Thread: Trouble with a TI

Last Christmas I bought a beautiful new TI Guillochage and even though I have had it honed properly it still seems to give me a rough shave, when I say rough I mean that the first pass is sort of Tuggy. I have a few razors but mostly use a pair of Joseph Rodgers 11/16 and a Mastro Livi regrind all sharpened by the same honer which all give smoother shaves. My question is, does the grind affect the smoothness of the first pass, would I be better with a less ground more wedge like blade. I have a coarse beard and suspect the 'singing blade' may be the cause. Can anybody shed some light on the different grinds and their effects on shaving. Many thanks.

PM Hoglahoo on this one if he doesn't respond. He did a grind experiment that may be on going.

IM (humble) O the full hollow grinds take a lot more paying attention too when it comes to technique. They are less stiff and skip around on my face if I am being lazy. I have a bonsa 5/8 full hollow that gives me great comfortable shaves but is harder to control on my face.

Hope this helps!

Not that familiar with the problem myself, but from what I've heard on other posts, the wedges do seem to do better with the coarser beards. More than likely because there is more metal behind the edge keeping the blade stiffer.

I have numerous razors of different grinds including TI's and Grelot's as well as a dense beard. My expereince is that tugging comes when the edge is not sharp enough. Doing your own honing is one way to solve your problem. Honignthe edge until its right for your beard is the best answer.

I sold my full hollow Friodurs as the way they shaved did not agree with my face/whisker/skin combo. They would give me a nice, close shave. But they felt a bit harsh while doing so.

I now like razors with a bit more beef to them.

My theory is that the flexible full hollow edge can be deflected by oncoming beefy whiskers downwards into your skin, thus leading to a not so pleasant feeling shave.

As an example, here is a pic I posted about the flexibility of a Wapi edge (OK, not a full hollow, but shows a good example of edge deformation):


I was only using very light pressure in that pic, and the edge flexed right back into original shape as soon as the pressure was released.

Guys with lighter whiskers may never experience this phenomenon, and for them perhaps one razor grind may be as good as another.

Or perhaps I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Aha, now I think I understand the grind thing, the more the grind so to speak, the less stiff the edge. I have a pair of Joseph Rodgers 11/16 with not to much grind which feel 'stiffer' and give a more comfortable first pass - now this makes sense. Many thanks to those who replied.