Thread: My Experience with a Hart quarter Hollow/Near Wedge

I have the three Hart razors all that take and hold an edge. Two are satin finishes and do not have the grind marks your razor has. It looks like the quality has really dropped off.

Originally Posted by Keithmax

I have the three Hart razors all that take and hold an edge. Two are satin finishes and do not have the grind marks your razor has. It looks like the quality has really dropped off.

Sad isn't it? Their legacy of nice American craftsmanship and quality razors destroyed by greed.

It was so exciting to see new production American made razors coming from a company who had some excellent advice and assistance in start up. Looks as if all the pieces fell apart and this is what is left. I am a proud owner of a Portland Razor Company straight, and they seem to be doing things correctly. Nice people, good product and excellent communication. I shipped a razor back to be honed on Monday, March 6 by regular mail. They received it, honed it, and it was in my mail box today, March 11. This was from Tulsa to Portland and back. Not promoting PRC for any reason other than to confirm good work is done by good people, and it should be recognized and supported.

Originally Posted by RayClem

I killed the edge on my Hart and plan to reset the bevel tomorrow. I will probably go with tape the first time I hone it. The next time, I might skip the tape. I will let you know how it turns out after honing.

The only Harts they had on sale were the satin finished razors. The grind marks were as bad as those on Gold Dollar razors. It will take quite a bit of work to polish out the grind marks. While I expect that on a cheap Chinese razor, it is not something I would expect on a US made razor that lists for nearly $300. So I am not impressed with Hart Steel. If I had not gotten the razor on sale for half of the list price, I would have returned it.

I have been shaving 'straight' for about 16 months now, I started with a Revisor and then moved onto a Henckels, both of these I can say with hindsight were SR. I then bought a new DOVO Encina that was definitely not SR. All were extra hollow grind. Last October I purchased a PRC Hydra, this is easily the nicest razor I have owned/used, like your Hart it's a 1/4 grind; I use it every day and it holds a beautiful edge without any particular maintenance other than a daily strop. I did not find any issue moving from the hollow grinds to the 1/4, and I don't think my shaving style has altered to any measurable degree. I would say the feedback from the Hydra is just as good as anything else I have used, but this may be the way the bevel is finished on the PRC, it seems wider than on the Harts?

Note: I have tended to sell current razors before acquiring new, but I would not part with my PRC Hydra, I rather think I will be buying a custom from them just as soon as I have decided what I want.

I love the feel of my new 6/8 hart but have to say it's not shave ready. No matter how I prep, lather or strop it never feels like it glides like my Dovo that was honed prior to shipping.

I've been shaving with Hart razors exclusively for the last couple of years. I have two of the Custom Harts from Classic that were made by Bruce Gregory. They hold an edge for six months or longer with regular stropping and are a joy to shave with.

Although my Hart experience has been fantastic, I pay a lot of attention to other people's experiences with the company in the forums, on YouTube, etc. and from what I have seen, unless it is a higher end razor, you can pretty much count on it showing up not shave ready. I've seen this again and again and again.

So, if you see a great deal on a Hart, I'd pull the trigger, knowing that your gonna spend a little more money or time getting it dialed in. If you see a so-so deal, I'd probably pass. But big thumbs up from me on the Hart customs if you got the dough!

Hello there, I have at least 10+ Harts I am at work so its a guess! I have had a speedy and painful learning experience in honing them. First off the steel is hard but does not like pressure WHAT!!!

So how do you set bevels and progress up the latter safely? I do not claim to have figured everything out here.

I use 1 layer of tape. When setting the bevel I don't use heavy pressure (light to a gentle medium at most) I let the stone do the cutting with one exception I refresh the surface of the 1k chosera once the surface smooths out, I do this until the bevel is set which could be a minimum of 3 times to more depending on the bevel size, but the bevel will be set without issue lurking as I move up the progression so I have found. It is worth it to set the bevel with light pressure on these harts!

After the bevel is set I move up the progression using enough (light) pressure to keep the blades edge torqued to the stone until scratches are removed on each stone (even the finishing stone), also during the progression I have found with certain stones cutting ability you may have to refresh the surface a couple of times. I have tried this process with synths and naturals with great success. I have even set the bevel the way mentioned above and went straight to a natural finisher until it was done and had great results too.

The strokes I use for each stone are circles, small back and forth strokes up and back down the stone and finishing X strokes to even out the sides. I don't count I go by feel, sight and physical results.

The key with harts "maybe" is using pressure is blaspheme LOL! The blades steel seems to enjoy finesse rather than force.

YMMV!!! Hope this helps, or at least it is worth a try

Thanks dshaves for your detailed explanation.

My experience agrees with yours. I have to treat my Hart with "kid gloves" while honing. I did not have too much trouble setting the bevel on a 1K Naniwa SS, but as I progressed up to higher grits, the pressure had to decrease to nothing but the weight of the razor in order to prevent chipping.

The edge was not sharp enough for me with tape, so I kept working with it until I could hone it without tape. The last time I shaved with it, I got a decent shave.

I just hope I can maintain the edge. With most razors, you can refresh on higher grit stones. However, if the edge develops chips, you have to kill the edge and reset the bevel. That will make the razor wear out much faster, but in the case of my razor, that might not be such a bad thing. It is definitely not a razor destined to become a family heirloom. I am sure some Harts are worthy of that honor, but not mine.

The Hart I had was too labor intensive. I sold it.

Originally Posted by RayClem

Thanks dshaves for your detailed explanation.

My experience agrees with yours. I have to treat my Hart with "kid gloves" while honing. I did not have too much trouble setting the bevel on a 1K Naniwa SS, but as I progressed up to higher grits, the pressure had to decrease to nothing but the weight of the razor in order to prevent chipping.

The edge was not sharp enough for me with tape, so I kept working with it until I could hone it without tape. The last time I shaved with it, I got a decent shave.

I just hope I can maintain the edge. With most razors, you can refresh on higher grit stones. However, if the edge develops chips, you have to kill the edge and reset the bevel. That will make the razor wear out much faster, but in the case of my razor, that might not be such a bad thing. It is definitely not a razor destined to become a family heirloom. I am sure some Harts are worthy of that honor, but not mine.

I have a hart 7/8" that has been my nemesis! I was helped by Bejay on srp to properly set bevels. I finished the razor on a small jnat, it shaved very well but I knew there was more to have so I took it to my SG8k refined the edge more, then finished the edge on the same small jnat again this time the results were amazing! The point is when I went to refresh the edge spending some good time on two stones the edge held up fine no chips! This particular hart is an early one because the jumps are almost nonexistent...I fully agree with the kid gloves reference!!!