Thread: Trouble with a TI

[QUOTE=Barbelus maximus;238416] I just feel that the TI is not as comfortable as all my other razors, I still get a fine shave from it but it just feels harsher on my skin than all my other razors. What I was looking for was not advice on soap, skin prep, aftershaves or other such but a valid reason why a TI might be different ie. different steels, grinds etc.

There's a clue - It shaves fine but is harsh on the skin.

Can happen with freshly honed razors. Maybe more likely with hollows. Too much pressure and /or wrong angle or combination of these.
If it's freshly honed it will settle after a few shaves and some stropping. If it's the other two you have to adjust your technique

Stiff grinds are more forgiving when it comes to pressure and angle. IMHO

I've got some hollows that need a very light touch and the right angle or I start scraping skin off as well as hair leaving me a bit raw

Hope this helps but if none of this sounds right - just ignore me

Originally Posted by Barbelus maximus

On the subject of practice I have been using a straight exclusively for almost a year now and consider myself pretty accomplished, I do a 2 pass shave every day and rarely get nicks or cuts and have had no irritation for many many months. I just feel that the TI is not as comfortable as all my other razors, I still get a fine shave from it but it just feels harsher on my skin than all my other razors. What I was looking for was not advice on soap, skin prep, aftershaves or other such but a valid reason why a TI might be different ie. different steels, grinds etc. The guy who hones my razors has honed all of them yet the TI still feels different, I certainly get more comfortable shaves from older razors. Would a very light stropping pressure be better for a full hollow grind? Incidentally, the guy who sharpens my razors said I really should try a Wapi.

It may very well be that you have gotten one of the new TIs with the extra hard "super steel" they recently switched to. If this is the case, you are not alone in your opinion that they feel harsh.

The solution I have found for these extra hard steels is stropping on newspaper.
I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is effective. The ultra fine carbon smoothes out the teeth in even the harshest razors.

Before you give up on your TI, try stropping on newspaper. It may take 200 passes to get it feeling as soft and smooth as you want, but the end result is well worth it.

Oh, and P.S. Someone offered 2 shave ready Wapis, I'll match that offer, and raise you 3 more... 5 shave ready SFK stamped Wapis for your TI. If you don't like them, you should be able to sell them for $40 each, and recoup more of your hard earned cash. Although I still think you would be better off with a properly tuned TI.
And I'm not familliar with the Guillochage so hopefully I'm not offending you with the offer...

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. On the subject of honing, I tried it for a while and never enjoyed it so I sold the beautiful double sided coticule but still have the Norton combo stone, now the only sharpening I do is touch ups with a pasted paddle. This morning I shaved with my Livi regrind 6/8 and had a fine shave as usual. As the TI is 6/8 as well I am beginning to think that the metal may be the issue, I can certainly feel the difference between different steels on my face. I have a Wapi on the way it's just a shame that they are so darn ugly. I really don't want to give up on the TI, I'll try the newspaper trick.

Gentlemen, I give you....................The Tony Miller Pasted Paddle. The TI has been bugging me all day. This mornings shave with a Livi was nothing special, so I got home from work and thought to myself, to heck with this so I picked up the paddle and gave it 20 hard laps on the 1.0 diamond followed by 20 laps on the 0.5 diamond followed by 60 firm laps on the Latigo side of the strop, did my usual prep, lathered up an extra creamy batch of Castle Forbes Lime and set to. Now , I wouldn't say it was smooth as silk but by gum it was close, after 2 passes I left it alone as I don't shave twice in a day as a rule but with 2 WTG passes I have a very fine shave indeed. I have drawn the conclusion that the TI is indeed a fine razor, of that I was always sure, but for me I have to take it to that extra level with the diamond paste. I still intend to buy a Le Grelot 1/4 (rude not to) but the TI will stay........for now. Many thanks for all the input, I havn't visited the site for a while, since the huge glitch which reduced my posts to 0 actually and I kind of stagnated, but it's good to be back.

Way to go.

We hollow-philes salute you.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I haven't noticed any difference myself on my Tony Miller latigo strap in shaving comfort whether I strap with light or heavy pressure. That's a curious question though, I wonder if it would make enough of a difference for me to even notice. For what it's worth, my wapi gets stronger draw on my strap than my thicker wedges do, but not nearly as much draw as a hollow.

I was just wondering reading again your post, if you was making any test on your TI.....

Well, it must be clear that once you start to polish a blade (8'000 up), you must not touch your edge with your fingers anymore (TPT, TNT) but just go through the HHT and the shaving test....

For hollow blades, paddles are better in theory.... (I am not using strop nor paddle anymore...)

BBS yours,

Valentin

I have had lots of trouble with my TI silverwing until I started giving it more laps on the linen. Even after the Nakayama 80 laps on Tony's genuine linen improves the edge a lot!

Originally Posted by Karakoup1

I was just wondering reading again your post, if you was making any test on your TI.....

Well, it must be clear that once you start to polish a blade (8'000 up), you must not touch your edge with your fingers anymore (TPT, TNT) but just go through the HHT and the shaving test....

For hollow blades, paddles are better in theory.... (I am not using strop nor paddle anymore...)

BBS yours,

Valentin

I was talking about strap draw. I don't test on my thumb beyond the 1k grits

BBS mine,