honed as they come direct from the manufacturer (Dovo and TI) and few of the AOS staff that I have met in stores across the country really know anything about wet shaving and less about straight razor shaving. I have tried to contact the corporate headquarters of AOS to set up a better training system for their folks, but have been given the great corporate shrug off.....

On the other hand, this forum was founded to help preserve the art and help people become successful so that they could in turn pass on the knowledge. Our membership is doing a wonderful job of this and we have people all over the world helping other people.

The best news is that at least AOS sells good stuff and there are enough other vendors out there pushing substandard razors and driving wetshavers away from the sport before they get a chance to fall in love with it.

I think the best thing we can do is assure the folks that pick up kit from AOS that they have done well, not discourage them and then help them get their razors sharp and learn to look forward to shaving every day.

Have fun.

An important part of the art of straight razor shaving is learning how to get and keep a shave ready edge. I assume that any straight razor received by me will not be shave ready, unless it is coming from a proven source with a well known honing capability. I always, at a minimum, strop a newly acquired questionable razor on a pasted strop followed by my daily unpasted strop. Many times, this will get me a shavable edge, but not always. Newly acquired razors may need to be sent out for honing. Sometimes an experienced straight razor user will live nearby and may mentor others having difficulties getting a shavable edge. e-Bay razors often require honing at a minimum and may require restoration work before they are usable.

The best prospect of receiving a razor with a shave ready edge may be to acquire a new honed razor from a vendor with honing capability, a Whipped Dog Sight Unseen Used Razor, or a vintage razor purchased through the classified section from an experienced straight razor user. Any new razor received in its original unopened box should probably be considered not shave ready with few exceptions. One that comes to mind may be Hart Razors that are often reported to be received shave ready from their maker by their users (I have never used a Hart Razor). New kitchen/sporting knives and edged wood working hand tools also usually require sharpening before they are really ready for use. While having a tool/razor with a usable edge on receipt is beneficial, sharp edges do not stay that way for long. There is no getting around learning how to maintain an edge, especially for shaving where a less than stellar edge will be adversely impacting ones face.

By the way, the instructions for maintaining their razor's edge from TI and Dovo are also somewhat strange, although they are well respected makers of very fine razors. I recommend consideration of the edge maintenance tutorials by honemeisters, custom razor makers, and on straight shaving web sites.

HTH

Really, this is all a sign of the times we live in. How many times do you buy something and it is imperfect and has to be returned or have a workman do a job and he has to return to correct problems? It's pretty much like that with everything. At one time that wasn't the case. Back in the old days if you bought a razor and it wasn't really shave ready that was a big defect and it would be returned and the shop keep would get a real ration over it.

These days if you want perfect you have to contract someone to do a custom job and usually with razors you get perfection.

Perhaps AOS would highly benefit to selling a true shave ready razor instead of a mediocre edge, for a first time user scraping your face with a bad edge would not make someone to be a "repeat customer".

If you buy a new lawnmover would it be asking to much for it to run?

Originally Posted by Martin103

Perhaps AOS would highly benefit to selling a true shave ready razor instead of a mediocre edge, for a first time user scraping your face with a bad edge would not make someone to be a "repeat customer".

If you buy a new lawnmover would it be asking to much for it to run?

Congrats to ya Martin for reaching your 2000th post on SRP and being elevated to the esteemed level of "Blabbermouth" as seen by the Yapper next to your "Senior Member" status

Many thanks from me, for all the research that you do to find us all some very interesting reading from the past, very happy to have all your posts and look forward to many more...

I acquired a NOS Torrey O146 straight razor that still had its original packing grease on the blade. This razor is probably more than 80 years old. I cleaned off the old grease, stropped up the blade, and was pleasantly suprised because it was good to go for my first shave with this razor.

My old Boy Scout Master gave me seven straights one had a real bad crack all the rest I gave the same stropping that I give a razor when I’m done honing and they all would shave!! Great Shave no, but a decent one! I sent one to Glen and he was surprised! He was going to do some more experimentation but he found a minute crack that I’d missed. I had him send it to pinklather for a test shave and he was surprised at how well a blade would shave after sitting around for 50-60 years. None were oiled and only a couple were in coffin cases.

He also has a Japanese folding straight still in the box it came in along with a two sided sharpening hone that he found in a pillbox when Iwo Jima had been semi secured. After a good stropping, it to would still give a decent shave. And to think that it was honed by a lowly foot solider in the worst conditions and probably without water as water was a precious and scare product.

None of the razors had any noticeable hone wear.

The new Revisor that I purchased from the factory a year ago had a pretty decent edge on it right out of the box. It became one of my favorites after a proper honing!